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In an emergency department (ED) sample, we investigated the concordance between identification of suicide-related visits through standardized comprehensive chart review versus a subset of 3 specific chart elements: ICD-9-CM codes, free-text presenting complaints, and free-text physician discharge diagnoses. The method for this study was review of medical records for adults (≥18 years) at 8 EDs across the United States. A total of 3,776 charts were reviewed. A combination of the 3 chart elements (ICD-9-CM, presenting complaints, and discharge diagnoses) provided the most robust data with 85% sensitivity, 96% specificity, 92% PPV, and 92% NPV. These findings highlight the use of key discrete fields in the medical record that can be extracted to facilitate identification of whether an ED visit was suicide-related. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents survey data assessing the civic and place engagement of Latino residents of three inner-ring Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix. Miami, and Chicago. We utilize a Latino/a Studies-inspired conceptual framework to assess the civic and place engagement of Latinos on its own terms, rather than as in-transition toward a mainstream or as a variation of Black American patterns of engagement. Although we find levels of sociability and trust to be uniformly high in our study neighborhoods, these social capital building blocks do not necessarily translate into civic and place engagement. Rather, we find civic and place engagement to be high in Pilsen, low in Little Havana, and mixed in Garfield. We conclude by suggesting that Latino/a civic and place engagement is predicated on the full cultural citizenship of Latinos; in addition, we suggest that Latino cultural citizenship is a notion that must become more attentive to place-based differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at U.S. environmental politics, policies, and the common good. According to the article, throughout American history, the dominant policies of the U.S. have been to promote the economic exploitation of natural resources. Some U.S. environmental policies have also included initiatives to manage and protect the natural environment, such as water management projects and controlling pollution. The article discusses public health, federal conservation, and sanitation policies, the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, the limits of current environmental policies, and international environmental diplomacy.

The objectives of the Environmental Services Department of Athens International Airport SA (AIA) are to monitor environmental conditions, ensure compliance with environmental regulations, communicate environmental information, and undertake initiatives to improve environmental conditions. Since 2000, the Environmental Services Department has been certified according to EN ISO 14001:1996. During the next audit it will seek certification according to EN ISO 14001: 2004. This case study introduces the main elements of the environmental management system (EMS) regarding design, development and implementation, and examines the benefits and challenges of its adoption. Certification has led to a number of operational,environmental and public relations benefits, such as effective environmental monitoring and proactive approach to environmental problems. At the same time,EMS adoption requires continuous internal and external reviews to ensure proper implementation. One of the main future challenges is to expand the EMS to other AIA departments as well as to encourage companies operating at the airport to adopt similar systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the inclination of Muslim countries towards the system of democracy. Freedom and opportunities desired by Islamic nations; Practical reasons behind the promotion of democracy by the U.S.; Definition of democracy.

The attack on the World Trade Center occurred less than a quarter of a mile from Pace University in Lower Manhattan. This paper represents a compilation of the recollection of the events of September 11, 2001, and its aftermath from the four senior staff members of the Counseling Center. Our purpose is to share our experiences and perspectives of these events from the point of view of the closest university to the attack. We will also share some of the ways in which we coped as a staff, how we helped the larger community to cope, and some of the lessons we learned from both a professional and personal point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the speech of the director of Policy Planning for the State Department in the U.S. concerning the involvement of the American government on the peace process in Northern Ireland. Existing political conditions in the country; Emphasis on the launch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to promote peace; Factors influencing improved economic conditions; Role of the American government; Implications for politics and international relations.

This paper illustrates a 'bottom-up' model of a civilian technology policy program by recounting the story of the 'genesis' of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) Information Infrastructure for Healthcare (IIH) focused program beginning with the initial exchange of ideas between members of the private and public sector (industry's submission of 'white papers'; workshops conducted by the ATP; meetings held between individuals from both groups) in which those technologies necessary for the development of a national information infrastructure in healthcare were identified. Included is a discussion of the ATP 'white paper' process in which noted differences existed between what the ATP hoped to gain through this method and how the private sector responded. The ATP review and selection process and the experience of firms, small, medium and large, with ATP projects are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides nationally representative information about proprietary schools, or private career schools, and their students. General attributes; Kinds of training offered; Enrollment; Amount and type of student financial aid received by students; Cost of school training.

In a model, such as a logit regression model, we wish to compare the relative importance of two groups of predictors for various objectives. In the example that motivated this work, the model predicts patient outcomes during hospital stays, and we wish to measure the relative contribution of patient and hospital characteristics to the variation in outcomes among patients and among hospitals. This is done using the relative dispersion of patient and hospital contributions to the fitted outcomes. As is seen, this question is distinct from other common questions, including the quality of the overall fit, the degree to which the outcome is accurately predicted, the statistical significance of groups of predictors, and the correlations among and between groups of predictors. Relevant point estimates, confidence intervals, and hypothesis tests are developed. In the example, we examine three outcome measures and find that nearly all of the predictable variation in patient outcomes and most of the predictable variation in outcomes among hospitals reflects variation in patient characteristics rather than hospital characteristics; however, this is true in varying degrees for the three outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dynamic optimal control model is constructed to study US dairy policy alternatives under bovine somatotropin (bST). The results indicate that the adoption of bST might be slower than that indicated by the early surveys. Even if adoption is widespread, the government can have the potentially large milk surplus problems under control with a combination of price support, generic milk advertising, and a cow buy-out. With bST adoption, the government would set lower support prices and would increase assessment for milk advertising, compared with the no-bST case. The higher the adoption rates, the lower the support prices and the higher the advertising assessments. It is found that bST adoption is socially beneficial; consumers gain at the expense of producers. The government can, however, help producers by giving a larger policy weight to producers in setting the optimal levels of policy variables. Finally, it is found that the current levels of generic advertising are too low, and the allocation of advertising between fluid milk and manufactured products is not optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing maintenance and upkeep poses a concern to the health and well-being of the urban environment. While the number of 'substandard' residences continues to grow, especially in the older North-eastern and Midwestern industrial centers, an awareness and understanding of residential maintenance and upkeep, its causes, and its impact on the economic and social well-being of the urban area remain vague and inconclusive. Several theories of housing maintenance have been developed with each attributing maintenance and upkeep decisions to a variety of institutions and individuals; the market, 'failure' of the market, profit-seeking behavior of the landlord, and public policies. Each theory emphasizes only one or maybe two of these institutions in providing an explanation of maintenance and upkeep often using cross-sectional data to test their hypothesis. This study, using a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal data collected in the city of Providence, RI, views residential maintenance and upkeep as a dynamic phenomenon, part of a complex process of housing quality change. For this reason the use of a Markov Chain model in which housing structures are classified by number and degree of code violations as belonging to two 'states' -- standard and substandard -- is used in combination with a data base composed of annual observations over a ten-year study period. Two models (linear probability and dichotomous logit) will be used to calculate the transition probabilities of the Markov Chain model. This method allows the researcher to observe the historical development of a housing structure as it moves from one conditional state to another as being dependent upon several independent variables. Since some of these factors can be directly altered or indirectly influenced by public policy, the analysis may suggest various ways for policy-makers to influence maintenance and upkeep decisions and improve the distribution of housing across various quality states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a geographical analysis of the first 22 months of the Department of Defense's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening program for military applicants. This analysis concerns four HIV epidemic loci in the United States: New York City; Miami, Florida: Houston, Texas; and San Francisco, California. The cartographic analysis, using a novel smoothing algorithm to stabilize county-based rates, highlights the diffusion of the HIV epidemic from areas with relatively high prevalence to areas with relatively low prevalence of antibody to HIV. While there are particularities specific to each region, the diffusion patterns are remarkably consistent: areas closer to an endemic focus experience a slight decline over time, while more distant areas increase. The diffusion process depicted in map sequences demonstrates expansion diffusion in all four areas, while some provide a clear indication of a mixture of expansion and hierarchical processes. A previous analysis of these data for a fifteen-month period had concluded there was no evidence of a geographic trend in the data. Those conclusions were based on all ages pooled and used multi-state geographic units, making it unlikely that trends in prevalence, which varied by proximity to HIV epicenters, would have been detected. In view of the temporal crossover between the endemic and nonendemic areas' prevalence rates observed in Florida, Texas and California, any spatial analysis of these data using statewide summary rates will obscure the spatial-temporal trends. These data provide compelling evidence for the existence of sub-state level epidemics growing spatially and temporally into areas some miles from the original epicenters. We hope these results will encourage other public health personnel to undertake detailed surveillance of the AIDS and HIV infection epidemics at a unit of analysis small enough to permit quantifying spatial diffusion of this epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the 1990s regional order in the Middle East. In relation, an overview of the area's politics and government history is offered. It is noted that organizations of regional areas can work to resolve political conflicts, which can contribute to regional stability by promoting economic relations or cooperation on such international problems as terrorism, narcotics, and the environment. It offers information on a realistic path to coping on the proliferation problem in the Middle East including the U. S. arm-control efforts and promote conflict resolution.

The article discusses liberal internationalism. This paper focuses on the basic philosophy of U.S. foreign policy which has guided the country in a unilateral global exercise of power. Since the Soviet Union power collapsed and changes are now in place, issues on neglected economic and social problems are now given more attention in the U.S. The policy which steered the nation in various foreign philosophies will hold the country in the new challenges and opportunities drawn from the new era of liberal internationalism.

The article discusses the importance of international economic cooperation. After presenting an analogy of the competitive model to the system of the government, the author declares that the analogy is imperfect. He sighted the U.S. economy to show how governments react to economic events. He declares that the openness of the U.S. economy and the internationalization of markets result to the erosion of policy effectiveness, immobilization of economies and transformation of the impact of policy actions. In order to address this, United States extends its jurisdiction through extraterritoriality. The author suggests that if countries were to act together, effectiveness in fiscal policy will be restored. Impacts of international cooperation on the public health systems are also discussed.

The article discusses the political system in South Africa. It mentions that since P. W. Botha assumed power in 1978, significant changes happened in Africa including the disappearance of laws prohibiting intermarriage between races and regulations governing the movement of nonwhites. However, some trends toward desegregation remain particularly in education and health care systems. Moreover, most Indians did not cooperate with the government that resulted to violence and proclamation of a state of emergency. The author declares that the future of South Africa is uncertain. He enumerates several political alternatives for South Africa such as co-optation, power sharing and rightist alternatives. The role of the U.S. policy on the developments in South Africa is also emphasized.

Explains that the ability to innovate technologies is the key survival skill for businesses in the first 25 years of the twenty-first century. Discussion on the role of technological innovation to business success; Impact of innovation to companies; Ability of businesses in the United States to innovate.

Focuses on an extempore speaking contest among three schools in San Diego, California. Rules of the contest; Examples of topics that can be used for the contest; Audience reaction to the contest.

Presents a study that investigated the level of intelligence of high school debaters in the U.S. Comparison of levels of intelligence based on questionnaires distributed among the chapters of the National Forensic League; Background on the organization; Results and implications.

The article focuses on the importance of the two-year study of the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources for the national ocean program to establish an independent national oceanic and atmospheric agency in the U.S. Implicit to the recommendation is the rejection of the Department of the Interior as a suitable home for civilian oceanography programs. The Department of the Interior intends to play a major role in this regard by exploring and developing the Nation's marine resources so that these new markets will be economically viable. Theo judgment has been endorsed by most qualified observers in public testimony on legislation creating such an agency.