REFORM OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE

On January 22, 1941, the Attorney General\u27s Committee on Administrative Procedure, appointed to investigate the need for procedural reform in various federal administrative tribunals and to suggest improvements therein, submitted its final report and a proposed bill to Attorney General Jackson, who on January 24, 1941, transmitted these to the Senate with his recommendation that the proposed bill receive favorable consideration. Every member of the committee approved this report and this proposed bill, but the approval of four members of the committee was subject to their additional views and recommendations, expressed in statements and in a differing proposed bill. Pending now before the Senate are S. 674 embodying the proposed bill favored by the minority of the committee, and S. 675 embodying the proposed bill favored by the majority of the committee, and S. 918 embodying certain features of these bills and also of the Logan-Walter Bill which President Roosevelt vetoed on December 18, 1940. The conflicting views embodied in these bills and in the committee\u27s report and in the additional views and recommendations of the minority of the committee have been extensively discussed in the law periodicals and in hearings from April to July 1941 before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.8 The American Bar Association through its House of Delegates has endorsed S. 674. Debate on administrative procedure is today proceeding with somewhat more light and less heat than previously, 10 and credit for this belongs to both the majority and the minority of the Attorney General\u27s Committee

COMMISSIONER BENJAMIN\u27S REPORT ON ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION IN NEW YORK

In his annual message to the New York Legislature in January, 1939, after recalling that at the 1938 election the people had rejected a proposal that would freeze into the Constitution a rigid procedure for the judicial review of the facts as well as of the law of virtually all decisions of administrative officers and agencies, Governor Lehman announced: Modification of procedure, if needed, should be undertaken only after careful study of each administrative process on an individual basis. As part of my plan always to improve and perfect the administrative branch of government, intend to appoint a commissioner under the executive law to study the entire problem of administrative rulings. On March 3, 1939, Governor Lehman appointed Robert M. Benjamin as commissioner under section 8 of the Executive Law to study, examine and investigate the exercise of quasi-judicial functions by any board, commission or department of the State

The Landscape of Extreme Genomic Variation in the Highly Adaptable Atlantic Killifish

Understanding and predicting the fate of populations in changing environments require knowledge about the mechanisms that support phenotypic plasticity and the adaptive value and evolutionary fate of genetic variation within populations. Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) exhibit extensive phenotypic plasticity that supports large population sizes in highly fluctuating estuarine environments. Populations have also evolved diverse local adaptations. To yield insights into the genomic variation that supports their adaptability, we sequenced a reference genome and 48 additional whole genomes from a wild population. Evolution of genes associated with cell cycle regulation and apoptosis is accelerated along the killifish lineage, which is likely tied to adaptations for life in highly variable estuarine environments. Genome-wide standing genetic variation, including nucleotide diversity and copy number variation, is extremely high. The highest diversity genes are those associated with immune function and olfaction, whereas genes under greatest evolutionary constraint are those associated with neurological, developmental, and cytoskeletal functions. Reduced genetic variation is detected for tight junction proteins, which in killifish regulate paracellular permeability that supports their extreme physiological flexibility. Low-diversity genes engage in more regulatory interactions than high-diversity genes, consistent with the influence of pleiotropic constraint on molecular evolution. High genetic variation is crucial for continued persistence of species given the pace of contemporary environmental change. Killifish populations harbor among the highest levels of nucleotide diversity yet reported for a vertebrate species, and thus may serve as a useful model system for studying evolutionary potential in variable and changing environments

The landscape of extreme genomic variation in the highly adaptable Atlantic killifish

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Genome Biology and Evolution 9 (2017): 659-676, doi:10.1093/gbe/evx023.Understanding and predicting the fate of populations in changing environments require knowledge about the mechanisms that support phenotypic plasticity and the adaptive value and evolutionary fate of genetic variation within populations. Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) exhibit extensive phenotypic plasticity that supports large population sizes in highly fluctuating estuarine environments. Populations have also evolved diverse local adaptations. To yield insights into the genomic variation that supports their adaptability, we sequenced a reference genome and 48 additional whole genomes from a wild population. Evolution of genes associated with cell cycle regulation and apoptosis is accelerated along the killifish lineage, which is likely tied to adaptations for life in highly variable estuarine environments. Genome-wide standing genetic variation, including nucleotide diversity and copy number variation, is extremely high. The highest diversity genes are those associated with immune function and olfaction, whereas genes under greatest evolutionary constraint are those associated with neurological, developmental, and cytoskeletal functions. Reduced genetic variation is detected for tight junction proteins, which in killifish regulate paracellular permeability that supports their extreme physiological flexibility. Low-diversity genes engage in more regulatory interactions than high-diversity genes, consistent with the influence of pleiotropic constraint on molecular evolution. High genetic variation is crucial for continued persistence of species given the pace of contemporary environmental change. Killifish populations harbor among the highest levels of nucleotide diversity yet reported for a vertebrate species, and thus may serve as a useful model system for studying evolutionary potential in variable and changing environments.This work was primarily supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (collaborative research grants DEB-1265282, DEB-1120512, DEB-1120013, DEB-1120263, DEB-1120333, DEB-1120398 to J.K.C., D.L.C., M.E.H., S.I.K., M.F.O., J.R.S., W.W., and A.W.). Further support was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1R01ES021934-01 to A.W., P42ES7373 to T.H.H., P42ES007381 to M.E.H., and R01ES019324 to J.R.S.), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM103423 and P20GM104318 to B.L.K.), and the National Science Foundation (DBI-0640462 and XSEDE-MCB100147 to D.G.)

Confirmation bias in the utilization of others' opinion strength

Humans tend to discount information that undermines past choices and judgments. This confirmation bias has significant impact on domains ranging from politics to science and education. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying this fundamental characteristic of belief formation. Here we report a mechanism underlying the confirmation bias. Specifically, we provide evidence for a failure to use the strength of others' disconfirming opinions to alter confidence in judgments, but adequate use when opinions are confirmatory. This bias is related to reduced neural sensitivity to the strength of others' opinions in the posterior medial prefrontal cortex when opinions are disconfirming. Our results demonstrate that existing judgments alter the neural representation of information strength, leaving the individual less likely to alter opinions in the face of disagreement

COMMISSIONER BENJAMIN\u27S REPORT ON ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION IN NEW YORK

In his annual message to the New York Legislature in January, 1939, after recalling that at the 1938 election the people had rejected a proposal that would freeze into the Constitution a rigid procedure for the judicial review of the facts as well as of the law of virtually all decisions of administrative officers and agencies, Governor Lehman announced: Modification of procedure, if needed, should be undertaken only after careful study of each administrative process on an individual basis. As part of my plan always to improve and perfect the administrative branch of government, intend to appoint a commissioner under the executive law to study the entire problem of administrative rulings. On March 3, 1939, Governor Lehman appointed Robert M. Benjamin as commissioner under section 8 of the Executive Law to study, examine and investigate the exercise of quasi-judicial functions by any board, commission or department of the State