Existence of a Condorcet winner when voters have other-regarding preferences

In standard political economy models, voters are ‘self-interested’ i.e. care only about ‘own’ utility. However, the emerging evidence indicates that voters often have ‘other-regarding preferences’ (ORP), i.e., in deciding among alternative policies voters care about their payoffs relative to others. We extend a widely used general equilibrium framework in political economy to allow for voters with ORP, as in Fehr- Schmidt (1999). In line with the evidence, these preferences allow voters to exhibit ‘envy’ and ‘altruism’, in addition to the standard concern for ‘own utility’. We give sufficient conditions for the existence of a Condorcet winner when voters have ORP. This could open the way for an incorporation of ORP in a variety of political economy models. Furthermore, as a corollary, we give more general conditions for the existence of a Condorcet winner when voters have purely selfish preferences.Redistribution; other regarding preferences; single crossing property

Multi-rate relaying for performance improvement in IEEE 802.11 WLANs

It is well known that the presence of nodes using a low data transmit rate has a disproportionate impact on the performance of an IEEE 802.11 WLAN. ORP is an opportunistic relay protocol that allows nodes to increase their effective transmit rate by replacing a low data rate transmission with a two-hop sequence of shorter range, higher data rate transmissions, using an intermediate node as a relay. ORP differs from existing protocols in discovering relays experimentally, by optimistically making frames available for relaying. Relays identify themselves as suitable relays by forwarding these frames. This approach has several advantages compared with previously proposed relay protocols: Most importantly, ORP does not rely on observations of received signal strength to infer the availability of relay nodes and transmit rates. We present analytic and simulation results showing that ORP improves the throughput by up to 40% in a saturated IEEE 802.11b network

The use of redox potential to estimate free chlorine in fresh produce washing operations : possibilities and limitations

Maintaining free chlorine (FC) residual at appropriate pH values is a control approach used to prevent pathogen cross-contamination during tomato dump tank handling and fresh-cut produce washing operations. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is a rapid measurement of oxidant-based sanitizer strength, and has been used to estimate FC residual. However, factors, in addition to FC and pH, which influence ORP are not fully understood. This study examined the relationship between ORP and FC under chlorine demand (CLD) free conditions and during fresh produce washing. An equation predictive of FC was developed in the form logFC = f(ORP, ORP2, ORP.pH). A good correlation between ORP and logFC was maintained when other variables changed, but the resulting ORP-logFC curve changed (slope, intercept). A decrease in pH or temperature led to an increase in ORP. Using tap water to wash the produce instead of distilled water significantly changed the ORP. For different types of tested produce, i.e., fresh-cut carrot, onion, romaine and iceberg lettuce, and for whole tomatoes, increasing the product-to-water ratio (i.e., increasing the organics transferred into the water) led to a decrease in ORP for a specific FC residual. The choice of acidulant during washing also influenced ORP. Overall, the correlation of ORP with logFC is more reliable at the lower end (5 mg/L FC) than at the higher end (100 mg/L FC) of the FC range used in fresh produce washing. However, since the ORP in fresh produce wash water is affected significantly in multiple ways by the wash water and process conditions, the predicted FC values with ORP under certain fresh-cut produce washing conditions cannot be generalized for other conditions

Optimization of a Diagnostic Platform for Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) Measurement in Human Plasma and Exploration of ORP after Trauma

Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) measurement has demonstrated oxidative stress in patients with severe illness/injury. A new ORP diagnostic platform using disposable sensors (Supplemental Figure 1) has been validated by comparison to mass spectrometry, but the response of ORP to experimental positive and negative control conditions has not been determined. Furthermore, optimal methods of sample handling for ORP measurement have not been studied. We sought to optimize ORP measurement in human plasma, under controlled conditions. We hypothesized that freeze-thawing of the sample, storage of the sample for up to one month, and the method of sample anticoagulation would influence ORP levels. Furthermore, we hypothesized that ORP can detect incremental experimental changes that either increase or decrease redox state. Finally, we hypothesized that trauma injuries cause increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the circulating bloodstream, and therefore would reflect higher ORP signals in plasma measurements in both human and mouse subjects. We enrolled healthy human volunteers in a prospective observational study and measured ORP in plasma prepared with heparin or citrate anticoagulants directly after blood draw and up to 28 days later. Additionally, we evaluated the platform’s ability to detect an exogenous increase and decrease in ORP by performing both positive and negative control titrations using six different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and two different concentrations of ascorbic acid respectively. Lastly, we compared human trauma plasma samples in an uncontrolled emergency room setting with healthy human plasma and then mimicked this experiment in a more controlled mouse model experiment. We found that fresh plasma better retains the ORP signal as compared to freeze-thaw samples measured on subsequent days. We also found that the platform can detect exogenous, concentration-dependent oxidations with H2O2 and reductions with ascorbic acid. Furthermore, plasma prepared with heparin is more sensitive than using citrate anticoagulant when measuring ORP. Also, human trauma patients’ plasma (of varying degrees of trauma) samples were characterized by significantly higher ORP signals than healthy controls when measured in heparin anticoagulant, whereas mouse ORP signals did not change following a controlled, moderate traumatic brain injury. These data indicate that the diagnostic platform is capable of detecting exogenous increases and decreases in ORP signal from plasma samples with validity and is sensitive to different concentrations of positive and negative controls. We also show that plasma should be collected and centrifuged in heparin anticoagulant tubes and can be analyzed fresh or frozen for optimal results

The Content of the Psychological Work Contract for Frontline Police Officers

Adding to the field of knowledge on the content of the psychological work contract, structured interviews with 35 frontline police officers generated 662 responses relating to the content of the psychological work contract for this employment sector. Analysis of these responses resulted in the development of an initial two-component measure of the contract. One component (17 items) reflected the obligations arising from the promises officers believed the organisation had made to them. The other component (19 items) reflected the obligations arising from the promises officers believed they had made to the organisation. The measure was included in a survey completed by 84 frontline police officers. Factor analysis revealed two factors in each component. For the organisation's obligations component, one factor reflected obligations related more to the organisational environment, whereas the other factor reflected obligations related more to the job environment. For the employee's obligations component, one factor reflected obligations related more to behaviours on the job, whereas the other factor reflected obligations related more to the pursuit of development opportunities. The nature of the relationships that emerged between the psychological contract and the nomological network variables included in the study provide strong support for the validity of this measure of the psychological contract

Migration of Gas Giant Planets in Gravitationally Unstable Disks

Characterization of migration in gravitationally unstable disks is necessary to understand the fate of protoplanets formed by disk instability. As part of a larger study, we are using a 3D radiative hydrodynamics code to investigate how an embedded gas giant planet interacts with a gas disk that undergoes gravitational instabilities (GIs). This Letter presents results from simulations with a Jupiter-mass planet placed in orbit at 25 AU within a 0.14 $M_{\odot}$ disk. The disk spans 5 to 40 AU around a 1 $M_{\odot}$ star and is initially marginally unstable. In one simulation, the planet is inserted prior to the eruption of GIs; in another, it is inserted only after the disk has settled into a quasi-steady GI-active state, where heating by GIs roughly balances radiative cooling. When the planet is present from the beginning, its own wake stimulates growth of a particular global mode with which it strongly interacts, and the planet plunges inward six AU in about 10$^3$ years. In both cases with embedded planets, there are times when the planet's radial motion is slow and varies in direction. At other times, when the planet appears to be interacting with strong spiral modes, migration both inward and outward can be relatively rapid, covering several AUs over hundreds of years. Migration in both cases appears to stall near the inner Lindblad resonance of a dominant low-order mode. Planet orbit eccentricities fluctuate rapidly between about 0.02 to 0.1 throughout the GI-active phases of the simulations.Comment: Submitted to ApJ

Evaluation of Quality Deterioration of Marine Shellfish During Storage at Different Temperatures

Study on evaluation of fish freshness has been carried out using several parameters such as chemical, sensory, and physical parameter in which each has its own merits and demerits. Oxidation-reduction potential and K value are a physico-chemical and chemical methods available in assessing fish freshness which are both considered as objective methods. This study aimed to find out the effect of different temperatures storage on ORP and K value change of marine shellfish. Material used in the study were black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and scallop (Amusium sp.). The experiment was laboratory experimental method. The samples were stored in room temperature (35±1oC) and refrigerated temperature (11±1oC). Analyses performed were ORP value (pH/ORP meter) and K-value (Ion-exchange chromatography method) and analysis were conducted in 4 replication. This study was carried out at laboratory of Fisheries Processing Technology, UNDIP Semarang and laboratory of PAU, UGM Yogyakarta. The ORP of black tiger shrimp and scallop stored at refrigerated temperature initially were 0.23 Volts and 0.32 Volts. There were a maximum ORP of 0.3 Volts (shrimp) and 0.35 Volts (scallop) in the 2nd day of storage. These ORP then decreased to – 0.12 Volts and 0.01 Volts for shrimp and scallop, respectively. At room temperature storage, the ORP ranging from 0.26 to 0.33 Volts. This value consecutively decreased to – 0.17 Volts (shrimp) and – 0.16 Volts (scallop) after 32 hours storage. Initial K value of black tiger shrimp and scallop stored at room temperature were 1.32% and 1.51%, respectively and after 32 hours storage there were an increase in K value to 6.14% and 5.43%. Increase in K value was slower for samples stored at refrigerated temperature than that of room temperature

An ontology for carcinoma classification for clinical bioinformatics

There are a number of existing classifications and staging schemes for carcinomas, one of the most frequently used being the TNM classification. Such classifications represent classes of entities which exist at various anatomical levels of granularity. We argue that in order to apply such representations to the Electronic Health Records one needs sound ontologies which take into consideration the diversity of the domains which are involved in clinical bioinformatics. Here we outline a formal theory for addressing these issues in a way that the ontologies can be used to support inferences relating to entities which exist at different anatomical levels of granularity. Our case study is the colon carcinoma, one of the most common carcinomas prevalent within the European population