Project USA: American competitiveness and what must be done to restore it

The United States today faces a loss of influence as a world power, a reduction in American independence as a policymaker, and a decline in the standard of living on which Americans have come to depend. History teaches that nations weaker and less productive than the United States can rise to become economic powerhouses and rapidly increase their standards of living. History also teaches that nations failing to recognize their fundamental problems will inevitably decline. American politicians must face what is abundantly clear: the United States is losing ground and must act quickly to reverse its course. This White Paper outlines what must be done. Information about the nation's current status must be analyzed and communicated. Incentives to improve the level of competence in government must be provided and maintained. The emphasis of government policy must be changed to reflect broad economic and technological interests as opposed to special interests. Savings must be encouraged and increased. Infrastructure must be improved Tax laws must be modified to help bring these changes about. Economic and technological issues must be elevated to the importance they require. American thinking must reflect the new realities: that the age of leadership through military power is over, that the requirements for success in the world of the 1990s and beyond require a sound and growing economy that is internationally competitive. The US can accomplish these goals only through foundation-shaking, comprehensive, fundamental changealong the lines we propose herein.This paper is the executive summary (with minor editing modifications) of a white paper that is available from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management.     

Hair analysis for fenfluramine and norfenfluramine as biomarkers for N-nitrosofenfluramine ingestion

In this paper, a high performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FL) for the determination of fenfluramine (Fen) and norfenfluramine (Norf) in human hair as biomarker metabolites of N-nitrosofenfluramine (N-Fen) is described. Washed and cut hair segments were extracted by ultrasonication for 1h at room temperature in methanol. The extract was evaporated and applied for derivatization with the fluorescent reagent 4-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzoyl chloride (DIB-Cl). An HPLC-FL analysis was performed using an ODS column with mobile phase composition of acetonitrile and water (65:35, v/v) and monitored at 430 nm (excitation 325 nm). The method was sensitive with detection limits of 36 and 16 pg/mg hair for Fen and Norf, respectively. The linearity was assessed in the range 0.036-144 ng/mg for Fen and 0.016-127 ng/mg for Norf with correlation coefficients larger than 0.999. The method was successfully used for the segmental determination of Fen and Norf in hair samples obtained from hospitalized patients diagnosed with hepatotoxicity and suspected to ingest N-Fen. Both Fen and Norf could be detected in these patients' hair samples in the ranges 43-1389 pg/mg for Fen and 18-680 pg/mg for Norf and the results showed that the patients might ingest N-Fen for a period of not less than 5 months. As well, the method was applied for the determination of Fen and Norf in rats that possess pigmented and non-pigmented hair after an intraperitoneal administration of Fen. Both compounds were determined in black as well as in white hair.     

Visualization of Aged Fingerprints with an Ultraviolet Laser

Detection of aged fingerprints is difficult because they can degrade over time with exposure to light, moisture, and temperature. In this study, aging fingerprints were visualized by time‐resolved spectroscopy with an ultraviolet‐pulsed laser. Fingerprints were prepared on glass slides and paper and then stored under three lighting conditions and two humidity conditions for up to a year. The fluorescence intensities of the fingerprints decreased with time. Samples were stored in the dark degraded less than in sunlight or under a fluorescent lamp. Samples were stored under low humidity degraded less than under moderate humidity. As the storage period increased, a fluorescence emission peak appeared that was at a longer wavelength than the peak visible in earlier spectra. This peak was used for visualization of an aged fingerprint over time. An image of the fingerprint was not initially visible, but an image appeared as the time since deposition of the fingerprint increased.     

Visualization of latent fingerprints using fluorescence lifetime imaging on paper emitting strong fluorescence

Latent fingerprints were successfully visualized using fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) on paper which emits strong fluorescence with a lifetime close to that of fingerprints and thus from which it is difficult for time-resolved spectroscopy to visualize fingerprints. Latent fingerprint samples on paper were excited using a 450 nm or 532 nm nanosecond pulsed-laser, and time-resolved fluorescence images were obtained at a delay time of 6–16 ns in intervals of 1 ns, to the excitation pulse. The excitation beam was expanded using a lens, and the fluorescence from the fingerprints was captured using an intensified CCD camera. Because of the large fluorescence intensity of the background paper of approximately two to four orders of magnitude larger than that of the fingerprint, the fingerprint was not visualized on each fluorescence image by time-resolved spectroscopy. However, the fingerprint was visualized in a FLIM image constructed using a series of the fluorescence images for the case with the fluorescence intensity of the background paper being four orders of magnitude larger than that of the fingerprint. The difference in fluorescence lifetime in the FLIM image of the visualized fingerprint and background paper was in the order of 0.1 ns, which was an order of magnitude smaller than the inherent fluorescence lifetime of a few nanoseconds for the fingerprints and paper. It was demonstrated that, at a background fluorescence intensity with a certain order of magnitude larger than that of fingerprints, FLIM has the potential to visualize latent fingerprints which cannot be visualized by time-resolved spectroscopy.     

Estimation of the age of human bloodstains by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy: long-term controlled experiment on the effects of environmental factors

In this study, we examined the efficacy and limitations of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) for estimating the age of human bloodstains. At 77K, human bloodstains give four striking EPR signals in the g=6.2 (g6), 4.3 (g4), 2.27 (H) and 2.005 (R) regions due to ferric high-spin, ferric non-heme, ferric low-spin and free radical species, respectively. We found that plotting double logarithms of the EPR intensity ratio of H/g4 versus days past bleeding gave a linear correlation up to 432 days with an error range within 25% of the actual number of days under controlled conditions. However, environmental factors such as differences of absorbent, light exposure and fluctuations of storage temperature affected the changes of these EPR-active compounds, which result in misestimation of the time since bleeding occurred. Therefore, one should take such factors into account in estimating the period since bleeding by this method.     

Estimation of postmortem interval from hypoxic inducible levels of vascular endothelial growth factor

Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important tasks in forensic medicine. Five autopsy organ tissues such as brain, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys were taken at the time of forensic autopsy from 19 known PMI cases with a range of postmortem intervals ranging from 1 to 120 h (the mean was 25.81 h), and the time-course of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was measured. The human hepatoma-derived Hep 3B cell line was used as a control. The levels of VEGF increased linearly with the PMI up to 20 h in lung (r = 0.95 and in kidney (r = 0.89), and up to 15 h PMI in liver (r = 0.88). The VEGF levels fell after 24 h PMI, and then remained stable. In brain, the levels of VEGF started to increase after 24 h PMI and increased linearly with PMI up to 40 h in brain (r = 0.94) and then begin to fall. In heart, there was no clear correlation between the PMI and VEGF level. Some variations occurred in selected cases, such as the infant and asphyxial deaths. In conclusion, measurement of hypoxia-inducible levels of VEGF in various body organs appears to be a useful method of estimating the PMI up to 24 h in forensic medicine and pathophysiology. This method is also probably applicable in ischaemia in clinical and basic medicine.