Economic Growth and Judicial Independence, a Dozen Years On: Cross-Country Evidence Using an Updated Set of Indicators

Over 10 years ago, Feld and Voigt (2003) introduced the first indicator for objectively meas-uring the actual independence of the judiciary and demonstrated its utility in a large cross-section of countries. The indicator has been widely used, but also criticized. This paper pre-sents more recent data on de jure and de facto judicial independence (JI) and strongly con-firms previous results that de jure JI is not systematically related to economic growth, but de facto JI is highly significantly and robustly correlated with growth. In addition, we show that the effect of de facto JI depends on the institutional environment, but not on a country's initial per capita income

The Stewardship Gap: A Challenge in Long-Term Access to Data

Despite broad consensus among many in the scientific research, data, and policy communities about the importance of preserving and sharing research data, there are significant concerns about the adequacy of measures being taken today to enable these activities. The difference between current activities and best or ideal policies and practices constitutes a gap that this article describes: the stewardship gap—a gap that will require innovative strategies by researchers, research organizations, and research sponsors to address. The authors interviewed 46 active researchers, drawn from a variety of scientific domains, to understand their perspectives on the value of their research data, the length of time their data would remain valuable, and the kind and extent of commitments in place to ensure ongoing preservation of valuable data. In all, the researchers provided descriptions, valuations, and prospective plans for 120 datasets produced in 46 projects. Four concepts are valuable for understanding our findings: the kinds of commitment researchers receive from data stewards; who takes responsibility for stewardship; the value of the data as perceived by the researcher and others; and the length of time over which data are valuable and commitments exist. Based on this study as a representation of the larger cohort of data created with federal and foundation R&D support, research data are "at risk." This is especially so when data are valuable and the length of time for which there is a preservation commitment is less than the length of time that the data will have value. Closing gaps in commitment and responsibility is essential if valuable data are to be effectively preserved. This calls for clear policy directives from government agencies and other research sponsors in partnership with research-performing institutions, designation and acceptance of responsibility, and supporting human and financial investments for the research data the community deems as valuable.Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; University of Colorado Boulderhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146759/6/Stewardship Gap Article for deep blue-updated January 2019.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146759/1/Stewardship Gap Article for Deep Blue.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146759/2/Stewardship Gap Supplemental Materials for Deep Blue.pdf1517137Description of Stewardship Gap Article for deep blue-updated January 2019.pdf : Main Article (January 2019)Description of Stewardship Gap Article for Deep Blue.pdf : Previous VersionDescription of Stewardship Gap Supplemental Materials for Deep Blue.pdf : Supplemental Material

Defining and distributing longitudinal historical data in a general way through an intermediate structure

'Der Beitrag diskutiert am Beispiel von demographischen Mikrodaten methodologische Probleme von Längsschnittdaten. Die Herausforderungen bestehen darin, 1. Lebensverläufe in kartesische Datenformate zu transformieren, die mit den Erfordernissen gängiger statistischer Analysesysteme kompatibel sind, und 2. Datensätze für interlokale und interkulturelle Studien vergleichbar zu machen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen wird eine intermediäre Datenstruktur (IDS) vorgeschlagen, die auf alle Datenbanken übertragen kann. Die Autoren erläutern den Vorteil des IDS-Ansatzes und die Maßnahmen, die zur Umsetzung des Konzeptes führen werden.' (Autorenreferat)'In recent years, studies of historical populations have shifted from tracing large-scale processes to analyzing longitudinal micro data in the form of 'life histories'. This approach expands the scope of social history by integrating data on a range of life course events. The complexity of life-course analysis, however, has limited most researchers to working with one specific database. The authors discuss methodological problems raised by longitudinal historical data and the challenge of converting life histories into rectangular datasets compatible with statistical analysis systems. The logical next step is comparing life courses across local and national databases, and they propose a strategy for sharing historical longitudinal data based on an intermediate data structure (IDS) that can be adopted by all databases. They describe the benefits of the IDS approach and activities that will advance the goals of simplifying and promoting research with longitudinal historical data.' (author's abstract

Exact solution for the dynamical decoupling of a qubit with telegraph noise

We study the dissipative dynamics of a qubit that is afflicted by classical random telegraph noise and it is subject to dynamical decoupling. We derive exact formulas for the qubit dynamics at arbitrary working points in the limit of infinitely strong control pulses (bang-bang control) and we investigate in great detail the efficiency of the dynamical decoupling techniques both for Gaussian and non-Gaussian (slow) noise at qubit pure dephasing and at optimal point. We demonstrate that control sequences can be successfully implemented as diagnostic tools to infer spectral proprieties of a few fluctuators interacting with the qubit. The analysis is extended in order to include the effect of noise in the pulses and we give upper bounds on the noise levels that can be tolerated in the pulses while still achieving efficient dynamical decoupling performance

Maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for comorbid pharmacotherapy-refractory obsessive-compulsive and schizoaffective disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>There is a high comorbidity of schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsory disorder (OCD) associated with more severe symptoms. Standard pharmacotherapy achieve symptom improvement in approximately 60% only.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report about a 48-old women treated for depression which developed successively psychotic symptoms (ideas of reference, psychotic worries), negative symptoms (blunted affect, impoverished thinking, difficulties in planning), and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (mainly repeating rituals, avoidance behaviour, collecting and hoarding). She did not respond to combined treatment with neuroleptics and high dose selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors. She acutely improved during a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and was maintained on outpatient ECTs fortnightly together with 12 mg sertindol and 45 mg mirtazapine for 42 weeks.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Maintenance ECT is not an approved therapy in OCD but might be an option in pharmacotherapy refractory cases of comorbid OCD and schizophrenic/schizoaffective disorder.</p

Enabling Technologies for the Future of Chemical Synthesis.

Technology is evolving at breakneck pace, changing the way we communicate, travel, find out information, and live our lives. Yet chemistry as a science has been slower to adapt to this rapidly shifting world. In this Outlook we use highlights from recent literature reports to describe how progresses in enabling technologies are altering this trend, permitting chemists to incorporate new advances into their work at all levels of the chemistry development cycle. We discuss the benefits and challenges that have arisen, impacts on academic-industry relationships, and future trends in the area of chemical synthesis.We are grateful to the Woolf Fisher Trust (D.E.F), Syngenta Crop Protection AG (C.B.) and EPSRC (S.V.L., grant codes EP/K009494/1, EP/M004120/1 and EP/K039520/1) for financial assistance.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the American Chemical Society via https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.6b0001

Probabilistic Perception Revision in AgentSpeak(L)

Agent programming is mostly a symbolic discipline and, as such, draws little benefits from probabilistic areas as machine learning and graphical models. However, the greatest objective of agent research is the achievement of autonomy in dynamical and complex environments — a goal that implies embracing uncertainty and therefore the entailed representations, algorithms and techniques. This paper proposes an innovative and conflict free two layer approach to agent programming that uses already established methods and tools from both symbolic and probabilistic artificial intelligence. Moreover, this method is illustrated by means of a widely used agent programming example, GOLDMINERS

Ecological Impact Of Historical Land‐Use Patterns In The Great Plains: A Methodological Assessment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117101/1/eap20051561915.pd

Differences in daptomycin and vancomycin ex vivo behaviour can lead to false interpretation of negative blood cultures

AbstractIn clinical studies on bacteraemia, the negativity of blood cultures is an important endpoint for comparing the efficacy of different therapeutic regimens. In FAN° anaerobic blood culture medium (BacT/ALERT system), daptomycin displayed increased MIC against Staphylococcus aureus and improved abolishment of its carryover effect in charcoal when compared with vancomycin. Differences between these two drugs can lead to a false interpretation of negative blood cultures. To compare different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of bacteraemia, preliminary studies are mandatory to ensure that ex vivo antibiotic behaviour is similar in the blood-culture system used