2,845 research outputs found
The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy
If there has been a dominant trend in the evolution of the modern industrial societies of this century it has been the growing importance of government in the allocation of social resources. It is important that we appreciate the fundamentally political nature of the formation of government economic policy. This survey reviews and assesses our present understanding of how the political system might shape a nation's fiscal policy. Our approach is eclectic, drawing both from economics and political science, and decidedly micro-analytic in its orientation. From economics we adopt the perspective of utility maximizing agents and the analytics of trade, agreement, and market failure. From political science we learn just how and when these individual agents might act collectively to provide public goods, redistribute income, or issue government debt. Together the micro-analytics of economics and political science form the core theory of the 'new' political economy and provide a framework for understanding the emergence, and the performance, of governments. There is no more important test for the new discipline than providing a compelling explanation for the formation of fiscal policy in democratic societies.
Lab Retriever: a software tool for calculating likelihood ratios incorporating a probability of drop-out for forensic DNA profiles.
BackgroundTechnological advances have enabled the analysis of very small amounts of DNA in forensic cases. However, the DNA profiles from such evidence are frequently incomplete and can contain contributions from multiple individuals. The complexity of such samples confounds the assessment of the statistical weight of such evidence. One approach to account for this uncertainty is to use a likelihood ratio framework to compare the probability of the evidence profile under different scenarios. While researchers favor the likelihood ratio framework, few open-source software solutions with a graphical user interface implementing these calculations are available for practicing forensic scientists.ResultsTo address this need, we developed Lab Retriever, an open-source, freely available program that forensic scientists can use to calculate likelihood ratios for complex DNA profiles. Lab Retriever adds a graphical user interface, written primarily in JavaScript, on top of a C++ implementation of the previously published R code of Balding. We redesigned parts of the original Balding algorithm to improve computational speed. In addition to incorporating a probability of allelic drop-out and other critical parameters, Lab Retriever computes likelihood ratios for hypotheses that can include up to four unknown contributors to a mixed sample. These computations are completed nearly instantaneously on a modern PC or Mac computer.ConclusionsLab Retriever provides a practical software solution to forensic scientists who wish to assess the statistical weight of evidence for complex DNA profiles. Executable versions of the program are freely available for Mac OSX and Windows operating systems
Trends in Spanish Foreign Policy
Today Spain seeks integration with Europe and the Common Market and could become progressively less interested in retaining American military bases on her soil
Inside The Page Spring 2015 issue
Page Library Newsletter Spring 2015 issuehttps://bluetigercommons.lincolnu.edu/page_newsletters/1001/thumbnail.jp
Inside the Page Fall 2016 issue
Page Library Newsletter Fall 2016 issuehttps://bluetigercommons.lincolnu.edu/page_newsletters/1003/thumbnail.jp
Inside the Page Fall 2015 issue
Page Library Newsletter Fall 2015 issuehttps://bluetigercommons.lincolnu.edu/page_newsletters/1002/thumbnail.jp
Shuttle Performance Augmentationwith the Titan Liquid Boost Module
The projected 24000 pound payload lift capability for the baseline Space Shuttle, with anticipated arbiter and external tank weight savings programs implemented, will not meet the 32000 pound payload requirements for the DOD Mission 4 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, NASA has selected the Titan Liquid Boost Module (LBM) to provide thrust augmentation during the boost phase sufficient to meet and provide margin for the defined Mission 4 requirements. The LBM will use Titan 34D Stage I engines and a cluster of four Titan derived 10 foot diameter tanks. The module will be attached to the aft end of the ET. This paper will provide a description of the LBM and discuss some of its advantages and capabilities
Electrochemical Detection of Nanoscale Phase Separation in Binary Self-Assembled Monolayers
Developing methods to probe the nature and structure of nanoscale environments continues to be a challenge in nanoscience. We report a cyclic voltammetry investigation of internal, hydrogen-bond driven phase separation of amide-containing thiols and alkane thiols. Amide-containing thiols with a terminal ferrocene carboxylate functional group were investigated in two binary monolayers, one homogeneously mixed and the other phase separated. The electrochemical response of the ferrocene probe was used to monitor adsorbate coverage, environment and phase separation within each of these monolayers. The results demonstrate that the behavior of ferrocene containing monolayers can be used to probe nanoscale organization
Workforce Development in the South West Voluntary and Community Sectors:Skill Shortages Study
The Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation, now the National
Workforce Development Hub, describes the Voluntary and Community
Sector as diverse and covering a variety of different organisations.
Organisations range from traditional charities, to companies that trade to
support their social aims, through to informal community organisations.
The sector also includes federations, or networks of local groups working
under national umbrellas. Voluntary and community sector organisations
provide a wide range of services and activities and many of the
organisations are involved in the delivery of learning, whether through
accredited training or informal learning.
The Government has increasingly recognised the importance of Voluntary
and community sector organisations and the key role that they play
nationally, regionally and locally. Initiatives to support the sector,
underpinned by funding, have been undertaken and the Government has
been active in encouraging and commissioning research and strategic
planning in the sector, in particular emphasising the importance of
developing the skills, capacities and potential of the workforce.
Sector organisations generally display a strong commitment to training
and workforce development. However, in spite of this commitment and
the presence of a high proportion of well‐qualified workers, skills gaps,
that is skills lacking in the current workforce, and skills shortages caused
by recruitment difficulties, are present in the sector. There are also skills
gaps and shortages in the volunteer workforce
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