The Link between Democratic Institutions and Population Health in the American States

Context: This project investigates the role of state-level institutions in explaining variation in population health in the American states. Although cross-national research has established the positive effects of democracy on population health, little attention has been given to subnational units. The authors leverage a new data set to understand how political accountability and a system of checks and balances are associated with state population health. Methods: The authors estimate error correction models and two-way fixed effects models to estimate how the strength of state-level democratic institutions is associated with infant mortality rates, life expectancy, and midlife mortality. Findings: The authors find institutions that promote political accountability are associated with lower infant mortality across the states, while those that promote checks and balances are associated with longer life expectancy. They also find that policy liberalism is associated with better health outcomes. Conclusions: Subnational institutions play an important role in population health outcomes, and more research is needed to understand the link between democracy and health. The authors are the first to explore the link between democratic institutions and population health within the United States, contributing to both the social science literature on the positive effects of democracy and the epidemiological literature on subnational health outcomes

Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms: A National Portrait

Despite many legal and legislative decisions, a new study shows that one in eight high school biology instructors teach their students that creationism or intelligent design is a valid alternative to evolutionary biology

Experimental effects of climate messages vary geographically

Social science scholars routinely evaluate the efficacy of diverse climate frames using local convenience or nationally representative samples. For example, previous research has focused on communicating the scientific consensus on climate change, which has been identified as a ‘gateway’ cognition to other key beliefs about the issue6,7,8,9. Importantly, although these efforts reveal average public responsiveness to particular climate frames, they do not describe variation in message effectiveness at the spatial and political scales relevant for climate policymaking. Here we use a small-area estimation method to map geographical variation in public responsiveness to information about the scientific consensus as part of a large-scale randomized national experiment (n = 6,301). Our survey experiment finds that, on average, public perception of the consensus increases by 16 percentage points after message exposure. However, substantial spatial variation exists across the United States at state and local scales. Crucially, responsiveness is highest in more conservative parts of the country, leading to national convergence in perceptions of the climate science consensus across diverse political geographies. These findings not only advance a geographical understanding of how the public engages with information about scientific agreement, but will also prove useful for policymakers, practitioners and scientists engaged in climate change mitigation and adaptation.MacArhur Foundation, Energy Foundatio

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Free-Riders or Competitive Races? Strategic Interaction across the American States on Tobacco Policymaking

Abstract: The majority of research on strategic interaction among the American states makes two assumptions. First, we assume that strategic interaction induces competitive races whereby policy adoption in one state increases the probability of adoption in another. Yet, strategic interaction need not be positive. Instead, states may engage in free-riding dynamics if policies in neighboring states are associated with positive externalities. A second assumption is that strategic interaction occurs during the policy enactment stage. If states are strategic actors, then they are not only influenced by the policies that are enacted in neighboring states, but also by policies that are being introduced in neighboring states. Using a unique dataset on four different types of tobacco policies that are introduced and enacted in the states from 1990-2010, I find evidence that states engage in free-riding dynamics and that strategic interaction exists in the early stages of agenda-setting as well as during policy adoption. Overall, the results stress the importance of scholars to explore the conditional nature of policy diffusion dynamics by focusing on variations in policy content and stages of the policymaking process other than policy enactment

Adolescent Determinants of Abortion Attitudes

Breve introducción a las inecuaciones. Ejemplo de solución de una inecuación lineal.1Introducción a la solución de inecuacionesComprender, Comprobar, Observar, Practicar, Recordar, ResolverIngeniero(a) de SistemasPregrado.scrib