Digital Commons Network^™

International Technology Transfer For Climate Policy, David Popp

Center for Policy Research

While the developed world is starting to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, emissions from the developing world are increasing as a result of economic growth. Reducing these emissions while still enabling developing countries to grow requires the use of new technologies. In most cases, these technologies are first created in high-income countries. Thus, the challenge for climate policy is to encourage the transfer of these climate-friendly technologies to the developing world. This policy brief reviews the economic literature on environmental technology transfer. It then discusses the implications of this literature for climate policy, focusing on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) …

Our Troubled Health Care System: Why Is It So Hard To Fix?, Judy Feder

Center for Policy Research

This brief draws heavily on Judith Feder, 2004, "Crowd-Out and the Politics of Health Reform," The Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 32(3): 461-464. We all know that affordable health care is now back on the political agenda, and it's about time! Because all of us--families, businesses, and governments--are struggling with the ever-increasing costs of care. Every year about a million people are added to the rolls of the uninsured. In 2006, it was even more, over 2 million. The number of people without health insurance coverage has reached more than 47 million. People *with* insurance are seeing their benefits …

Fixed-Effect Estimation Of Highly-Mobile Production Technologies, William Clinton Horrace, Kurt E. Schnier

Center for Policy Research

Revised from November 2006 and July 2007. We consider fixed-effect estimation of a production function where inputs and outputs vary over time, space, and cross-sectional unit. Variability in the spatial dimension allows for time-varying individual effects, without parametric assumptions on the effects. Asymptotics along the spatial dimension provide consistency and normality of the marginal products. A finite-sample example is provided: a production function for bottom-trawler fishing vessels in the flatfish fisheries of the Bering Sea. We find significant spatial variability of output (catch) which we exploit in estimation of a harvesting function.

Public Sentiment And Tobacco Control Policy, Perry Singleton

Center for Policy Research

The well-documented correlation between cigarette excise taxes and cigarette demand may not be entirely causal if excise taxes reflect public sentiment towards smoking. I consider whether proxies for smoking sentiment--the prevalence of smoking by education and intention to quit statuses--are correlated with support for and implementation of tobacco control laws. I find that cigarette excise taxes are most sensitive to the prevalence of educated smokers who do not want to quit. Additionally, when proxies for public sentiment are included, the estimated elasticity of cigarette demand declines from -2.0 to -1.3.

Semiparametric Deconvolution With Unknown Error Variance, William C. Horrace, Christopher F. Parmeter

Center for Policy Research

Deconvolution is a useful statistical technique for recovering an unknown density in the presence of measurement error. Typically, the method hinges on stringent assumptions about the nature of the measurement error, more specifically, that the distribution is *entirely* known. We relax this assumption in the context of a regression error component model and develop an estimator for the unknown density. We show semi-uniform consistency of the estimator and provide Monte Carlo evidence that demonstrates the merits of the method.

Testing For Random Effects And Spatial Lag Dependence In Panel Data Models, Badi H. Baltagi, Long Liu

Center for Policy Research

This paper derives a joint Lagrande Multiplier (LM) test which simultaneously tests for the absence of spatial lag dependence and random individual effects in a panel data regression model. It turns out that this LM statistic is the sum of two standard LM statistics. The first one tests for the absence of spatial lag dependence ignoring the random individual effects, and the second one tests for the absence of random individual effects ignoring the spatial lag dependence. This paper also derives two conditional LM tests. The first one tests for the absence of random individual effects without ignoring the possible …

Mediterranean Diet And Breast Density In The Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study, Marilyn Tseng, Thomas A. Sellers, Robert A. Vierkant, Lawrence H. Kushi, Celine M. Vachon

Kinesiology and Public Health

Mediterranean populations’ lower breast cancer incidence has been attributed to a traditional Mediterranean diet, but few studies have quantified Mediterranean dietary pattern intake in relation to breast cancer. We examined the association of a Mediterranean diet scale (MDS) with mammographic breast density as a surrogate marker for breast cancer risk. Participants completed a dietary questionnaire and provided screening mammograms for breast density assessment using a computer-assisted method. Among 1,286 women, MDS was not clearly associated with percent density in multivariate linear regression analyses. Because of previous work suggesting dietary effects limited to smokers, we conducted stratified analyses and found MDS …

Dietary Patterns And Breast Density In The Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study, Marilyn Tseng, Robert A. Vierkant, Lawrence H. Kushi, Thomas A. Sellers, Celine M. Vachon

Kinesiology and Public Health

Objective Whether dietary patterns, rather than single foods or nutrients, are associated with breast density is not known. We investigated this in the Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study. Methods Participants completed a 153-item food frequency questionnaire and provided screening mammograms for breast density assessment using a computer-assisted method. We used multivariate linear regression to quantify dietary pattern–breast density associations. Results Among 3,147 women with dietary information, three dietary patterns emerged from principal components analysis: a fruit–vegetable–cereal pattern, a salad–sauce–pasta/ grain pattern, and a meat–starch pattern. Among 1,286 women with breast density estimates, the fruit–vegetable–cereal and salad–sauce–pasta/grain patterns were inversely associated …

Food Frequency Questionnaires And Overnight Urines Are Valid Indicators Of Daidzein And Genistein Intake In U.S. Women Relative To Multiple 24-H Urine Samples, Marilyn Tseng, Temitope Olufade, Mindy S. Kurzer, Kristiina Wahala, Carolyn Y. Fang, Yvonne T. Van Der Schouw, Mary B. Daly

Kinesiology and Public Health

Data regarding convenient, valid methods for measuring U.S. isoflavone intake are limited. We evaluated a soy food questionnaire (SFQ), the Willett food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and overnight urine samples relative to excretion in 24-h urine samples. We also described intake among women in a high-risk program for breast or ovarian cancer. Between April 2002 and June 2003, 451 women aged 30 to 50 yr with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer completed the SFQ and FFQ. Of them, 27 provided four 24-h and overnight urine specimens. In these women, 24-h sample measures were correlated with SFQ estimates of …

A Manifold Structure For The Group Of Orbifold Diffeomorphisms Of A Smooth Orbifold, Joseph E. Borzellino, Victor Brunsden

Mathematics

For a compact, smooth C^r orbifold (without boundary), we show that the topological structure of the orbifold diffeomorphism group is a Banach manifold for 1 ≤ r < ∞ and a Fréchet manifold if r = ∞. In each case, the local model is the separable Banach (Fréchet) space of C^r (C ^∞, resp.) orbisections of the tangent orbibundle.

The Parallax Of Landscape: Situating Celaque National Park, Honduras, Benjamin F. Timms

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Placing Latin America: Contemporary Themes In Human Geography By E. Jackiewicz And F. Bosco, Benjamin F. Timms

Social Sciences

Studying Latin America can seem like a fatalistic endeavor, with the heavy burden of structural legacies weighing down on progress and change. In Placing Latin America, Edward Jackiewicz and Fernando Bosco have assembled a volume that not only addresses the stifling effects of these legacies but also, and more importantly, highlights the role of human agency in exploiting the spaces made available to local actors as they stimulate change. As the editors rightfully claim, the underlying themes throughout the work are the seemingly contradictory, and yet related, concepts of continuity and change. The 14 chapters bring together an impressive collection …

Annual Summary Of Grant And Contract Activity Fiscal Year 2008, Grants Development Office

Grants Development Office Reports

No abstract provided.

Performance Comparison Of Thermal Insulated Packaging Boxes, Bags And Refrigerants For Single-Parcel Shipments, S. P. Singh, Gary J. Burgess, Jay Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

A range of packaging solutions exists for products that must be kept within a specific temperature range throughout the supply-and-distribution chain. This report summarizes the results of studies conducted over a span of 2 years by the Consortium for Distribution Packaging at Michigan State University. Thermal insulation packaging materials such as expanded polystyrene, polyurethane, corrugated fibreboard, ThermalCor® and other composite packaging such as thermal insulating bags were studied. Phase change materials such as gel packs were also evaluated. Properties such as R-value, melting point and heat absorption were examined and are reported.

Metabolic Syndrome And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Obese Individuals Seeking Weight Reduction, Adam Gilden Tsai, Thomas A. Wadden, David B. Sarwer, Robert I. Berkowitz, Leslie G. Womble, Louise A. Hesson, Suzanne Phelan, Rebecca Rothman

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background: No previous research has examined the association between metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using standard criteria for defining MetSyn. We hypothesized that MetSyn would be associated with lower HRQoL on measures of physical and mental health.
Methods and Procedures: Participants were 361 individuals in two randomized weight loss trials. MetSyn was defined by the National Cholesterol Education Panel criteria. The Medical Outcomes Study, Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to assess HRQoL. Differences in HRQoL and in clinical and psychosocial characteristics were compared among participants with and without MetSyn. Multiple regression was used to determine predictors …

Physical Activity Patterns In The National Weight Control Registry, Victoria A. Catenacci, Lorraine G. Ogden, Jennifer Stuht, Suzanne Phelan, Rena R. Wing, James O. Hill, Holly R. Wyatt

Kinesiology and Public Health

Objective: The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was established in 1993 to examine the characteristics of those who are successful at weight loss: individuals maintaining a 13.6-kg weight loss for >1 year. The size of the registry has increased substantially since the early descriptions of this group a decade ago. The purpose of this study was to describe in detail the weekly physical activity habits of NWCR members, to examine the relationship between amount of activity and demographic characteristics, and to determine if changes in activity parameters have occurred over time.
Methods and Procedures: Participants were 887 men and 2,796 …

Flexible Learning Spaces: The Integration Of Pedagogy, Physical Design, And Instructional Technology, Stern Neill, Rebecca Etheridge

Marketing

To support pedagogical innovation, educators must reexamine physical space. This paper describes a project to redesign an existing classroom into a flexible learning space. The desired outcome was a classroom that would support a variety of pedagogical approaches and learning experiences. The findings, based on data gathered from students and faculty, indicate that the renovated classroom increases student engagement, collaboration, flexibility, and learning. A flexible learning space better enables innovative approaches to teaching and learning when compared to the traditional classroom.

Review Of La Biblilothèque Parisienne De Gabriel Naudé En 1630: Les Lectures D'Un Libertin Èrudit By Estelle Boeuf, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Assessment Of Back Muscle Capacity Using Intermittent Static Contractions. Part I: Validity And Reliability Of Electromyographic Indices Of Fatigue, Christian Larivière, Denis Gagnon, Denis Gravel, A. Bertrand Arsenault

Études primaires

No abstract provided.

Use Of Trees By The Texas Ratsnake (Elaphe Obsoleta) In Eastern Texas, Josh B. Pierce, Robert R. Fleet, Lance D. Mcbrayer, D. Craig Rudolph

Biology: Faculty Publications

We present information on the use of trees by Elaphe obsoleta (Texas Ratsnake) in a mesic pine-hardwood forest in eastern Texas. Using radiotelemetry, seven snakes (3 females, 4 males) were relocated a total of 363 times from April 2004 to May 2005, resulting in 201 unique locations. Snakes selected trees containing cavities and used hardwoods and snags for a combined 95% of arboreal locations. Texas Ratsnake arboreal activity peaked during July and August, well after the peak of avian breeding activity, suggesting arboreal activity involves factors other than avian predation.

A Mobile Ecg Monitoring System With Context Collection, Jin Peng Li

Masters

An objective of a health process is one where patients can stay healthy with the support of expert medical advice when they need it, at any location and any time. An associated aim would be the development of a system which places increased emphasis on preventative measures as a first point of contact with the patient. This research is a step along the road towards this type of preventative healthcare for cardiac patients. It seeks to develop a smart mobile ECG monitoring system that requests and records context information about what is happening around the subject when an arrhythmia event …

Regulations Governing The Practice Of Attorneys, Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents, Enrolled Actuaries, Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents, And Appraisers Before The Internal Revenue Service; Treasury Department Circular No. 230 (Rev. 4-2008), United States. Internal Revenue Service

Federal Publications

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Csu's Eda University Center (Presentation), Ziona Austrian

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Kalecki Eichner, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (n.d.). Kalecki / Eichner (Unpublished manuscript) (p. 1).
• Forman, C. (2008). Empirical studies on profits, concentration, entry, and investment (Unpublished manuscript) (pp. 2-3).
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2007). L.109 commercial banking (1) (Federal Reserve statistical release) (p. 4).
• Shaikh, A. (2000). Eco 204: Competition (Unpublished manuscript) (p. 5).
• Shaikh, A. (1980). Notes on Kalecki's theory of price (Unpublished manuscript) (pp. 6-10).
• Shaikh, A. (2000). New Eco 204: Price - Kalecki & PK theories (Unpublished manuscript) (p. 11).
• Shaikh, A. (2007). Unequal profit rates and theories of competition and oligopoly (Unpublished manuscript) …

An Efficient Fourier Transform Based Method For Computing Backscattering From Arbitrarily Shaped Born Objects, Edward H. Pees

Open Access Dissertations

The present study investigates a novel method for computing scalar wave fields back-scattered by arbitrarily shaped, three-dimensional objects satisfying the criteria for the first Born approximation. Specifically, it is concentrated on the scattering of acoustic pressure waves within a fluid medium by objects characterized in terms their density and compressibility contrasts relative to the background medium. The method is developed based on the angular spectrum of plane waves theory of diffraction and leads to a formulation that lends itself to high speed Fourier transform-based techniques for numerically computing the back-scattered field as a function of distance from the object.

Book Review: The New Lawyer: How Settlement Is Transforming The Practice Of Law, By Julie Macfarlane, Andrew Pirie

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Commentary: More Open Issues Regarding The Consolidated Corporate Tax Base In The European Union, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Kimberly A. Clausing

Articles

It is an honor to comment on the article by Jack Mintz and Joann Weiner.' Both of the authors have a deeply knowledgeable background in this area. The paper that Jack Mintz published (with Michael Smart) in 2004 on provincial taxation in Canada is one of the most careful and interesting papers in all of international taxation.2 And Joann Weiner has clearly been studying formulary apportionment for a very long time, from both U.S. and European perspectives.

Stoneridge Investment Partners V. Scientific-Atlanta: The Political Economy Of Securities Class Action Reform, Adam C. Pritchard

Articles

I begin in Part II by explaining the wrong turn that the Court took in Basic. The Basic Court misunderstood the function of the reliance element and its relation to the question of damages. As a result, the securities class action regime established in Basic threatens draconian sanctions with limited deterrent benefit. Part III then summarizes the cases leading up to Stoneridge and analyzes the Court's reasoning in that case. In Stoneridge, like the decisions interpreting the reliance requirement of Rule 10b-5 that came before it, the Court emphasized policy implications. Sometimes policy implications are invoked to broaden the reach …

The Upc Authorizes Notarized Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

This article reports on a 2008 amendment to the Uniform Probate Code that permits notarization as a method of will execution.

Sentencing: Where Case Theory And The Client Meet, Kimberly A. Thomas

Articles

Criminal sentencing hearings provide unique opportunities for teaching and learning case theory. These hearings allow attorneys to develop a case theory in a context that both permits understanding of the concept and, at the same time, provides a window into the difficulties case theory can pose. Some features of sentencing hearings, such as relaxed rules of evidence and stock sentencing stories, provide a manageable application of case theory practice. Other features of sentencing hearings, such as the defendant's allocution, require an attorney to contend with competing "case theories," and as a result, to face the ethical and counseling challenge of …