Demographic Analysis of Birthweight-Specific Neonatal Mortality

This paper explores the determinants of birthweight-specific neonatal mortality rates across States in the U.S. in 1980. We are able to explore the interactions between the determinants and birthweight because of the new data available through the National Infant Mortality Surveillance (NIMS). The NIMS links birth and death certificates for each state, resulting in a data base with race-specific neonatal mortality rates by birthweight, and other characteristics. Using a reduced-form model, we find abortion and neonatal intensive care availability to be the most important determinants of overall neonatal mortality. For whites, the two factors are of approximately equal importance in determining neonatal mortality. For blacks, abortion availability has twice the impact of neonatal inexpensive care. Moreover, our results suggest that neonatal mortality rates could be lowered by policies that reduce the inequality in these health resources across states.

An Assessment of the Benefits of Air Pollution Control: The Case of Infant Health

This paper contains estimates of the impacts of air pollutants on race-specific neonatal mortality rates based on data for heavily populated counties of the U.S. in 1977. Unlike previous research in this area, these estimates are obtained from awell specified behavioral model of the production of health, which is estimated with the appropriate simultaneous equations techniques. The results suggest that sulfur dioxide is the dominant air pollutant in newborn survival outcomes. There is also evidence that an increase in sulfur dioxide raises the neonatal mortality rate by raising the percentage of low-birth weight births. Based on marginal-willingness-to-pay computations, we estimate that the benefits of a 10 percent reduction insulfur dioxide levels range between $54 million and$1.09 billion in 1977 dollars.

Aggravated Identity Theft is Only Punishable under Federal Statute if the Accused Knew That the Identification Information He Employed Actually Belonged to Another Individual: \u3cem\u3eFlores-Figueroa v. United States\u3c/em\u3e

The United States Supreme Court held that for a defendant to receive an additional two-year prison sentence under the federal aggravated identity theft statute, the government must prove that the defendant knew that the identification information he used actually belonged to another individual. Flores-Figueroa v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 1886 (2009)

Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan

This paper exploits a natural experiment to estimate the causal impact of parental education on child health in Taiwan. In 1968, the Taiwanese government extended compulsory education from six to nine years. From that year through 1973, the government opened 254 new junior high schools, an 80 percent increase, at a differential rate among regions. We form treatment and control groups of women or men who were age 12 or under on the one hand and between the ages of 13 and 20 or 25 on the other hand in 1968. Within each region, we exploit variations across cohorts in new junior high school openings to construct an instrument for schooling. We employ this instrument to estimate the causal effects of mother's or father's schooling on the incidence of low birthweight and mortality of infants born to women in the treatment and control groups or the wives of men in these groups in the period from 1978 through 1999. Parents' schooling, especially mother's schooling, does indeed cause favorable infant health outcomes. The increase in schooling associated with the reform saved almost 1 infant life in 1,000 live births, resulting in a decline in infant mortality of approximately 11 percent.

Ohio Jury Interrogatories: Civil Rule 49(B)

Ohio\u27s Civ. R. 49(B) permits parties to submit interrogatories to the jury in order to test the jury\u27s thinking in rendering a verdict. Unlike traditional jury interrogatories, the rule limits interrogatories to subject matter normally associated with the special verdict. For centuries the use of the special verdict has plagued the legal community with confusion. The practitioner, the jury and the trial judge have each had difficulty in a variety of ways when the special verdict is involved

High temperature radiator materials for applications in the low Earth orbital environment

Radiators must be constructed of materials which have high emittance in order to efficiently radiate heat from high temperature space power systems. In addition, if these radiators are to be used for applications in the low Earth orbital environment, they must not be detrimentally affected by exposure to atomic oxygen. Four materials selected as candidate radiator materials (304 stainless steel, copper, titanium-6% aluminum-4% vanadium (Ti-6%Al-4%V), and niobium-1% zirconium (Nb-1%Zr)) were surface modified by acid etching, heat treating, abrading, sputter texturing, electrochemical etching, and combinations of the above in order to improve their emittance. Combination treatment techniques with heat treating as the second treatment provided about a factor of two improvement in emittance for 304 stainless steel, Ti-6%Al-4%V, and Nb-1%Zr. A factor of three improvement in emittance occurred for discharge chamber sputter textured copper. Exposure to atomic oxygen in an RF plasma asher did not significantly change the emittance of those samples that had been heat treated as part of their texturing process. An evaluation of oxygen penetration is needed to understand how oxidation affects the mechanical properties of these materials when heat treated

Fetid Dogweed (Dyssodia papposa; Asteraceae) and Slender Russian Thistle (Salsola collina; Amaranthaceae), New to Alberta, Canada

Two non-native vascular plants, Fetid Dogweed (Dyssodia papposa; Asteraceae) and Slender Russian Thistle (Salsola collina; Amaranthaceae), are added to the flora of Alberta, Canada, based on collections and sight records made in 2011. Fetid Dogweed was found along roadsides at eight sites in southern Alberta, and Slender Russian Thistle was found along a hiking trail in Dinosaur Provincial Park near Drumheller. Both species are weedy and are probably expanding their range in North America