How Neoliberalism Weakened Democracy in Chile

During the late twentieth century, neoliberal policy transformations were occurring in countries all over the world. In Chile, this radical change in policy removed the state from many economic spheres, which ended up hurting the Chilean people. The newly enacted neoliberal policies left the Chilean citizens in an even worse position than they had been in originally, and this suffering eroded any possibility they had of democratically participating in their government. Since the state was removing regulations with the aim of stimulating economic growth, workers were no longer promised a livable wage and they lost their opportunities to live in affordable housing. With their incomes decreasing and their expenses on the rise, they were forced to work more hours to make up the difference. Since the workers were spending more time in the factories, they had less time to be politically active. This ultimately weakened political groups tasked with holding elected officials accountable, and this caused the average Chilean citizen to become even less effective politically. Overall, free markets seem to stand in direct opposition to the idea of having a pluralistic democracy. In search of economic success, the Chilean people ended up losing their political rights, and the quality of democracy in Chile was greatly diminished

Two sample rank tests with adaptive score functions using kernel density estimation

In the basic two sample testing problem we are interested in comparing two distributions F and G by testing the null hypothesis that they are equal against the alternative that they somehow differ based on independently identically distributed samples from each of them. In the case of fixed, known F and G under the null hypothesis as well the alternative the well-known Neymann-Pearson lemma provides the most powerful test, however, in practical applications it is usually not feasible to make such strong assumptions regarding the specification of F and G. Non-parametric tests - and rank tests in particular - make no assumptions about the form of the distributions other than perhaps some degree of smoothness, and since the vector of ranks is known to be uniformly distributed under the null hypothesis independent of the underlying distribution, the exact distribution of rank test statistics is available in this case. This leads to a class of tests which are valid under any null hypothesis distribution, but their power can vary greatly with F and G under the alternatives. In this work we look at rank tests of the form proposed by K. Behnen and G. Neuhaus (1983), which use an adaptive score function derived from densities of the transformed data. The score function proposed is adaptive in the sense that it provides a locally optimal test under any alternative, however the densities involved are theoretical and need to be estimated from the data. In order to do this we use simple rank-based kernel density estimators in order to construct a rank test statistic. Hajek projections are used to prove a linearization of the test statistic as a sum of i.i.d random variables plus negligible rest terms, and this result is used to show asymptotic normality under the null hypothesis, but a series of simulations indicate that there are problems with centering and scaling of the test statistic for finite sample sizes, and that the proven distributional convergence is very slow in practice. Further investigations show the reasons for each of these problems. Centering and scaling can be remedied with modifications to the score function and variance estimate of the test statistic, but the slow convergence is shown to be the result of the choice to use kernel density estimators. In a further series of simulations we compare the power of the derived tests using their exact or monte-carlo distributions with the non-adaptive Wilcoxon rank-sum test under a selection of generalized shift alternatives

Predictors of pacing-dependency in patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices

Background: Data on the prevalence and predictors for the development of pacing-dependency in patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) are sparse. Methods: Pacing-dependency defined as an absence of intrinsic rhythm of ≥ 30 bpm was determined in 802 consecutive patients with CIEDs who visited the documented pacemaker or implantable cardioverter- defibrillator outpatient clinic for routine follow-up. Results: A total of 131 (16%) patients were found to be pacing-dependent 67 ± 70 months after CIED implant. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant association between pacing-dependency and the following clinical variables: second or third-degree atrioventricular (AV) block at implant (OR = 19.9; 95% CI: 10.9–38.5, p < 0.01), atrial fibrillation at implant (OR = 2.15; 95% CI: 1.16–4.05, p = 0.02), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 30% (OR = 2.06; 95% CI: 1.03–4.15, p = 0.04), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) > 150 pg/mL (OR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.16–3.97, p = 0.02), chronic kidney disease (OR = 1.86; 95% CI: 1.08–3.26, p = 0.03), and follow-up duration after implantation > 5 years (OR = 3.29; 95% CI: 1.96–5.64, p < 0.01). None of the remaining clinical variables including age, gender, diabetes mellitus, underlying heart disease, prior cardiac surgery or medication during follow-up including betablockers and amiodarone predicted pacing-dependency. Conclusions: Pacing-dependency is associated with second or third-degree AV-block at implant, atrial fibrillation before implant, low LVEF, elevated BNP, chronic kidney disease and follow-up duration after implant

Fatigue reliability predictions in silicon nitride ceramics based on fatigue behavior, bridging stresses and fracture data

Because of its attractive material properties like high hardness, high toughness, and excellent high temperature strength, materials like silicon nitride are becoming more common for use in high performance applications. However, there have been limited studies of the fatigue behavior of small cracks in silicon nitride and other materials toughened by grain bridging mechanisms. This study explores using micro Raman spectroscopy, fatigue crack growth data and results from static fracture experiments to determine a bridging stress profile for silicon nitride doped with MgO and Y₂O₃ as sintering additives. These bridging stress profiles allow for the creation of a geometry specific fatigue threshold R-curve which can be used to develop a fatigue endurance strength prediction tool to aid in the design of products using the material. Cyclical fatigue experiments conducted on bend beams with induced semi-elliptical surface cracks were conducted to verify the prediction tool. The results show that no bend beams with this crack geometry failed below the predicted endurance level. It is expected that this method can be extended to create fatigue endurance strength predictions for other materials similarly toughened by grain bridging and other mechanisms

Analyzing Feshbach resonances -- A 6^6Li -133^{133}Cs case study

We provide a comprehensive comparison of a coupled channels calculation, the asymptotic bound state model (ABM), and the multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT). Quantitative results for $^6$Li -$^{133}$Cs are presented and compared to previously measured $^6$Li -$^{133}$Cs Feshbach resonances (FRs) [M. Repp et al., Phys. Rev. A 87 010701(R) (2013)]. We demonstrate how the accuracy of the ABM can be stepwise improved by including magnetic dipole-dipole interactions and coupling to a non-dominant virtual state. We present a MQDT calculation, where magnetic dipole-dipole and second order spin-orbit interactions are included. A frame transformation formalism is introduced, which allows the assignment of measured FRs with only three parameters. All three models achieve a total rms error of < 1G on the observed FRs. We critically compare the different models in view of the accuracy for the description of FRs and the required input parameters for the calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Photochemical Generation of a Tryptophan Radical within the Subunit Interface of Ribonucleotide Reductase

United States. National Institutes of Health (GM029595

The Impact of the Uncertainty in Single-Epoch Virial Black Hole Mass Estimates on the Observed Evolution of the Black Hole - Bulge Scaling Relations

Recent observations of the black hole (BH) - bulge scaling relations usually report positive redshift evolution, with higher redshift galaxies harboring more massive BHs than expected from the local relations. All of these studies focus on broad line quasars with BH mass estimated from virial estimators based on single-epoch spectra. Since the sample selection is largely based on quasar luminosity, the cosmic scatter in the BH-bulge relation introduces a statistical bias leading to on average more massive BHs given galaxy properties at high redshift (Lauer et al. 2007). We here emphasize a previously under-appreciated statistical bias resulting from the uncertainty of single-epoch virial BH mass estimators and the shape of the underlying (true) BH mass function, which leads to on average overestimation of the true BH masses at the high-mass end (Shen et al. 2008). We demonstrate that the latter virial mass bias can contribute a substantial amount to the observed excess in BH mass at fixed bulge properties, comparable to the Lauer et al. bias. The virial mass bias is independent of the Lauer et al. bias, hence if both biases are at work, they can largely (or even fully) account for the observed BH mass excess at high redshift.Comment: Replaced with the accepted version

Non-replication of an association of CTNNBL1 polymorphisms and obesity in a population of Central European ancestry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A recent genome-wide association (GWA) study of U.S. Caucasians suggested that eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in <it>CTNNBL1 </it>are associated with obesity and increased fat mass. We analysed the respective SNPs in data from our previously published GWA for early onset obesity (case-control design), in GWA data from a population-based cohort of adults, and in an independent family-based obesity study. We investigated whether variants in <it>CTNNBL1 </it>(including rs6013029) and in three other genes (<it>SH3PXD2B</it>, <it>SLIT3 </it>and <it>FLJ42133</it>,) were associated with obesity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The GWA studies were carried out using Affymetrix^®SNP Chips with approximately 500,000 markers each. In the families, SNP rs6013029 was genotyped using the TaqMan^®allelic discrimination assay. The German case-control GWA included 487 extremely obese children and adolescents and 442 healthy lean individuals. The adult GWA included 1,644 individuals from a German population-based study (KORA). The 775 independent German families consisted of extremely obese children and adolescents and their parents.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found no evidence for an association of the reported variants in <it>CTNNBL1 </it>with early onset obesity or increased BMI. Further, in our family-based study we found no evidence for over-transmission of the rs6013029 risk-allele T to obese children. Additionally, we found no evidence for an association of <it>SH3PXD2B</it>, <it>SLIT3 and FLJ42133 </it>variants in our two GWA samples.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We detected no confirmation of the recent association of variants in <it>CTNNBL1 </it>with obesity in a population of Central European ancestry.</p