cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measuring the Effects of Benefits and Taxes on Income and Poverty

41 Household income statistics produced by the U.S. Census Bureau have traditionally been based on a calendar-year, pre-tax, post-transfer income measure. This definition has three major weak points: 1) it fails to account for the effect of government non-cash programmes which provide medical, housing and food assistance, 2) it fails to reflect the effect of income and payroll taxes on the distribution of income, and 3) it fails to include private sector non-cash benefits, such as employer-provided health insurance. This paper describes efforts at the Census Bureau over the last ten years to expand the definition of income beyond the original pre-tax, post-transfer concept. This effort began with a series of exploratory reports that focused on the effect of government non-cash benefits on the number of families and persons living in poverty. A second series of studies examined the effect of taxes on the distribution of income. Research efforts were expanded and integrated in the late-1980s to create a new series of reports that have provided a comprehensive picture of the effect of taxes and non-cash benefits on income distributional measures and the prevalence of poverty. The annual release of these estimates is now a permanent part of the Census Bureau's statistical programme.
Dynamic Formation of Network with Adoption Externalities

We analyze an entry game with multiple periods, in each period of which privately informed agents who have not joined yet decide whether to subscribe to a network, and subscribers derive benefits in future periods depending on the network size. We study the case that the agents are sufficiently patient and show that there exists a unique symmetric \e\ if the number of existing subscribers is common knowledge in each period, thereby resolving the coordination problem which is prevalent in markets with network externalities. Asymmetric \ea\ may exist, but we show that they, if exist, converge to the unique symmetric \e\ as the number of agents increases without bound
Mandates Unsatisfied: The Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program and the Civil Rights Laws

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) program is currently the largest federal program to fund the development and rehabilitation of housing for low-income households. From the initiation of the program in 1987 through 1994, almost 500,000 units were placed into service. With the withdrawal of federal support for most other subsidized housing development programs, the LIHTC program stands as essentially “the only game in town.” This most substantial federal subsidized housing program is administered by the Department of the Treasury through state and local housing credit agencies and operates at a great cost to federal taxpayers. However, despite massive governmental involvement, the LIHTC program operates without effective regard to civil rights law. This is primarily because the Treasury and state and local agencies have failed to impose meaningful bars to discrimination. Although all federal agencies have been under a statutory mandate since 1968 “affirmatively to further” non-discrimination and desegregation, as housing programs have progressed, successive administrations have not capitalized on opportunities to combat discrimination. This article considers the civil rights obligations of the Treasury Department and recommends actions to satisfy them. Importantly, this article focuses only on the obligations imposed by federal law on the Treasury Department and addresses discrimination and segregation solely on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The Treasury’s duty under 42 U.S.C. § 3608 is “affirmatively to further” non-discrimination and integration. The Treasury must “use its grant programs to assist in ending discrimination and segregation, to the point where the supply of genuinely open housing increases.” Moreover, the Treasury’s affirmative duty under § 3608 is to “consider [the] effect [of its actions] on the racial and socio-economic composition of the surrounding area” and “to assess negatively those aspects of a proposed course of action that would further limit the supply of genuinely open housing and to assess positively those aspects of a proposed course of conduct that would increase that supply.” To meet these requirements, the Treasury should amend its regulations in at least three ways. First, Treasury regulations should acknowledge the authority of Title VIII, as well as HUD’s Title VIII regulations, and the tax credit statute’s non-discrimination requirements. Second, Treasury regulations should specify what housing credit agencies must do to satisfy civil rights obligations. Lastly, Treasury regulations should specify what tax credit developers must do to satisfy civil rights obligations. Critically, housing discrimination and segregation impose immense costs on individuals and on society as a whole. The Treasury Department, which operates the largest contemporary subsidized housing program in the United States, has not acted effectively against discrimination and segregation. The suggestions in this article are advanced with the hope that the Treasury will satisfy its vital mandate.
Employing Smart Browsers to Support Flexible Information Presentation in Petri Net-Based Digital Libraries

For effective real-life use, digital libraries must incorporate resource and system policies and adapt to user preferences and device characteristics. The caT (context-aware Trellis) hypertext model incorporates these policies and adaptation conditions within the Petri net specification of the digital library to support context-aware delivery of digital documents in a dynamically changing environment. This paper describes extensions to the caT architecture for supporting adaptation via smarter browsers and an external resource store to provide greater flexibility in information presentation. Browsers request resources that they can best display with their knowledge of intrinsic capabilities and constraints imposed on them by the devices that they run on. The data store returns the most appropriate version of a resource in response to browser requests, thus allowing maintainers of libraries to add, modify and remove resources without any changes to the structure, presentation or document pointers in the digital library.
Private school participation in Pakistan

Private schooling is an important feature of the educational landscape in Pakistan and is increasingly a topic of public and government discourse. This study uses multiple rounds of national household sample surveys to examine the extent and nature of private school participation at the primary and secondary levels in Pakistan. Today, one-fifth of children -- or one-third of all students -- go to private school in Pakistan. Private school students tend to come from urban, wealthier, and more educated households than do government school students and especially out-of-school children. Important differences exist across Pakistans four provinces with respect to the characteristics of private school students relative to government school students, as well as in the composition of private school students. Private schooling is highly concentrated, with a few districts (situated mainly in northern Punjab province) accounting for most of the private school students. Private school participation among children varies largely from one household to another, rather than within households, and to a greater extent than does government school participation. The spatial patterns of private school supply are often strongly correlated with the spatial patterns of private school participation. In the 2000s, private school participation rates grew in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and across socioeconomic subgroups, contributing in particular to the growth in overall school participation rates for boys, children from urban households, and children from households in the highest wealth quintile. Nevertheless, the composition of private school students has become less unequal over time. This trend has been driven mainly by Punjab province, which has seen declines in the shares of private school students from urban households and households in the highest wealth quintile.
Land-Use Credits to Corn Ethanol: Accounting for Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles as a Feed Substitute in Swine Rations

Many studies on the impact of biofuels on greenhouse gas emissions do not consider indirect land-use change and land use avoided because of co-products utilization. This paper provides estimates of the land-use credit for corn ethanol when its by-product-distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)-is used in swine feed rations to substitute for corn and soymeal. The range of estimates used here covers the land-use credit used in the literature. Moreover, this study departs from earlier studies because feed rations from a least-cost optimization are used rather than rations from feeding trials, and DDGS nutrient profile variability is fully accounted for. As a result, displacement rates and the land-use credit can be better characterized using a distribution rather than a single point estimate. The land-use credit for corn ethanol for DDGS used in swine feed rations ranges from -0.367 to -0.596 hectares, whereby substitution for corn in the feed ration accounts for 56.09% and soymeal substitution contributes 48.46%. Variability of the land-use credit is contributed more by the variability of land use from the substitution of soymeal than that of corn. Finally, when feed compounders discount the DDGS nutrient profile to ensure they are at or above any realized nutrient profile 90% of the time, the land-use credit for corn ethanol declines by 8.47% for DDGS in a swine feed ration.
Next Generation Internet Policy in Japan, China and India

This Internet is facing a critical moment in its history as Internet addresses begin to run out. The Asia Pacific is the region most deeply affected by Internet address depletion, due to its lack of legacy address space and emerging markets with new demand for Internet access. A Next Generation Internet with nearly infinite address space has been created, but transition is costly and uptake has been slow. This article examines Next Generation Internet policy adoption by three Asia-Pacific countries: Japan, China and India.
The Role of Advocacy in Competition Policy : The Case of the Argentine Gasoline Market

In 2000 the Argentine antitrust authorities conducted a study of the state of competition in the gasoline market. The study concludes with a set of policy recommendations (that is, limits to vertical integration and to the duration of contracts between oil companies and gasoline stations) which were subsequently implemented by the Argentine government. This was one of the rare occasions where the Argentine antitrust authorities exercised its advocacy role in a country that underwent an extensive process of deregulation and privatization. Serebrisky assesses the design and impact of the policies recommended by the Argentine antitrust authorities. In particular, he evaluates under which circumstances the new policies can reduce barriers to entry and foster competition in the Argentine gasoline market.
What Is the Effect of U.S. Antidumping Duties on Imports? Some Evidence from the Sunset Review Process

The voluminous literature on the U.S. antidumping laws has a curious lacuna. There is little in this literature about the effects of antidumping duties on the volume of subject imports. One reason this key question has not frequently been investigated is the lack of data. U.S. antidumping duties are firm specific, while information about U.S. imports is collected by commodity and country, but not by firm. This paper avoids this problem by examining a sample of U.S. antidumping orders for which the duties were the same for all firms from a given country, or for which there was only one foreign firm exporting the product from the foreign country in question. Using this sample, the present paper is the first study of which the author is aware that investigates the relation between antidumping duties and subject imports using accurate information about the level of antidumping duties. The paper is also unique in accurately measuring the quantity of imports affected by the antidumping duties. The study uses import quantity data reported by the USITC in its Sunset Review reports, rather than using ten-digit HTUSA categories, which sometimes do not match antidumping product definitions precisely. The price of using this unique dataset is that the current study is restricted to a sample of only 32 of the approximately 350 antidumping orders originating during the relevant years, of which about 188 are still in effect. Some evidence is presented suggesting that the sample of orders used may be representative of the larger universe. For the sample examined, the paper finds an elasticity of subject imports with respect to U.S. antidumping duties of roughly 0.9. The paper also finds some evidence that age of the antidumping order may be a factor in explaining reduction in volume of subject imports. Study of this effect may be complicated by the fact that the initial level of all U.S. antidumping duties was lower during the early 1980s than in the early 1990s; so older orders tend to have lower duties. The study finds inconclusive evidence about the effect of antidumping orders on the price received by the foreign suppliers of subject imports.
The level and composition of consumption over the business cycle: The role of "quasi-fixed" expenditures

We study how the level and composition of household expenditures changes over the business cycle for households at different positions in the income distribution. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we find that transitory, state-specific increases in unemployment causes lower income groups to lower their total expenditure outlays, contrary to the prediction of the textbook account of consumption behavior. In addition, in bad economic times these groups raise the share of their total outlays devoted to relative fixed outlays like home or car payments. These adjustments are primarily concentrated among reductions in outlays devoted to entertainment and personal care expenditures. We find no similar effects for households at higher positions in the income distribution. It is difficult to attribute these differences across households to differences in credit constraints, both because the specific results for credit holdings are imprecisely estimated and because income losses experienced by higher SES households are so small that there is, for them, little need to adjust consumption.
Integrated economy of humans and biological resources: A general equilibrium approach

This paper develops a model of economic growth where a natural resource is an important part of the economy. In the environment of labor and capital markets and an open access resource stock the general equilibrium approach allows for the endogenous prices and consumption, as well as labor allocation between employment and harvest of the resource for own consumption. Equilibrium for the model is defined and characterized. The analysis of steady state and approach dynamics show that if an economy has a high capital stock and high employment then it can converge to a steady state without depleting an open access resource stock. However, if an economy has low capital stock and low employment then it can deplete its resource stock.
Three Dimensional Cell Culture: The Importance of Microenvironment in Regulation of Function

The basic principle of three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures is to place cells in conditions that induce formation of multicellular, tissue-like structures developing in X, Y, and Z planes. The 3D structures are characterized by establishment of adhesion complexes and tissue polarity, and by changes in cytoskeletal structure and cell volume that are significantly different from those found in cells cultured as monolayers (2D). As a result, the phenotypes, function, and regulation of signaling pathways under 2D and 3D conditions are fundamentally different. The science, as well as the art, of 3D cultures center around the recapitulation of physiological behaviors found in the organism, where reciprocal and dynamic cell–cell and cell–ECM interactions affect intracellular biochemical and structural signals, and hence influence gene expression and homeostasis. The 3D culture systems provide unique opportunities to mimic many aspects of developmental and pathological phenomena, to elucidate molecular mechanisms, and to produce tissues for transplantation purposes. With apologies to many colleagues whose works are not cited, this chapter relies heavily on the examples from the authors' laboratories using mammary epithelial cells. This is partly because we are most familiar with this tissue and also, many of the details for mammary models have been worked out in nearly three decades. As such, the experience with mammary acinus is used as a possible road map for other tissues. Keywords: Biomaterial; Extracellular Matrix (ECM); Hydrogel; Mechanical Stress; Tissue Bioengineering
Sustainability of Corn Stover Harvest for Biomass

Off-farm demand for crop residues is expected to grow as bioenergy policies become effective. Demand for residues will provide farmers with an additional source of revenue but it may also trigger losses in soil organic carbon and increases in fertilizer application. This study develops a dynamic economic model of stover harvest that permits conceptualization and quantification of these potential tradeoffs. We parameterize our model based on publicly available studies of soil biophysical relationships in the Corn Belt. Under these parameter values and 2010 corn and fertilizer prices harvesting stover is not economically convenient at prices below $53 per dry ton of stover. Results suggest that the rate of stover harvest may be quite sensitive and negatively linked to corn prices, which means that policies favoring the use of stover for biomass may be overridden by further increases in corn price. The negative link between stover harvest and corn prices, while somewhat counterintuitive, is driven by the fact that removal of stover reduces future grain yield (through reductions in soil organic carbon). Results also seem to indicate that, under plausible parameter values, profit maximizing farmers would increase stover supply in response to increases in stover price. However increases in supply are, according to our simulations, associated with (potentially significant) reductions in soil organic carbon (and hence carbon emissions as these are positively linked) and increases in nitrogen application (and potential runoffs). This result suggests that concerns about adverse environmental implications of harvesting stover may be justified, and more precise quantification of environmental tradeoffs should be pursued by future research.
A Multicomponent Theory of The Memory Trace

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a hypothesis concerning the formal structure of a memory trace. It seems reasonable to tie the memory trace of an event to the variables operating in the perception of that event. If it is supposed that the person does not store the literal input stimulus, but rather some encoded representation of it, then the representation stored is either the primary code by which the event is recognized or a secondary code that labels the primary code. In either event, the representation stored is sufficient to the degree that when it is fed into a motor–output system, salient features of the original input event can be reconstructed and output. It is supposed that what is stored in memory is the primary code, the secondary code, or both. That is, a memory trace is represented as an ordered list of attributes with their corresponding values. There are two ways to represent information redundancy in an individual memory trace. One representation of redundancy supposes that more information components are encoded and stored in the memory trace than are minimally required to select the initiating event from its appropriate ensemble. This is called the excess components idea. The other idea is to represent redundancy in terms of intercorrelations among the component values of a trace. This is called the intercorrelation idea.
Assessing Bioavailability Of Metals In Biosolids-Treated Soils

Plant-availability of metals in biosolids-treated soils may be mathematically described by Mt = C × [1 − e- (k × t)] where Mt (mg kg-1) is the cumulative metal removal from the biosolids-treated soils by growing and harvesting plants for t years, C is the total phytoavailable metal pool of the soil (mg kg-1) at t = 0, and k is the metal absorption rate coefficient (yr-1). The total available metal pool, C, is defined as metals extractable by organic acids in the rhizosphere of growing plants and k is related to the kinetics of metal release by organic acids. Half-life of the available metals in biosolids-amended soils may be derived from k. Experiments were conducted to characterize the concentration and composition of the organic acids. A successive extraction method was used to extract metals from biosolids-treated soils for determinging C and k. In this manner, the plant available metals of the bioslids-treated soils are defined by the total avialble metals, half-life, and duration of plant growing. Examples showed that the total available metals of the biosolids-amended were 18 to 39, 0.12 to 2.0, 7.4 to 13, 24 to 46, 1.2 to 2.1, and 43 to 53% of the total Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni. Pb, and Zn in the soils. ISBN: 9781780404127 (eBook)
Windowed multipole sensitivity to target accuracy of the optimization procedure

This paper compares the accuracy of the windowed multipole direct Doppler broadening method to that of the ENDF-B/VII.1 libraries that come with MCNP6. Various windowed multipole libraries were generated with different maximum allowed relative errors. Then, the libraries were compared to the MCNP6 data via resonance integral and through single assembly Monte Carlo analysis. Since the windowed multipole uses resonance parameters, resonance integrals are only affected by the number of resonances included in the library and not by the order of the background fitting function. The relative performance of each library with varying maximum allowed error was evaluated. It was found that setting a maximum target relative error of 0.1% in the library provided highly accurate data that closely matches the MCNP6 data for all temperatures of interest, while still having suitable computational performance. Additionally, a library with a maximum relative error of 1% also provided reasonable accuracy on eigenvalue and r...
On methods for incorporating evidences into posterior scoring of hypotheses

In likelihood ratio based decision methods, often a variable number of input evidences is used. A decision based on many such inputs can result in nearly the same likelihood ratio as one based on few inputs. We consider methods for distinguishing between such situations. One of these is to provide confidence intervals together with the decisions and another is to combine the inputs using weights. We suggest a new method that generalizes Bayesian approach and uses an explicitly defined discount function. Empirical evaluation shows greater flexibility of the designed method.
Fault-tolerance threshold for a distance-three quantum code

The quantum error threshold is the highest (model-dependent) noise rate which we can tolerate and still quantum-compute to arbitrary accuracy. Although noise thresholds are frequently estimated for the Steane seven-qubit, distance-three quantum code, there has been no proof that a constant threshold even exists for distance-three codes. We prove the existence of a constant threshold. The proven threshold is well below estimates, based on simulations and analytic models, of the true threshold, but at least it is now known to be positive.
How Homophily Affects Learning and Diffusion in Networks

We examine how three different communication processes operating through social networks are affected by homophily – the tendency of individuals to associate with others similar to themselves. Homophily has no effect if messages are broadcast or sent via shortest paths; only connection density matters. In contrast, homophily substantially slows learning based on repeated averaging of neighbors’ information and Markovian diffusion processes such as the Google random surfer model. Indeed, the latter processes are strongly affected by homophily but completely independent of connection density, provided this density exceeds a low threshold. We obtain these results by establishing new results on the spectra of large random graphs and relating the spectra to homophily. We conclude by checking the theoretical predictions using observed high school friendship networks from the Adolescent Health dataset.
The Internationalization of Equity Markets

Preface Introduction 1 Jeffrey A. Frankel 1: A Test of the International CAPM Using Business Cycles Indicators as Instrumental Variables 23 Bernard Dumas 2: An Exploratory Investigation of the Fundamental Determinants of National Equity Market Returns 59 Wayne Ferson, Campbell R. Harvey. 3: Tests of CAPM on an International Portfolio of Bonds and Stocks 149 Charles M. Engel 4: International Equity Transactions and U.S. Portfolio Choice 185 Linda L. Tesar, Ingrid M. Werner. 5: The Effect of Barriers to Equity Investment in Developing Countries 231 Stijn Claessens, Moon-Whoan Rhee. 6: International Experiences with Securities Transaction Taxes 277 John Y. Campbell, Kenneth A. Froot. 7: Price Volatility and Volume Spillovers between the Tokyo and New York Stock Markets 309 Wen-Ling Lin, Takatoshi Ito. 8: What Moves the Discount on Country Equity Funds? 345 Gikas Hardouvelis, Rafael La Porta, Thierry A. Wizman. Contributors 405 Author Index 407 Subject Index 411
On perfect completeness for QMA

Whether the class QMA (Quantum Merlin Arthur) is equal to QMA1, or QMA with onesided error, has been an open problem for years. This note helps to explain why the problem is difficult, by using ideas from real analysis to give a "quantum oracle" relative to which QMA ≠ QMA1. As a byproduct, we find that there are facts about quantum complexity classes that are classically relativizing but not quantumly relativizing, among them such "trivial" containments as BQP ⊆ ZQEXP.
Azimuthal Metallicity Structure in the Milky Way Disk

Elemental abundance patterns in the Galactic disk constrain theories of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. H ii region abundances are the result of billions of years of chemical evolution. We made radio recombination line and continuum measurements of 21 H ii regions located between Galactic azimuth Az = 90??130?, a previously unexplored region. We derive the plasma electron temperatures using the line-to-continuum ratios and use them as proxies for the nebular [O/H] abundances, because in thermal equilibrium the abundance of the coolants (O, N, and other heavy elements) in the ionized gas sets the electron temperature, with high abundances producing low temperatures. Combining these data with our previous work produces a sample of 90 H ii regions with high-quality electron temperature determinations. We derive kinematic distances in a self-consistent way for the entire sample. The radial gradient in [O/H] is for Az = 90??130?, about a factor of 2 higher than the average value between Az = 0??60?. Monte Carlo simulations show that the azimuthal structure we reported for Az = 0??60? is not significant because kinematic distance uncertainties can be as high as 50% in this region. Nonetheless, the flatter radial gradients between Az = 0??60? compared with Az = 90??130? are significant within the uncertainty. We suggest that this may be due to radial mixing from the Galactic Bar whose major axis is aligned toward Az ? 30?.
Electronic phases, band gaps, and band overlaps of bismuth antimony nanowires

We have developed an iterative one-dimensional model to study the narrow band gap and the associated nonparabolic dispersion relations for bismuth antimony nanowires. An analytical approximation has also been developed. Based on the general model we have developed, we have calculated and analyzed the electronic phase diagrams and the band-gap/band-overlap map for bismuth antimony nanowires, as a function of stoichiometry, growth orientation, and wire width.
Adaptive Video on Demand

In this paper we formulate the problem of Video on Demand (VOD) from a resource allocation perspective. In particular, we introduce the decision element into a movie vending environment, which complements the current approaches. In contrast with more the traditional resource allocation problems (such as machine scheduling and call control), the problem possesses the distinctive batching property, which stands for the feasibility of several requests being served by one resource (channel). We investigate the problem in an on-line fashion, namely, having to accept or reject a request for a movie without the knowledge of future requests. We show upper and lower bounds on the competitive ratio of deterministic on-line movie scheduling algorithms for a variety of scenarios (an algorithm is called competitive if it performs, up to a constant factor, as well as its off-line, clairvoyant counterparts for the same problem). In particular, for the natural case of refusal by choice with delayed notification, we present a class of algorithms that exhibit, under certain conditions, an asymptotically optimal behavior.
Equivariant perturbation in gomory and Johnson's infinite group problem: II. the unimodular two-dimensional case

We give an algorithm for testing the extremality of a large class of minimal valid functions for the two-dimensional infinite group problem.
Evaluating the Usefulness of the American Housing Survey for Creating House Price Indices

The American Housing Survey (AHS) is a valuable source of information on houses and occupants over time. The AHS has several advantages over sales data for use in the creation of price indices: it is readily available, has frequent observations over time and space, has data from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, includes houses that do not sell, as well as those that do, and has information on the occupants. The drawbacks include: a time lag between the interview and the release of the data, data suppression issues, owner-stated house values, and a lack of neighborhood information. In this study, we use the metropolitan version of the AHS, which has been supplemented with the original survey data as well as Census tract data for three cities over 14 years to examine whether the AHS can be used to create indices. Indices are estimated using hedonic, repeat valuation, and hybrid techniques, overcoming some of the problems inherent in the estimation of indices. We find that the data-suppression issues and the owner-stated house values are not problematic. The biggest drawback of the AHS is its lack of objective information on neighborhood quality.
Pattern Avoidance in Poset Permutations

We extend the concept of pattern avoidance in permutations on a totally ordered set to pattern avoidance in permutations on partially ordered sets. The number of permutations on P that avoid the pattern p is denoted A v P (p). We extend a proof of Simion and Schmidt to show that A v P (132)=A v P (123) for any poset P, and we exactly classify the posets for which equality holds.
On the Representation of Context

This paper revisits some foundational questions concerning the abstract representation of a discourse context. The context of a conversation is represented by a body of information that is presumed to be shared by the participants in the conversation – the information that the speaker presupposes a point at which a speech act is interpreted. This notion is designed to represent both the information on which context-dependent speech acts depend, and the situation that speech acts are designed to affect, and so to be a representation of context that is appropriate for explaining the interaction of context and the contents expressed in them. After reviewing the motivating ideas and the outlines of the apparatus, the paper responds to a criticism of the framework, and considers the way it can help to clarify some phenomena concerning pronouns with indefinite antecedents.
What if Teaching Went Wild

Almost by necessity, school cuts us off from the experience of a larger world: from natural rhythms, natural beings, more-than-human flows of knowledge and inspiration. In fact, we could hardly design a worse setting for environmental education! The problem is that, at least for now, we’re stuck with it. Part of our challenge is to find ways to work toward and embody a radically different practice and philosophy of (environmental) education within schools as we know them. This paper suggests that even in a traditional classroom it is still possible to unsettle our deeply-felt sense of disconnection from the world, and to begin to reconnect. It may even be possible to make use of school’s hyperhumanized and academic setting to this very end. The required pedagogy, however, is rather wild. It is much more personally demanding and unnerving than the usual sorts of pedagogical innovations. The latter part of this paper suggests a series of “everyday and practical” classroom strategies in this new key.
Studies of Simian Virus 40 DNA VII. A Cleavage Map of the SV40 Genome

Abstract A physical map of the Simian virus 40 genome has been constructed on the basis of specific cleavage of Simian virus 40 DNA by bacterial restriction endonucleases. The 11 fragments produced by enzyme from Hemophilus influenzae have been ordered by analysis of partial digest products and by analysis of an overlapping set of fragments produced by enzyme from Hemophilus parainfluenzae. In addition, the single site in SV40 DNA cleaved by the Escherichia coli RI restriction endonuclease has been located. With this site as a reference point, the H. influenzae cleavage sites and the H. parainfluenzae cleavage sites have been localized on the map.
COLLATERAL SHORTAGES, ASSET PRICE AND INVESTMENT VOLATILITY WITH HETEROGENEOUS BELIEFS

The recent economic crisis highlights the role of financial markets in allowing economic agents, including prominent banks, to speculate on the future returns of different financial assets, such as mortgage-backed securities. This paper in troduces a dynamic general equilibrium model with aggregate shocks, potentially incomplete markets and heterogeneous agents to investigate this role of financial markets. In addition to their risk aversion and endowments, agents differ in their beliefs about the future exogenous states (aggregate and idiosyncratic) of the economy. This difference in beliefs induces them to take large bets under frictionless complete financial markets, which enable agents to leverage their future wealth. Consequently, as hypothesized by Friedman (1953), under complete markets, agents with incorrect beliefs will eventually be driven out of the markets. In this case, they also have no influence on asset prices and real investment in the long run. In contrast, I show that under incomplete markets generated by collateral constraints, agents with heterogeneous (potentially incorrect) beliefs survive in the long run and their speculative activities permanently drive up asset price volatility and real investment volatility. I also show that collateral constraints are always binding even if the supply of collateral assets endogenously responds to their price. I use this framework to study the effects of different types of regulations and the distribution of endowments on leverage, asset price volatility and investment. Lastly, the analytical tools developed in this framework enable me to prove the existence of the "generalized" recursive equilibrium in Krusell and Smith (1998) with a finite number of agents.
Nonequilibrium Fluctuations of a Single Biomolecule

In recent years it has been realized that equilibrium information is sub- tly encoded in the fluctuations of a microscopic system that is driven away from equilibrium, such as a biomolecule stretched irreversibly using optical tweezers. The key to decoding this information resides in the external work, W , performed on the system. I will give a brief summary of three theoretical predictions that relate nonequilibrium statistical fluctuations in W to equilibrium properties of the system, and which remain valid even in the far-from-equilibrium limit.
Prospects for the Detection of Higher Order Weak Processes and the Study of Weak Interactions at High Energy

The first observation of weak interactions is now over 75 years old.1 An impressive array of understanding of a vast number of phenomena has been achieved for low energy processes, and yet some of the simplest questions that can be asked about the basic nature of the weak interaction can not presently be answered. In many ways we know less about this interaction than we do about the strong interaction. Apparently Heisenberg was the first to recognize the significance of the dimensionality of the coupling constant of the lowest order currentcurrent interaction,2 the lowest order interaction being $$\textup{H}_{\textup{eff}}=\frac{\textup{G}}{\sqrt{2}}\ \textup{j}_{\lambda}\textup{j}_{\lambda}^{+}$$ , where \(\textup{j}_{\lambda},\ \textup{j}_{\lambda}^{+}\) are appropriate currents and G is the coupling constant. G has the dimensions of (length) 2 or (1/m)2 with a numerical value $$\textup{G}=\left (1.01 \times 10^{-5} \right)/\left ( \textup{m}_{\textup{P}} \right)^{2}$$ .
Half-region depth for stochastic processes

We study the concept of half-region depth, introduced in Lopez-Pintado and Romo (2011). We show that for a wide variety of standard stochastic processes, such as Brownian motion and other symmetric stable processes with stationary independent increments tied down at 0, half-region depth assigns depth zero to all sample functions. To alleviate this difficulty we introduce a method of smoothing, which often not only eliminates the problem of zero depth, but allows us to extend the theoretical results on consistency in that paper up to the n level for many smoothed processes.
Wavelet constructions in non-linear dynamics

We construct certain Hilbert spaces associated with a class of non- linear dynamical systems X. These are systems which arise from a generalized self-similarity, and an iterated substitution. We show that when a weight function W on X is given, then we may construct associated Hilbert spaces H(W) of L 2 -martingales which have wavelet bases.
Stabilized and inexact adaptive methods for capturing internal layers in quasilinear PDE

A method is developed within an adaptive framework to solve quasilinear diffusion problems with internal and possibly boundary layers starting from a coarse mesh. The solution process is assumed to start on a mesh where the problem is badly resolved, and approximation properties of the exact problem and its corresponding finite element solution do not hold. A sequence of stabilized and inexact partial solves allows the mesh to be refined to capture internal layers while an approximate solution is built eventually leading to an accurate approximation of both the problem and its solution. The innovations in the current work include a closed form definition for the numerical dissipation and inexact scaling parameters on each mesh refinement, as well as a convergence result for the residual of the discrete problem. Numerical experiments demonstrate the method on a range of problems featuring steep internal layers and high solution dependent frequencies of the diffusion coefficients.
Epidemiology as Legal Evidence

Epidemiologic studies demonstrating or refuting an increased risk of disease from exposure to a potentially toxic chemical or drug are useful evidence in product liability litigation, environmental regulation, and the determination of a worker's eligibility for compensation due to exposure in the workplace. Different laws often require different amounts of scientific evidence and the strength of the association, usually measured by the relative risk, to convince the fact-finder. In particular, a lesser degree of scientific certainty is needed for eligibility for worker compensation because of the humanitarian nature of these laws and the fact that an employee accepting these payments forgoes their right to sue for other damages. The role of epidemiologic findings in several types of cases is described. Recent developments in the United States concerning the judicial scrutiny given expert testimony based on the results of scientific and technical studies are described. Keywords: Daubert case; differential diagnosis; medical causation; product liability; relative risk; worker compensation
A framework for analyzing competition in the banking sector : an application to the case of Jordan

This paper proposes a framework to analyze competition in the banking sector using Jordan as an example. In particular, the paper pursues a multi-pronged approach to analyze competition including (i) an examination of the extent to which the market is contestable (that is, has low barriers to bank entry and exit), (b) an evaluation of the behavior of bank spreads, and (iii) an assessment of non-structural and direct measures of bank competition such as the H-statistic and the Lerner Index. This approach provides a more comprehensive framework to examine competition in the banking sector, compared with the commonly used alternative of looking only at bank concentration figures. In the case of Jordan, the analysis indicates that although concentration has declined, competition in the country is low and has decreased over time.
Hausdorff Dimension in Stochastic Dispersion

We consider the evolution of a connected set in Euclidean space carried by a periodic incompressible stochastic flow. While for almost every realization of the random flow at time t most of the particles are at a distance of order \(\sqrt t\) away from the origin, there is an uncountable set of measure zero of points, which escape to infinity at the linear rate. In this paper we prove that this set of linear escape points has full Hausdorff dimension.
The catheter method for continuous caudal anesthesia

Abstract 1. 1. A technique for the catheter method of continuous caudal anesthesia is described. 2. 2. A series of 300 unselected cases is reported. There were 6, or 2 per cent, complete failures, and 23 patients (8 per cent), who required supplemental anesthesia. 3. 3. There were no maternal deaths. Seven babies were lost, the deaths of none of these could be attributed to caudal anesthesia. 4. 4. The catheter method possesses the advantages of increased safety, freedom of movement by the patient, and facility of insertion.
Soft Collinear Effective Theory: An Overview

In this talk I give an overview of soft collinear effective theory (SCET), including a discussion of some recent advances. First, I briefly cover the foundation upon which SCET is built, namely QCD factorization, and review the theoretical framework of SCET. Next, I cover some recent calculations involving SCET. Since there are more interesting results than I can cover, I have picked four that that I find particularly exciting. The first two topics are dynamical threshold enhancements in Drell-Yan and resummation of higgs production at the LHC. Both topics center on the resummation of large Sudakov logarithms, however, for each there is a twist. In the case of threshold enhancements in Drell-Yan, it is partonic, not hadronic logarithms that are summed. In the case of higgs production at the LHC, the twist is that the logarithms are of a time-like scale. The third topic highlighted is electroweak corrections at high energy. In particular the electroweak Sudakov form factor. Finally, I end by discussing generalized event shapes in e+e− annihilation.
Evaluating Bolivia's choices for trade integration

Regional integration initiatives have surged in Latin America while many countries have undertaken unilateral trade liberalization, and external market access prospects have improved with the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round. The author examines the choices faced by one such country: Bolivia. To the extent that different regional trade agreements follow World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, they could increase market access and allow the countries to realize gains that unilateral liberalization might not have given them. In this sense, regional trade arrangement is not inconsistent with multilateral free trade based on the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle. Estimating export demands using ordinary least squares for different markets as well as an error correction model, constructing a trade compatibility index, and recognizing the presence of contraband trade, the author examines Bolivia's four main options for regional integration and ranks them as follows: 1) MFN-based trade combined with a regional agreement that gives it preferential access to Mercosur (GATT-plus trade); 2) Joining Mercosur and maintaining duty-free access to the Andean Group; 3) Remaining within the Andean Group and receiving additional market-access concessions from Mercosur; and 4) Remaining within the Andean Group and maintaining existing bilateral trading arrangements. These rankings reflect relative trade access to different markets, assuming stability of demand functions and trade and production patterns. In the final analysis, regional integration is not merely a matter of economics, but is related to domestic and regional politics - and those who gain from different choices will support those choices. MFN trade would elicit neither strong opposition nor strong support, as its benefits and costs are more symmetrically distributed than trade associated with increased regional integration.
Misinformed Speculators and Mispricing in the Housing Market

This paper examines the contribution of out-of-town second-house buyers to mispricing in the housing market. We show that demand from out-of-town second-house buyers during the mid 2000s predicted not only house-price appreciation rates but also implied-to-actual-rent-ratio appreciation rates, a proxy for mispricing. We then apply a novel identification strategy to address the issue of reverse causality. We give supporting evidence that out-of-town second-house buyers behaved like misinformed speculators, earning lower capital gains (misinformed) and consuming smaller dividends (speculators).
Argentina: Social Rights, Thorny Country: Judicial Review of Economic Policies Sponsored by the IFIs

Argentina’s judiciary has the power to review policies sponsored by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, in light of constitutional economic and social rights. Judges can strike down any act of government that affects constitutional rights. Since economic policies advanced by the IFIs may have an impact on social rights, these policies could be subject to judicial review.The article describes the status of social rights in Argentina’s constitution, then turns to the possible contradictions between these rights and IFIs-sponsored policies. Finally, the article explains what the judiciary is entitled to do about these contradicitions under Argentina’s constitutional law.