First Circuit: A Study of Gender Bias In and Around the Courts

Beginning with the state courts of New Jersey in 1984, almost every state in the country and numerous federal circuits have mounted initiatives to address issues of gender bias in the courts. While individual approaches have varied, each of these judicial units has displayed an increasing sensitivity to the potential problems of bias in the courts and a desire to actively improve the treatment of female litigants, witnesses, employees, and attorneys throughout the judicial system

Reducing the smoking-related health burden in the USA through diversion to electronic cigarettes: a system dynamics simulation study

Background Electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) have altered tobacco smoking trends, and their impacts are controversial. Given their lower risk relative to combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes have potential for harm reduction. This study presents a simulation-based analysis of an e-cigarette harm reduction policy set in the USA. Methods A system dynamics simulation model was constructed, with separate aging chains representing people in different stages of use (both of combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes). These structures interact with a policy module to close the gap between actual (simulated) and goal numbers of individuals who smoke, chosen to reduce the tobacco-attributable death rate (i.e., mostly combustible cigarette-attributable, but conservatively allowing e-cigarette-attributable deaths) to that due to all accidents in the general population. The policy is two-fold, removing existing e-liquid flavor bans and providing an informational campaign promoting e-cigarettes as a lower-risk alternative. Realistic practical implementation challenges are modeled in the policy sector, including time delays, political resistance, and budgetary limitations. Effects of e-cigarettes on tobacco smoking occur through three mechanisms: (1) diversion from ever initiating smoking; (2) reducing progression to established smoking; and (3) increasing smoking cessation. An important unintended effect of possible death from e-cigarettes was conservatively included. Results The base-case model replicated the historical exponential decline in smoking and the exponential increase in e-cigarette use since 2010. Simulations suggest tobacco smoking could be reduced to the goal level approximately 40 years after implementation. Implementation obstacles (time delays, political resistance, and budgetary constraints) could delay and weaken the effect of the policy by up to 62% in the worst case, relative to the ideal-case scenario; however, these discrepancies substantially decreased over time in dampened oscillations as negative feedback loops stabilize the system after the one-time “shock” introduced by policy changes. Conclusions The simulation suggests that the promotion of e-cigarettes as a harm-reduction policy is a viable strategy, given current evidence that e-cigarettes offset or divert from smoking. Given the strong effects of implementation challenges on policy effectiveness in the short term, accurately modeling such obstacles can usefully inform policy design. Ongoing research is needed, given continuing changes in e-cigarette use prevalence, new policies being enacted for e-cigarettes, and emerging evidence for substitution effects between combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes.publishedVersio

Predicting Unplanned Medical Visits Among Patients with Diabetes Using Machine Learning

Diabetes poses a variety of medical complications to patients, resulting in a high rate of unplanned medical visits, which are costly to patients and healthcare providers alike. However, unplanned medical visits by their nature are very difficult to predict. The current project draws upon electronic health records (EMR’s) of adult patients with diabetes who received care at Sanford Health between 2014 and 2017. Various machine learning methods were used to predict which patients have had an unplanned medical visit based on a variety of EMR variables (age, BMI, blood pressure, # of prescriptions, # of diagnoses on problem list, A1C, HDL, LDL, and a ranked variable for tobacco use severity). A radial-basis support vector machine (SVM) was the most accurate method, achieving a hit rate of 68.5% and a correct rejection rate of 62.9% during cross-validation testing. Follow-up testing of the trained SVM indicated that, of the modifiable prediction variables, high blood pressure and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were most strongly predictive of unplanned medical visits. Future directions include refining and validating the predictive model, towards the ultimate goal of developing and implementing clinical recommendations for preventing unplanned medical visits among adult patients with diabetes

Potensi Karbon Aktif Cangkang Sawit sebagai Adsorben Logam Berat dalam Proses Daur Ulang Pelumas Bekas

Seiring dengan meningkatnya aktivitas industri dan transportasi, kebutuhan akan minyak pelumas semakin meningkat setiap tahunnya. Limbah pelumas yang dihasilkan akan membahayakan bagi lingkungan dan kesehatan. Pelumas bekas termasuk dalam kategori limbah B3 karena mengandung kontaminan yang bersifat karsinogenik seperti logam berat. Pada penelitian ini logam berat pada pelumas bekas diadsorpsi menggunakan karbon aktif dari cangkang sawit. Efisiensi adsorpsi karbon aktif sebagai adsorben logam berat pada pelumas bekas diamati dengan memvariasikan waktu kontak, massa adsorben dan volume sampel. Konsentrasi logam dalam pelumas bekas sebelum dan setelah proses adsorpsi diukur menggunakan Spektrofotometer Serapan Atom (AAS). Pada kondisi penyerapan optimum, yaitu waktu kontak 3 jam, massa adsorben 0,75 gram dan volume sampel 5 mL, efisiensi penyerapan logam Fe, Pb dan Zn masing – masing sebesar 99,29%, 99,99% dan 99,99%. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, adsorpsi logam pada pelumas bekas menggunakan adsorben karbon aktif dengan parameter optimum dapat menyerap 90% logam Fe, Pb dan Zn. Karbon aktif dari cangkang sawit terbukti efektif sebagai adsroben logam berat dalam pelumas. Karbon aktif cangkang sawit dapat digunakan dalam mengurangi pencemaran logam berat dari pelumas bekas

Youth smoking and anti-smoking policies in North Dakota: a system dynamics simulation study

Background: The current study utilizes system dynamics to model the determinants of youth smoking and simulate effects of anti-smoking policies in the context of North Dakota, a state with one of the lowest cigarette tax rates in the USA. Methods: An explanatory model was built to replicate historical trends in the youth smoking rate. Three different policies were simulated: 1) an increase in cigarette excise taxes; 2) increased funding for CDC-recommended comprehensive tobacco control programs; and 3) enforcement of increased retailer compliance with age restrictions on cigarette sales. Results: The explanatory model successfully replicated historical trends in adolescent smoking behavior in North Dakota from 1992 to 2014. The policy model showed that increasing taxes to $2.20 per pack starting in 2015 was the most effective of the three policies, producing a 32.6% reduction in youth smoking rate by 2032. Other policies reduced smoking by a much lesser degree (7.0 and 3.2% for comprehensive tobacco control program funding and retailer compliance, respectively). The effects of each policy were additive. Conclusions: System dynamics modeling suggests that increasing cigarette excise taxes are particularly effective at reducing adolescent smoking rates. More generally, system dynamics offers an important complement to conventional analysis of observational data.publishedVersio

PENGARUH DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO, RETURN ON ASSET DAN KEPEMILIKAN MANAJERIAL TERHADAP NILAI PERUSAHAAN

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh debt to equity ratio, return on asset dan kepemilikan manajerial terhadap nilai perusahaan. Debt to equity ratio dihitung dengan membandingkan total hutang dengan total ekuitas, return on asset diukur dengan membandingkan laba bersih dengan total aset, kepemilikan manajerial diukur dengan membandingkan jumlah kepemilikan manajerial dengan jumlah lembar saham yang beredar sedangkan nilai perusahaan diukur dengan membandingkan harga saham dengan nilai buku. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif. Sampel dalam penelitian ini diperoleh dengan menggunakan purposive sampling sesuai dengan kriteria yang telah ditentukan. Populasi pada penelitian ini yaitu perusahaan manufaktur sektor industri barang dan konsumsi yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada periode 2015-2019 dan diperoleh sebanyak 55 perusahaan yang menjadi sampel penelitian. Sedangkan metode analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi linier berganda dengan menggunakan alat bantu program aplikasi SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions) versi 25. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa debt to equity ratio berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaan, return on asset berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaan, dan kepemilikan manajerial berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaa