BACKGROUND We examined the association of dialysis facility characteristics with payment reductions and change in clinical performance measures during the first year of the United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) End Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Plan (ESRD QIP) to determine its potential impact on quality and disparities in dialysis care. METHODS We linked the 20...

This paper evaluates changes in the racial and ethnic composition of admissions at three Texas universities following the judicial ban on affirmative action imposed by the 1996 Hopwood decision. We estimate the extent to which universities practiced affirmative action before the judicial ban, and evaluate how admission officers at these universities changed the relative weights accorded to vari...

The Democratic and Republican Parties both make strong claims that their policies benefit racial and ethnic minorities. These claims have, however, received little systematic empirical assessment. This is an important omission, because democracy rests on the ability of the electorate to evaluate the responsiveness of those who govern. We assess Democrats’ and Republicans’ claims by compiling ce...

State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAESs) were established with federal formula funding by the Hatch Act of 1887. In 1955, the Hatch Act was amended and a number of subsequent formula funding programs were consolidated under the USDA Cooperative States Research Service (CSRS), which today is known as the Cooperative Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES). Currently, all of the ...

The primary objective of this paper is to analyse the outsourcing trends in last one decade and to forecast the future on the basis of past studies. In this paper concepts and trends about outsourcing has been discussed on the basis of past studies. An extensive amount of literature review has been done to obtain the objective. This paper demonstrates the previous literature and findings. Outso...

To meet its goal of universal health insurance coverage, the Clinton health plan requires all employers to offer health insurance to their employees. Using survey data on more than 2,200 small businesses, we estimate how many firms and employees would be affected by this mandate and calculate the financial burden, adjusting for the small-business subsidies recommended in the Clinton plan. Becau...

The aim of this study was to analyze the electromyographic (EMG) activity of biceps brachii (BB) muscle under the same muscle contraction in three different locations. For this reason, arm wrestling contest was conducted to record the EMG signal from ten male subjects. Electrodes were placed on the three locations of upper arm BB; i.e. middle (belly) of BB (M), lower part (L) and upper part (U)...