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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.

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]

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]

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]

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]