Sustained Positive Effects on Graduation Rates Produced by New York City's Small Public High Schools of Choice

Evaluates how effectively small academically nonselective high schools that replaced large failing ones achieved sustained improvement in academic progress and graduation rates across variations in prior proficiency, family income, and demographics

The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs: Findings After the First Year of Implementation

This report presents one-year implementation and impact findings on two supplemental academic instruction approaches developed for after-school settings -- one for math and one for reading. Compared with regular after-school programming, the supplemental math program had impacts on student SAT 10 test scores and the supplemental reading program did not --although the reading program had some effect on reading fluency

Tuning of Collagen Scaffold Properties Modulates Embedded Endothelial Cell Regulatory Phenotype in Repair of Vascular Injuries In Vivo

Perivascularly implanted matrix embedded endothelial cells (MEECs) are potent regulators of inflammation and intimal hyperplasia following vascular injuries. Endothelial cells (ECs) in collagen scaffolds adopt a reparative phenotype with significant therapeutic potential. Although the biology of MEECs is increasingly understood, tuning of scaffold properties to control cell-substrate interactions is less well-studied. It is hypothesized that modulating scaffold degradation would change EC phenotype. Scaffolds with differential degradation are prepared by cross-linking and predegradation. Vascular injury increases degradation and the presence of MEECs retards injury-mediated degradation. MEECs respond to differential scaffold properties with altered viability in vivo, suppressed smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation in vitro, and altered interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression. When implanted perivascularly to a murine carotid wire injury, tuned scaffolds change MEEC effects on vascular repair and inflammation. Live animal imaging enables real-time tracking of cell viability, inflammation, and scaffold degradation, affording an unprecedented understanding of interactions between cells, substrate, and tissue. MEEC-treated injuries improve endothelialization and reduce SMC hyperplasia over 14 d. These data demonstrate the potent role material design plays in tuning MEEC efficacy in vivo, with implications for the design of clinical therapies.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 GM 49039

Innovative Destruction - Structured Finance and Credit Market Reform in the Bubble Era

The combination of unregulated financial innovation and rampant greed had, and continues to have, dire effects on the global economy. The financial crisis, which began in the U.S. subprime housing market, has spread across the globe, decimating the structured finance industry and brought about an unprecedented collapse in the world financial markets. This paper explores the role that structured finance played in the credit crisis, by dissecting the complex instruments which drove the industry and allowed the U.S. subprime housing market meltdown to infect the entire global economy. The author argues that the finance industry is in need of thorough reform and draws on the work of international organizations, governments, and the financial industry to formulate a plan to create a more sustainable financial framework. These proposals target three interrelated areas: 1) the management of financial institutions; 2) the regulation of financial markets, with a specific emphasis on the role of credit rating agencies; and 3) international regulatory coordination. The global financial system as it was has failed the test of time and it is only through meaningful reform and a rethinking of motivations that a stronger and more sustainable global economy can be fostered

Justice for All

Justice for All demonstrates that the Jewish Bible, by radically changing the course of ethical thought, came to exercise enormous influence on Jewish thought and law and also laid the basis for Christian ethics and the broader development of modern Western civilization.Jeremiah Unterman shows us persuasively that the ethics of the Jewish Bible represent a significant moral advance over Ancient Near East cultures. Moreover, he elucidates how the Bible’s unique conception of ethical monotheism, innovative understanding of covenantal law, and revolutionary messages from the prophets form the foundation of many Western civilization ideals. Justice for All connects these timeless biblical texts to the persistent themes of our times: immigration policy, forgiveness and reconciliation, care for the less privileged, and attaining hope for the future despite destruction and exile in this world

Exporting Risk: Global Implications of the Securitization of U.S. Housing Debt

The process of securitization has revolutionized the global debt market creating vast investment opportunities while fundamentally altering the dynamics of lending risk. Asset securitization allows risks to be transferred from, mortgage lenders to investors through the sale of mortgage-backed securities. This detachment of risk has led to a lack of accountability within the industry and the creation of the infamous U.S. sub prime mortgage market. This piece examines the effect of securitization on the international capital market focusing on the legal and economic implications of the rise and fall of the U.S. housing market. It argues that this failure is symptomatic of a dysfunctional global debt market which operates without effective regulation or oversight at the international level. The paper considers initiatives aimed at improving the operation of the global investment industry and proposes the creation of an international credit organization empowered to regulate and oversee the flow of global capital. As the U.S. mortgage-back securities market drags the global economy towards a financial crisis the need for international regulation of debt has never been so clear

Insulin-Like Growth Factor Levels During Pregnancy in the Cow are Affected by Protein Supplementation in the Maternal Diet

To determine if dietary protein supplementation in early pregnancy alters total circulating insulinlike growth factor (IGF) levels, genetically similar heifers were fed diets containing different levels of protein in the first and second trimesters of gestation. The groups were: low/low (L/L), fed a diet containing 7% crude protein (CP) per kg/DM (low protein) in the first and second trimesters; high/high (H/H), fed a diet containing 14% CP per kg/DM (high protein) in the first and second trimesters; low/high (L/H), fed low protein in the first trimester and high in the second trimester and vice versa for the high/low (H/L) group. At day 62 of gestation, there was a significant difference (