The Economic Significance of Insignificant Rules

We know relatively little about the economic impacts of "minor" or "insignificant" rules because they are not typically analyzed. Yet, these rules could be important, particularly when we consider their aggregate impacts. We provide an economic analysis of one proposed rule to control hazardous air pollutants, which is not considered to be economically significant. This rule is of particular interest because it is likely to be the first in a long series of rules that EPA will use to address residual risk from hazardous air pollutants over the next several years. We find that the proposed controls that EPA considers are not likely to pass a benefit-cost test. Furthermore, we suggest that agencies consider applying a rule of thumb that would specify a threshold level of risk reduction that needs to be achieved before some kinds of regulation are considered. We believe that it is important to consider the impact of small rules more carefully at all levels of government. One way of addressing the problem would be to choose a list of small rules at random and examine their economic consequences. This research could provide insights into the potential economic importance of such rules. It could also provide information on how to utilize analysis more effectively to improve regulatory policy.

The Voice of the Absent? The Link Between Descriptive and Substantive Representation of the Working Class in Western Europe

Recent research has revealed a considerable representation gap disadvantaging the lower social class in the political process. However, we know little about the underlying mechanisms of this bias or the measures that could compensate for it. Combining cross-national data from a general population survey and an elite-level survey, the present article addresses this knowledge deficit by looking at one potential determinant of working-class underrepresentation: the unequal composition of parliaments. Building on arguments for descriptive representation, I argue that members of the working class experience similar living situations and life chances that form their preferences. Consequently, working-class politicians may be better suited to representing working-class views. The results confirm lower congruence levels between the political elite and working-class citizens. However, class-based preference gaps among politicians are relatively small, and politicians’ social class appears to have a limited impact on compensating for the representational inequality of the working class

Central neuropathology and clinicopathological correlates in equine grass sickness

Equine Grass Sickness has traditionally been known as a dysautonomia, principally affecting parasympathetic neurons in the enteric nervous system. Studies of central neuropathology have been cursory and conflicting, examining different and occasionally poorly defined central structures in variable numbers of cases and control animals. There was no agreement on the association or severity of clinical signs with the severity of central pathological changes.This study accurately describes the distribution of pathology in the brain of EGS cases. Chromatolytic neurons have a highly specific distribution which is unlike that reported in any other equine or human disease, but is apparently the same as in cats, dogs and hares with primary dysautonomias. The involvement of somatic efferent lower motor neurons suggests that EGS may be more correctly classified as a multisystem disease. This is a further incentive to search for a common aetiologic agent and may decrease the number of candidates under considerationThe nature of the pathological insult to the central neurons remains undetermined but, unlike peripheral neurons, central neurons do not appear to be dying; this study was unable to demonstrate evidence of neuronal apoptosis, axonal pathology or muscle fibre type grouping in muscles innervated by chromatolytic neurons. Phosphorylated neurofilament epitopes were labelled in the soma of somatic and visceral lower motor neurons indicating an axonal transport problem, but no consistent expression of the cell stress protein ubiquitin was evident. Smaller, CGRP-expressing dorsal root ganglia neurons are more likely to be chromatolytic than large neurons and may contribute to the observed rhinitis sicca. Electron microscopy revealed classical chromatolytic changes and no inclusion bodies.Electrodiagnostic examination of the blink reflex did not reveal a functional deficit of the facial nerve, and the characteristic ptosis of EGS cases was determined to be an expression of Horner's syndrome secondary to pathology to postganglionic sympathetic neurons. The response of the equine eyelid to alpha agonist eyedrops was defined and a significant difference found between control animals and EGS cases. The technique has been developed further as a useful non-invasive adjunct diagnostic test in Grass Sickness

Engaging Students in a Large Lecture: An Experiment using Sudoku Puzzles

In this paper, we describe an in-class experiment that is easy to implement with large groups of students. The experiment takes approximately 15-20 minutes to run and involves each student completing one of four types of Sudoku puzzles and recording the time it takes to completion. The resulting data set can be used as a teaching tool at an introductory level right through to an advanced level of statistics. Basic methods for describing and displaying data as well as the intricacies that arise with real data may be discussed in an introductory course. The range of more sophisticated analyses that can be taught with the data set include chi-squared tests for independence, ANOVA, t- and F-tests, logistic regression and survival analysis. We describe and provide the tools to implement the experiment and illustrate several potential teaching topics using a collected data set

Engaging Students in a Large Lecture: An Experiment using Sudoku Puzzles

In this paper, we describe an in-class experiment that is easy to implement with large groups of students. The experiment takes approximately 15-20 minutes to run and involves each student completing one of four types of Sudoku puzzles and recording the time it takes to completion. The resulting data set can be used as a teaching tool at an introductory level right through to an advanced level of statistics. Basic methods for describing and displaying data as well as the intricacies that arise with real data may be discussed in an introductory course. The range of more sophisticated analyses that can be taught with the data set include chi-squared tests for independence, ANOVA, t- and F-tests, logistic regression and survival analysis. We describe and provide the tools to implement the experiment and illustrate several potential teaching topics using a collected data set

Distributive and Procedural Justice and Political Trust in Europe

Previous research underlines that a political system's adherence to principles of distributive and procedural justice stimulates citizens' political trust. Yet, most of what is known about the relationship between justice and political trust is derived from macro-level indicators of distributive and procedural justice, merely presuming that citizens connect a political system's adherence to justice principles to their trust in political authorities and institutions. Accordingly, we still lack a clear understanding of whether and how individual perceptions and evaluations of distributive and procedural justice influence citizens' political trust and how their impact might be conditioned by a political system's overall adherence to principles of justice. In addition, previous research has implicitly assumed that the link between justice principles and political trust operates identically for all major political authorities and institutions, disregarding the possibility that citizens evaluate representative and regulative authorities and institutions on the basis of different justice criteria. Against this background, the aims of the present study are (1) to investigate the impact of individual evaluations of distributive and procedural justice on citizens' political trust, (2) to analyze to what extent the effects of justice evaluations on political trust depend on political systems' overall adherence to principles of distributive and procedural justice, and (3) to assess whether and in which ways the influence of justice evaluations differs for trust in representative and regulative authorities and institutions. Our empirical analysis covering more than 30,000 respondents from 27 European countries based on data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project demonstrates that (1) more positive evaluations of distributive and procedural justice foster citizens' political trust, that (2) the impact of justice evaluations on political trust is amplified in political systems in which the overall adherence to justice principles is compromised, and that (3) different facets of distributive and procedural justice evaluations exert varying effects on citizens' trust in representative as compared to regulative authorities and institutions. These findings entail important implications with regard to the relation between justice and political trust and the general viability of modern democratic systems

¹³C NMR metabolomics: applications at natural abundance.

(13)C NMR has many advantages for a metabolomics study, including a large spectral dispersion, narrow singlets at natural abundance, and a direct measure of the backbone structures of metabolites. However, it has not had widespread use because of its relatively low sensitivity compounded by low natural abundance. Here we demonstrate the utility of high-quality (13)C NMR spectra obtained using a custom (13)C-optimized probe on metabolomic mixtures. A workflow was developed to use statistical correlations between replicate 1D (13)C and (1)H spectra, leading to composite spin systems that can be used to search publicly available databases for compound identification. This was developed using synthetic mixtures and then applied to two biological samples, Drosophila melanogaster extracts and mouse serum. Using the synthetic mixtures we were able to obtain useful (13)C-(13)C statistical correlations from metabolites with as little as 60 nmol of material. The lower limit of (13)C NMR detection under our experimental conditions is approximately 40 nmol, slightly lower than the requirement for statistical analysis. The (13)C and (1)H data together led to 15 matches in the database compared to just 7 using (1)H alone, and the (13)C correlated peak lists had far fewer false positives than the (1)H generated lists. In addition, the (13)C 1D data provided improved metabolite identification and separation of biologically distinct groups using multivariate statistical analysis in the D. melanogaster extracts and mouse serum

North Atlantic natural variability modulates emergence of widespread Greenland melt in a warming climate

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 45 (2018): 9171-9178, doi:10.1029/2018GL079682.Record‐breaking melt over Greenland in recent decades is linked not only to climate change but also to natural variability, including persistent atmospheric high‐pressure conditions in the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation and warm North Atlantic Ocean temperatures during the positive phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. However, the relative importance of natural variability for Greenland melt under varying degrees of greenhouse forcing is still unclear. Using reanalysis data and a large ensemble of climate model simulations, we find that a negative North Atlantic Oscillation and positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation consistently promote heightened summer melt under various forcing conditions. Moreover, timing of widespread 21st century Greenland melt varies considerably between ensemble members due to different phasing of these modes of natural variability. These results indicate the importance of natural modes of variability across a range of external forcing conditions for interannual melt variability and the emergence of widespread Greenland melt.U.S. National Science Foundation Grant Number: ANS‐1736738; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Summer Student Fellow program Grant Number: AGS‐13553392019-03-1

An evaluation of the quality of impact assessment in the European Union with lessons for the US and the EU

4sìGovernments throughout the world are requiring greater use of economic analysis as a way of informing policy decisions. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the use of impact assessment in the European Union, using US assessments as a benchmark. We find that recent EU impact assessments include more economic information than they did in the past, although important items are still missing. We also provide evidence that the quality of EU impact assessment increases with the expected cost of a proposal. Furthermore, we find that the quality of EU assessments that report high total costs is similar to that of US assessments.openopenCaroline Cecot; Robert Hahn; Andrea Renda; Lorna SchreflerCaroline, Cecot; Robert, Hahn; Renda, Andrea; Lorna, Schrefle