Effects of Early Childhood Exposure to Pollution on Crime: Evidence from 1970 Clean Air Act

Past literature has shown that 1970 amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) led to significant reduction in air pollution early 1970s, and that it had positive infant health consequences for the cohorts treated by CAA. Because effects of in-utero and early childhood conditions are persistent, and the health effects can remain latent for years, CAA may impact the future adult outcomes. In this paper, I investigate the impact of the CAA on the future crime. In a difference-in-differences framework, I find that the cohorts that were born in the year of the CAA’s first implementation commit fewer crimes 15 to 24 years later. The magnitude of this impact is about 4 percent. Property crimes rather than violent crimes are impacted. I also estimate that CAA reduced the ambient air pollution by 14 percent. These reduced form estimates suggest that a one percent reduction in air pollution reduces future crime rate by 0.3 percent

The Impact of Visibility on School Athletic Finances: An Empirical Analysis using Google Trends

Many papers in the past literature provide evidence on the impact of athletic performance on various school outcomes. This paper uses the weekly college football poll by the organization Associated Press (AP), to investigate the effect of a college team ranked in top 25 on various school outcomes such as revenues and expenses of school, coaches’ salary, and enrollment. The college football poll also known as AP poll conducts weekly voting to assign the teams certain points based on which these teams are ranked. The results are twofold: First, I verify the visibility of a school using google trends by exploiting the discontinuity arising due to the points of 25th ranked versus 26th ranked team. And second, the results provide evidence of the impact of this visibility of being in top 25 on positive school outcomes

Differing Labor Supply: A Study on the Role of Culture

In this paper, we study the role of peoples’ attitudes on their labor market behavior. Focusing within a household, we estimate how one's labor market decisions are dependent on their partner’s labor market outcomes, and how these decisions are driven by their culture component. Historically, man has been associated as the primary earner in a family. We argue that culture might play a role in determining a person’s labor market outcomes as it induces an aversion to the situation of when the wife earns more than the husband. We find that husbands increase their participation in the labor market if their wives earn more and this effect is even more prominent if they are from a country where people have the traditional view that man should be the primary bread-winner for the family. However, wives do not exhibit any such behavior. We argue that this irregularity is explained by the role that culture plays on forming labor market decisions. This result is important as it might contribute to the explanation of the slowdown in the convergence of the gender gap in the recent past

Carotid Artery Stenting and Its Impact on Cognitive Function: A Prospective Observational Study

Purpose Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has evolved as a first-line therapeutic option for carotid revascularization in indicated patients for stroke prevention, but there is still a lack of data on its effect on cognitive function (CF), especially among Indian patients. To determine the effect of CAS on CF and to study the immediate and delayed complications of CAS in Indian patients. Materials and Methods This was a prospective, observational, single-center study. CF was assessed using Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination version III (ACE) before and 3 months after stenting. The demographic and clinical parameters were also assessed. A follow-up evaluation after 3 months was done to compare CF and to observe the occurrence of any complications. Results Out of 31 patients, 3 were lost to follow up. There were no immediate or delayed procedure-related complications. There was a statistically significant improvement in overall ACE score and memory before and after stenting. On subgroup analysis of those with and without strokes, there was a significant improvement in visuospatial function and mean ACE score. Those with left CAS had significant improvement in memory, visuospatial, language, and ACE scores than right CAS. Conclusion CAS was associated with significant improvement in CF in patients

Correlates of Creativity: An Association Between Creativity, Personality, and Intelligence

The present study aimed to explore the association between creativity, intelligence, and personality. Sixty dextral healthy volunteers in the age range of 20-40 years were recruited for the study and administered tests for fluid intelligence (Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices), personality (Big Five NEO-FFI), and divergent thinking (Wallach & Kogan Creativity Test). Findings revealed that intelligence and openness to experience were significantly and positively correlated with fluency, flexibility, and originality dimensions of creativity. The multiple regression analysis suggested openness and fluid intelligence as significant predictors for creativity which entails that individuals who are more open to new experiences continue integrating new and diverse information to their subsisting repertoire of experiences, when intelligently assimilated with contextual and emotional stimuli could provide more varied and novel responses to divergent thinking tasks

Impairments in Quality of Life and Cognitive Functions in Long-term Survivors of Glioblastoma

Background: The incidence of long-term survival in glioblastoma (GBM), i.e., >3 years, ranges from 3% to 5%. Although extensive research is performed in novel therapies for prolonging survival, there is a scarcity of research focusing on the impact of tumor and treatment on cognitive, psychological, and social status of survivors. This study is an attempt to look into this poorly addressed important issue. Materials and Methods: Nine patients (six adults and three children) with GBM who had survived >3 years were included in the study. The quality of life (QOL) functions were assessed with the World Health Organization QOL Questionnaire BREF questionnaire. The neuropsychological assessment was done using the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences neuropsychology battery for adults and children. The scores were compared with normative data. Results: The physical and psychological health-related QOL of long-term GBM survivors were affected considerably due to fatigue, poor quality of sleep, inability to concentrate, presence of depression, financial burden with impaired personal and social relationships (P < 0.05). Different domains of cognitions such as motor speed (P = 0.0173), mental speed (P = 0.0022), sustained attention (P = 0.0001), long-term memory (P = 0.0431), mental flexibility (P < 0.05), and planning and executive functions (P < 0.05) were significantly impaired affecting personal, social, and professional lives. Conclusion: The health-related QOL and cognition are significantly impaired in GBM long-term survivors. As the incidence of long-term survival is very less, there is a need for larger multicenter studies to come up with definitive results, which in turn can help in formatting the rehabilitative and support programs for these patients