The Impact of Weight-Based Penalties on Drug Purity and Consumption: A Theoretical Analysis

This paper investigates the impact of an increase in law enforcement on the purity of illicit drugs and illicit drug consumption. The impact is explored under the assumption that dealer penalties increase in the weight of drugs sold (as stipulated by current U.S. drug sentencing guidelines) and under the assumption that penalties increase in the effective dose, equal to purity times weight, of drugs sold. The paper finds that an increase in either the certainty of dealer or user punishment, under the assumption of weight-based dealer penalties, may increase the purity and the quantity of drugs consumed. An increase in the certainty of either dealer or user punishment, under effective dose-based penalties, decreases drug purity and the quantity of drugs consumed.

Faculty Observables and Self-Reported Responsiveness to Academic Dishonesty

Prior to 2009, a mid-sized public institution in the southeast had a faculty-driven honor policy characterized by little education about the policy and no tracking of repeat offenders. An updated code, implemented in August of 2009, required that students sign an honor pledge, created a formal student honor board, and developed a process to track and hold accountable, repeat offenders. Self-reported data on faculty vigilance to detect and punish cheating is collected both prior to and after a change in the honor code at a mid-sized public institution in the southeast. We find that, at the time of the first survey, full professors and faculty with a longer duration of employment were more likely to claim vigilance in cheating detection and harshness in punishing cheaters than newer, untenured faculty. The relationship between these factors and detection and harshness diminished when the honor code was enhanced

Hurricanes and Homeowner Decision-Making

The researchers conducted surveys between 2001 and 2002 that examined homeowner decisions concerning wind damage to homes from hurricanes. They collected information about current mitigation practices, expectation of damage, and willingness to pay for future mitigation improvements. Their key findings were that income, size of the deductible, and expected damages from a category three hurricane—but not category four or five hurricanes—were the main determining factors for people that do mitigation. Homeowners generally dismissed low probability events. They found that homeowner willingness to pay for mitigation devices is negative and requires subsidy in excess of $14,000. Willingness to pay is greater if insurance is not available. They concluded that most homeowners are not willing to purchase excessive mitigation devices

Home-buyer Sentiment and Hurricane Landfalls

The researchers looked at how hurricanes impact real estate markets and home-buyer sentiment. Sentiment is related to the perception of risk by investors in the securities markets, but is not quantifiable, so the researchers looked at developing proxies. They used three proxies to determine the most meaningful one, which included the spread between listing and selling prices, the average days of a house on the market, and the number of single-family houses sold per month. They looked at homeowner sentiment from 1995 to 2002 in the Cape Fear region and the impact of Hurricanes Fran, Bonnie, and Floyd on the market. When they looked at the prices and days on the market, they found that after Bonnie there was not a difference in sentiment. Then after Fran there was some difference. Then after Floyd, more difference. The proxy impacted most was the days a home was on the market. The researchers concluded that the market suffers after successive hurricane landfalls, but that sentiment recovers a year or more after the hurricane

Increased Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Acne Inversa

BACKGROUND: Acne inversa (AI; also designated as Hidradenitis suppurativa) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease, localized in the axillary, inguinal and perianal skin areas that causes painful, fistulating sinuses with malodorous purulence and scars. Several chronic inflammatory diseases are associated with the metabolic syndrome and its consequences including arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, myocardial infraction, and stroke. So far, the association of AI with systemic metabolic alterations is largely unexplored. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A hospital-based case-control study in 80 AI patients and 100 age- and sex-matched control participants was carried out. The prevalence of central obesity (odds ratio 5.88), hypertriglyceridemia (odds ratio 2.24), hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia (odds ratio 4.56), and hyperglycemia (odds ratio 4.09) in AI patients was significantly higher than in controls. Furthermore, the metabolic syndrome, previously defined as the presence of at least three of the five alterations listed above, was more common in those patients compared to controls (40.0% versus 13.0%; odds ratio 4.46, 95% confidence interval 2.02 to 9.96; P<0.001). AI patients with metabolic syndrome also had more pronounced metabolic alterations than controls with metabolic syndrome. Interestingly, there was no correlation between the severity or duration of the disease and the levels of respective parameters or the number of criteria defining the metabolic syndrome. Rather, the metabolic syndrome was observed in a disproportionately high percentage of young AI patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows for the first time that AI patients have a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and all of its criteria. It further suggests that the inflammation present in AI patients does not have a major impact on the development of metabolic alterations. Instead, evidence is given for a role of metabolic alterations in the development of AI. We recommend monitoring of AI patients in order to correct their modifiable cardiovascular risk factors

Collectively Improving Our Teaching: Attempting Biology Department–wide Professional Development in Scientific Teaching

Many efforts to improve science teaching in higher education focus on a few faculty members at an institution at a time, with limited published evidence on attempts to engage faculty across entire departments. We created a long-term, department-wide collaborative professional development program, Biology Faculty Explorations in Scientific Teaching (Biology FEST). Across 3 years of Biology FEST, 89% of the department's faculty completed a weeklong scientific teaching institute, and 83% of eligible instructors participated in additional semester-long follow-up programs. A semester after institute completion, the majority of Biology FEST alumni reported adding active learning to their courses. These instructor self-reports were corroborated by audio analysis of classroom noise and surveys of students in biology courses on the frequency of active-learning techniques used in classes taught by Biology FEST alumni and nonalumni. Three years after Biology FEST launched, faculty participants overwhelmingly reported that their teaching was positively affected. Unexpectedly, most respondents also believed that they had improved relationships with departmental colleagues and felt a greater sense of belonging to the department. Overall, our results indicate that biology department-wide collaborative efforts to develop scientific teaching skills can indeed attract large numbers of faculty, spark widespread change in teaching practices, and improve departmental relations

The Effect of Catholic Education on Economic Ideology

Religious adherence, church attendance, and economic ideology have long been intertwined. We discuss the compatibility between Catholic doctrine and individual-based free market systems and then examine the effect of Catholic school attendance on an individual’s belief in and support for a capitalist economic system. Using individual level survey data, we find a positive relationship between attendance at Catholic schools and capitalist ideology as measured by an index that contrasts individual versus government action and responsibility in the economy. While attendance at Catholic school is associated with a stronger emphasis on individual, rather than governmental, responsibility in the economy, the effect is driven largely by Catholic high school or college attendance, reflecting an increased exposure to Catholic faith during the formative years of late adolescence

Hurricanes and Homeowner Decision-Making

The researchers conducted surveys between 2001 and 2002 that examined homeowner decisions concerning wind damage to homes from hurricanes. They collected information about current mitigation practices expectation of damage and willingness to pay for future mitigation improvements. Their key findings were that income size of the deductible and expected damages from a category three hurricane—but not category four or five hurricanes—were the main determining factors for people that do mitigation. Homeowners generally dismissed low probability events. They found that homeowner willingness to pay for mitigation devices is negative and requires subsidy in excess of $14 000. Willingness to pay is greater if insurance is not available. They concluded that most homeowners are not willing to purchase excessive mitigation devices