Trading for the Future: Signaling in Permit Markets

Tradable permits are celebrated as a political instrument since they allow (i) firms to equalize marginal abatement costs through trade and (ii) the government to distribute the burden of the policy in a politically fair and feasible way. These two concerns, however, conflict in a dynamic setting. Anticipating that high-cost firms will receive more permits in the future, firms purchase excessive amounts of permits to signal high costs. This raises the price above marginal costs and distorts abatements. In fact, it is better with non-tradable permits if the heterogeneity between the firms is small, if the (shadow) price for permits is large, and if the government redistributes permits frequently.Tradable permits, private information, signaling

Chimpanzee faces under the magnifying glass: emerging methods reveal cross-species similarities and individuality

Independently, we created descriptive systems to characterize chimpanzee facial behavior, responding to a common need to have an objective, standardized coding system to ask questions about primate facial behaviors. Even with slightly different systems, we arrive at similar outcomes, with convergent conclusions about chimpanzee facial mobility. This convergence is a validation of the importance of the approach, and provides support for the future use of a facial action coding system for chimpanzees,ChimpFACS. Chimpanzees share many facial behaviors with those of humans. Therefore, processes and mechanisms that explain individual differences in facial activity can be compared with the use of a standardized systems such asChimpFACSandFACS. In this chapter we describe our independent methodological approaches, comparing how we arrived at our facial coding categories. We present some Action Descriptors (ADs) from Gaspar’s initial studies, especially focusing on an ethogram of chimpanzee and bonobo facial behavior, based on studies conducted between 1997 and 2004 at three chimpanzee colonies (The Detroit Zoo; Cleveland Metroparks Zoo; and Burger’s Zoo) and two bonobo colonies (The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; The Milwaukee County Zoo). We discuss the potential significance of arising issues, the minor qualitative species differences that were found, and the larger quantitative differences in particular facial behaviors observed between species, e.g., bonobos expressed more movements containing particular action units (Brow Lowerer, Lip Raiser, Lip Corner Puller) compared with chimpanzees. The substantial interindividual variation in facial behavior within each species was most striking. Considering individual differences and the impact of development, we highlight the flexibility in facial activity of chimpanzees. We discuss the meaning of facial behaviors in nonhuman primates, addressing specifically individual attributes of Social Attraction, facial expressivity, and the connection of facial behavior to emotion. We do not rule out the communicative function of facial behavior, in which case an individual’s properties of facial behavior are seen as influencing his or her social life, but provide strong arguments in support of the role of facial behavior in the expression of internal states

Multicomponent gas sorption Joule-Thomson refrigeration

The present invention relates to a cryogenic Joule-Thomson refrigeration capable of pumping multicomponent gases with a single stage sorption compressor system. Alternative methods of pumping a multicomponent gas with a single stage compressor are disclosed. In a first embodiment, the sorbent geometry is such that a void is defined near the output of the sorption compressor. When the sorbent is cooled, the sorbent primarily adsorbs the higher boiling point gas such that the lower boiling point gas passes through the sorbent to occupy the void. When the sorbent is heated, the higher boiling point gas is desorbed at high temperature and pressure and thereafter propels the lower boiling point gas out of the sorption compressor. A mixing chamber is provided to remix the constituent gases prior to expansion of the gas through a Joule-Thomson valve. Other methods of pumping a multicomponent gas are disclosed. For example, where the sorbent is porous and the low boiling point gas does not adsorb very well, the pores of the sorbent will act as a void space for the lower boiling point gas. Alternatively, a mixed sorbent may be used where a first sorbent component physically adsorbs the high boiling point gas and where the second sorbent component chemically absorbs the low boiling point gas

Flexible thermal apparatus for mounting of thermoelectric cooler

A flexible heat transfer apparatus used to flexibly connect and thermally couple a thermoelectric cooler to an object to be cooled is disclosed. The flexible heat transfer apparatus consists of a pair of flexible corrugated sheets made from high thermal conductivity materials such as copper, aluminum, gold, or silver. The ridges of the corrugated sheets are oriented perpendicular to one another and bonded sandwich-fashion between three plates to define an upper section and a lower section. The upper section provides X flexure, the lower section provides Y flexure, and both sections together provide Z flexure

Protecting the Promise to the Families of Tuskegee: Banning the Use of Persuasive AI in Obtaining Informed Consent for Commercial Drug Trials

This is the first article to call for a ban on the use of AI technology designed to influence human decision-making, “Persuasive AI,” for the purpose of recruiting or enrolling human participants in drug trials sponsored by commercial entities. It does so from a perspective of precaution, not fear. Advances in Artificial Technology that can assist human decision-making have tremendous potential for good. It makes the case for doing so based on both the substantial risk of harm to the decision-making process and the ineffectiveness of intermediate regulatory measures. This Article looks directly at Persuasive AI, a type of AI that claims to respond directly to the emotions of the humans with which it interacts. There is already considerable evidence of its ability to analyze data in health and military settings not just faster than humans but beyond human capacity. But there is also growing international concern about characteristics associated with “Emotion AI,” such as its persistent reproduction of societal biases and ability to develop beyond its programming, that mitigate against its use in specific, sensitive situations such as health care and the military. The challenge of mitigating these risks is that even the people who develop the programs do not know how it is making decisions and cannot intervene in ways that might prevent harm. All of these factors have led the EU to propose a ban on its use in a broad range of spheres, including health care where manipulating decision-making would be a violation of an individualsʼ human rights. While there is at present no direct federal regulation of Persuasive AI in the United States, concerns about the risks of biased or manipulated decision-making has led to calls within the United States for a moratorium on its use in settings where it is most likely to cause harm. In response, some states and cities have passed or are contemplating legislation to limit its use in law enforcement and employment decisions. As this Article discusses, one of the reasons the United States has been behind other nations is a general disinclination to interfere with the process of adult decision-making. So long as there is no fraud, threat, or deliberate deception, adults are assumed to be competent to evaluate the claims of those trying to persuade them without government protection. The federal laws regulating obtaining informed consent for biomedical research is a dramatic exception to this mostly hands-off approach. Often collectively referred to as the“Common Rule,” these laws were promulgated in direct response to the unethical behavior of the U.S. government in withholding treatment from Black Sharecroppers (formally known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment). Specifically, these laws create a system in which an ethics committee conducts a preemptive ethical review of all information, including advertisements, generated by the sponsor of the trial to potential participants. Such a review would be meaningless if, as this Article details, the party seeking consent employs a technology that can influence decision-making in ways beyond the ability of the ethics committees to detect. While the Common Ruleʼs jurisdiction extends to all forms of human subject research, this Article focuses on clinical drug trials by commercial entities because they are, by definition, done for the purpose of marketing a product for the financial benefit of the trialʼs sponsor. Although sometimes enrollment in a clinical trial is the only path to lifesaving treatment, in many cases the drug being studied is a variation of a product already being sold by another company. Sponsors of these “me-too” trials often find it difficult to enroll the number of patients required to complete the study. New regulations by the FDA intended to encourage the enrollment of populations disproportionately absent from drug trials, primarily Black adults, make the recruiting process for sponsors even more difficult. This is demonstrated by original research in this Article showing that many companies are marketing AI to sponsors to assist in obtaining a diverse pool of subjects. While there is no suggestion that they are offering to exert undue influence, the inability to control what these algorithms are doing supports a call for restraint. It would be especially unfortunate if these efforts to increase diversity create an incentive to manipulate and coerce the very populations originally exploited by the Public Health Service in Alabama. So, without alleging ill intent on the part of anyone involved in developing, marketing, or using this software to recruit participants or obtain their consent to participate in clinical drug trials, this Article argues that Persuasive AIʼs capacity to undermine the free will of potential participants in ways that are both undetectable and impossible to remediate