Illinois Government Research no. 46 1978: Local Roads and Bridges in Illinois: Problems and Alternatives

In recent years the deteriorating condition of local roads and bridges, pointed up by bridge failures causing deaths and many injuries, has become a concern in Illinois and many other states. Serious as this problem is, it should be viewed in a broader context, one raising fundamental questions of public finance and political organization. In particular, the viability of small governmental units such as townships is being questioned: Can they raise adequate revenues and administer the services under their control effectively? The local road and bridge problem was addressed in a study of 186 townships in ten western Illinois counties undertaken during 1975-76. In this article, issues deriving from the basic question raised above are examined in light of information gained during the course of the project, particularly from personal interviews with local road commissioners. The advantages and disadvantages of several approaches to solving the problem are then examined.published or submitted for publicatio

Efficient Gauss Elimination for Near-Quadratic Matrices with One Short Random Block per Row, with Applications

In this paper we identify a new class of sparse near-quadratic random Boolean matrices that have full row rank over F_2 = {0,1} with high probability and can be transformed into echelon form in almost linear time by a simple version of Gauss elimination. The random matrix with dimensions n(1-epsilon) x n is generated as follows: In each row, identify a block of length L = O((log n)/epsilon) at a random position. The entries outside the block are 0, the entries inside the block are given by fair coin tosses. Sorting the rows according to the positions of the blocks transforms the matrix into a kind of band matrix, on which, as it turns out, Gauss elimination works very efficiently with high probability. For the proof, the effects of Gauss elimination are interpreted as a ("coin-flipping") variant of Robin Hood hashing, whose behaviour can be captured in terms of a simple Markov model from queuing theory. Bounds for expected construction time and high success probability follow from results in this area. They readily extend to larger finite fields in place of F_2. By employing hashing, this matrix family leads to a new implementation of a retrieval data structure, which represents an arbitrary function f: S -> {0,1} for some set S of m = (1-epsilon)n keys. It requires m/(1-epsilon) bits of space, construction takes O(m/epsilon^2) expected time on a word RAM, while queries take O(1/epsilon) time and access only one contiguous segment of O((log m)/epsilon) bits in the representation (O(1/epsilon) consecutive words on a word RAM). The method is readily implemented and highly practical, and it is competitive with state-of-the-art methods. In a more theoretical variant, which works only for unrealistically large S, we can even achieve construction time O(m/epsilon) and query time O(1), accessing O(1) contiguous memory words for a query. By well-established methods the retrieval data structure leads to efficient constructions of (static) perfect hash functions and (static) Bloom filters with almost optimal space and very local storage access patterns for queries

Rural Illinois in the 1990s: On the Rebound?

Rural areas of Illinois experienced a widespread population rebound between 1990 and 1995.2 These recent population gains in Illinois are consistent with a broader rural population growth revival nationwide. Rural Illinois gain nearly 24,000 residents between 1990 and 1995, according to recently released estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.3 The population grew in 47 of the 74 nonmetropolitan counties in Illinois during the period. Migration to rural areas accounted for most of this population gain. Most urban areas in Illinois also gained population during the first half of the 1990s. The recent population gains in rural Illinois are modest, but they represent a significant change from the substantial population losses in the same areas during the 1980s

Morális minimalizmus

Morális fogalmaknak minimális és maximális jelentésük van; általában vékony és vaskos értelmezéseiket adhatjuk, és a két értelmezés különböző kontextusokban felel meg s különböző célokat szolgál

War and peace in The Law of Peoples: Rawls, Kant and the use of force

Where Rawls’s The Law of Peoples addresses war and the use of force then his position has often been identified closely with Walzer’s restatement of just war theory, as both positions appear to take nation-states, and the conflicts between them, to be the bedrock of the international system. On the other hand, Kant’s notion of a peaceful federation of states presents us with the notion of a world without war and where the international system is transformed. This article argues that Rawls’s account of the use of force is better understood if we read it with an eye to its resonances with Kant rather than with Walzer. Doing so rewards us with a clearer understanding of central aspects of Rawls’s account of just war and vision of international politic

Ostéopathie et pédiatrie : deux mondes reliés par l'enfant et ses parents

Objectif : le but de cette étude est d'évaluer la connaissance des pédiatres du canton de Vaud quant à la prise en charge ostéopathique de leurs patients, analyser et quantifier la communication entre pédiatres et ostéopathes de ce même canton et les perspectives futures de cette collaboration, de comparer les propositions de prise en charge face aux principaux motifs de consultations des nourrissons chez l'ostéopathes, et finalement d'évaluer les raisons poussant les parents à consulter un ostéopathe pour leur enfant durant son premier mois de vie, ceci toujours à travers l'avis des pédiatres et ostéopathes du canton de Vaud. Méthode : une étude prospective réalisée dans un premier temps par des entretiens semi-structurés auprès de pédiatres hospitaliers, d'ostéopathes et de pédiatres installés, complétée dans un deuxième temps par un questionnaire en ligne transmis aux pédiatres et ostéopathes du canton de Vaud. Résultats : 77.8% des pédiatres ayant répondu au questionnaire déclarent qu'ils ont connaissance de la prise en charge ostéopathique de moins de trente pourcents de leurs patients et 53.6% des ostéopathes savent que moins de trente pourcents des pédiatres de leurs clients en âge pédiatriques savent qu'ils sont suivi par un ostéopathe. L'intermédiaire presque exclusif entre les deux professions est le parent (plus de quatre-vingts pourcents pour 57.8% des pédiatres, idem pour les ostéopathes). La communication entre pédiatres et ostéopathes est faible (selon 67.6% des ostéopathes) à inexistante (selon 60% des pédiatres). 89.7% de l'ensemble du panel souhaite une amélioration de cette situation. La considération que se portent les deux professions est opposée avec des valeurs de coefficients de corrélations négatifs (κ2=(-0.642), ICC=(-0.494), r=(-0.691)). 31.1% des pédiatres ne conseil en aucun cas une prise en charge ostéopathique à leurs patients alors que 62.2% le font en cas de plagiocéphalie. Les prises en charges proposées par les deux corps de métiers pour les coliques du nourrisson et suite à un accouchement difficile sont très peu corrélées (respectivement κ2=0.091 et 0.021, ICC=0.169 et (-0.076), r=0.232 et 0.120). Les sages-femmes conseillant la visite chez l'ostéopathe ont été désignées comme principale cause de la visite ostéopathique durant le premier mois de vie des enfants par les ostéopathes (90.1%) et seconde cause par les pédiatres (82.2%), y voyant premièrement l'effet d'une mode ou tendance de notre époque (88.9%). Conclusion : Les pédiatres n'ont connaissance de la prise en charge ostéopathique que d'une partie de leur patientèle ayant cette prise en charge parallèle et l'information de cette prise en charge repose presque exclusivement sur les épaules des parents. La communication entre pédiatres et ostéopathes est très faible mais une amélioration de cette situation est souhaitée et des pistes pour réaliser cette communication sont proposées. L'estime que se portent pédiatres et ostéopathes quant à leurs prises en charges s'oppose ce qui fait que plus de trente pourcents des pédiatres ne conseillent pour aucune indication la prise en charge ostéopathique. Cela s'explique également par le fait que leurs propositions de prise en charge ne se corrèlent pas. La première cause poussant la consultation ostéopathique des nourrissons dans le premier mois de vie a été désignée comme étant les sages femmes

The Crime of Aggressive War

What is the specific wrong that constitutes aggression? Years ago, I argued that the wrong was to force people to fight and die in defense of the state that protects their common life and the territory on which that common life is lived (it has to be lived somewhere). It is not just the crossing of the border that constitutes the wrong but the threat—to the community and its members—that the crossing signifies