Investing social security trusts funds in the stock market

Social security ; Stock market

Distributions of Triplets in Genetic Sequences

Distributions of triplets in some genetic sequences are examined and found to be well described by a 2-parameter Markov process with a sparse transition matrix. The variances of all the relevant parameters are not large, indicating that most sequences gather in a small region in the parameter space. Different sequences have very near values of the entropy calculated directly from the data and the two parameters characterizing the Markov process fitting the sequence. No relevance with taxonomy or coding/noncoding is clearly observed.Comment: revtex, 17pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physica

Deliberative Citizenship: The Deliberate Democrats’ Response to the Hegemony of Classical Liberalism

Classical liberalism’s hegemony in the public discourse seems to be based on the fact that it demands and expects so little. Its guiding assumption tell us that people are the same, always and everywhere, and we can get the best by assuming the worst. Let’s just assume humans are simple automatons, it seems to say, and then we can arrive at elegant and simple conclusions about how society works and, more importantly, should work. Humans, then, are rationally self-interested and to get the best outcomes we should let these simple automatons interact in the market. The central point that comes from the deliberative democrats—and that they might do better to elaborate more explicitly—is that to assume simple rational self-interest and thus the impossibility of genuine democratic decision-making is really to miss the point. If we take a more realistic and complex view of human motivation, the deliberative democrats tell us, we recognize that individuals act in all sorts of different ways and are capable of developing and refining new and complex motivations. If the deliberative democrats are willing to acknowledge this important space for conflict and disagreement, what they have recovered from Tocqueville and Mill is an alternative program to Smith’s classical liberalism. What that program needs now are public champions willing and able to present this alternative way of thinking about the social world to members of society. What is needed is a revolution in ideas

Entangled light pulses from single cold atoms

The coherent interaction between a laser-driven single trapped atom and an optical high-finesse resonator allows to produce entangled multi-photon light pulses on demand. The mechanism is based on the mechanical effect of light. The degree of entanglement can be controlled through the parameters of the laser excitation. Experimental realization of the scheme is within reach of current technology. A variation of the technique allows for controlled generation of entangled subsequent pulses, with the atomic motion serving as intermediate memory of the quantum state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, revised version (new scheme for generation of subsequent pairs of entangled pulses included). Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

School Interventions After the Joplin Tornado

Background/Objective To qualitatively describe interventions by schools to meet children's needs after the May 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado. METHODS: Qualitative exploratory study conducted six months after the tornado. Key informant interviews with school staff (teachers, psychologists, guidance counselor, nurse, principal), public health official, and physicians. Report After the tornado, school staff immediately worked to contact every enrolled child to provide assistance and coordinate recovery services. Despite severe damage to half of the city's schools, the decision was made to reopen schools at the earliest possible time to provide a safe, reassuring environment and additional services. An expanded summer school session emphasized child safety and emotional wellbeing. The 2011-2012 school year began on time, less than three months after the disaster, using temporary facilities. Displaced children were bused to their usual schools regardless of their new temporary residence locations. In just-in-time training sessions, teachers developed strategies to support students and staff experiencing anxiety or depression. Certified counselors conducted school-based, small-group counseling for students. Selective referrals were made to community mental health providers for children with greatest needs. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from Joplin adds to a small body of empirical experience demonstrating the important contribution of schools to postdisaster community recovery. Despite timely and proactive services, many families and children struggled after the tornado. Improvements in the effectiveness of postdisaster interventions at schools will follow from future scientific evidence on optimal approaches

Inventories and scenarios of nitrous oxide emissions

Effective mitigation for N₂O emissions, now the third most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas and the largest remaining anthropogenic source of stratospheric ozone depleting substances, requires understanding of the sources and how they may increase this century. Here we update estimates and their uncertainties for current anthropogenic and natural N₂O emissions and for emissions scenarios to 2050. Although major uncertainties remain, ‘bottom-up’ inventories and‘top-down’ atmospheric modeling yield estimates that are in broad agreement. Global natural N₂O emissions are most likely between 10 and 12 Tg N2O-N yr˄−1. Net anthropogenic N₂O emissions are now about 5.3 Tg N₂O-N yr˄−1. Gross anthropogenic emissions by sector are 66% from agriculture, 15% from energy and transport sectors, 11% from biomass burning, and 8% from other sources. A decrease in natural emissions from tropical soils due to deforestation reduces gross anthropogenic emissions by about 14%. Business-as-usual emission scenarios project almost a doubling of anthropogenic N₂O emissions by 2050. In contrast, concerted mitigation scenarios project an average decline of 22% relative to 2005, which would lead to a near stabilization of atmospheric concentration of N₂O at about 350 ppb. The impact of growing demand for biofuels on future projections of N₂O emissions is highly uncertain; N₂O emissions from second and third generation biofuels could remain trivial or could become the most significant source to date. It will not be possible to completely eliminate anthropogenic N₂O emissions from agriculture, but better matching of crop N needs and N supply offers significant opportunities for emission reductions

Coherent generation of EPR-entangled light pulses mediated by a single trapped atom

We show that a single, trapped, laser-driven atom in a high-finesse optical cavity allows for the quantum-coherent generation of entangled light pulses on demand. Schemes for generating simultaneous and temporally separated pulse pairs are proposed. The mechanical effect of the laser excitation on the quantum motion of the cold trapped atom mediates the entangling interaction between two cavity modes and between the two subsequent pulses, respectively. The entanglement is of EPR-type, and its degree can be controlled through external parameters. At the end of the generation process the atom is decorrelated from the light field. Possible experimental implementations of the proposals are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Finite size effects and error-free communication in Gaussian channels

The efficacy of a specially constructed Gallager-type error-correcting code to communication in a Gaussian channel is being examined. The construction is based on the introduction of complex matrices, used in both encoding and decoding, which comprise sub-matrices of cascading connection values. The finite size effects are estimated for comparing the results to the bounds set by Shannon. The critical noise level achieved for certain code-rates and infinitely large systems nearly saturates the bounds set by Shannon even when the connectivity used is low

The Medical Home and Care Coordination in Disaster Recovery: Hypothesis for Interventions and Research

In postdisaster settings, health care providers encounter secondary surges of unmet primary care and mental health needs that evolve throughout disaster recovery phases. Whatever a community’s predisaster adequacy of health care, postdisaster gaps are similar to those of any underserved region. We hypothesize that existing practice and evidence supporting medical homes and care coordination in primary care for the underserved provide a favorable model for improving health in disrupted communities. Elements of medical home services can be offered by local or temporary providers from outside the region, working out of mobile clinics early in disaster recovery. As repairs and reconstruction proceed, local services are restored over weeks or years. Throughout recovery, major tasks include identifying high-risk patients relative to the disaster and underlying health conditions, assisting displaced families as they transition through housing locations, and tracking their evolving access to health care and community services as they are restored. Postdisaster sources of financial assistance for the disaster-exposed population are often temporary and evolving, requiring up-to-date information to cover costs of care until stable services and insurance coverage are restored. Evidence to support disaster recovery health care improvement will require research funding and metrics on structures, processes, and outcomes of the disaster recovery medical home and care coordination, based on adaptation of standard validated methods to crisis environments