bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Blink Reflex in Genetic Generalized Epilepsy Patients With Eyelid Myoclonia
Authors: Altıokka-Uzun Güneş , Ekizoğlu Esme , Kocasoy-Orhan Elif , Bebek Nerses , Gürses Candan , Gökyiğit Ayşen , Öge Ali Emre , Baykan Betül
Published: May 2016

Eyelid myoclonia (EM) with or without absences are a rare type of generalized seizures associated with a variety of epilepsy syndromes with an unknown pathophysiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible contribution of the brainstem structures in this underrecognized special type of seizures. Sixteen consecutive patients with EM, diagnosed with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) according to International League Against Epilepsy 2010 criteria were included. Brainstem excitabilities were examined by blink reflex (BR) studies. The results of BR studies in GGE patients with EM were statistically compared with 2 control groups; namely age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients without any absences and using similar antiepileptic drugs. There were no statistical differences between the thresholds of the BR studies and the BR recovery curves in terms of amplitudes and areas of healthy subjects, JME patients and GGE patients with EM. Our findings do not support a profound interictal hyperexcitability in the BR-related brainstem structures of the GGE patients with EM. It can be considered that EM may be associated with excitability changes of the occipital cortex and other cortical areas.
Mismatch Negativity in First-Episode Schizophrenia
Authors: Haigh Sarah M. , Coffman Brian A. , Salisbury Dean F.
Published: May 2016

Mismatch negativity (MMN) to deviant stimuli is robustly smaller in individuals with chronic schizophrenia compared with healthy controls (Cohen’s d > 1.0 or more), leading to the possibility of MMN being used as a biomarker for schizophrenia. However, there is some debate in the literature as to whether MMN is reliably reduced in first-episode schizophrenia patients. For the biomarker to be used as a predictive marker for schizophrenia, it should be reduced in the majority of cases known to have the disease, particularly at disease onset. We conducted a meta-analysis on the fourteen studies that measured MMN to pitch or duration deviants in healthy controls and patients within 12 months of their first episode of schizophrenia. The overall effect size showed no MMN reduction in first-episode patients to pitch-deviants (Cohen’s d < 0.04), and a small-to-medium reduction to duration-deviants (Cohen’s d = 0.47). Together, this indicates that pitch-deviant MMN is not a candidate biomarker for schizophrenia prediction, while duration-deviant MMN may hold some promise, albeit nearly a third as large an effect as in chronic schizophrenia. Potential causes for discrepancies between studies are discussed.
Natural convection over a vertical isothermal plate in a non-Newtonian power-law fluid: New results
Authors: Pantokratoras Asterios
Published: May 2016

The natural convection along a vertical isothermal plate in a non-Newtonian power-law fluid is considered in this article. The problem has been treated in the past but only for the heat transfer case. The boundary layer equations are solved with the finite volume method. The problem is non-similar and is governed by the Prandtl number, the power-law index and the non-dimensional distance along the plate. Results are presented for non-dimensional distance up to 1000, Prandtl numbers from 1 up to 1000 and power-law index from 0.6 up to 1.5. Local Nusselt numbers, temperature profiles, skin friction and velocity profiles have been calculated and presented in tables and figures. The new results, combined with those existing in the literature, give a complete solution to this classical problem in the field of non-Newtonian power-law fluids.
Barriers to physical activity in obese adults: A rapid evidence assessment
Authors: McIntosh Toni , Hunter David J , Royce Sue
Published: May 2016

Rising rates of obesity are becoming a major problem in the Western world, with multiple implications for individuals’ health and also health service resources. Physical activity can positively influence weight loss and weight loss maintenance; however, levels are low among obese individuals. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers faced by obese individuals which prevent them from engaging with physical activity. A rapid evidence assessment was undertaken based on the framework provided by Bettany-Saltikov. Studies were identified from an electronic database search using key words, reference list search and manual searching of current journal issues. Identified studies were screened for relevance, appraised for quality and relevant data were extracted in order to identify themes for analysis. Seventeen studies were included in the review, of which twelve were quantitative, five qualitative and one mixed methods. Several barriers were identified relating to three main themes: physical, psychological and external barriers. Due to the variety of barriers faced by obese individuals it is important to treat each person as an individual and identify the barriers perceived by them, in order to provide targeted support to overcome these barriers.
Exploring the hole cleaning parameters of horizontal wellbore using two-phase Eulerian CFD approach
Authors: Dewangan Satish K , Sinha Shobha L
Published: May 2016

The present investigation deals with the flow through concentric annulus with the inner cylinder in rotation. This work has got its importance in the petroleum industries in relation to the wellbore drilling. In wellbore drilling, the issue of the hole-cleaning is very serious problem especially in case of the horizontal drilling process. The effect of the various parameters like slurry flow velocity, inner cylinder rotational speed, inlet solid concentration which affect hole cleaning was discussed. Their effect on the pressure drop, wall shear stress, mixture turbulence kinetic energy, and solid-phase velocity and slip velocity were analyzed, which are responsible for solid-phase distribution. Flow was considered to be steady, incompressible and two-phase slurry flow with water as carrier fluid and silica sand as the secondary phase. Eulerian approach was used for modeling the slurry flow. Silica sand was considered of spherical shape with particle size of 180 µm. ANSYS FLUENT software was used for modeling and solution. Plotting was done using Tecplot software and Microsoft Office.
Mechanism Designers in Alliance: A Portrayal of a Scholarly Network in Support of Experimental Economics
Authors: Lee Kyu Sang
Published: May 2016

This article takes one of the necessary, albeit rudimentary, steps toward coming to grips with the legitimation of laboratory experimentation in economics. To be specific, it aims to identify a subset of the nonexperimentalists in the economics profession who explicitly endorsed, between the early 1980s and the early 1990s, the legitimacy and the social usefulness of Vernon Smith's and Charles Plott's laboratory studies. By exploring several dimensions of the network established among Smith, Plott, and some well-known mechanism design theorists, this article demonstrates the following. First, close professional ties had been established among the protagonists discussed herein by the early 1980s. Second, in the 1970s and the 1980s, some mechanism design theorists felt the need to take Smith's and Plott's laboratory experiments seriously, and they indeed heeded the implications of Smith's and Plott's laboratory studies upon mechanism design. Third, the protagonists not only had keen interests in mechanism design, but shared the same conceptual scheme. Fourth, in the late 1970s and the 1980s, Smith and Plott believed that their laboratory studies were a useful complement to mechanism design theorists' mathematical endeavors, on the one hand; on the other, in the mid-1980s, the mechanism design theorists explicitly endorsed the complementarity of the two distinct scholarly activities and the legitimacy of Smith's and Plott's laboratory experimentation.
Evangelical Ecstasy Meets Feminist Fury
Authors: Mitchell Gregory
Published: May 2016

In the run-up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, the Brazilian government engaged in a militarized campaign to clean up favelas, blighted areas, and red-light districts so that it could “develop” them. Based on ethnographic work in Rio de Janeiro, London, and Cape Town, this article argues that there is a pattern in host cities of such events in which neoliberal agents, state forces, and nongovernmental organizations use discourses of feminism and human rights—especially unfounded fears about a link between sex trafficking and sports—to enact such changes regardless of the political economic conditions or systems of governance. By destroying safe and legal venues for sex work, these actors have created the very exploitation they purport to prevent. The article also links these actions to US foreign policy mandates and a broader shift in governmentality in Brazil predicated on performing a commitment to sexual diversity, including promoting gay rights and tourism, and advancing liberal notions of sexual progress that, in actuality, marginalize more vulnerable sexual populations.
Reductive
Authors: Nichols Ben
Published: May 2016

What is so bad about the “reductive”? In queer and other scholarship, reductionism signals simplistic homogeneity, fixity, and limitation, which are ideas often taken to be self-evidently problematic. Addressing a range of theoretical material, especially the work of Leo Bersani, this essay attributes the taken-for-granted status of reductionism to queer theory's structuring opposition to ideas associated with sameness—among them normativity, reproduction, and the status quo. However, the essay suggests that the writing of John Rechy can help us reflect on why queer scholarship should be organized in this way. Rechy frequently presents a close relation between forms of reduction and the gay lives and worlds that are a significant focus of his work. Moreover, critics have imagined this gay-oriented work itself to be “reductive.” Rechy is therefore the occasion to ask, counterintuitively, if queer scholarship's aversion to reductionism as mistakenly limiting and homogenizing recapitulates the devaluing of homosexuality in the modern West as a misguided attachment to sameness.
“I Have a Family”
Authors: Franklin Cynthia G. , Lyons Laura E.
Published: May 2016

This essay analyzes legal and cultural texts that pertain to the 2002 murder of Gwen Araujo, to argue for the political possibilities that can be mobilized through familial grief over a human rights violation against a trans person. As family members speak from their positions of having undergone a profound experience of loss and call on the affective ties that make the violation their own, their relational witnessing and testimony takes place not only in courtrooms but also in various public forms and forums. Exploring how the legal system's failures catalyze these alternative forms, we identify the political work they perform. Analyzing such texts as a victim impact statement, speeches, the TV movie A Girl Like Me, and memorial websites, we contend that relational witnessing and testimony can reconfigure heteronormative forms of kinship and other societal structures along with our conception of the victim of a human rights violation.
(Black) Power Bottoms, Stickiness, and Receptivity
Authors: McMillan Uri
Published: May 2016

This review essay considers a new electrifying strand of queer of color critique situated in the musky interstices of pleasure, abjection, and sex. These authors zero in on difference, encountered in the realm of sex, as an unexplored analytic mode to theorize power, sensation, and will. The books discussed, moreover, stay attuned to fecund forms of erotic world-making and other mere and provisional pleasures produced in the slippery zones where shame and intimacy intersect. Together, Extravagant Abjection, Sensational Flesh, and A View from the Bottom remind us of the generative force of abjection.
In vitrotransdifferentiation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells to photoreceptor-like cells
Authors: Komuta Yukari , Ishii Toshiyuki , Kaneda Makoto , Ueda Yasuji , Miyamoto Kiyoko , Toyoda Masashi , Umezawa Akihiro , Seko Yuko
Published: May 2016

Direct reprogramming is a promising, simple and low-cost approach to generate target cells from somatic cells without using induced pluripotent stem cells. Recently, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) have attracted considerable attention as a somatic cell source for reprogramming. As a cell source, PBMCs have an advantage over dermal fibroblasts with respect to the ease of collecting tissues. Based on our studies involving generation of photosensitive photoreceptor cells from human iris cells and human dermal fibroblasts by transduction of photoreceptor-related transcription factors via retrovirus vectors, we transduced these transcription factors into PBMCs via Sendai virus vectors. We found that retinal disease-related genes were efficiently detected in CRX-transduced cells, most of which are crucial to photoreceptor functions. In functional studies, a light-induced inward current was detected in some CRX-transduced cells. Moreover, by modification of the culture conditions including additional transduction of RAX1 and NEUROD1, we found a greater variety of retinal disease-related genes than that observed in CRX-transduced PBMCs. These data suggest that CRX acts as a master control gene for reprogramming PBMCs into photoreceptor-like cells and that our induced photoreceptor-like cells might contribute to individualized drug screening and disease modeling of inherited retinal degeneration.
A Clean Source of B atoms without Using Explosive Boron Compounds
Authors: Umemoto Hironobu , Miyata Atsushi
Published: May 2016

Efficient sustained release of B atoms, sufficient for doping to semiconductor substrates, was achieved when W wires boronized by NH3BH3/H2 were heated in the presence of H2. The B-atom density in the gas phase was on the order of 1011 cm−3 and could be kept constant more than 240 min.
Facile Synthesis of Water-Soluble Cationic Tin(IV) Porphyrins and Water-Insoluble Tin(IV) Porphyrins in Water at Ambient Temperature
Authors: Thomas Arun , Kuttassery Fazalurahman , Remello Seabatian Nybin , Mathew Siby , Yamamoto Daisuke , Onuki Satomi , Nabetani Yu , Tachibana Hiroshi , Inoue Haruo
Published: May 2016

Novel environment-benign one-pot syntheses of water-soluble porphyrins, trans-dihydroxy-5,10,15,20-tetra(N-methyl-4′-pyridiniumyl)porphyrinate tin(IV) (Sn(IV)TMPyP(OH)2) and water-insoluble trans-dihydroxy-5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrinate tin(IV) (Sn(IV)TPyP(OH)2), were found to proceed in water as solvent at room temperature with high yield (90 and 93%).
Should the US Eliminate Entry Barriers to the Practice of Law? Perspectives Shaped by Industry Deregulation
Authors: Winston Clifford , Karpilow Quentin
Published: May 2016

States' requirements that lawyers obtain a license to practice law, as well as American Bar Association (ABA) regulations of legal practice, constitute barriers to entry to the legal profession. In this paper, we argue that eliminating entry barriers in legal services would generate benefits that are similar to those resulting from deregulating U.S. network industries (i.e., transportation, communications, and energy.) Specifically, prices would fall as competition from incumbent firms and new entrants intensifies; in the long run, competitive forces and operating freedom would incentivize firms to produce innovations that significantly benefit consumers and the broader economy.
The Phillips Curve: Back to the '60s?
Authors: Blanchard Olivier
Published: May 2016

This paper reexamines the behavior of inflation and unemployment and reaches four conclusions: 1) The U.S. Phillips curve is alive and well (at least as well as in the past). 2) Inflation expectations however have become steadily more anchored. 3) The slope of the curve has substantially declined. But the decline dates back to the 1980s rather than to the crisis. 4) The standard error of the residual in the relation is large, especially in comparison to the low level of inflation. Each of the four conclusions presents challenges for the conduct of monetary policy.
Can We Restart the Recovery All Over Again?
Authors: Taylor John B.
Published: May 2016

Many have argued that a deviation from good economic policy has been a cause of the poor U.S. economic performance of the past decade and that policy reforms are needed to restore strong growth. Yet others argue that the recent stagnation is secular or that the possibility of a rapid recovery is long gone without more fiscal stimulus. Here I show that unusual economic conditions leave plenty of room for a reform-induced rebound. Taking demographics and the growth of capital services into account, labor force participation and productivity growth are unusually low. Hence, policy reforms could generate a post-recession-like acceleration as well as sustained growth and stability.
Experimental Age Discrimination Evidence and the Heckman Critique
Authors: Neumark David , Burn Ian , Button Patrick
Published: May 2016

We design and implement a large-scale field experiment on age discrimination to address limitations of past research that may bias their results. One limitation is the practice of giving older and younger applicants similar experience in the job to which they are applying, to make them “otherwise comparable.” The second limitation is ignoring the likelihood of greater variation in unobserved differences among older workers owing to human capital investment. Based on evidence from over 40,000 job applications, we find robust evidence of age discrimination in hiring against older women, but considerably less evidence of age discrimination against older men.
Supply and Demand for Discrimination: Strategic Revelation of Own Characteristics in a Trust Game
Authors: Heyes Anthony , List John A.
Published: May 2016

In strategic settings a player may be able to influence the behavior of an opponent by revealing information about their own characteristics. They may for example aim to exploit stereotypes held by others. We provide an experimental test of this. A substantial fraction of players in a trust game exhibit a positive willingness to pay to reveal a photograph of themselves to their randomly-assigned partner. This suggests that they perceive that they can use their own characteristics to influence the behavior of others. The demand for such self-revelation depends negatively on price.
When Do Capital Inflow Surges End in Tears?
Authors: Ghosh Atish R. , Ostry Jonathan D. , Qureshi Mahvash S.
Published: May 2016

We investigate in a sample of 53 emerging markets over 1980-2014 whether countries with open capital accounts are necessarily at the mercy of global events, or are able to take policy actions when receiving inflows to mitigate the impact of a subsequent reversal. Our analysis suggests that, while changes in global conditions have an important bearing on crisis susceptibility, countries that allow the buildup of macroeconomic and financial vulnerabilities during boom times, and which receive mostly debt flows, are significantly more likely to see capital inflow surge episodes end in a financial crisis.
The Rapid Adoption of Data-Driven Decision-Making
Authors: Brynjolfsson Erik , McElheran Kristina
Published: May 2016

We provide a systematic empirical study of the diffusion and adoption patterns of data-driven decision making (DDD) in the U.S. Using data collected by the Census Bureau for a large representative sample of manufacturing plants, we find that DDD rates nearly tripled (11%-30%) between 2005 and 2010. This rapid diffusion, along with results from a companion paper, are consistent with case-based evidence that DDD tends to be productivity-enhancing. Yet certain plants are significantly more likely to adopt than others. Key correlates of adoption are size, presence of potential complements such as information technology and educated workers, and firm learning.
Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods
Authors: Bricker Jesse , Henriques Alice , Krimmel Jacob , Sabelhaus John
Published: May 2016

Administrative income tax data indicate that U.S. top income and wealth shares are both substantial and larger than shares observed in household surveys. However, these estimates are sensitive to the unit of analysis, the income concept measured in tax records, and, in the case of wealth, to assumptions about the correlation between income and wealth. We constrain a household survey--the Survey of Consumer Finances--to be conceptually comparable to tax records and are able to reconcile the much of the difference between the survey and administrative estimates. Wealth estimates from administrative income tax data are sensitive to model parameters.
Estimating the Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution
Authors: Vermeulen Philip
Published: May 2016

This paper uses the Household Finance and Consumption Survey to construct new estimates of top wealth shares in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Finland and The Netherlands. It provides a methodology to address simultaneously non-response and underreporting in wealth surveys.
Heterogeneity in Returns to Wealth and the Measurement of Wealth Inequality
Authors: Fagereng Andreas , Guiso Luigi , Malacrino Davide , Pistaferri Luigi
Published: May 2016

Lacking a long time series on the assets of the very wealthy, Saez and Zucman (2015) use US tax records to obtain estimates of wealth holdings by capitalizing asset income from tax returns. They document marked upward trends in wealth concentration. We use data on tax returns and actual wealth holdings from tax records for the whole Norwegian population to test the robustness of the methodology. We document that measures of wealth based on the capitalization approach can lead to misleading conclusions about the level and the dynamics of wealth inequality if returns are heterogeneous and even moderately correlated with wealth.
Personalized Risk Assessments in the Criminal Justice System
Authors: Goel Sharad , Rao Justin M. , Shroff Ravi
Published: May 2016

In an effort to bring greater efficiency, equity, and transparency to the criminal justice system, statistical risk assessment tools are increasingly used to inform bail, sentencing, and parole decisions. We examine New York City's stop-and-frisk program, and propose two new use cases for personalized risk assessments. First, we show that risk assessment tools can help police officers make considerably better real-time stop decisions. Second, we show that such tools can help audit past actions; in particular, we argue that a sizable fraction of police stops were conducted on the basis of little evidence, in possible violation of constitutional protections.
Crises and The Development of Economic Institutions: Some Microeconomic Evidence
Authors: Rajan Raghuram , Ramcharan Rodney
Published: May 2016

This paper studies the long run effects of financial crises using new bank and town level data from around the Great Depression. We find evidence that banking markets became much more concentrated in areas that experienced a greater initial collapse in the local banking system. There is also evidence that financial regulation after the Great Depression, and in particular limits on bank branching, may have helped to render the effects of the initial collapse persistent. All of this suggests a reason why post-crisis financial regulation, while potentially reducing financial instability, might also have longer run real consequences.
Bank Leverage and Regulatory Regimes: Evidence from the Great Depression and Great Recession
Authors: Koch Christoffer , Richardson Gary , Van Horn Patrick
Published: May 2016

In the boom before the Great Depression, capital requirements for commercial banks were low and fixed. Bankers faced double liability. Failing banks were not bailed out. During the boom before the Great Recession, capital requirements were proportional to risk-weighted assets. Bankers faced limited liability. Banks deemed too big to fail received bailouts. During the 1920s, the largest banks increased capital levels as asset prices rose. During the boom from 2002 to 2007, the largest institutions kept capital levels near regulatory minimums. Our results suggest more market discipline would have induced the largest U.S. banks to hold greater capital buffers prior to the financial crisis of 2008.
Information Design, Bayesian Persuasion, and Bayes Correlated Equilibrium
Authors: Bergemann Dirk , Morris Stephen
Published: May 2016

A set of players have preferences over a set of outcomes. We consider the problem of an “information designer” who can choose an information structure for the players to serve his ends, but has no ability to change the mechanism (or force the players to make particular action choices). We describe a unifying perspective for information design. We consider a simple example of Bayesian persuasion with both an uninformed and informed receiver. We extend information design to many player and relate it to the literature on incomplete information correlated equilibrium.
Declining Business Dynamism: What We Know and the Way Forward
Authors: Decker Ryan A. , Haltiwanger John , Jarmin Ron S. , Miranda Javier
Published: May 2016

A growing body of evidence indicates that the U.S. economy has become less dynamic in recent years. This trend is evident in declining rates of gross job and worker flows as well as declining rates of entrepreneurship and young firm activity, and the trend is pervasive across industries, regions, and firm size classes. We describe the evidence on these changes in the U.S. economy by reviewing existing research. We then describe new empirical facts about the relationship between establishment-level productivity and employment growth, framing our results in terms of canonical models of firm dynamics and suggesting empirically testable potential explanations.
Classroom Experiments: Is More More?
Authors: Emerson Tisha L. N. , English Linda
Published: May 2016

Studies have demonstrated that classroom experiments have a positive effect on student achievement in economics courses. Questions remain regarding the appropriate number of experiments. In the current study we attempt to determine whether more intensive use of classroom experiments is associated with greater student achievement. Our data contains variation in the number of experiments administered in a principles of microeconomics course. We find that participation in classroom experiments has a positive, but diminishing, marginal benefit on students' final course scores. We also find that classroom experiments can bridge some achievement gaps (between older and younger students, between whites and minorities).
A Randomized Assessment of Online Learning
Authors: Alpert William T. , Couch Kenneth A. , Harmon Oskar R.
Published: May 2016

A microeconomics principles course employing random assignment across three sections with different teaching models is used to explore learning outcomes as measured by a cumulative final exam for students who participate in traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, blended face-to-face and online instruction with reduced instructor contact time, and a purely online instructional format. Evidence indicates learning outcomes were reduced for students in the purely online section relative to those in the face-to-face format by 5 to 10 points on a cumulative final exam. No statistically significant differences in outcomes are observed for students in the blended relative to the face-to-face section.
Making Private Data Accessible in an Opaque Industry: The Experience of the Private Capital Research Institute
Authors: Jeng Leslie , Lerner Josh
Published: May 2016

Private markets are becoming an increasingly important way of financing rapidly growing and mature firms, and private investors are reputed to have far-reaching economic impacts. These important markets, however, are uniquely difficult to study. This paper explores these challenges, as well as the ways they can be overcome, using the experiences of the Private Capital Research Institute as a case.
Modernizing Federal Economic Statistics
Authors: Bostic William G. , Jarmin Ron S. , Moyer Brian
Published: May 2016

Official statistical data on the structure, evolution and performance of the U.S. economy are produced by a variety federal, state and local agencies. Much of the methodology, policy frameworks and infrastructure for U.S. economic measurement have been in place for decades. There are growing concerns that the economy is evolving more rapidly than are the economic statistics we use to monitor it. We discuss both the challenges and opportunities to modernizing federal economic statistics. We describe an incremental approach that federal statistics agencies can follow to build a 21st century economic measurement system.
Russia's Billionaires
Authors: Treisman Daniel
Published: May 2016

Using data collected by Forbes since the 1990s, I examine the emergence and survival of the super-wealthy in Russia over the past two decades and compare Russia's record to those of other countries. The major surge in the number of Russian billionaires came in the mid-2000s, mirroring the dynamic worldwide. While early billionaires were predominantly found in the oil, gas, metals, and banking sectors, the distribution has become more diverse, now including some in trade, real estate, chemicals, and information technology. Only a minority of today's Russian billionaires acquired significant assets in the privatization of the 1990s.
School Quality and the Gender Gap in Educational Achievement
Authors: Autor David , Figlio David , Karbownik Krzysztof , Roth Jeffrey , Wasserman Melanie
Published: May 2016

Recent evidence indicates that boys and girls are differently affected by the quantity and quality of family inputs received in childhood. We assess whether this is also true for schooling inputs. Using matched Florida birth and school administrative records, we estimate the causal effect of school quality on the gender gap in educational outcomes by contrasting opposite-sex siblings who attend the same sets of schools--thereby purging family heterogeneity--and leveraging within-family variation in school quality arising from family moves. Investigating middle school test scores, absences and suspensions, we find that boys benefit more than girls from cumulative exposure to higher quality schools.
What Explains the Gender Gap in College Track Dropout? Experimental and Administrative Evidence
Authors: Almås Ingvild , Cappelen Alexander W. , Salvanes Kjell G. , Sørensen Erik Ø. , Tungodden Bertil
Published: May 2016

We exploit a unique data set, combining rich experimental data with high-quality administrative data, to study dropout from the college track in Norway, and why boys are more likely to drop out. The paper provides three main findings. First, we show that family background and personal characteristics contribute to explain dropout. Second, we show that the gender difference in dropout rates appears both when the adolescents select into the college track and after they have started. Third, we show that different processes guide the choices of the boys and the girls of whether to drop out from the college track.
On the Optimal Inflation Rate
Authors: Brunnermeier Markus K. , Sannikov Yuliy
Published: May 2016

In our incomplete markets economy households choose portfolios consisting of risky (uninsurable) capital and money. Money is a bubble, it has positive value even though it yields no payoff. The market outcome is constrained Pareto inefficient due to a pecuniary externality. Each individual agent takes the real interest rate as given, while in the aggregate it is driven by the economic growth rate, which in turn depends on individual portfolio decisions. Higher inflation due to higher money growth lowers the real interest rate on money and tilts the portfolio choice towards physical capital investment. Modest inflation boosts growth rate and welfare.
Sources of Inefficiency in Healthcare and Education
Authors: Chandra Amitabh , Staiger Douglas
Published: May 2016

Healthcare and education exhibit wide variation in spending that is loosely associated with outcomes. We study supply-side explanations for such variation in in healthcare, and extend this discussion to how it might apply to education. In both sectors, variation in risk-adjusted rates could arise from some providers or educators doing too much (overuse) or others are using too little (underuse). Alternatively, the production function varies across providers and educators, so that hospitals and educators with higher returns to treatment deliver more because of comparative advantage. We discuss how a prototypical Roy model can separate these explanations.
Using Lagged Outcomes to Evaluate Bias in Value-Added Models
Authors: Chetty Raj , Friedman John N. , Rockoff Jonah
Published: May 2016

Value-added (VA) models measure agents' productivity based on the outcomes they produce. The utility of VA models for performance evaluation depends on the extent to which VA estimates are biased by selection. One common method of evaluating bias in VA is to test for balance in lagged values of the outcome. We show that such balance tests do not yield robust information about bias in value-added models using Monte Carlo simulations. Even unbiased VA estimates can be correlated with lagged outcomes. More generally, tests using lagged outcomes are uninformative about the degree of bias in misspecified VA models. The source of these results is that VA is itself estimated using historical data, leading to non-transparent correlations between VA and lagged outcomes.
Fixed Effects, Invariance, and Spatial Variation in Intergenerational Mobility
Authors: Chamberlain Gary
Published: May 2016

Chetty et al. (2014) document variation across commuting zones in intergenerational mobility. With over 700 commuting zones, the task of estimating place effects involves a high-dimension parameter space. I develop a fixed-effects model along with an oracle bound on the risk of invariant estimators. The oracle estimator uses an invariant prior, which I have incorporated into a random-effects model to obtain a feasible estimator. This estimator almost achieves the oracle bound over the relevant part of the (fixed-effects) parameter space in the empirical application. There is substantial reduction in risk compared with the least-squares estimator.
Borrowing Constraints and Homeownership
Authors: Acolin Arthur , Bricker Jesse , Calem Paul , Wachter Susan
Published: May 2016

This paper identifies the impact of borrowing constraints on homeownership in the U.S. in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. While homeownership declines and tightened credit are evident, the role the tightening of credit has had on the probability of individual households to become homeowners has not been previously identified. The homeownership rate in 2010-2013 is estimated to be 2.3 percentage points lower than if the constraints were set at the 2001 level.
Beyond Beta-Delta: The Emerging Economics of Personal Plans
Authors: Beshears John , Milkman Katherine L. , Schwartzstein Joshua
Published: May 2016

People make personal plans regarding whether, when, where, and how to undertake certain actions. We discuss three questions related to personal plans. First, what are the effects of plans on behavior? Second, when are plans formed? Third, how do plans deviate from optimality? For each of these questions, we (a) offer a brief overview of research that sheds light on the issue and (b) identify gaps in current knowledge. We emphasize connections to the growing theoretical literature that gives personal plans a substantive role, but we conclude that more research is needed, especially on the latter two questions we cover.
Shutting Down the Thermohaline Circulation
Authors: Anthoff David , Estrada Francisco , Tol Richard S. J.
Published: May 2016

Past climatic changes were caused by a slowdown of the thermohaline circulation. We use results from experiments with three climate models to show that the expected cooling due to a slowdown of the thermohaline circulation is less in magnitude than the expected warming due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. The integrated assessment model FUND and a meta-analysis of climate impacts are used to evaluate the change in human welfare. We find modest but by and large positive effects on human welfare since a slowdown of the thermohaline circulation implies decelerated warming.
The Sovereign-Bank Diabolic Loop and ESBies
Authors: Brunnermeier Markus K. , Garicano Luis , Lane Philip R. , Pagano Marco , Reis Ricardo , Santos Tano , Thesmar David , Van Nieuwerburgh Stijn , Vayanos Dimitri
Published: May 2016

We propose a simple model of the sovereign-bank diabolic loop, and establish four results. First, the diabolic loop can be avoided by restricting banks' domestic sovereign exposures relative to their equity. Second, equity requirements can be lowered if banks only hold senior domestic sovereign debt. Third, such requirements shrink even further if banks only hold the senior tranche of an internationally diversified sovereign portfolio--known as ESBies in the euro-area context. Finally, ESBies generate more safe assets than domestic debt tranching alone; and, insofar as the diabolic loop is defused, the junior tranche generated by the securitization is itself risk-free.
Coordinated Admissions Program
Authors: Andrews Rodney J.
Published: May 2016

In the wake of challenges to affirmative action, access to oversubscribed elite public universities remains a contentious issue. Much of the research on these issues focuses on freshman admissions. This paper examines the University of Texas at Austin's Coordinated Admissions Program which offers Texas residents that were not admitted to the University of Texas at Austin as freshman the option of transferring from a participating University of Texas System school. Using the regression discontinuity design, I show that this path to an elite public university has an impact on academic outcomes.
Can Admissions Percent Plans Lead to Better Collegiate Fit for Minority Students?
Authors: Cortes Kalena E. , Lincove Jane Arnold
Published: May 2016

Why do so many students mismatch when choosing a college? A plausible hypothesis is a lack of information about the likelihood of admission. This study contributes to the literature on mismatch by testing whether public university automatic admissions policies mitigate academic undermatch and promote academic overmatch by providing some students with admissions certainty. Focusing on the interaction of admissions certainty and race/ethnicity, our results support the hypothesis that a priori admissions information can vastly improve minority access to college quality by encouraging eligible students to apply to, and more importantly, enroll in more challenging institutions.
Perspectives on The Rise and Fall of American Growth
Authors: Gordon Robert J.
Published: May 2016

This paper summarizes the book and assesses the reviews contained in the four contributed papers. Gregory Clark provides convincing arguments that extend the book's forecast that future technological change will be slower. Nicholas Crafts shows declining mortality and shorter work hours greatly increase welfare-augmented TFP growth during 1929-50. Benjamin Friedman points out that optimism about future technological change casts doubt on future employment growth, while technological pessimism implies employment optimism. Daron Acemoglu and co-authors emphasize the institutional environment that influences the timing and magnitude of innovation.
Restoring Rational Choice: The Challenge of Consumer Financial Regulation
Authors: Campbell John Y.
Published: May 2016

This lecture considers the case for consumer financial regulation in an environment where many households lack the knowledge to manage their financial affairs effectively. The lecture argues that financial ignorance is pervasive and unsurprising given the complexity of modern financial products, and that it contributes meaningfully to the evolution of wealth inequality. The lecture uses a stylized model to discuss the welfare economics of paternalistic intervention in financial markets, and discusses several specific examples including asset allocation in retirement savings, fees for unsecured short-term borrowing, and reverse mortgages.
Intracerebral haemorrhage in Down syndrome: protected or predisposed?
Authors: Buss Lewis , Fisher Elizabeth , Hardy John , Nizetic Dean , Groet Jurgen , Pulford Laura , Strydom André
Published: May 2016

Down syndrome (DS), which arises from trisomy of chromosome 21, is associated with deposition of large amounts of amyloid within the central nervous system. Amyloid accumulates in two compartments: as plaques within the brain parenchyma and in vessel walls of the cerebral microvasculature. The parenchymal plaque amyloid is thought to result in an early onset

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, a phenomenon so common amongst people with DS that it could be considered a defining feature of the condition. The amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene lies on chromosome 21 and its presence in three copies in DS is thought to largely drive the early onset AD. In contrast, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), the main clinical consequence of vascular amyloidosis, is a more poorly defined feature of DS. We review recent epidemiological data on stroke (including haemorrhagic stroke) in order to make comparisons with a rare form of familial AD due to duplication (i.e. having three copies) of the APP region on chromosome 21, here called ‘dup-APP’, which is associated with more frequent and severe ICH. We conclude that although people with DS are at increased risk of ICH, this is less common than in dup-APP, suggesting the presence of mechanisms that act protectively. We review these mechanisms and consider comparative research into DS and dup-APP that may yield further pathophysiological insight.
Ultraviolet B, melanin and mitochondrial DNA: Photo-damage in human epidermal keratinocytes and melanocytes modulated by alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone
Authors: Böhm Markus , Hill Helene Z.
Published: May 2016

Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) increases melanogenesis and protects from UV-induced DNA damage. However, its effect on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage is unknown. We have addressed this issue in a pilot study using human epidermal keratinocytes and melanocytes incubated with alpha-MSH and irradiated with UVB. Real-time touchdown PCR was used to quantify total and deleted mtDNA. The deletion detected encompassed the common deletion but was more sensitive to detection. There were 4.4 times more mtDNA copies in keratinocytes than in melanocytes. Irradiation alone did not affect copy numbers. Alpha-MSH slightly increased copy numbers in both cell types in the absence of UVB and caused a similar small decrease in copy number with dose in both cell types. Deleted copies were nearly twice as frequent in keratinocytes as in melanocytes. Alpha-MSH reduced the frequency of deleted copies by half in keratinocytes but not in melanocytes. UVB dose dependently led to an increase in the deleted copy number in alpha-MSH-treated melanocytes. UVB irradiation had little effect on deleted copy number in alpha-MSH-treated keratinocytes. In summary, alpha-MSH enhances mtDNA damage in melanocytes presumably by increased melanogenesis, while α-MSH is protective in keratinocytes, the more so in the absence of irradiation.
An Examination of Customers’ Attitudes About Tabletop Technology in Full-Service Restaurants
Authors: Susskind Alex M. , Curry Benjamin
Published: May 2016

This paper examines the influence of customer-facing technology in full-service restaurants. As a new addition to the service experience, tabletop devices offer the customer more control over the dining experience, and also increase customer participation in the service process, which has the potential to upset the traditional exchange between service providers and customers in restaurants. To examine how customers react to the use of tabletop devices, this study examines 1,343 point-of-sales transactions from 20 units of a full-service casual dining restaurant chain and matches customer in-restaurant transactions to their reactions to tabletop devices used during their meals. Results show that over 70% of the customers who used tabletop devices reported positive affect toward the device, with approximately 79% of customers reporting that the device improved their experience, citing convenience, ease of use, and credit card security as some benefits of using the technology. Approximately 80% of the customers who used the device reported that they would return to the restaurant because of the positive affect. The results also indicate that likeability of the device and tip percentage were positively and significantly connected to customer reports of the devices having a positive effect on experience and on desire to return. In addition, when customers reported increased return intentions, likeability of the device was higher regardless of reports of the device improving restaurant experience, showing that the introduction of tabletop devices had a positive effect for most—but not all—customers.
Chief Nursing Officers: the past, present and future of nursing
Authors: Cummings Jane , McArdle Charlotte , McQueen Fiona , White Jean
Published: May 2016

In celebration of International Nurses Day, Jane Cummings, Charlotte McArdle, Fiona McQueen and Jean White, Chief Nursing Officers (CNOs) for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, reflect on the state of nursing in their respective countries, and what the future might hold for this rapidly evolving profession
Nursing around the world
Authors: Hurley Gemma , Boulton Jacqueline , Long Adele , Norris Lucy
Published: May 2016

In this section, nurses who have worked in countries such as Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Nepal share their experiences and photos of nursing in environments vastly different to those they are used to.
What to include in a nursing record
Authors: Griffith Richard
Published: May 2016

Richard Griffith, senior Lecturer in Health Law, Swansea University, explains in this second article on recordkeeping the elements of a good record and what to include when making an entry in a patient's record.
What nurses need to know about female genital mutilation
Authors: Momoh Comfort , Olufade Olamide , Redman-Pinard Patrice
Published: May 2016

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision (FGM/C) is a deep-rooted practice in some countries that needs to be addressed if the health needs of women and girls are to be met. FGM/C has no medical or health benefits. This article will discuss the different types of FGM/C, the law and legal implications and urological complications. Urology nurses need to be aware of what their medical roles and legal responsibilities are so that they are able to sensitively and holistically care for girls and women living with or at risk of FGM/C.