Properties of a square root transformation regression model

We consider the problem of modelling the conditional distribution of a response given a vector of covariates x when the response is a compositional data vector u. That is, u is defined on the unit simplex [...] This definition of the unit simplex differs subtly from that of Aitchison (1982), as we relax the con- dition that the components of u must be strictly positive. Under this scenario, use of the ratio (or logratio) to compare different compositions is not ideal since it is undefined in some instances, and subcompositional analysis is also not appropriate due to the possibility of division by zero. It has long been recognised that the square root transformation [...] transforms compositional data (including zeros) onto the surface of the (p-1)-dimensional hyperspher

What\u27s It All About? Finding the Appropriate Problem Definition in Mediation

In this article, we propose four mechanisms to enable mediation participants to explore problems broadly and then to decide what problem definition is most appropriate for the mediation of their case: A three-step systematic method for determining the problem to be addressed; Two variations of a rule that could be adopted by courts (and private providers) that would require lawyers or mediators to implement this systematic way of working with problem definition; and A new rule under which a court (or private) mediation program would offer to customize any mediation in order to seek the most appropriate problem definition We offer these mechanisms here to stimulate a dialogue regarding the most effective and administrable approaches that could give parties-especially one-shot players-the opportunity to influence the focus of their mediation sessions

Is That All There Is? The Problem in Court-Oriented Mediation

The alternative process of mediation is now well-institutionalized and widely (though not universally) perceived to save time and money and satisfy lawyers and parties. However, the process has failed to meet important aspirations of its early proponents and certain expectations and needs of one-shot players. In particular, court-oriented mediation now reflects the dominance and preferences of lawyers and insurance claims adjusters. These repeat players understand the problem to be addressed in personal injury, employment, contract, medical malpractice and other ordinary civil non-family disputes as a matter of merits assessment and litigation risk analysis. Mediation is structured so that litigation issues predominate; other potential issues - personal, psychological, relational, communitarian - disappear. This approach to mediation may be satisfactory to many parties and appropriate for courts that must engage in the mass processing of cases. But at least some individual one-shot players, who suddenly must seek redress or defend themselves, need something more. This Article describes a case involving such parties, dealing with their son\u27s heart-breaking disabilities and the narrow problem definition of their two mediations. We consider why the problem definition of their mediations mattered to these parties and how the mediation sessions could have been different. We then propose a systematic method that would enable the customization of mediation sessions, along with three initiatives that courts and private dispute resolution provides could adopt. These initiatives would provide parties with the opportunity to choose whether they wish to engage in a customized process. We also explore why courts should take the lead in experimenting with the breadth of the problems to be resolved by non-family civil court-oriented mediation

Assessing the Benefits of Public Research Within an Economic Framework: The Case of USDA's Agricultural Research Service

Evaluation of publicly funded research can help provide accountability and prioritize programs. In addition, Federal intramural research planning generally involves an institutional assessment of the appropriate Federal role, if any, and whether the research should be left to others, such as universities or the private sector. Many methods of evaluation are available, peer review—used primarily for establishing scientific merit—being the most common. Economic analysis focuses on quantifying ultimate research outcomes, whether measured in goods with market prices or in nonmarket goods such as environmental quality or human health. However, standard economic techniques may not be amenable for evaluating some important public research priorities or for institutional assessments. This report reviews quantitative methods and applies qualitative economic reasoning and stakeholder interviewing methods to the evaluation of economic benefits of Federal intramural research using three case studies of research conducted by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Differences among the case studies highlight the need to select suitable assessment techniques from available methodologies, the limited scope for comparing assessment results across programs, and the inherent difficulty in quantifying benefits in some research areas. When measurement and attribution issues make it difficult to quantify these benefits, the report discusses how qualitative insights based on economic concepts can help research prioritization.Agricultural Research Service, Federal intramural research, publicly funded research, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

Downstream benefits vs upstream costs of land use change for water-yield and salt-load targets in the Macquarie Catchment, NSW

The net present value (NPV) of downstream economic benefits of changes in water-yield (W) and salt-load (S) of mean annual river flow received by a lower catchment from an upper catchment are described as a 3-dimensional (NPV,W, S) surface, where dNPV/dW > 0 and dNPV/d(S/W) < 0. Upstream changes in land use (i.e. forest clearing or forest establishment, which result in higher or lower water-yields, respectively) are driven by economic consequences for land owners. This paper defines conditions under which costs of strategic upstream land use changes could be exceeded by compensations afforded by downstream benefits from altered water-yields and/or lower salt loads. The paper presents methods, and preliminary calculations for an example river, quantifying the scope for such combinations, and raising the question of institutional designs to achieve mutually beneficial upstream and downstream outcomes. Examples refer to the Macquarie River downstream of Dubbo, NSW, and Little River, an upstream tributary.policy, markets, upstream, downstream, water, salinity, Land Economics/Use,

High ions towards white dwarfs: circumstellar line shifts and stellar temperature

Based on a compilation of OVI, CIV, SiIV and NV data from IUE, FUSE, GHRS, STIS, and COS, we derive an anti- correlation between the stellar temperature and the high ion velocity shift w.r.t. to the photosphere, with positive (resp. negative) velocity shifts for the cooler (resp. hotter) white dwarfs. This trend probably reflects more than a single process, however such a dependence on the WD's temperature again favors a CS origin for a very large fraction of those ion absorptions, previously observed with IUE, HST-STIS, HST-GHRS, FUSE, and now COS, selecting objects for which absorption line radial velocities, stellar effective temperature and photospheric velocity can be found in the literature. Interestingly, and gas in near-equilibrium in the star vicinity. It is also probably significant that the temperature that corresponds to a null radial velocity, i.e. \simeq 50,000K, also corresponds to the threshold below which there is a dichotomy between pure or heavy elements atmospheres as well as some temperature estimates for and a form of balance between radiation pressure and gravitation. This is consistent with ubiquitous evaporation of orbiting dusty material. Together with the fact that the fraction of stars with (red-or blue-) shifted lines and the fraction of stars known to possess heavy species in their atmosphere are of the same order, such a velocity-temperature relationship is consistent with quasi-continuous evaporation of orbiting CS dusty material, followed by accretion and settling down in the photosphere. In view of these results, ion measurements close to the photospheric or the IS velocity should be interpreted with caution, especially for stars at intermediate temperatures. While tracing CS gas, they may be erroneously attributed to photospheric material or to the ISM, explaining the difficulty of finding a coherent pattern of the high ions in the local IS 3D distribution.Comment: Accepted by A&A. Body of paper identical to v1. This submission has a more appropriate truncation of the original abstrac

The Orbital Light Curve of Aquila X-1

We obtained R- and I-band CCD photometry of the soft X-ray transient/neutron- star binary Aql X-1 in 1998 June while it was at quiescence. We find that its light curve is dominated by ellipsoidal variations, although the ellipsoidal variations are severely distorted and have unequal maxima. After we correct for the contaminating flux from a field star located only 0.46" away, the peak-to-peak amplitude of the modulation is ~0.25 mag in the R band, which requires the orbital inclination to be greater than 36 degrees. The orbital period we measure is consistent with the 18.95 h period measured by Chevalier & Ilovaisky (1998). During its outbursts the light curve of Aql X-1 becomes single humped. The outburst light curve observed by Garcia et al. (1999) agrees in phase with our quiescent light curve. We show that the single humped variation is caused by a ``reflection effect,'' that is, by heating of the side of the secondary star facing towards the neutron star.Comment: 18 manuscript pages, 7 figures; accepted by A

Institutionalization: What do empirical studies tell us about court mediation?

In the 25 years since the Pound Conference, federal and state courts throughout the country have adopted mediation programs to resolve civil disputes. This increased use of mediation has been accompanied by a small but growing body of research examining the effects of certain choices in designing and implementing court-connected mediation programs. This article focuses on the lessons that seem to be emerging from the available empirical data regarding best practices for programs that mediate non-family civil matters. Throughout the article, we consider the answers provided by research to three questions: (1) How does program design affect the success of the institutionalization of mediation? (2) In what ways do design choices affect the likelihood of achieving settlement of cases? and (3) Which program design choices affect litigants\u27 perceptions of the procedural justice provided by court-connected mediation? Because these issues of institutionalization, settlement and justice are so important to the success and quality of court-connected mediation, they must be considered carefully in. deciding both how to structure new court-connected mediation programs and how to improve existing programs

Computing a Knot Invariant as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem

We point out the connection between mathematical knot theory and spin glass/search problem. In particular, we present a statistical mechanical formulation of the problem of computing a knot invariant; p-colorability problem, which provides an algorithm to find the solution. The method also allows one to get some deeper insight into the structural complexity of knots, which is expected to be related with the landscape structure of constraint satisfaction problem.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to short note in Journal of Physical Society of Japa