The incidence and health economic burden of ischemic amputation in Minnesota, 2005-2008

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most severe manifestation of peripheral artery disease (PAD), is associated with high rates of myocardial infarction, stroke, and amputation, and has a high health economic cost. The objective of this study was to estimate the incidence of lower limb amputation, the most serious consequence of CLI, and to create a surveillance methodology for the incidence of ischemic amputation in Minnesota.

A Blueprint for Buddhist Revolution: The Radical Buddhism of Seno’o Girō (1889–1961) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism

In the early decades of the twentieth century, as Japanese society became engulfed in war and increasing nationalism, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions capitulated to the status quo. One notable exception to this trend, however, was the Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei (Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism), founded on 5 April 1931. Led by Nichiren Buddhist layman Seno’o Girō and made up of young social activists who were critical of capitalism, internationalist in outlook, and committed to a pan-sectarian and humanist form of Buddhism that would work for social justice and world peace, the league���s motto was “carry the Buddha on your backs and go out into the streets and villages.” This article analyzes the views of the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism as found in the religious writings of Seno’o Girō to situate the movement in its social and philosophical context, and to raise the question of the prospects of “radical Buddhism” in twenty-first century Japan and elsewhere.

Building the New Society in the Shell of the Old: Finnish-Canadian Hall Socialism and the Canadian Industrial Unionist Support League

The literature on Finnish immigrant working-class movements in North America frequently makes reference to the phenomenon of "hall socialism," so-called because of the central position that the socialist or labor hall occupied in the political, associational, and cultural life of many Finnish communities throughout the twentieth-century. In the 1930s, over 80 such Finnish halls were spread across Canada, and many people associated with these halls vigorously supported the mission of organized labor. This paper will examine the history, ideas, and practices of the Industrial Workers of the World-influenced Canadan Teollisuusunionistien Kannatus Liitto (CTKL; Canadian Industrial Unionist Support League), and its connections to Finnish Canadian hall socialism. The paper will consider the role of the CTKL in supporting workers' struggles, the significance of the hall as a part of the infrastructural bedrock that sustained this support, and the broader interaction between social and radical organizing commitments.

Finnish Americans and the Farm Revolt of the 1930s

Farm protest in the United States attracted widespread attention in the 1930s as militant farmers interfered with foreclosure sales, demonstrated at county court houses and state capitals, and blocked highways and stopped trains to prevent crops and livestock from going to market in an effort to raise farm prices. The best known of the protest groups was the Farmers Holiday Association, which was formed in 1932. Prior to the Holiday, however, a left-wing group organized by Communists in 1930 known as the United Farmers League (UFL) gained an initial following in the cutover country of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and parts of the Dakotas and northeast Montana. Finnish Americans dominated the UFL in the Upper Midwest and in a few locales in the Dakotas. Evidence for this high level of influence comes from the fact that the head of the Communist Party’s Agrarian Department was Henry Puro, a key figure in Finnish American Communist circles and a member of the Party’s Politburo. This paper will focus on Finnish American involvement in the UFL and, to a lesser extent, the broader-based Farmers Holiday movement.

Golden-winged Warbler habitat model validation for northern Wisconsin and central Minnesota

Between 1966 and 2003, the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) experienced declines of 3.4% per year in large parts of the breeding range and has been identified by Partners in Flight as one of 28 land birds requiring expedient action to prevent its continued decline. It is currently being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. A major step in advancing our understanding of the status and habitat preferences of Golden-winged Warbler populations in the Upper Midwest was initiated by the publication of new predictive spatially explicit Golden-winged Warbler habitat models for the northern Midwest. Here, I use original data on observed Golden-winged Warbler abundances in Wisconsin and Minnesota to compare two population models: the hierarchical spatial count (HSC) model with the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model. I assessed how well the field data compared to the model predictions and found that within Wisconsin, the HSC model performed slightly better than the HSI model whereas both models performed relatively equally in Minnesota. For the HSC model, I found a 10% error of commission in Wisconsin and a 24.2% error of commission for Minnesota. Similarly, the HSI model has a 23% error of commission in Minnesota; in Wisconsin due to limited areas where the HSI model predicted absences, there was incomplete data and I was unable to determine the error of commission for the HSI model. These are sites where the model predicted presences and the Golden-winged Warbler did not occur. To compare predicted abundance from the two models, a 3x3 contingency table was used. I found that when overlapped, the models do not complement one another in identifying Golden-winged Warbler presences. To calculate discrepancy between the models, the error of commission shows that the HSI model has only a 6.8% chance of correctly classifying absences in the HSC model. The HSC model has only 3.3% chance of correctly classifying absences in the HSI model. These findings highlight the importance of grasses for nesting, shrubs used for cover and foraging, and trees for song perches and foraging as key habitat characteristics for breeding territory occupancy by singing males.

THE FANNED FLAMES OF DISCONTENT: A SOLIDARITY-INSPIRED HISTORY OF THE IDENTITY/IDEOLOGY, CULTURAL HISTORY, AND RHETORICAL STRATEGIES OF THE WOBBLIES DURING THE 1916 MINNESOTA IRON ORE STRIKE

Rooted in critical scholarship this dissertation is an interdisciplinary study, which contends that having a history is a basic human right. Advocating a newly conceived and termed, Solidarity-inspired History framework/practice perspective, the dissertation argues for and then delivers a restorative voice to working-class historical actors during the 1916 Minnesota Iron Ore Strike. Utilizing an interdisciplinary methodological framework the dissertation combines research methods from the Humanities and the Social Sciences to form a working-class history that is a corrective to standardized studies of labor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Oftentimes class interests and power relationships determine the dominant perspectives or voices established in history and disregard people and organizations that run counter to, or in the face of, customary or traditional American themes of patriotism, the Protestant work ethic, adherence to capitalist dogma, or United States exceptionalism. This dissertation counteracts these traditional narratives with a unique, perhaps even revolutionary, examination of the 1916 Minnesota Iron Ore Strike. The intention of this dissertation's critical perspective is to poke, prod, and prompt academics, historians, and the general public to rethink, and then think again, about the place of those who have been dislocated from or altogether forgotten, misplaced, or underrepresented in the historical record. Thus, the purpose of the dissertation is to give voice to historical actors in the dismembered past. Historical actors who have run counter to traditional American narratives often have their body of "evidence" disjointed or completely dislocated from the story of our nation. This type of disremembering creates an artificial recollection of our collective past, which de-articulates past struggles from contemporary groups seeking solidarity and social justice in the present. Class-conscious actors, immigrants, women, the GLBTQ community, and people of color have the right to be remembered on their own terms using primary sources and resources they produced. Therefore, similar to the Wobblies industrial union and its rank-and-file, this dissertation seeks to fan the flames of discontented historical memory by offering a working-class perspective of the 1916 Strike that seeks to interpret the actions, events, people, and places of the strike anew, thus restoring the voices of these marginalized historical actors.

Gentle Giant - Fierce Fighter: People Power from the League to the Legislature – Dorothy Eck “In the Crucible of Change”

Abstract to be posted.

The European League for Non-Western Studies and E-learning

Leiden’s Faculty of Arts invited on May 20th the members of the ELNWS for a workshop on e-learning for Non-Western studies. The aim of the workshop was to take a closer look at the possibilities of e-learning as a means of realizing co-operation between our universities. During our discussions, and looking back on the past academic years, we attempted to position our own academic community on the Internet, in the sense of 'looking for, finding and putting it on, or giving it a location' in the omnipresent Internet. In order to investigate the ways in which e-learning can be used as a tool to stimulate European co-operation within the field of Non-Western studies, Leiden’s Faculty of Arts rewards one initiative between two or more European universities of the ELNWS with financial support.

Contribution of the genes of the renin-angiotensin system to interindividual differences in blood pressure levels in Caucasians from Rochester, Minnesota

The Renin-Angiotensin system (RAS) regulates blood pressure through its effects on vascular tone, renal hemodynamics, and renal sodium and fluid balance. The genes encoding the four major components of the RAS, angiotensinogen, renin, angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE), and angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1), have been investigated as candidate genes in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. However, studies have primarily focused on small samples of diseased individuals, and, therefore, have provided little information about the determinants of interindividual variation in blood pressure (BP) in the general population.^ Using data from a large population-based sample from Rochester, MN, I have evaluated the contribution of variation in the region of the RAS genes to interindividual variation in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure in the population-at-large. Marker genotype data from four polymorphisms located within or very near these genes were first collected on 3,974 individuals from 583 randomly ascertained three-generation pedigrees. Haseman-Elston regression and variance component methods of linkage analysis were then carried out to estimate the proportion of interindividual variance in BP attributable to the effects of variation at these four measured loci.^ A significant effect of the ACE locus on interindividual variation in mean arterial pressure (MAP) was detected in a sample of siblings belonging to the youngest generation. After allowing for measured covariates, this effect accounted for 15-25% of the interindividual variance in MAP, and was even greater in a subset with a positive family history of hypertension. When gender-specific analyses were carried out, this effect was significant in males but not in females. Extended pedigree analyses also provided evidence for an effect of the ACE locus on interindividual variation in MAP, but no difference between males and females was observed. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the ACE gene itself may be responsible for the observed effects on BP, although the possibility that other genes in the region may be at play cannot be excluded.^ No definitive evidence for an effect of the renin, angiotensinogen, or AT1 loci on interindividual variation in BP was obtained in this study, suggesting that the impact of these genes on BP may not be great in the Caucasian population-at-large. However, this does not preclude a larger effect of these genes in some subsets of individuals, especially among those with clinically manifest hypertension or coronary heart disease, or in other populations. ^

Efficient Production of Wins in Major League Baseball

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied to Major League Baseball salary and performance data from 1985 to 2006 in order to identify those teams which produced wins most efficiently and the characteristics which lead to efficient production. It is shown that on average both National and American League teams over allocate the most resources to first basemen. Additionally, it is found that National League teams should allocate significantly more resources towards starting pitching while American League teams should allocate significantly more resources toward second base. It is also observed that efficient teams use younger less experienced players and employ rosters with a greater number of previous all star appearances.

A Principal-Agent Model of Contracting in Major League Baseball

Traditional economic analyses of the reserve clause in major league baseball view it as having arisen from the superior bargaining of owners compared to players. This article interprets it instead as promoting efficient investment by teams in player development, given the transferability of player skills to other teams. Using a principal-agent framework, the article shows that limited player mobility emerges as part of the optimal contract between players (principals) and teams (agents).