New insights on the impact of coefficient instability on ratio-correlation population estimates

In this study we examine the regression-based ratio-correlation method and suggest some new tools for assessing the magnitude and impact of coefficient instability on population estimation errors. We use a robust sample of 904 counties from 11 states and find that: (1) coefficient instability is not a universal source of error in regression models for population estimation and its impact is less than commonly assumed; (2) coefficient instability is not related to bias, but it does decrease precision and increase the allocation error of population estimates; and (3) unstable coefficients have the greatest impact on counties under 20,000 in population size. Our findings suggest that information about the conditions that affect coefficient instability and its impact on estimation error might lead to more targeted and efficient approaches for improving population estimates developed from regression models

Looking Beyond Batson: A Different Method of Combating Bias Against Queer Jurors

On November 27, 1978, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California’s history, was murdered. He was shot five times, twice in the head. His murderer, Dan White, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and served only five years in prison. The Dan White trial is the most famous example of queer juror exclusion in American history. While White’s defense attorney, Douglas Schmidt, could not directly ask the jurors about their sexual orientation, he had another strategy: find the gays and allies and keep them out, and find the Catholics and keep them in. Schmidt struck a woman who admitted to walking with some of her friends at a gay pride parade; he kept a retired police officer. He struck a young man who said he lived with a male roommate; he kept the churchgoers. He asked everyone: “Have you ever supported controversial causes, like homosexual rights, for instance?” By the end of the jury selection process, the jury was entirely white and heterosexual. And by the end of the trial, Dan White, who lured Harvey Milk into an empty room and shot him twice in the skull, was only convicted of voluntary manslaughter and served a fraction of the time he would have received for a murder conviction. After he was convicted, in a night of protests that became known as the White Night Riots, crowds took to the street chanting, “All-straight jury. No surprise. Dan White lives. And Harvey Milk dies.” The nation’s queer advocates were stunned. There was a sense that “few judges in America would allow black jurors to be systematically excluded from a jury weighing the murder of the nation’s most prominent black public official.” At the time, of course, there were no such protections for black jurors. Those protections would not properly arise until 1986 with Batson v. Kentucky, and even then, the protections would apply only to racial (and later, gender) classifications. No court would consider protecting queer jurors from peremptory strikes until 2014. In the past twenty years, scholars have started calling for an expansion of the Batson rule to protect queer jurors. In 2014, the Ninth Circuit became the first to rule that Batson applied in cases of discrimination based on sexual orientation. It based its decision partially on the contemporaneous United States v. Windsor ruling, where the Supreme Court affirmed a Second Circuit decision that relied on the understanding that classifications based on sexual orientation were subject to heightened scrutiny. But while an expansion of the Batson rule is both consistent with Supreme Court precedent and necessary, it is not the only available solution to the problem of bias against queer jurors, nor is it necessarily the best one. This Note calls for a different solution—a rule that goes beyond Batson and addresses both explicit and implicit bias, as well as discriminatory motives obscured by facially neutral excuses. Part I examines the constitutional and historical basis of the peremptory challenge, the history of exclusion of protected classes from the jury box, and the ruling, reasoning, and practical consequences of Batson. Part II examines Batson’s shortcomings, first looking at evidence of its failure to address racial disparities in juries, then at the issue of less visible class distinctions such as sexuality and gender identity and how those identities complicate the problem of implicit bias and stereotyping. Part III examines Washington’s newly implemented General Rule 37, which goes beyond the Batson rule and limits peremptory strikes based on both explicit and implicit bias, and attempts to ferret out impermissibly discriminatory motives. Part III then explains how such a standard could more effectively govern the discriminatory striking of queer jurors at a national level. Part IV acknowledges the shortcomings of a legislative approach to reforming the peremptory challenge rule and addresses the potential dangers of so limiting the rule

The strength of cement under different conditions

Derivation of some Empirical Formulae, showing relation between breaking strength, and various functions which enter into Cement testing. We find a great deal of experimental work done in Cement testing, also some curves plotted, but there are but few equations fitted to these curves, this, then, is the object of the present work. In this work a great many interesting points have been made manifest, most of them are of no practical value but merely of interest in themselves. The work has been on several of the most important ones, to be given subsequently. On these and a few others is the foundation of Cement testing, as given by all writers on the subject. This work is entirely on the tensile strength, as that is the most important, so that all the experimental data show relations existing between breaking strength in pounds per square inch, and the other functions which may enter in the experiments --Object, pages 1 -2

Bromination of gold ore

The bromination of gold ore, in which the gold is extracted by means of Bromine in water, under local conditions --page 1

The Role of public television in social development communication in a post-colonial developing country: a case study of the public televison service in the Republic of Ghana.

Ghana Television shares many of the post-colonial historical features that public broadcasting systems in African countries inherited at independence. The television producers’ perceptions of role and job function, politics and organisational structures impact the role of Ghana Television and its contribution to contemporary Ghanaian society. Through a consideration of national post-colonial history and theories of media, communication, culture and development communication, this thesis considers the agency of Ghana Television in social development by analysing producers’ perceptions of their production system and broadcast outcomes. Ghanaian public television service faces many challenges that are primarily political and historical. Producers struggle to straddle a line between instinctively championing ideals within content creation processes and maintaining a ill-functioning system and politicised culture of production. The research finds that there are difficulties inherent in delivering a truly public service remit, within the historicised post-colonial context, and highlights the challenges as well as opportunities for improving the delivery of public television service. It draws conclusions that have lessons for similar countries in the post-colonial South

Evaluation of the Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Periodontitis at Different Stages

Aim: To determine the effect of non-surgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) on oral health-related-quality-of-life (OHRQoL) in individuals with periodontitis at different stages. Materials and Methods: Full-mouth clinical periodontal parameters [plaque-index (PI), gingival-index (GI), probing-pocket-depth (PD), bleeding-on-probing (BOP), clinical-attachment-loss (CAL)] of 119 healthy individuals aged 24 to 64 years just before and six-weeks after NSPT were obtained and the mean was calculated. Oral hygiene instructions were given. The Oral-Health-Related-Quality-of-Life-United-Kingdom (OHRQoL-UK) scale was used to measure the positive and negative effects of NSPT on OHRQoL. Sociodemographic data (age, gender, education and income status, reason for admission to the hospital, use of toothbrush, other cleaning tools, removable prosthesis and smoking) of the participants were recorded using a multiple choice questionnaire. Results: The use of toothbrushes and cleaning device increased in all phases after the treatment (p<0.01). Ages of individuals in stage-IV were higher than other stages (p>0.05). Individuals in stage-III (p=0.01) and IV had fewer teeth than other stages (p=0.01), while the use of removable prosthesis was higher (p<0.05). Clinical periodontal parameters decreased significantly in all stages after treatment and showed improvement (p<0.01). When all stages before and after treatment were compared within themselves, there were significant differences in the total score of OHRQoL between stages I-III, I-IV, II-III and II-IV (p<0.05). It was observed that all OHRQoL scores increased when compared before and after treatment in terms of symptoms, physical, psychological and social status (p<0.01). Conclusion: NSPT provides a significant improvement in the OHRQoL of individuals in all stages of periodontitis

Congenital asymmetric crying face: a case report

Congenital asymmetric crying face is an anomalia caused by unilateral absence or weakness of depressor anguli oris muscle The major finding of the disease is the absence or weakness in the outer and lower movement of the commissure during crying. The other expression muscles are normal and the face is symmetric at rest. The asymmetry in congenital asymmetric crying face is most evident during infancy but decreases by age. Congenital asymmetric crying face can be associated with cervicofacial, musclebone, respiratory, genitourinary and central nervous system anomalia. It is diagnosed by physical examination. This paper presents a six days old infant with Congenital asymmetric crying face and discusses the case in terms of diagnosis and disease features

Optimizing fire station locations for the Istanbul metropolitan municipality

Copyright @ 2013 INFORMSThe Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) seeks to determine locations for additional fire stations to build in Istanbul; its objective is to make residences and historic sites reachable by emergency vehicles within five minutes of a fire station’s receipt of a service request. In this paper, we discuss our development of a mathematical model to aid IMM in determining these locations by using data retrieved from its fire incident records. We use a geographic information system to implement the model on Istanbul’s road network, and solve two location models—set-covering and maximal-covering—as what-if scenarios. We discuss 10 scenarios, including the situation that existed when we initiated the project and the scenario that IMM implemented. The scenario implemented increases the city’s fire station coverage from 58.6 percent to 85.9 percent, based on a five-minute response time, with an implementation plan that spans three years