Does fiscal decentralization improve health outcomes? - evidence from a cross-country analysis

Decentralization of fiscal responsibilities has emerged as a primary objective on the agendas of national governments, and international organizations alike. Yet there is little empirical evidence on the potential benefits of this intervention. The authors fill in some quantitative evidence. Using panel data on infant mortality rates, GDP per capita, and the share of public expenditures managed by local governments, they find greater fiscal decentralization is consistently associated with lower mortality rates. The results suggest that the benefits of fiscal decentralization are particularly important for poor countries. They suggest also that the positive effects of fiscal decentralization on infant mortality, are greater in institutional environments that promote political rights. Fiscal decentralization also appears to be a mechanism for improving health outcomes in environments with a high level of ethno-linguistic fractionalization, however, the benefits from fiscal decentralization tend to be smaller.National Governance,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Municipal Financial Management

Binding of small molecules to lipoamide dehydrogenase

The existence of a monomer-dimer equilibrium with lipoamide dehydrogenase is demonstrated. The equilibrium can be shifted to the monomer side at low ionic strength and low pH by removing the phosphate ions by extensive dialysis. At low ionic strength, I : 0.01 and 0.02, the enzyme precipitates while aggregation takes place. This aggregation seems to be due to changes in the activity coefficient of the enzyme. High phosphate concentrations, NADI and high temperatures favor association. Also bringing the enzyme in a more polar environment causes dissociation. Dioxan and 2-chloroethanol are used to decrease the dielectric constant of the buffer solution. Inactivation and dissociation of the enzyme is time- dependent in these solutions. High concentrations of dioxan and 2-chloroethanol cause denaturation and precipitation of the enzyme. High phosphate concentrations stimulate the denaturation and precipitation of the enzyme in dioxan and 2-chloroethanol.Dissociation of the enzyme is accompanied by loss in activity and decrease in apparent α-helix content. ORD and CD data show this decrease, however the possibility that this decrease is due to changes in shape and size of the protein molecule cannot be excluded. Fluorescence and CD experiments show that upon dissociation an amino acid, a tryptophan residue, moves to a more polar environment. Also by treating the enzyme with dioxan a tryptophan residue is pertubed.Dissociation of the enzyme can also be achieved by treating the enzyme with sodium dodecylsulfate. Hydrophobic and ionic interactions are observed. Binding to the hydrophobic sites, by sodium dodecylsulfate or Tween 80, has no influence on the lipoate activity and on absorption spectrum of the enzyme in the visible- region. Binding to the ionic sites causes loss in lipoate activity and affects the absorption spectrum. From the dependency on the pH and the ionic strength it is concluded that a group of the kind BH += B + H +with a pK value around 6.6 is involved. At high SDS concentrations the binding of FAD to the enzyme is weakened and upon standing for long times the flavin dissociated off.Dimerization of the enzyme is favored by NAD +. Binding of NAD +to the enzyme yields a difference spectrum. From these spectral titration curves two pairs of NAD +-binding sites are calculated, the binding site with the highest affinity, K diss = 35 μM is assigned to the regulatory site while the binding site with K diss = 90-110 μM is assigned to the catalytic site. Upon NAD +binding to the regulatory site one proton per FAD is liberated. Comparision of the pH activity curves with computer models shows that the activating effect of NAD +in the lipoate activity can be explained by a shift in pK value of a group from pH 6.4-6.3 to 5.0-4.9 upon NAD +binding. Together with observations in the literature these results suggest that the pK value of a SH-group is shifted to lower pH upon NAD +binding. This SH-group is suggested to be functional in the S -state in the active center

Non-Pharmacological Pain Management Techniques in Neonates

Research based evidence supports non-pharmacological techniques for pain management in neonates. Hospitalized neonates undergo multiple painful procedures, and poorly treated pain leads to negative effects in neonates. Pharmacological techniques have many adverse effects. The benefits of non-pharmacological techniques include fewer adverse effects, ease of implementation, and less cost. The purpose of this study is to determine the most effective non-pharmacological technique for reducing procedural pain in neonates

Self-Driving Telescopes: Autonomous Scheduling of Astronomical Observation Campaigns with Offline Reinforcement Learning

Modern astronomical experiments are designed to achieve multiple scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to cosmic acceleration. These goals require data of many different classes of night-sky objects, each of which has a particular set of observational needs. These observational needs are typically in strong competition with one another. This poses a challenging multi-objective optimization problem that remains unsolved. The effectiveness of Reinforcement Learning (RL) as a valuable paradigm for training autonomous systems has been well-demonstrated, and it may provide the basis for self-driving telescopes capable of optimizing the scheduling for astronomy campaigns. Simulated datasets containing examples of interactions between a telescope and a discrete set of sky locations on the celestial sphere can be used to train an RL model to sequentially gather data from these several locations to maximize a cumulative reward as a measure of the quality of the data gathered. We use simulated data to test and compare multiple implementations of a Deep Q-Network (DQN) for the task of optimizing the schedule of observations from the Stone Edge Observatory (SEO). We combine multiple improvements on the DQN and adjustments to the dataset, showing that DQNs can achieve an average reward of 87%+-6% of the maximum achievable reward in each state on the test set. This is the first comparison of offline RL algorithms for a particular astronomical challenge and the first open-source framework for performing such a comparison and assessment task.Comment: Accepted in Machine Learning and the Physical Sciences Workshop at NeurIPS 2023; 6 pages, 5 figure

Identification of the thiol residues involved in modifications of pig heart lipoamide dehydrogenase by cupric ion and by iodoacetamide

The thiol residues involved in two previously described modifications of heart lipoamide dehydrogenase (NADH:lipoamide oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.4.3) have been identified by comparison of peptide maps of unmodified and modified enzymes. Two thiols and one methionine react when native enzyme is alkylated in concentrated iodoacetamide, with the accompanying loss of enzymatic activity and an NAD-binding site. NAD protects the more slowly reacting thiol from akylation, and the NAD-protected enzyme is active and retains its NAD-binding site. Loss of the binding site, and loss of activity are associated with the alkylation of two neutral thiol peptides which may represent alternative versions of a single thiol region in the enzyme. Treatment of native enzyme with cupric ion results in the rapid oxidation of two thiols to a disulfide bond and loss of NADH-lipoamide reductase activity. We have determined that thiol residues in the cationic peptide and one of the anionic peptides are involved in the disulfide bond formed by cupric ion. Since the cationic peptide contains two histidyl residues, it is proposed that it is the initial site of binding of cupric ion, prior to the oxidation of the thiol residues to a disulfide bond.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22231/1/0000665.pd

Transcriptional Activation of OsDERF1 in OsERF3 and OsAP2-39 Negatively Modulates Ethylene Synthesis and Drought Tolerance in Rice

The phytohormone ethylene is a key signaling molecule that regulates a variety of developmental processes and stress responses in plants. Transcriptional modulation is a pivotal process controlling ethylene synthesis, which further triggers the expression of stress-related genes and plant adaptation to stresses; however, it is unclear how this process is transcriptionally modulated in rice. In the present research, we report the transcriptional regulation of a novel rice ethylene response factor (ERF) in ethylene synthesis and drought tolerance. Through analysis of transcriptional data, one of the drought-responsive ERF genes, OsDERF1, was identified for its activation in response to drought, ethylene and abscisic acid. Transgenic plants overexpressing OsDERF1 (OE) led to reduced tolerance to drought stress in rice at seedling stage, while knockdown of OsDERF1 (RI) expression conferred enhanced tolerance at seedling and tillering stages. This regulation was supported by negative modulation in osmotic adjustment response. To elucidate the molecular basis of drought tolerance, we identified the target genes of OsDERF1 using the Affymetrix GeneChip, including the activation of cluster stress-related negative regulators such as ERF repressors. Biochemical and molecular approaches showed that OsDERF1 at least directly interacted with the GCC box in the promoters of ERF repressors OsERF3 and OsAP2-39. Further investigations showed that OE seedlings had reduced expression (while RI lines showed enhanced expression) of ethylene synthesis genes, thereby resulting in changes in ethylene production. Moreover, overexpression of OsERF3/OsAP2-39 suppressed ethylene synthesis. In addition, application of ACC recovered the drought-sensitive phenotype in the lines overexpressing OsERF3, showing that ethylene production contributed to drought response in rice. Thus our data reveal that a novel ERF transcriptional cascade modulates drought response through controlling the ethylene synthesis, deepening our understanding of the regulation of ERF proteins in ethylene related drought response

Matter/Antimatter Interactions in Gases

Theoretical work on the heavier noble gases, xenon and krypton in particular, has suggested that the temperature dependence of the decay rate of orthopositronium is non-linear in the temperature range being considered. However, there is little experimental data on the heavier noble gases to support the theory. This is in opposition to both the theoretical and experimental work on the lighter noble gases like helium, neon and argon, which have shown a linear dependence with respect to temperature. The goal of this experiment is to investigate the temperature dependence of the decay rate of orthopositronium in xenon gas. We will use a high-pressure gas cell with a positron source inside as the basic setup. Design and construction has been completed on the temperature control system including the temperature controller electronics, the heaters, and the insulated housing for the gas cell. Construction is nearly completed for the gas handling system. We hope to begin taking preliminary data very soon

Positronium Decay Rates in Gases

Theoretical work on the heavier noble gases, xenon in particular, has suggested that the temperature dependence of the rate at which orthopositronium (o-Ps) decays is non-linear with increasing temperature. However, there is little experimental data on the heavier noble gases to support the theory, and the data that does exist is inconclusive. This non-linearity is in opposition to both the theoretical and experimental work on the lighter noble gases like helium, neon and argon, which have shown a linear dependence with respect to temperature. The goal of this experiment is to investigate the temperature dependence of the decay rate of o-Ps in xenon gas. We will use a high-pressure gas cell with a positron source inside as the basic setup of the experiment. So far, design and construction has been completed on the temperature control system, including the temperature controller electronics, the heaters, and the insulated housing for the gas cell