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Reviews the efforts of the Martin Luther King Jr., Papers Project to prepare a definitive, multivolume edition of King's papers as part of a long-term effort to preserve the historical legacy of the African-American freedom struggle. The initial two volumes of `The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.'; Historical and intellectual context in which King's Crozer and Boston University academic papers were created; Selective use of appropriated passages; Citation and attribution practices; Details.

The article presents titles and abstracts of papers submitted at a meeting held in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1938. The paper "The Sequent Occupance of a Boston Suburban Community," presented by Edward A. Ackerman focuses on areas surrounding the Boston metropolitan district. The proximity of a large city market, plots of level land and fertile soil determine the existence of these suburban fanning communities. The article "The Recession of Victoria Falls," by Wallace W. Atwood. The world famous falls on the Zainbesi have had a strange and remarkable history in recession. The gorge is serpentine with many curious off-shoots, and located on the floor of a broad and much older flat-bottomed valley. Today the water tumbles over a ledge, fully a mile in length, and into a very narrow chasm 350 ft. deep.

Lists reports presented at the General Scientific Meetings of the Marine Biological Laboratory on August 14-16, 1995.

Focuses on the Harvard University School of Law's compulsory retirement policy for its faculty members. Retirement age; Conflicts in approaches to the problem of aging; Issues related to the school's retirement policy raised in the student paper 'Harvard Law Record.'

Reports on the revival of the cold fusion debate on the `Technology Review' publication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Indignation of MIT researchers who had previously refuted the technique; Claim of reports of energy-releasing nuclear reactions at room temperature.

The article presents information on the psychology of newspapers along with an exhaustive study of the treatment, which Boston newspapers accorded to revision of the Neutrality Act that gripped the attention of the U.S. in the fall of 1939. This investigation is based upon a complete sample of weekday and Sunday editions of English-language newspapers published in Boston, Massachusetts. The extent to which this simplification of the story took place in the Boston papers was estimated as carefully as possible. The evidence indicates that editors and newswriters attempt to give as comprehensive and adequate a representation of events as they dare; while the readers insist upon selecting, sharpening, and pointing the issue still further to suit their desire for simplification and definiteness. Newspapers must dramatize and select in order to produce in their readers the emotional integration required for a good fight. A newspaper's pattern of influence is built around its editorial policy. Most papers do to a certain extent select news items favoring the editorial policy of the paper, and reject those that are opposed. In summary, the evidence reported in this study is interpreted as supporting five generalizations which are offered here as tentative laws in the new field of the psychology of newspapers: (1) issues are skeletonized; (2) any given newspaper's field of influence is well-patterned; (3) readers are more emotional than editors; (4)public interest as reflected in newspapers is variable in time; (5) public interest rapidly fatigues and presses for an early closure.

In 2006, the Massachusetts legislature passed a landmark health care reform bill (the Reform) that has served as a model for the national health care reform. By aiming to provide 'access to affordable, quality, accountable health care,' the goals of this reform were to reduce the number of uninsured Massachusetts residents while containing the growth of health care costs and improving the quality of health care services. The current paper examines the impact of the Reform on the quality of care in addition to hospital costs simultaneously from a perspective of efficiency analysis. We develop an integer-valued non-radial Russell data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, which is unit variant and calculate the hospitals' efficiency directly. However, the proposed integer-valued model is non-linear. The current paper thus transforms this model into a parametric integer linear programming. We develop a method to derive its optimal solutions. We then use the new DEA model to calculate and compare the efficiency scores of hospitals in Massachusetts and Connecticut pre- and post-Reform. The analysis shows that the Reform has achieved its cost containment and quality improvement goals at the same time. These analyses provide potentially useful information to hospital regulators and government regulators, especially in light of the national interest on health care legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions the historical and biographical significance of the papers Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote as a divinity student at Crozer Theological Seminary and as a doctoral student at Boston University. Instances of plagiarism; Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Projects; Evidence of King's effort to construct an identity as a theologian and preacher; Desire to stress social and political implications of theological training.

Describes the course `Drugs in the Nervous System' aimed at getting college students to think critically and creatively about science. Course at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts; Project-based, student-centered approach; Focus on students exploring primary literature; Development of variety of skills for scientific work.

THE YEAR 2000 MARKED THE TWENTY-FIFTH MEETING of the Boston University Conference on Language Development, now one of the largest and most important annual events in the various sub-fields of linguistics and psychology concerned with language learning. For three days during early November, researchers and educators who study how children and adults acquire language converged on the campus of Boston University, as they have every year since 1976, as guests of the BU Program in Applied Linguistics. Several hundred strong, they argued, compared data, swapped ideas, and provoked each other to keep on probing into the many intriguing mysteries of how humans learn to talk. In recognition of the conference's birthday, Margaret Thomas presented this overview of the first quarter-century of the BUCLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the Marketing Science Institute's publication of a catalog which describes over 250 research papers on all aspects of strategic marketing. Cost of the catalog; Contact information.

Introduction Collabo RATE is a brief patient survey focused on shared decision making. This paper aims to (i) provide insight on facilitators and challenges to implementing a real-time patient survey and (ii) evaluate Collabo RATE scores and response rates across multiple clinical settings with varied patient populations. Method All adult patients at three United States primary care practices were eligible to complete Collabo RATE post-visit. To inform key learnings, we aggregated all mentions of unanticipated decisions, problems and administration errors from field notes and email communications. Mixed-effects logistic regression evaluated the impact of site, clinician, patient age and patient gender on the Collabo RATE score. Results While Collabo RATE score increased only slightly with increasing patient age ( OR 1.018, 95% CI 1.014-1.021), female patient gender was associated with significantly higher Collabo RATE scores ( OR 1.224, 95% CI 1.073-1.397). Clinician also predicts Collabo RATE score (random effect variance 0.146). Site-specific factors such as clinical workflow and checkout procedures play a key role in successful in-clinic implementation and are significantly related to Collabo RATE scores, with Site 3 scoring significantly higher than Site 1 ( OR 1.759, 95% CI 1.216 to 2.545) or Site 2 (z=−2.71, 95% CI −1.114 to −0.178). Discussion This study demonstrates that Collabo RATE can be used in diverse primary care settings. A clinic's workflow plays a crucial role in implementation. Patient experience measurement risks becoming a burden to both patients and administrators. Episodic use of short measurement tools could reduce this burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land conservation efforts throughout the United States sustain ecological benefits while generating wealth in the housing market through capitalization of amenities. This paper estimates the benefits of conservation that are capitalized into proximate home values and quantifies how those benefits are distributed across demographic groups. Using detailed property and household-level data from Massachusetts, we estimate that new land conservation led to $62 million in new housing wealth equity. However, houses owned by low-income or Black or Hispanic households are less likely to be located near protected areas, and hence, these populations are less likely to benefit financially. Direct study of the distribution of this new wealth from capitalized conservation is highly unequal, with the richest quartile of households receiving 43%, White households receiving 91%, and the richest White households receiving 40%, which is nearly 140% more than would be expected under equal distribution. We extend our analysis using census data for the entire United States and observe parallel patterns. We estimate that recent land conservation generated $9.8 billion in wealth through the housing market and that wealthier and White households benefited disproportionately. These findings suggest regressive and racially disparate incidence of the wealth benefits of land conservation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction to the special section related to International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE'97), published in the August 1998 issue of the journal "IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering." Authors say that ICSE was held in Boston Massachusetts, in the week of May 17-23, 1997. The main goal of the conference was to meet needs and expectations of a large variety of attendees. The program committee of the conference was involved in a comprehensive reviewing process of papers submitted. At the end of this process, three papers were selected for publication. In the first paper, "Evaluating Testing Methods by Delivered Reliability," researchers discuss a method for evaluating the effectiveness of testing, based on a measure of the program reliability after testing. The second paper "Analyzing Partially Implemented Real-Time System," presents a technique for analyzing partially-implemented real-time systems. The third paper "Communication Metrics for Software Development," discusses results of comprehensive experiment whose goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of a set of communication metrics.

Abstract Aim The United States (US) and other affluent countries consume vast quantities of global natural resources, but contribute proportionately less to the extraction of many raw materials. This imbalance is due, in part, to domestic policies intended to protect the environment. Ironically, developed nations are often better equipped to extract resources in an environmentally prudent manner than the major suppliers. Thus, although citizens of affluent countries may imagine that preservationist domestic policies are conserving resources and protecting nature, heavy consumption rates necessitate resource extraction elsewhere and oftentimes under weak environmental oversight. A major consequence of this ‘illusion of natural resource preservation’ is greater global environmental degradation than would arise if consumption were reduced and a large portion of production was shared by affluent countries. This paper considers some implications of the consumption, management and conservation of forests and wood at a local and global scale. Location We focus on Massachusetts, the eighth most forested state in the USA (by area), the third most densely populated, and an affluent region with consumption rates that are among the highest in the country. Methods Estimates of wood production and consumption are generated, and comparisons are made with other commonly used materials (e.g. steel, concrete, aluminium). Results A comparison of the feasibility and environmental impact of various strategies for dealing with rising wood demand suggests that the US should strive to: (1) reduce per capita consumption of wood and its substitutes, (2) recycle forest products more effectively, (3) protect extensive areas of intensively managed and unmanaged forests and (4) promote sound forest management where the environmental consequences are mild. Forestry and the sustainable generation of wood in Massachusetts would allow preservation of primary forests elsewhere in... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the media's prejudicial effect on the Boston Marathon Bombing trial. It discusses ways in which Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution secures to an accused the right to a trial in the state where the crime has been committed. It reports laws in the U.S. protect criminal defendants from the unfairness and hardship that arises from prosecution in a foreign venue.

The article presents the program of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association to be held from August 26-29, 1968. It will be held in Boston, Massachusetts. The Program Committee, consisting of Chairman Philip M. Hauser, William J. Goode, Robin M. Williams. Jr., O.D. Duncan, and Gerhard E. Lenski is planning sessions on the central theme of "On the Gap Between Sociology and Social Policy". The session topics are as follows: 1) Plenary sessions: Sociology and the Negro Revolt, Sociology and Social Accounting; 2) Thematic Sessions: Conformity and Social Control, Law and the Administration of Criminal Justice, Socialization and Education, Population and Population Control, Sociology and Environmental Planning, The Polity and the Academy, Sociology and Social Development, Sociology and Systems Analysis, Sociology and Socialist Countries, 3) Regular Sessions: The New Sociometrics, Theory Building. In order to broaden member participation in the Annual Meeting, the 1968 Program Committee is planning a limited number of sessions utilizing a Seminar format. Papers contributed by members apart from those scheduled for organized sessions, will be screened and grouped under appropriate subject headings.

Background: In the United States, worksite wellness programs are more often offered by larger employers. The Massachusetts Working on Wellness (WoW) program is an innovative, statewide capacity-building model designed to increase the number of smaller employers (200 or fewer workers) adopting health promotion initiatives. This article describes the WoW program design and approaches to recruitment, implementation, and evaluation.Methods/design: WoW provides employer training, technical assistance and seed funding, utilizing a Wellness Program Development framework based on recognized good practices. For-profit employers with 200 employees or fewer are eligible for and encouraged to apply for a Massachusetts Small Business Wellness Tax Credit. During the phase described in this paper, employer organizations applied to the program and committed to designating a champion responsible for program implementation. Interventions were to include policy and environmental supports, as well as those targeting individual behavior change through raising awareness and education. Supports provided to employers included seed grants for qualifying activities (up to $10,000 with matching required), community linkages, data collection and organization-specific feedback tools, an on-line curriculum supplemented with technical assistance, and an expert webinar series. Data collection at multiple time points, from the initial application through program completion, provides information for evaluation of recruitment, planned and completed activities.Discussion: This model is grounded in literature on good practices as well as in local knowledge about Massachusetts employers. It does not directly address the influence of working conditions, which can affect both worker participation and health behaviors. Implementation may be less successful with some organizations, such as those with many workers who are part-time or geographically distributed rather than in a centralized physical location. Program evaluation will assess the extent to which WoW achieves its goals. The data are expected to increase understanding of the needs of smaller employers and industries not traditionally implementing employee wellness programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of conferences to be held on various topics, from December 27-29, 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts as part of the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association. A meeting on the theme Principles of Efficiency to be presided over by Paul A. Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The papers to be discussed are The Measurement of Waste by Arnold Harberger and The Efficient Allocation of Capital by Jack Hershleifer. A meeting on the theme Re-Appraisals in American Economic History to be presided over by Douglass North of the University of Washington. The papers to be discussed are A New Look at Hunter's Hypothesis about the Ante-Bellum Iron Industry by Peter Temin, Ante-Bellum Interregional Trade Reconsidered by Albert Fishlow and Canals and Development -- A Discussion of the Issue by Roger Ransom. A meeting on Comparative Costs and Economic Development to be presided over by C. P.Kindleberger of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The papers to be discussed are The Experience of India by Wilfred Malenbaum, The African Situation by Walter A. Chudson and The Case of Brazil by Werner Baer.

Under its health reform legislation, Massachusetts has achieved near universal insurance coverage, along with significant gains in health care access and affordability. This paper examines the impacts of health reform in Massachusetts on differences in coverage, access, and affordability for women and men. We find that both women and men gained under health reform, with the gender gap in insurance coverage narrowed as men's coverage increased relative to that of women. However, the gaps in access and affordability of care have not narrowed--women in Massachusetts continue to report more unmet need for care and problems affording care than men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights recent results obtained with the Turbulent Eddy Profiler (TEP), which was developed by the University of Massachusetts. This unique 915-MHz radar has up to 64 spatially separated receiving elements, each with an independent receiver. The calibrated raw data provided by this array could be processed using sophisticated imaging algorithms to resolve the horizontal structures within each range gate. After collecting all of the closely spaced horizontal slices, the TEP radar can produce three-dimensional images of echo power, radial velocity, and spectral width. From the radial velocity measurements, it is possible to estimate the three-dimensional wind with high horizontal and vertical resolution. Given the flexibility of the TEP system, various array configurations are possible. In the present work exploitation of the flexibility of TEP is attempted to enhance the rejection of clutter from unwanted biological targets. From statistical studies, most biological clutter results from targets outside the main imaging field of view, that is, the sidelobes and grating lobes (if they exist) of the receiving beam. Because the TEP array's minimum receiver separation exceeds the spatial Nyquist sampling requirement, substantial possibilities for grating-lobe clutter exist and are observed in actual array data. When imaging over the transmit beam volume, the receiving array main lobe is scanned over a ±12.5° region. This scanning also sweeps the grating lobes over a wide angular region, virtually guaranteeing that a biological scatterer outside of the main beam will appear somewhere in the imaged volume. This paper focuses on suppressing pointlike targets in the grating-lobe regions. With a subtle change to the standard TEP array hardware configuration, it is shown via simulations and actual experimental observations (collected in June 2003) that adaptive beamforming methods can subsequently be used to significantly suppress the effects of point targets on the wind field estimates. These pointlike targets can be birds or planes with strong reflectivity. By pointlike the authors mean its appearance is a distinct point (up to the imaging resolution) in the images. The pointlike strong reflectivity signature exploits the capability of adaptive beamforming to suppress the interference using the new array configuration. It should be noted that this same array configuration does not exhibit this beneficial effect when standard Fourier beamforming is employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of nondestructive integrity tests (NDTs) and axial static load tests on drilled shafts constructed in varved clay at the National Geotechnical Experimentation Site in Amherst, Mass. The shafts were constructed with built-in defects to study: (1) the effectiveness of conventional NDT methods in detecting construction defects and (2) the effect of defects on the capacity of drilled shafts. Defects included voids and soil inclusions occupying 5–45% of the cross section as well as a soft bottom. Nine organizations participated in a blind defect prediction symposium, using a variety of NDT techniques. Most participants located defects that were larger than 10% of the cross sectional area. However, false positives and inability to locate smaller defects and multiple defects in the same shaft were encountered. Static load tests indicated that (1) minor defects had little or no effect on skin friction; (2) a soft bottom resulted in a 33% reduction in end bearing relative to a sound bottom; and (3) reloading resulted in a 20–30% reduction in the geotechnical capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Voice recognition systems (VRS) allow speech to be converted both directly into text--which appears on the screen of a computer--and to direct equipment to perform specific functions. Suggested applications are many and varied, including increasing efficiency in the reporting of radiographs, allowing directed surgery and enabling individuals with upper limb disorders (ULDs) who cannot use other input devices, such as keyboards and mice, to carry out word processing and other activities. Aim This paper describes four cases of vocal dysfunction related to the use of such software, which have been identified from the database of the Voice and Speech Laboratory of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear infirmary (MEEI). Method The database was searched using key words 'voice recognition' and four cases were identified from a total of 4800. Results In all cases, the VRS was supplied to assist individuals with ULDs who could not use conventional input devices. Case reports illustrate time of onset and symptoms experienced. Conclusion The cases illustrate the need for risk assessment and consideration of the ergonomic aspects of voice use prior to such adaptations being used, particularly in those who already experience work-related ULDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a reprint of the article 'Money and Inflation in Colonial Massachusetts,' which appeared in the winter 1984 issue of the 'Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review.'

This paper describes the theoretical foundations, empirical findings, and practical and philosophical implications of the Boston Area Diary Study (BADS), a study of the caring behavior of 44 participants over one calendar year. In particular, the paper presents an identification theory of care and discusses how it shaped the conceptualization, collection, and analysis of the data in a year-long diary study of daily voluntary assistance. The findings from the BADS (1) theoretically confirm the identification theory of care; (2) methodologically capture how individuals perceive and carry out caring behavior as a unity; and (3rpar; empirically document the existence of a moral citizenship in America that is substantially more vigorous than is implied by the usual indicators of civic and political citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the research from which this paper is derived, we have observed and tape-recorded approximately 115 lawyer-client conferences. Our observations were made in two sites, one in California and one in Massachusetts. In this paper we take an in-depth look at the nature of lawyer-client discourse by focusing on one conference. We explore three of the most important themes in that discourse. First is the discussion and characterization of the legal system and its major actors. Next is the exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of disposing of disputed issues through negotiation or trial. Finally, the third theme involves the "legal construction of the client," where a lawyer and client discuss rules of relevance that govern the legal process as well as the aspects of the client's experience that are to be the subject of legal inquiry. The paper concludes by exploring the way each of these themes expresses or embodies prevailing legal ideologies and influences the way cases develop and are managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents further information related to the student papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Application to graduate school; Excerpt from King's dissertation on the conceptions of God held by Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman; Papers that he wrote at Boston University.

SDD-1, A System for Distributed Databases, is a distributed database system being developed by Computer Corporation of America (CCA), Cambridge, MA. SDD-1 permits data to be stored redundantly at several database sites in order to enhance the reliability and responsiveness of the system and to facilitate upward scaling of system capacity. This paper describes the method used by SDD-1 for updating data that are stored redundantly. Redundant updating can be costly because it may potentially involve extensive intercomputer communication overhead in order to lock all copies of data being updated. The method described here avoids this overhead by identifying cases in which it is not necessary to perform this global database locking. The identification of transactions that do not require global locking is based on a predefinition of transaction classes performed by the database administrator using an analysis technique described herein. The classes defined are used at run time to decide what level of synchronization is needed for a given transaction. It is important to note that this predefinition activity in no way limits the transactions that the system can accept; it merely permits more efficient execution of those types of transactions that were anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses microsimulation modeling to estimate the annual burden of federal, state, and local taxes on the poor in two states. We find that in 1988 the average burden of taxation on poor families and individuals was 15.3 percent in Massachusetts and 18 percent in New York. As most of the burden is due to state and local taxes, federal tax reform had only a minor impact on the overall tax burdens faced by the poor. Though the analysis is for two state, we argue that the basic results are applicable for most other states, Given the high incidence of persistent poverty among those who are poor in any given year, we argue that annual burdens provide a good indication of long-run burden for a significant proportion of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper is presented about the commerce of Boston, Massachusetts during the time leading up to the American Revolution. It discusses the source material provided by the Massachusetts Historical Society. It examines tables of annual average clearances and provides a broad view of the total movement of sea-borne commerce. The paper also analyzes imports, the exportation of enumerated colonial products, and the direct trade between Boston and Great Britain.

A conference paper about Concord, Massachusetts is presented. The author talks about several locations he visited within the town, including the farm of Major Simon Willard and the house of Reverend Peter Buckley. Subjects of the paper also include the first settlers in Concord, the organizing of a Christian Church, and the civil interests of the settlers.

The study of the social role of the legislator is important from two points of view: it is essential to the understanding of the actual working of representative government, and it provides a perspective on other occupational roles by contrast. The occupational problems of the politician have been treated by Weber and more recently by Shils; the purpose of the present paper is to continue this analysis by means of data gathered in the course of studies of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, with particular reference to the way in which a person engaged in politics supports himself and reduces the insecurity of his occupation. This paper shall be concerned chiefly with some correlates of the representative's seniority in the legislature. The correlates of seniority are of importance with regard to definition of the representative's role because there seems to be a selective process whereby those who remain longest in the legislature come to terms most fully with the problems that membership poses. Thus this paper examines not only the strains in this role, which is in some ways quite different from the usual occupational role, but also the ways of coping with them.

Background: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally changed how populations interface with the healthcare system. Despite historical spikes in US mortality during the pandemic, emergency department (ED) visits were paradoxically low. This is a concerning phenomenon that raises a red flag regarding access to care, especially among vulnerable populations. In this study we sought to understand how ED utilization evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic among traditionally understudied, low-income, racially diverse US- and foreign-born mothers. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a pre-existing dataset of 3,073 participants enrolled in the Boston Birth Cohort at birth and followed prospectively. We obtained ED visit diagnoses from 2019 and 2020 via electronic health records, categorized according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, and compared them using graph plots, chi-square, and negative binomial regression. Results: The number of ED visits decreased by 29.1% (P < 0.001) from 2019 (1,376) to 2020 (976). However, visits for infectious and parasitic diseases, including COVID-19, increased by 90.6% (32:61) with COVID-19 accounting for 77%of those visits in 2020 (47/61).Mental health-related visits increased by 40.9% (44:62), with diagnoses of alcohol use disorder increasing by 183% (6:17). Regression analysis showed 50% less EDutilization among foreign- vsUS-born participants; however, the increase in infectious diseases visits was greater among foreign-born compared to US-born mothers (185% vs 26%, P = 0.01), while the increase in mental health diagnoses was greater among US-born mothers (69% vs -33%, P = 0.10). Conclusion: Despite a decrease in total ED visits during the pandemic, there was an increase in COVID-19- (immigrant > US born) and mental health- (US-born only) related visits. Our findings demonstrate that EDs remain a critical access point for care for minority populations and have implications for preparedness, resources, and services of EDs in urban settings to better address the needs of communities. However, alternative avenues for healthcare services for these populations, particularly during health crises, warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest wave of health care proposals and laws in the United Sates has been marked by what I call “incremental universalism”—that is, getting to universal health insurance coverage by filling the gaps in the existing system, rather than ripping up the system and starting over. In this paper, I provide an overview of “incremental universalism” as an approach to healthcare reform, explore the issues it raises, and examine how these issues are being addressed at the state level, focusing primarily on the healthcare reform plan enacted by Massachusetts in April 2006. This sweeping bill altered insurance markets, subsidized insurance coverage for a large swath of the population, introduced a new health insurance purchasing mechanism (the “Connector”), and mandated insurance coverage for almost all citizens. The Massachusetts experience has led to similar proposals in a number of states, including a major (but ultimately failed) effort in California. I am far from an objective observer in discussing the Massachusetts law. I was one of the architects of the law and since 2006 have been a member of the board overseeing its implementation. Despite this bias and the fact that the ambitious Massachusetts plan is still in relatively early stages of implementation, I can say that some early results point to major successes for this reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper announces the imminent availability of a major extension of the well-known Bateman-Foust sample. This new resource will contain linked agricultural and population census data between 1850 and 1880 for thousands of individuals in an expanded group of townships including some from the Pacific Coast states and Massachusetts and has in excess of 220,000 person-observations. The paper discusses a number of problems and complications associated with the creation of this retrospective panel database. It also shows how these data may be linked to other computer-searchable databases and resources (such as land records) and discusses the impact of personal and family characteristics on persistence and the likelihood of record linkage within the sample townships using a panel from a completed subsection of the project [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 25, 1971, two thirds of a 16-story apartment building collapsed while under construction at 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Four workers died after a failure on the roof instigated a progressive collapse all the way to the basement, where the men were found. Fortunately, the collapse occurred slowly enough for most of the other workers to run to safety. An investigation, conducted by a commission assembled by the Mayor of Boston, painted a picture of a troubled project, with considerable confusion about responsibility for structural safety. The surviving workers’ descriptions of the failure provide a textbook definition of punching shear. Low concrete strength due to inadequate protection against cold weather contributed to low punching shear strength of the flat slab. Inspection, quality control, planning, and supervision were for all practical purposes absent from the project. This paper investigates the numerous causes and lessons learned of this structural failure. Two similar cases are also reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim This study compares the magnitude and trajectory of vegetation and ecosystem function dynamics associated with the direct impact of hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand; HWA) infestation vs. the indirect consequences of HWA-induced damage in the form of salvage and pre-emptive logging of hemlock [Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere] forests. Location The study was conducted within an area extending from southern Connecticut up to and including the Connecticut River lowlands west to the Berkshire Plateau in central Massaschusetts, USA. Methods Overstorey and understorey vegetation and ecosystem function parameters such as decomposition and nitrogen cycling were examined in logged and unlogged portions of ten hemlock stands varying in HWA damage intensity. Results Intensive hemlock logging generated more rapid and pronounced microenvironment and vegetation changes than chronic HWA damage. Black birch (Betula lenta L.) seedling densities and percent cover of brambles (Rubus L. spp.), sedges (Carex L. spp.) and hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula Michx.) were significantly higher in recent harvests vs. HWA-damaged and undamaged sites. High black birch sapling densities (>7000 ha-1 ) were common in the older harvests but not in adjacent, HWA-damaged portions of these sites. Undamaged sites had 20% more forest floor mass than HWA-damaged sites and double the mass of older cuts. Mass loss rates of cellulose paper suggest that conditions were more favourable for decomposition in the damaged and older logged sites. Recently cut sites had significantly larger inorganic N pools than undamaged forests, although total net nitrogen (N) mineralization rates were not significantly different among treatments. Nitrification rates of 0.2 kg ha-1 day-1 measured in the oldest cuts were three times greater than in HWA-damaged sites and over 200 times greater than in undamaged hemlock sites. However, resin bag capture in the... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: School health service programs underwent rapid changes to meet the health needs of today's students. These needs stem largely from: a) increased number of students with special health care needs attending school, b) increased stress and time pressure on families, c) rapid restructuring of the health care system serving children, and d) recognition that schools provide opportunities to identify students with health risks. This paper describes seven components of a statewide Massachusetts plan to develop school health services by: a) setting standards, b) reviewing and revising statutes and regulations, c) promoting credentialing of school health personnel, d) providing continuing education on subjects pertinent to school health, e) exploring reimbursement systems and new funding sources, including funds from the tobacco settlement, f) exploring new models of care, and g) implementing data systems. The plan focuses on developing school nurse-managed school health services within a public health model. (J Sch Health. 2002;72(7):278-281) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health researchers and practitioners have begun to recognize the dynamic nature of disability, promote the health of people with disabilities, and develop strategies to prevent secondary conditions among them. To understand the epidemiology of secondary conditions, the authors developed the Massachusetts Survey of Secondary Conditions, a longitudinal study of adults with major disabilities ( n =656) based on a conceptual framework linking disability, mediating factors, and health outcomes. This paper reports baseline data on the number of secondary conditions experienced by survey respondents. Respondents experienced a mean of 5.3 of 17 secondary conditions. More numerous secondary conditions were associated with fair or poor general health and number of days unable to do routine activities. Factors amenable to public health interventions included difficulty with weight and exercise maintenance, tobacco and marijuana use, and experiencing assault. Disability should be a focus in all public health research, policy, and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the role of strategic management in the marketing proces in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Assessment of the static conception of efficiency; Coordination of labor division; Relationship between economics and strategic management.

Presents a study which prioritized several embankment dams by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Office of Dam Safety according to their physical deficiencies. Requirement for the management and regulation of inventories of the dams; Results; Conclusions and recommendations.

Considers the dynamical effect of lateral emergency transhipments within a supply chain. It tests various different strategies for improving customer service via the MIT Beer Game. Four distinct strategies are considered. “Electronic point of sales (EPOS)”, where marketplace information is forwarded to all players throughout the supply chain; “Excel”, where the stock levels in all echelons are controlled by the factory; “Emergency transhipments”, where an express transportation route bypassing an echelon in the supply chain is permitted; “Eliminate”, where an echelon is removed from the supply chain. The Beer Game strategies are also studied via a simulation exercise. Results show that the Excel strategy is flawed, whereas the EPOS strategy has a strong impact on inventory cost, Emergency transhipments has a strong impact on customer service level and Eliminate results in less stock for an improved customer service level. Combinations of the three viable strategies are also tested. This paper concludes that the three strategies can be integrated to significantly improve supply chain performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time emotions have been kept out of the deliberate tools of science; scientists have expressed emotion, but no tools could sense and respond to their affective information. This paper highlights research at the MIT Media Laboratory aimed at giving computers the ability to comfortably sense, recognize, and respond to the human communication of emotion, especially affective states such as frustration, confusion, interest, distress, anger, and joy. Two main themes of sensing--self-report and concurrent expression--are described, together with examples of systems that give users new ways to communicate emotion to computers and, through computers, to other people. In addition to building systems that try to elicit and detect frustration, our research group has built a system that responds to user frustration in a way that appears to help alleviate it. This paper highlights applications of this research to interface design, wearable computing, entertainment, and education, and briefly presents some potential ethical concerns and how they might be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most interactive stories, such as hypertext narratives and interactive movies achieve an interactive "feel" by allowing the user to choose among multiple story paths. In this paper we discuss physically interactive environments with narrative structure in which the ability to choose among multiple story lines is replaced with having users, first, interact with the story characters in small, local "windows" of the narrative and, second, actively engage their bodies in movement. In particular, we found that compelling interactive narrative story systems can be perceived as highly responsive, engaging, and interactive even when the overall story has a single-path structure, in what we call a "less-choice, more-responsiveness" approach to the design of story-based interactive environments. We have also observed that unencumbering, rich sensor technology can facilitate user immersion in the experience as the story progresses--users can act as they typically would without worrying about manipulating a computer interface. To support these arguments, the paper describes the physical setup, the interactive story, the technology, and the user experience of four projects developed at the MIT Media Laboratory: KidsRoom, It/I, Personal Aerobics Trainer, and Swamped! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the fertility boom and bust cycles in Concord, Massachusetts from 1800 to 1990. Decline in fertility during the eighteenth century due to the decline of frontier conditions characterized by economic and demographic expansion; Characteristics of the state of boom and bust cycles in the nineteenth century.

Focuses on a Boston, Massachusetts port program established by the Charitable Irish Society (CIS) and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Aim of assisting women Irish immigrants when they disembarked in Boston; Program's establishment in the late 19th century; Program's elements of social control; Regulation and monitoring of the behavior of female immigrants.

Mounting evidence over the past several decades has demonstrated inequitable distribution of pollutants of ambient origin between sociodemographic groups in the United States. Most environmental inequality studies to date are cross-sectional and used proximity-based methods rather than modeled air pollution concentrations, limiting the ability to examine trends over time or the factors that drive exposure inequalities. In this paper, we use 1 km 2 modeled PM 2.5 and NO 2 concentrations in Massachusetts over an 8-year period and Census demographic data to quantify inequality between sociodemographic groups and to develop a more nuanced understanding of the drivers and trends in longitudinal air pollution inequality. Annual-average population-weighted PM 2.5 and NO 2 concentrations were highest for urban non-Hispanic black populations (11.8 µg/m 3 in 2003 and 8.4 µg/m 3 in 2010, vs. 11.3 µg/m 3 and 8.1 µg/m 3 for urban non-Hispanic whites) and urban Hispanic populations (15.9 ppb in 2005 and 13.0 ppb in 2010, vs. 13.0 ppb and 10.2 ppb for urban non-Hispanic whites), respectively. While population groups experienced similar absolute decreases in exposure over time, disparities in population-weighted concentrations increased over time when quantified by the Atkinson Index, a relative inequality measure. Exposure inequalities were approximately one order of magnitude greater for NO 2 compared to PM 2.5 , were more pronounced in urban compared to rural geographies, and between racial/ethnic groups compared to income and educational attainment groups. Our results also revealed similar longitudinal PM 2.5 and NO 2 inequality trends using Census 2000 and Census 2010 data, indicating that spatio-temporal shifts in air pollution may best explain observed trends in inequality. These findings enhance our understanding of factors that contribute to persistent inequalities and underscore the importance of targeted exposure reduction strategies aimed at vulnerable populations and neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the sociology of arson and organized crimes, using demography and urban economics in Boston, Massachusetts. This article demonstrates that arson is essentially a consequence of economic decisions undertaken by the banking, real estate, and insurance industries, as well as the racketeering operations of organized crime syndicates. This is not to say that pyromaniacs and especially vandals do not set a substantial number of fires in addition to those set by more sophisticated professional torches, the preferred employees in arson-for-profit schemes. This article shows a clear link between the policies of banks and insurance companies, on the one hand, and the arson-for-profit schemes of organized crime, professional arsonists, shady landlords and corrupt public officials. The materials presented in this paper are derived entirely from publicly available sources, including the local press, television documentaries, and especially the scattered records of property transactions. These transactions include sales and resales of buildings and land, insurance pole ides and brokerage arrangements, mortgage lending, papers of incorporation for trusts and holding companies, taxes, housing and land court decisions, housing inspections, fire code inspections, and fire histories of individual buildings and landlords.

This paper examines the “connection”between higher education and economic development in Massachusetts, a state whose renowned academic institutions have fueled the rise of a premier high technology industrial district. But in the aftermath to the abrupt demise of the “Massachusetts Miracle”, the state higher education system sought to develop a new mandate for public service in the 90s keyed to upgrading the state‘s industrial base and coordinating with labor market needs. These growing involvements in manifestly vocational endeavors seem to reflect a major shift in the models that articulate the higher education-economic development “connection” in Massachusetts. Thus, it appears that the elite model of the “world-class” research university sparking numerous industry spin-offs has been joined by newer diffusion-oriented models of academic outreach that extend out from the community colleges into the workplace and even into the K-12 schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]