Governance Challenges and the Financial Crisis: Seven Key Questions

In the midst of a global economic crisis, the federal government responded on an unprecedented scale and scope, with injections of trillions of dollars into financial markets, infusions of cash to troubled industries, state and local governments, and people in need. Government is employing tools in ways never before considered and inventing new tools, in the hope of stabilizing the economy and spurring economic recovery.Under the leadership of National Academy Fellow Don Kettl and National Academy President Jennifer Dorn, the National Academy of Public Administration convened a roundtable of government leaders, business leaders, researchers and other experts to discuss governance issues related to the government's response to the financial crisis. Seven strategic questions related to governance emerged from the discussion, held earlier this year, which was moderated by Don Kettl. The National Academy and the IBM Center for the Business of Government are pleased to offer this summary of the roundtable in an effort to stimulate a national discussion of these questions.Key Findings Government investments have the potential to transform the role the federal government plays in the private economy. While largely intended to be temporary, many fear that these investments will create long-term, almost "permanent" expectations -- particularly with regard to education, unemployment insurance, infrastructure and tax breaks.One challenge confronting the government is to devise exit strategies that balance policy objectives, such as minimizing economic disruption and securing a return on taxpayer dollars, while not undermining the viability of companies or their market competitors, as well as governments and other groups. Another challenge is to determine the appropriate scope of ongoing federal regulatory authority in light of both practical demands and the appropriate role of the federal government in managing the economy

Foreign aid and the failure of state building in Haiti under the Duvaliers, Aristide, Préval, and Martelly

After receiving at least US$20 billion in aid for reconstruction and development over the past 60 years, Haiti has been and remains a fragile state, one of the worse globally. The reasons for aid failure are legion but mostly relate to highly dysfunctional Haitian regimes, sometimes destructive US foreign policy and aid policy, and ongoing issues about how to deliver aid, all in the context of devastating natural disasters. The over-riding cause of aid failure has been the social, cultural and historical context which has led to domination by economic and political elites who have little interest in advancing Haiti, and who are totally self-interested - Haiti's fatal flaw. Donors can go far to improve aid effectiveness, but Haiti will languish until its leaders and people find common ground and compromise in managing their country

Macromolecular interactions in the nucleoporin p62 complex of rat nuclear pores: binding of nucleoporin p54 to the rod domain of p62.

Nuclear pore complexes are constructed from a large number of different proteins, called collectively nucleoporins. One of these nucleoporins, p62, has an alpha-helical coiled-coil COOH-terminal rod domain linked to an NH2-terminal domain that contains a series of degenerate pentapeptide repeats. In nuclear pores p62 forms a tight complex with at least two other proteins, p58 and p54, which can be extracted from isolated rat liver nuclei (Finlay, D. R., E. Meier, P. Bradley, J. Horecka, and D. J. Forbes. 1991. J. Cell Biol. 114:169-183). We have used a range of methods to demonstrate a strong binding between p62 and p54 in this complex and show that the rod domain of p62 appears to constitute the principal binding site for p54. Whole p62 and its rod domain expressed in Escherichia coli both bind strongly to p54 in blot-overlay assays. Most of the epitopes on the p62 rod recognized by polyclonal antisera are masked in the complex, whereas epitopes on the NH2-terminal domain of p62 are still exposed, both in the isolated complex and also in nuclear pores stained in situ by immunofluorescence in isolated rat nuclei. Moreover, it has been possible to exchange recombinant p62 rod for some of the native p62 in complexes partially dissociated by 4 M urea. Overall these results suggest a key role for the p62 rod domain in maintaining the structural integrity of the complex and also suggest a molecular model for the complex. This model is consistent with data that indicate that the analogous coiled-coil region of yeast nucleoporin NSP1 may function in a similar way

How willing are you to accept sexual requests from slightly unattractive to exceptionally attractive imagined requestors?

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below.In their classic study of differences in mating strategies (Clark & Hatfield, 1989), men and women demonstrated a striking difference in interest in casual sex. The current study examined the role of requestor physical attractiveness (slightly unattractive, moderately attractive and exceptionally attractive) on men's and women's willingness to accept three different requests (go out, come to apartment, go to bed) in a questionnaire study. We tested two hypotheses, using a sample of 427 men and 443 women from three countries. Hypothesis 1 states that men, relative to women, will demonstrate a greater willingness to accept the “come to apartment” and “go to bed” requests but not the “go out” request for all three levels of requestor attractiveness. This hypothesis reflects Clark and Hatfield's (1989) main findings. Hypothesis 2 states that the physical attractiveness of a potential partner will have a greater effect on women's than on men's willingness to accept all three requests, and particularly for the explicit request for casual sex. The results partially supported Hypothesis 1 and fully supported Hypothesis 2. The discussion highlights limitations of the current research and presents directions for future research

Pseudo-distances on symplectomorphism groups and applications to flux theory

Starting from a given norm on the vector space of exact 1-forms of a compact symplectic manifold, we produce pseudo-distances on its symplectomorphism group by generalizing an idea due to Banyaga. We prove that in some cases (which include Banyaga's construction), their restriction to the Hamiltonian diffeomorphism group is equivalent to the distance induced by the initial norm on exact 1-forms. We also define genuine "distances to the Hamiltonian diffeomorphism group" which we use to derive several consequences, mainly in terms of flux groups.Comment: 21 pages, no figure; v2. various typos corrected, some references added. Published in Mathematische Zeitschrif

Can I have blood tests to check everything is alright?

Patients often request a general check-up with blood tests. In the UK these are often referred to as an MOT, in allusion to the annual motor vehicle check. Some patients may, however, have unrealistic expectations of medical tests1 and underestimate their potential harms. While agreeing to some blood tests can be an easy way out for a busy clinician, it can expose patients to the harms of over-testing and produce extra workload downstream. We provide a framework for navigating these requests constructively, some elements of which are feasible within a 10 minute consultation

Spatial and temporal distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in a Southeastern Brazilian river.

A fauna de macroinvertebrados bentônicos é estruturada por fatores físicos e químicos que determinam os microhábitats, incluindo a disponibilidade de alimento, a existência de refúgios contra predadores e tempestades, o sucesso reprodutivo e outros parâmetros biológicos. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a distribuição espaço-temporal da comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos na bacia do Rio Macaé, estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. De acordo com o Habitat Assessment Field Data Sheet High Gradient Streams (Barbour et al., 1999), os cinco locais coletados são considerados como referência para propósito de biomonitoramento. Apesar das diferenças em parâmetros hidrográficos (largura, profundidade e vazão médias), os parâmetros físico-químicos e a composição dos grupos de alimentação funcional foram similares entre os locais, com exceção da área mais preservada, onde a porcentagem de organismos cortadores foi maior. De acordo com a análise de correspondência, há uma clara distinção entre áreas de remanso e de correnteza. De fato, o substrato folhiço de correnteza apresentou a fauna mais rica e abundante, enquanto o substrato folhiço de fundo apresentou o maior número de táxons exclusivos. A análise de agrupamento considerando os dados dos locais de coleta indicou que a variação temporal foi o fator mais importante na estruturação das comunidades nos hábitats estudados