Deregulation Using Stealth “Science” Strategies

In this Article, we explore the “stealth” use of science by the Executive Branch to advance deregulation and highlight the limited, existing legal and institutional constraints in place to discipline and discourage these practices. Political appointees have employed dozens of strategies over the years, in both Democratic and Republican administrations, to manipulate science in ends-oriented ways that advance the goal of deregulation. Despite this bald manipulation of science, however, the officials frequently present these strategies as necessary to bring “sound science” to bear on regulatory decisions. To begin to address this problem, it is important to reconceptualize how the administrative state addresses science-intensive decisions. Rather than allow agencies and the White House to operate as a cohesive unit, institutional bounds should be drawn around the scientific expertise lodged within the agencies. We propose that the background scientific work prepared by agency staff should be firewalled from the evaluative, policymaking input of the remaining officials, including politically appointed officials, in the agency

DDI: Metadata to support collection processes, discovery, and comparability

Workshop at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013DDI-Lifecycle (DDI-L) was designed to support processes and comparability all through the lifecycle of the data. The result is a standard based on planned reuse of metadata that describes the methodologies used, the processes of capturing, cleaning, and modifying data, and the various storage formats of the data itself. These structures enhance its value to the research process in terms of quality control and by supporting a "metadata driven research process". Discovery tools can leverage "reusable" metadata which supports comparability within and between data sets, capturing intended points of comparability within series and collections of data. This workshop will focus on the DDI content that support collection, discovery, and comparability: Questions, data collection instruments, variables, concepts, geography, grouping and comparison.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc

DDI: Capturing metadata throughout the research process for preservation and discovery

Workshop at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013DDI supports two development lines, DDI-Codebook (DDI-C) and DDI-Lifecycle (DDI-L). This workshop provides an overview of the uses of both DDI-C and DDI-L in capturing metadata during the research process and how it is used for preservation and discovery purposes. The focus is on the types of metadata covered by DDI, how they are structured, and how they are used across the data lifecycle. Differences between the two development lines will be highlighted including structural and coverage differences.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc

Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program

To determine the impact of the Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP), a privately funded summer jobs program for low-income teens, P/PV examined the lives of over 1700 applicants. These youth were randomly assigned to participate or to not participate in SCEP in the summer of 1999, and their outcomes were compared at four and twelve months after program application. Researchers found that implementation was strong, but program impacts were less impressive. While SCEPs participants got summer jobs at a substantially higher rate (92%) than the control group (62%), the programs ability to translate this large and immediate summer employment impact into intermediate gains (in terms of future plans, college enrollment, work success, sense of self-efficacy or reduced criminal activity) proved to be negligible. Although impacts were short lived, the report concludes that SCEP and similar programs have an important place in the larger mosaic of supports, programs and opportunities for young people

Use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the health-promoting index (HPI) of cow\u27s milk

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy steadily has been gaining popularity for the analysis of milk components including total fat, protein, lactose, and ketones. To date, there have been few descriptions of the use of FTIR spectroscopy for the determination of milk fatty acid composition.;The first objective of this thesis was to develop a method utilizing FTIR spectroscopy for prediction of the health-promoting index (HPI) of milk. The HPI is known to affect the relative softness of butter (Bobe et al., 2003); so, this model could be used to predict which cows\u27 milk could be designated for generation of niche products. To accomplish this objective, milk was collected from 281 cows for analysis. One set of samples was esterified into butyl esters for analysis via gas chromatography (GC), and the lipid was extracted from another set to analyze via FTIR spectroscopy. The GC-derived values and FTIR spectra were used to make predictive models by using the partial least squares (PLS) procedure of SAS. The models subsequently were used to generate predictions of milk composition by using FTIR spectra from three additional sets of 135 cows. The predictive model generated for HPI did not generate values for data not included in the predictive model satisfactorily (mean = 0266, root mean-squared error of prediction (RMSEP) = 0.122); so, predictive models were created for additional milk fatty acid combinations. The predictive models generated estimates for several milk composition parameters relatively well. For example, the model generated to determine the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids is able to predict with a mean = 0.347 and RMSEP = 0.096. With further development, the use of FTIR spectroscopy to determine milk fatty acid composition could become an essential part of milk analysis protocols.;The second objective of this study was to develop a method utilizing FTIR spectroscopy to determine fatty acid composition of milk that could be commercially marketed. At this time, this objective has not been achieved because the O-H stretching vibrations of water absorb nearly all of the photons present in the wavelengths at which the C-H and alkene bonds of fatty acids absorb energy. To counteract the interference of the O-H stretching vibrations at these wavelengths, it was necessary to remove water from raw milk samples before analysis. Several potential methods to eliminate water were investigated and a modification of the Folch method (Folch and Stanley, 1957) was chosen. The Folch method produces accurate and reproducible results (Avalli and Contarini, 2005, Zhang et al., 2008), but takes several hours per sample to complete as well as requiring the use of chloroform, which has multiple potential negative human health effects. Further investigation is needed to develop a method that will eliminate water from samples quickly and in a manner that does not pose risk to human health.;Key words: dairy cow, fatty acid composition, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, partial least squares analysis, health-promoting inde

Electricity deregulation and the valuation of visibility loss in wilderness areas: A research note.

Visibility in most wilderness areas in the northeastern United States has declined substantially since the 1970s. As noted by Hill et al. (2000), despite the 1977 Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments, human induced smog conditions are becoming increasingly worse. Average visibility in class I airsheds, such as the Great Gulf Wilderness in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, is now about one-third of natural conditions. A particular concern is that deregulation of electricity production could result in further degradation because consumers may switch to lower cost fossil fuel generation (Harper 2000). To the extent that this system reduces electricity costs, it may also affect firm location decisions (Halstead and Deller 1997). Yet, little is known about the extent to which consumers are likely to make tradeoffs between electric bills and reduced visibility in nearby wilderness areas. This applied research uses a contingent valuation approach in an empirical case study of consumers’ tradeoffs between cheaper electric bills and reduced visibility in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. We also examine some of the problems associated with uncertainty with this type of analysis; that is, how confident respondents are in their answers to the valuation questions. Finally, policy implications of decreased visibility due to electricity deregulation are discussed

Nutritional management in a horse after caecocolic intussusception with almost total typhlectomy : a case report

A 17-year-old Haflinger gelding was referred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for evaluation and treatment of acute colic. Clinical examination resulted in a presumptive diagnosis of caecocolic intussusception, which was confirmed by exploratory laparotomy. Due to severe compromise of the caecal apex wall, a partial typhlectomy was performed. Information about optimal nutritional management of typhlectomised horses is unfortunately rather limited. While immediate postsurgical support focuses on maintaining current bodyweight, the long-term goal is to obtain and maintain an optimal body condition score. In this case, postoperative nutritional support focused initially on a low-bulk diet that would be primarily digested in the small intestine, while providing sufficient fibre to provide colonocytes with an energy source. One month after surgery, a slow transition towards a more traditional diet containing long-stem roughage was made. This is the first case report describing a detailed successful nutritional approach up until six months postoperatively

DDI Specification: Current Status and Outlook

Presentation at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013An update on current activities and plans from DDI Technical Implementation Committee (TIC) members.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc