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TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUICIDE IN THE MOUNTAIN STATES 366 II. EFFECTIVENESS, JURISPRUDENCE, HUNTING 367 A. Red Flag Laws and Reduction of Firearm Violence 367 B. Modern 2nd Amendment Analysis [...], Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming lead the United States in a category coveted by no one: the suicide rate. Firearm ownership drives the rate to the disproportionate level it reaches year after year and the states are left with little recourse. This article argues the usefulness and constitutionality of narrowly tailored red-flag laws aimed exclusively at reducing the rate of suicide in these mountain states. The article follows Supreme Court jurisprudence leading up to New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and offers an analysis that complies with the hyper textualist history and tradition test laid out by Scalia in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago. The analysis demonstrates that narrowly tailored red flag laws are a constitutional means of reducing the suicide rate in these at-risk states and references statutory and cultural avenues for the implementation of the legislation.

As a teacher who came from a background in traditional music education and shifted to teaching modern band, I observed that musicians skilled in popular styles are adept at learning [...]

Joseph Campbell New World Library 14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949 www.newworldlibrary.com 9781608687299, $29.95, HC, 560pp https://www.newworldlibrary.com/Books/ProductDetails/tabid/64/SKU/87299/Default.aspx# Fans of Joseph Campbell will appreciate this new edition, part of his Masks [...]

It is in the fields of the arts that the reductive, life-diminishing effect of the loss of all sense of form is today most disquieting; for it is in the [...]

An analysis of how the locals in 17 countries around the world are reacting to Americans travelers in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq. By and large, Americans were not mistreated anywhere, with the majority of people being able to distinguish between the actions of the US government and individual US citizens.

This study examines the consequences of adding a geriatric subacute unit to the traditional health care mix offered by a nonprofit hospital. Historically, geriatric health care offerings have been limited to either acute care units or long-term care facilities. The study's findings demonstrate that the addition of a subacute unit that is operated by an interdisciplinary team is a competitively rational move for two reasons. First, it provides a continuum of care that integrates services and departments, thereby reducing costs. Second, it provides a supportive environment for patients and their families. As a consequence patients have a higher probability of returning home than patients who are assigned to more traditional modes of care. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: Website: [c] 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS. Subacute care, geriatric healthcare, cross-functional teams, quality of life

Ultrasonography appears to be a reliable means of assessing whether a spontaneous abortion is complete. Following a spontaneous abortion, also known as miscarriage, placental tissue may be left in the uterus. Distinguishing between a complete and incomplete miscarriage can be complicated if the cervix is closed and bleeding is not heavy. Some gynecologists recommend routine curettage, which is the surgical scraping of the uterus, in cases of suspected incomplete miscarriage while others advocate intervention only if necessary. Ultrasonography was used to detect the presence of placental tissue or uterine thickening in 62 women who suffered spontaneous abortions. Forty-eight of 49 patients with negative ultrasound results recovered without intervention. One developed cramps and bleeding and underwent curettage. Of 13 patients with positive ultrasound results who underwent curettage, nine actually had placental tissue left in the uterus.

I was delighted to read the headline 'Has S&T Been Dumbed Down?' over Robert Naeye's Spectrum column (February issue, page 8). This is how I've felt too! I thought the [...]

The problem of off-floor trading is analyzed through experimental methods. The results show that off-floor trading may occur in certain incentive conditions, such as in a trading environment with a wide bid-ask spread. It is also observed that off-floor trading increases with block-trading and with subject experience. It is theorized that a motive for off-block trading is the opportunity to split spread gains without revealing any price concessions.

Temporary mechanical circulatory support (TMCS) provides short-term support to patients with or at risk of refractory cardiogenic shock. Although indications, contraindications, and complications of TMCS may guide device selection, optimal strategies for device weaning and explant remain poorly defined. Under the revised adult heart allocation policy implemented by the United Nations for Organ Sharing in October 2018, rejustification of heart transplant listing status includes demonstrating TMCS dependency with attempted device wean trials. However, standardized device-specific weaning and explant protocols have not been proposed or evaluated. This review highlights when to use percutaneous TMCS in cardiogenic shock, with a focus on weaning and explant considerations. Terminology for important concepts that guide device escalation, de-escalation, and explantation have been defined. Clinical, hemodynamic, metabolic, and imaging features have been defined, which can guide a tailored approach to TMCS weaning and explant based on the approach used at the Cleveland Clinic. A narrative review of published studies that have reported TMCS weaning protocols and survey results of member centers from CS-MCS working group centers is also provided. Future research is needed to better understand optimal timing and implementation of standardized protocols to achieve successful TMCS weaning and explant.

High-speed digital servo networks are paving the way to new control architectures for industrial robots. And the IEEE-1394 FireWire protocol is emerging as a leading standard in high-performance motion control. [...]

Profiles several executives and the companies they would invest in. Michael Bruynsteyn, a researcher for Prudential; Colin Devine, an insurance researcher at Smith Barney; Andrew McQuilling, a household products analyst for UBS Warburg; David Stumpf, an investor with A.G. Edwards; Joseph Campbell, defense and aerospace analyst for Lehman Bros.; Michael Mayer, an analyst with Prudential.

Machine vision systems are 'lookin' good' Machine vision has come a long way in the past decade. Today's vision systems not only find defects, they also can prevent them by […]

While virtual reality (VR) is emerging as an interactive tool for chemical education, its application and assessment for chemical education are still limited. Thus, an educational VR activity based on interactive molecular dynamics in virtual reality (iMD-VR), which allows for real-time, immersive interactions with a dynamic molecular world, was now designed and executed to demonstrate chemical concepts and engage students in exploring molecular structures, motions, and interactions. There were 70 students in the first semester of an introductory organic chemistry course asked to complete an example task to pull a methane molecule through a carbon nanotube with iMD-VR software originally designed for research purposes by Glowacki and co-workers. Our assessments of this activity have shown valuable motivational impacts and measurable learning gains. The VR activity can be further tailored to many different levels by varying the topics and tasks, with affordable hardware and software.

Douglas Roche, Bread Not Bombs: A Political Agenda For Social Justice, The University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, 1999, 162 pp. $19.95 (soft cover) In this book, Senator Roche contends […]

Globalization is one of the buzz words of contemporary economics. Defined as the creation of a single world market for goods and services, globalization is transforming the planet's economy by […]

Poverty and exclusion are central concerns voiced recently by the Social Affairs Commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Campaign Against Child Poverty (CACP), a coalition […]

The subject of euthanasia, Greek for 'good death', is once more in the news (see News in Brief, under Canada, Supreme Court #3). As the Latimer court case proved, some […]

A sophisticated approach to kinematics is what differentiates robot controllers from more general-purpose motion equipment. An interesting situation emerged recently when a manufacturer tried to put a vision system on [...]

In the deluge of comment following the passing of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, little mention has been made of his contribution to the culture of death. Although a […]

find new jobs for robots The late 1970s and early 1980s saw an explosion of interest in robotics. There were predictions that robots would solve every manufacturing challenge, reduce labor [...]

"In Canada, welfare activists do not define poverty as the inability to meet basic needs. Rather they consider it a certain level of inequality." In Canada, the poor do not […]

The first article in this series appeared in the combined January-February issue of this year, pages 10,11, and 34. It explained the goal of Catholic social teaching (protect the dignity […]

Catholic social teaching finds its origins in the Scriptures and the teachings of the Lord, and its first organized applications in medieval times. Following the social upheaval of the religious […]

Summary points Unexplored assumptions about the knowledge underpinning practice underlie some fashions in medical education Definitions of a topic may be vague or differ among practitioners In a fashion, educational [...]

Standing in the Florentine Church where Galileo Galilei was entombed, I could scarcely believe my ears. "Galileo," our young tour guide was saying, "proved that the earth goes round the […]

In its Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication, the Second Vatican Council stated that the goal of a Catholic press should be to "form, strengthen, and spread public views […]

While competing in an obstacle course race, a 57-year-old male athlete developed left groin and leg pain. Several days later, infrarenal aortic dissection with clinically worsening left leg ischemia was diagnosed. An emergent repair was performed and consisted of an aorto-uni-iliac endovascular stent graft, an occluder in the left iliac artery, and a right-to-left femoral-femoral artery bypass. To the authors’ knowledge, the present report is the first case of a spontaneous infrarenal aortic dissection in a competitive athlete associated with participation in an extreme athletic event.

Citizens of the Heavenly City A Catechism of Catholic Social Teaching WRITTEN BY Arthur Hippler PUBLISHED BY Borromeo Books, St. Paul MN, 2005, ISBN: 0976309823, Softcover, pp. 154, $15.95 USD […]

Justifying flexible automation is always a challenge. Whether a new system is to be deployed or an existing one is being updated, at some point 'funding' has to be addressed. [...]

Every time it looks as if CART is finished, its president and CEO Christopher Pook seems to do something intelligent to make it more affordable and sustain its life. I […]

Purpose:To report a treatment approach for advanced extrascleral uveal melanoma. Methods:We performed clinical examination including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, angiography, and histopathologic analysis. Case:A 49-year-old healthy woman presented with a 7-year history of an enlarging pigmented mass in her right orbit. Malignant melanoma was diagnosed after biopsy with immunohistochemical stains. Treatment included selective intra-arterial embolization. Results:A significant reduction in tumor burden was seen 3 months after intra-arterial embolization. No complications were associated with the treatment. Conclusion:Selective intra-arterial embolization may allow adequate palliative therapy in select cases of advanced extrascleral uveal melanoma.

The article presents several photographs sent to the journal by readers with various vehicles including Honda TRX90 from Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Cobra ECX 50, and Yamaha TRI-Z from Yamaha Corp.

The impacts of recent natural disasters highlight the hidden vulnerabilities in society’s food, energy, and water systems and the potential for climate change to amplify these social liabilities. Some have pointed to technological solutions to reduce vulnerabilities and to build resiliency into food, energy, and water systems (FEWS). While technological advances to upgrade human systems, e.g., in agriculture, urban planning, pollution abatement, and green energy development, are critical, these technical advances are insufficient on their own. Effective FEWS management depends on understanding human decision-making, including adaptations to new environmental, social, or economic changes and the responses of individuals and communities to new technologies intended to improve FEWS resilience and sustainability. This paper draws on multiple social science perspectives, including decision science, economics, and sociology, to consider the fundamental role that human behavior and adaptations play in FEWS. We discuss the importance of accounting for human behavior within a coupled human-natural systems framework in which a range of human adaptations and feedbacks are considered, including how humans might respond directly to press-pulse dynamics and indirectly through their adoption of new technology. Following a brief summary of key concepts of decision-making theory at individual and community scales, we then focus on migration and land use changes, the two types of human adaptations that are particularly important for FEWS modeling and management. The paper concludes with a discussion of key knowledge gaps and research needs in the social sciences related to human adaptations in the context of FEWS.

Hiring temporary resources for any function is now a common practice throughout the United States. From entry level unskilled labor to virtual executives, companies are fitting temporary resources into positions [...]

The viewing of videos is a much-studied intervention to teach self-help, social, and vocational skills. Many of the studies to date looked at video modeling using televisions, computers, and other large screens. This study looked at the use of video modeling on portable handheld devices to teach hand washing to three adolescent students with an autism spectrum disorder. Three students participated in this 4-week study conducted by occupational therapists. Baseline data were obtained for the first student for 1 week, the second for 2 weeks, and the third for 3 weeks; videos were introduced when the participants each finished the baseline phase. Given the cognitive and motor needs of the participants, the occupational therapist set the player so that the participants only had to press the play button to start the video playing. The participants were able to hold the players and view at distances that were most appropriate for their individual needs and preferences. The results suggest that video modeling on a handheld device improves the acquisition of self-help skills.

The entertainment industry has a ready response to complaints about gratuitous sex and violence. The portrayal of both, industry apologists say, reflects social realities. Film critic Michael Medved noted this [...]

ABSTRACTThe vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is a secreted viral protein that binds the C3b and C4b complement components and inhibits the classic and alternative complement pathways. Previously, we reported that an attenuated smallpox vaccine, LC16m8, which was derived from the Lister strain of vaccinia virus (VV-Lister), expressed a glycosylated form of VCP, whereas published sequence data at that time indicated that the VV-Lister VCP has no motif for N-linked glycosylation. We were interested in determining whether the glycosylation of VCP impairs its biological activity, possibly contributing to the attenuation of LC16m8, and the likely origin of the glycosylated VCP. Expression analysis indicated that VV-Lister contains substrains expressing glycosylated VCP and substrains expressing nonglycosylated VCP. Other strains of smallpox vaccine, as well as laboratory strains of vaccinia virus, all expressed nonglycosylated VCP. Individual Lister virus clones expressing either the glycosylated VCP or the nonglycosylated species were isolated, and partially purified VCP from the isolates were found to be functional equivalents in binding human C3b and C4b complement proteins and inhibiting hemolysis and in immunogenicity. Recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing FLAG-tagged glycosylated VCP (FLAG-VCPg) and nonglycosylated VCP (FLAG-VCP) were constructed based on the Western Reserve strain. Purified FLAG-VCP and FLAG-VCPg bind human C3b and C4b and blocked complement-mediated hemolysis. Our data suggest that glycosylation did not affect the biological activity of VCP and thus may not have contributed to the attenuation of LC16m8. In addition, the LC16m8 virus likely originated from a substrain of VV-Lister that expresses glycosylated VCP.

Scotts Valley, Calif. -- Seagate Technology Inc. believes its strength is in numbers- fewer numbers, that is. The mass-storage manufacturer, based here, cut its roster of distributors by more than […]

After listening to the steady chants of many people during the last couple of years calling out for the PC, I believe the answer is no. The PC does not [...]

In this work, we propose a framework that automatically discovers dialect-specific phonetic rules. These rules characterize when certain phonetic or acoustic transformations occur across dialects. To explicitly characterize these dialect-specific rules, we adapt the conventional hidden Markov model to handle insertion and deletion transformations. The proposed framework is able to convert pronunciation of one dialect to another using learned rules, recognize dialects using learned rules, retrieve dialect-specific regions, and refine linguistic rules. Potential applications of our proposed framework include computer-assisted language learning, sociolinguistics, and diagnosis tools for phonological disorders.

Most research on segregation focuses on racial residential segregation in metropolitan statistical areas and typically uses a-spatial measures of segregation. What is less clear is if segregation measures operate in a similar fashion in nonmetropolitan areas and if spatial patterns exist for poverty segregation in nonmetro counties. The purpose of this research was to examine multiple dimensions of poverty segregation in the United States the period 2006–2010 for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Data for this analysis come from the 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5 year estimates, the 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, Summary File 3 and the USDA Economic Research Service. Four different measures of poverty segregation were calculated, including both aspatial and spatial measures. A nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test for variation in the segregation indices across metro and nonmetro areas and spatially autoregressive models were used to examine the socioeconomic correlates of poverty segregation. Results indicate significant variation in poverty segregation patterns in metro and nonmetro counties in the US, and nonmetro counties outside of the South have significantly lower levels of poverty segregation. This research adds to the literature by exploring patterns of metro and nonmetro poverty segregation and measuring different dimensions of segregation with an explicit spatial referent across counties in the contiguous United States in an effort to note differences in how segregation works across rural and urban places.

ABSTRACTWe report that GRL-0519, a novel nonpeptidic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitor (PI) containing tris-tetrahydrofuranylurethane (tris-THF) and a sulfonamide isostere, is highly potent against laboratory HIV-1 strains and primary clinical isolates (50% effective concentration [EC50], 0.0005 to 0.0007 μM) with minimal cytotoxicity (50% cytotoxic concentration [CC50], 44.6 μM). GRL-0519 blocked the infectivity and replication of HIV-1NL4-3variants selected by up to a 5 μM concentration of ritonavir, lopinavir, or atazanavir (EC50, 0.0028 to 0.0033 μM). GRL-0519 was also potent against multi-PI-resistant clinical HIV-1 variants isolated from patients who no longer responded to existing antiviral regimens after long-term antiretroviral therapy, highly darunavir (DRV)-resistant variants, and HIV-2ROD. The development of resistance against GRL-0519 was substantially delayed compared to other PIs, including amprenavir (APV) and DRV. The effects of nonspecific binding of human serum proteins on GRL-0519's antiviral activity were insignificant. Our analysis of the crystal structures of GRL-0519 (3OK9) and DRV (2IEN) with protease suggested that the tris-THF moiety, compared to the bis-THF moiety present in DRV, has greater water-mediated polar interactions with key active-site residues of protease and that the tris-THF moiety and paramethoxy group effectively fill the S2 and S2′ binding pockets, respectively, of the protease. The present data demonstrate that GRL-0519 has highly favorable features as a potential therapeutic agent for treating patients infected with wild-type and/or multi-PI-resistant variants and that the tris-THF moiety is critical for strong binding of GRL-0519 to the HIV protease substrate binding site and appears to be responsible for its favorable antiretroviral characteristics.

Metallization of organic surfaces is important especially for applications in molecular electronics. It can be realized by different means, one promising albeit less studied method being gas-phase deposition of metal clusters. Here, we report on the interactions of gas-phase Cu, Ag, and Au clusters with n-dodecanethiolate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au substrate. The morphology and composition of the deposited clusters and their impact on the interface structure of the SAM/Au substrate were investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy. The chemical and physical interactions between the clusters and thiolates were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Au clusters are found to penetrate through the monolayer as a whole and partially retain their spherical geometry, whereas atom-by-atom diffusion and/or defect-mediated penetration are proposed for the Cu and Ag clusters.

An excerpt from the audiotape "The Collected Lectures of Joseph Campbell," by Joseph Campbell is presented.