1,379 research outputs found
Traffic Enforcement, Policing, and Crime Rates
Law enforcement agencies believe that traffic enforcement, in addition to reducing fatalities associated with automobile collisions, may also reduce the incidence of public order crimes. The academic literature, though, has largely failed to address this phenomenon. The purpose of this correlational study was to use Kelling and Wilson\u27s broken windows theory to evaluate whether a statistically significant relationship exists between traffic enforcement rates and public order crimes in South Carolina. Secondary data from 5 counties were acquired from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for the time period 2008 through 2012. Statistically significant Spearman\u27s Rho correlations were found for 4 of the 5 counties (p \u3c .05). Though statistically significant, the correlations were weak. The findings suggest that Wilson and Kelling\u27s theory is somewhat predictive of the relationship between the visibility of law enforcement officers and reductions in public order crimes, but may not fully explain this relationship. Even so, there is some evidence that the presence of traffic enforcement officers may reduce certain types of crime, thereby improving the quality of life for residents. Based on the findings, one important recommendation of this study is for law enforcement agencies in South Carolina to consider enhancing or expanding the use of traffic enforcement teams because of their potential value in reducing public order crimes, including a plan to conduct a follow-up evaluation of the efficacy of such a program
Sex, lies and self-reported counts: Bayesian mixture models for heaping in longitudinal count data via birth-death processes
Surveys often ask respondents to report nonnegative counts, but respondents
may misremember or round to a nearby multiple of 5 or 10. This phenomenon is
called heaping, and the error inherent in heaped self-reported numbers can bias
estimation. Heaped data may be collected cross-sectionally or longitudinally
and there may be covariates that complicate the inferential task. Heaping is a
well-known issue in many survey settings, and inference for heaped data is an
important statistical problem. We propose a novel reporting distribution whose
underlying parameters are readily interpretable as rates of misremembering and
rounding. The process accommodates a variety of heaping grids and allows for
quasi-heaping to values nearly but not equal to heaping multiples. We present a
Bayesian hierarchical model for longitudinal samples with covariates to infer
both the unobserved true distribution of counts and the parameters that control
the heaping process. Finally, we apply our methods to longitudinal
self-reported counts of sex partners in a study of high-risk behavior in
HIV-positive youth.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/15-AOAS809 in the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
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The Cost of Government Financial Interventions, Past and Present
[Excerpt] Between March and September 2008, the federal government intervened financially with private corporations on three occasions, resulting in the government receiving significant debt and equity considerations. The firms affected were Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and AIG. Dissatisfaction with the case-by-case approach to addressing the ongoing financial turmoil led Treasury to propose a more comprehensive approach on September 19, 2008. On October 3, 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA, P.L. 110-343) was signed into law, authorizing the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). TARP gave Treasury the option of purchasing or insuring up to 250 billion in financial firmsâ preferred stock under the TARP authority, with approximately 85 billion AIG loan from mid-September was first augmented and then revamped into a combination package of a 40 billion in preferred share purchases, up to 52.5 billion in troubled asset purchases. Citigroup received an additional 25 billion, along with federal guarantees to cover losses on a 5 billion preferred share purchase from GMAC, up to 4 billion in loans promised to Chrysler.
These interventions have prompted questions regarding the taxpayer costs and the sources of funding. The sources of funding are relatively straightforwardâprimarily the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the U.S. Treasury. The costs, however, are difficult to quantify at this stage. In most of the interventions, many of the financial outflows that are possible have yet to occur, and the ultimate value of the debt and equity considerations received from the private firms is uncertain. At this point, the federal government has the option to own nearly 80% of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG. Depending on the final proceeds from the various debt and equity considerations, the federal government may end up seeing a positive fiscal contribution from the recent interventions, as was the case in some of the past interventions summarized in the tables at the end of this report. The government may also suffer significant losses, as has also occurred in the past.
This report will be updated as warranted by legislative and market events
How Europe can deliver: Optimising the division of competences among the EU and its member states
This study aims to give guidance for a better-performing EU through an improved allocation of competences between the European Union and its member states. The study analyses eight specific policies from a wide range of fields with respect to their preferable assignment. The analysis applies a unified quantified approach and is precise in its definition of âcounterfactualsâ. These counterfactuals are understood as conceptual alternatives to the allocation of competences under the status quo. As such, they either relate to a new European competence (if the policy is currently a national responsibility) or a new national competence (if the policy is currently assigned to the EU). The comprehensive, quantification-based assessments indicate that it would be preferable to have responsibility for higher education and providing farmers with income support at the national level. Conversely, a shift of competences to the EU level would be advantageous when it comes to asylum policies, defence, corporate taxation, development aid and a (complementary) unemployment insurance scheme in the euro area. For one policy â railway freight transport â the findings are indeterminate. Overall, the study recommends a differentiated integration strategy comprising both new European policies and a roll-back of EU competences in other fields
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The Ca2+ transient as a feedback sensor controlling cardiomyocyte ionic conductances in mouse populations.
Conductances of ion channels and transporters controlling cardiac excitation may vary in a population of subjects with different cardiac gene expression patterns. However, the amount of variability and its origin are not quantitatively known. We propose a new conceptual approach to predict this variability that consists of finding combinations of conductances generating a normal intracellular Ca2+ transient without any constraint on the action potential. Furthermore, we validate experimentally its predictions using the Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel, a model system of genetically diverse mouse strains that allows us to quantify inter-subject versus intra-subject variability. The method predicts that conductances of inward Ca2+ and outward K+ currents compensate each other to generate a normal Ca2+ transient in good quantitative agreement with current measurements in ventricular myocytes from hearts of different isogenic strains. Our results suggest that a feedback mechanism sensing the aggregate Ca2+ transient of the heart suffices to regulate ionic conductances
Towards Automotive Embedded Systems with Self-X Properties
With self-adaptation and self-organization new paradigms for the management of distributed systems have been introduced. By enhancing the automotive software system with self-X capabilities, e.g. self-healing, self-configuration and self-optimization, the complexity is handled while increasing the flexibility, scalability and dependability of these systems. In this chapter we present an approach for enhancing automotive systems with self-X properties. At first, we discuss the benefits of providing automotive software systems with self-management capabilities and outline concrete use cases. Afterwards, we will discuss requirements and challenges for realizing adaptive automotive embedded systems
Implementation of a standard format for GPS common view data
A new format for standardizing common view time transfer data, recommended by the Consultative Committee for the Definition of the Second, is being implemented in receivers commonly used for contributing data for the generation of International Atomic Time. We discuss three aspects of this new format that potentially improve GPS common-view time transfer: (1) the standard specifies the method for treating short term data, (2) it presents data in consistent formats including needed terms not previously available, and (3) the standard includes a header of parameters important for the GPS common-view process. In coordination with the release of firmware conforming to this new format the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures will release future international track schedules consistent with the new standard
The Effect of Elasticity of Gelatin Nanoparticles on the Interaction with Macrophages
Gelatin is a biocompatible, biodegradable, cheap, and nontoxic material, which is already
used for pharmaceutical applications. Nanoparticles from gelatin (GNPs) are considered a promising
delivery system for hydrophilic and macromolecular drugs. Mechanical properties of particles are
recognized as an important parameter affecting drug carrier interaction with biological systems.
GNPs offer the preparation of particles with different stiffness. GNPs were loaded with Fluorescein
isothiocyanate-labeled 150 kDa dextran (FITC-dextran) yielding also different elastic properties.
GNPs were visualized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and forceâdistance curves from the
center of the particles were evaluated for Youngâs modulus calculation. The prepared GNPs have
Youngâs moduli from 4.12 MPa for soft to 9.8 MPa for stiff particles. Furthermore, cytokine release
(IL-6 and TNF-α), cell viability, and cell uptake were determined on macrophage cell lines from
mouse (RAW 264.7) and human (dTHP-1 cells, differentiated human monocytic THP-1 cells) origin
for soft and stiff GNPs. Both particle types showed good cell compatibility and did not induce IL-6
and TNF-α release from RAW 264.7 and dTHP-1 cells. Stiffer GNPs were internalized into cells faster
and to a larger extent
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