Centrality and sNNDependenceofthe\sqrt{s_{NN}} Dependence of the dE_{T}/d\etaand and dN_{ch}/d\eta$ in Heavy Ion Collisions at Mid-Rapidity

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured transverse energy and charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6, 130, 62.4 and 200 GeV as a function of centrality. The presented results are compared to measurements from other RHIC experiments, and experiments at lower energies. The $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ dependence of $dE_{T}/d\eta$ and $dN_{ch}/d\eta$ per pair of participants is consistent with logarithmic scaling for the most central events. The centrality dependence of $dE_{T}/d\eta$ and $dN_{ch}/d\eta$ is similar at all measured incident energies. At RHIC energies the ratio of transverse energy per charged particle was found independent of centrality and growing slowly with $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. A survey of comparisons between the data and available theoretical models is also presented.Comment: Proccedings of the Workshop: Focus on Multiplcity at Bari, Italy, June 17-19,2004. To be submitted to the Jornal of Physics, "Conference series". Includes: 20 Pages, 15 figures, 3 Tables, 80 Referencie

Overlapping political budget cycles in the legislative and the executive

We advance the literature on political budget cycles by testing separately for cycles in expenditures for elections in the legislative and the executive. Using municipal data, we can separately identify these cycles and account for general year effects. For the executive branch, we show that it is important whether the incumbent re-runs. To account for the potential endogeneity associated with this decision, we apply a unique instrumental variables approach based on age and pension eligibility rules. We find sizable and significant effects in expenditures before council elections and before joint elections when the incumbent re-runs

Diagnosis and Localization of Insulinoma after Negative Laparotomy by Hyperinsulinemic, Hypoglycemic Clamp and Intra-Aterial Calcium Stimulation

A 40-year-old woman with recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia was referred because of suspected insulinoma. Prolonged fasting was discontinued after 24 h due to symptomatic hypoglycemia (29 mg/dl, glucose/insulin-ratio 0.34). Magnetic resonance tomography showed a small 0.3 cm lesion in the body of the pancreas. During subsequent surgery a pancreatic tumor could not be detected, neither by manual palpation nor intraoperative ultrasonography. A hyperinsulinemic, sequentially eu- and hypoglycemic clamp confirmed the biochemical diagnosis of endogenous hyperinsulinemia and intra-arterial calcium stimulation localized calcium responsive tissue in the feeding distribution of the superior mesenteric artery. An octreotide scan was negative. During relaparotomy, six weeks after the initial surgery, the pancreatic body and tail were resected and a ∼1 cm non-malignant insulinoma was found. Although the use of highly sensitive, and more sophisticated and expensive methods for the diagnosis and localization of insulinomas are not generally suggested, we recommend application of intra-arterial calcium stimulation if the tumor is not detected using conventional diagnostic procedures