Do Endowments Predict the Location of Production? Evidence from National and International Data

Examining the relationship between factor endowments and production patterns using international and Japanese regional data, we provide the first empirical confirmation of Ethier's correlation approach to the Rybczynski theorem. Moreover, we find evidence of substantial production indeterminacy. Prediction errors are six to thirty times larger for goods traded relatively freely. A compelling explanation of this phenomenon is the existence of more goods than factors in the presence of trade costs. This result implies that regressions of trade or output on endowments have weak theoretical foundations. Furthermore, since errors are largest in data sets where trade costs are small, we explain why the common methodology of imputing trade barriers from regression residuals often leads to backwards results.

No Child Left Behind: Estimating the Impact on Choices and Student Outcomes

Several recent education reform measures, including the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), couple school choice with accountability measures to allow parents of children in under-performing schools the opportunity to choose higher-performing schools. We use the introduction of NCLB in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to determine if the choice component had an impact on the schools parents chose and if those changed choices led to academic gains. We find that 16% of parents responded to NCLB notification by choosing schools that had on average 1 standard deviation higher average test scores than their current NCLB school. We then use the lottery assignment of students to chosen schools to test if changed choices led to improved academic outcomes. On average, lottery winners experience a significant decline in suspension rates relative to lottery losers. We also find that students winning lotteries to attend substantially better (above-median) schools experience significant gains in test scores. Because proximity to high-scoring schools drives both the probability of choosing an alternative school and the average test score at the school chosen, our results suggest that the availability of proximate and high-scoring schools is an important factor in determining the degree to which school choice and accountability programs can succeed at increasing choice and immediate academic outcomes for students at under-performing schools.

Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from Two Experiments

We analyze two experiments that provided direct information on school test scores to lower-income families in a public school choice plan. We find that receiving information significantly increases the fraction of parents choosing higher-performing schools. Parents with high-scoring alternatives nearby were more likely to choose non-guaranteed schools with higher test scores. Using random variation from each experiment, we find evidence that attending a higher-scoring school increases student test scores. The results imply that school choice will most effectively increase academic achievement for disadvantaged students when parents have easy access to test score information and have good options to choose from.

The crystallization of estrogen-binding protein

Candida albicans is a yeast that is known to target humans with weakened immune systems. The growth rate and invasiveness of C. albicans is stimulated in the presence of estrogens. Experimental evidence suggests that the estrogen-binding protein (EBP) from C. albicans may be involved in the estrogen-induced increase in growth rate. In order to investigate the possible involvement of EBP in this process, work is underway to determine the atomic structures of EBP alone and bound to estrogen. Protein crystals of EBP have been grown at 4°C in the presence and absence of estrogen using vapor diffusion techniques from a solution of 2% Polyethylene glycol, 2.0M ammonium sulfate, 0.1 M sodium HEPES at pH 7.5, and a protein concentration of 5.0 mg/ml. Once large, diffraction quality crystals have been grown, x-ray diffraction data will be collected from the crystals and used to solve the three dimensional structure of EBP. The structure will be useful in answering questions about how estrogen interacts with EBP and possibly understanding how estrogen induces the growth rate of C. albicans

Preferences, Information, and Parental Choice Behavior in Public School Choice

The incentives and outcomes generated by public school choice depend to a large degree on parents' choice behavior. There is growing empirical evidence that low-income parents place lower weights on academics when choosing schools, but there is little evidence as to why. We use a field experiment in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School district (CMS) to examine the degree to which information costs impact parental choices and their revealed preferences for academic achievement. We provided simplified information sheets on school average test scores or test scores coupled with estimated odds of admission to students in randomly selected schools along with their CMS school choice forms. We find that receiving simplified information leads to a significant increase in the average test score of the school chosen. This increase is equivalent to a doubling in the implicit preference for academic performance in a random utility model of school choice. Receiving information on odds of admission further increases the effect of simplified test score information on preferences for test scores among low-income families, but dampens the effect among higher-income families. Using within-family changes in choice behavior, we provide evidence that the estimated impact of simplified information is more consistent with lowered information costs than with suggestion or saliency.

The Effect of Randomized School Admissions on Voter Participation

There is little causal evidence on the effect of economic and policy outcomes on voting behavior. This paper uses randomized outcomes from a school choice lottery to examine if lottery outcomes affect voting behavior in a school board election. We show that losing the lottery has no significant impact on overall voting behavior; however, among white families, those with above median income and prior voting history, lottery losers were significantly more likely to vote than lottery winners. Using propensity score methods, we compare the voting of lottery participants to similar families who did not participate in the lottery. We find that losing the school choice lottery caused an increase in voter turnout among whites, while winning the lottery had no effect relative to non-participants. Overall, our empirical results lend support to models of expressive and retrospective voting, where likely voters are motivated to vote by past negative policy outcomes.

Topical Tritiated Thymidine for Epidermal Growth Fraction Determination

Direct autoradiographic identification of the epidermal growth fraction (GF) requires the delivery of tritiated thymidine ([3H]dThd) to the skin during the time interval of an entire cell cycle. The GF in normal human epidermis has not been directly measured using this technique because the systemic infusion of radioactive [3H]dThd in benign skin conditions is precluded by ethical considerations. Studies were undertaken to assess the feasibility of measuring the epidermal GF in vivo by the topical delivery of [3H]dThd. The percutaneous penetration of [3dThd in various vehicles was evaluated to select an effective topical delivery system. A vehicle consisting of Azone, isopropanol, and water (2:49:49) was the best of 4 different vehicles tested. The optimal penetration of [3H]dThd, with respect to the concentration of Azone over a range of 0–4%, was achieved at 2%. During the initial 24h following a single topical application of [3H]dThd to hairless mice the labeling increased linearly with time. In vivo studies in hairless mice produced a GF of 95% by both continuous systemic [3H]dThd infusion, and by twice daily topical [3H]dThd. Azone vehicles induced epidermal hyperplasia which was minimized by lowering the Azone concentration and by decreasing the frequency of applications from 24 to 48h. These studies establish the rationale for using topical delivery of [3H]dThd for the in vivo measurement of epidermal GF

The Ethical Triage and Management Guidelines of the Entrapped and Mangled Extremity in Resource Scarce Environments: A Systematic Literature Review.

ABSTRACTObjective:A systematic literature review (SLR) was performed to elucidate the current triage and treatment of an entrapped or mangled extremity in resource scarce environments (RSEs).Methods:A lead researcher followed the search strategy following inclusion and exclusion criteria. A first reviewer (FR) was randomly assigned sources. One of the 2 lead researchers was the second reviewer (SR). Each determined the level of evidence (LOE) and quality of evidence (QE) from each source. Any differing opinions between the FR and SR were discussed between them, and if differing opinions remained, then a third reviewer (the other lead researcher) discussed the article until a consensus was reached. The final opinion of each article was entered for analysis.Results:Fifty-eight (58) articles were entered into the final study. There was 1 study determined to be LOE 1, 29 LOE 2, and 28 LOE 3, with 15 determined to achieve QE 1, 37 QE 2, and 6 QE 3.Conclusion:This SLR showed that there is a lack of studies producing strong evidence to support the triage and treatment of the mangled extremity in RSE. Therefore, a Delphi process is suggested to adapt and modify current civilian and military triage and treatment guidelines to the RSE

La abolición de la esclavitud en Hispanoamérica y Brasil : Nuevos aportes y debates historiográficos [Recurso electrónico]

Los esfuerzos de los esclavos en pos de la abolición en Ecuador / Camilla Townsend. El final de la esclavitud y el final del imperio: la emancipación de los esclavos en Cuba y Puerto Rico / Christopher Schmidt-Nowara. La abolición de la trata de esclavos en Brasil en 1850: historiografía, acción esclava y el arte de estadista / Jeffrey Needell. La abolición en el Brasil: Movimientos sociales y políticos en el sudeste cafetalero / María Helena Pereira Toledo Machado. La decadencia del plantador progresista y el auge del agente subalterno: Cambios en las narrativas de la emancipación de los esclavos en el Brasil / Barbara Weinstei