A mission-driven research program on solar geoengineering could promote justice and legitimacy

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade or so, several commentators have called for mission-driven research programs on solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation management (SRM) or climate engineering. Building on the largely epistemic reasons offered by earlier commentators, this paper argues that a well-designed mission-driven research program that aims to evaluate solar geoengineering could promote justice and legitimacy, among other valuable ends. Specifically, an international, mission-driven research program that aims to produce knowledge to enable well-informed decision-making about solar geoengineering could (1) provide a more effective way to identify and answer the questions that policymakers would need to answer; and (2) provide a venue for more efficient, effective, just, and legitimate governance of solar geoengineering research; while (3) reducing the tendency for solar geoengineering research to exacerbate international domination. Thus, despite some risks and limitations, a well-designed mission-driven research program offers one way to improve the governance of solar geoengineering research relative to the ‘investigator-driven’ status quo.     

Trauma, sport, and malignant cerebral edema

Sudden cerebral swelling and death secondary to craniocerebral trauma has been noted in children and young adults. This is due to an increase in intracerebral blood, either secondary to an increase in cerebral blood volume or a redistribution of intracranial blood from the pial to the intraparenchymal vessels. Sequential craniocerebral trauma has been associated with the syndrome of "malignant cerebral edema"; the possibility of a "compliance compromised brain" has been suggested as the cause. The additional possibility of asymptomatic encephalitis leading to a compliance compromised brain and malignant cerebral edema is discussed.     

Budgeting in Slovenia During the Democratic Transition

Slovenia represents an interesting and important case in the study of comparative budgeting in post-socialist countries during democratization and economic reform. Compared to Hungary and other nations in the region, Slovenia has had more budget stability and has maintained fiscal balances through shared political norms and strong ministerial guardianship. Political culture, institutional capacity, and the nature of governing coalitions all affected budget outcomes. In general, Slovenia has moved more quickly to reform its budgetary institutions and processes but still faces a range of difficult budget issues and choices.     

The impact of real Estate Market knowledge on tenure choice: A comparison of black and white households

Abstract

Homeownership is an important social and financial achievement for most U.S. households. Various explanations have been offered for the large and persistent gap in the ownership rates of black and white households, but studies have consistently fallen short of identifying all of the causes.

The data we used were derived from a survey of the residents of the Columbus, OH, area. We argue that differences in real estate market knowledge and information affect the tenure choice decisions of black and white households. We estimate a model that is augmented to include a measure of real estate knowledge and find that additional knowledge increases the likelihood of homeownership. This holds even when we account for the endogeneity of such knowledge. We conclude that differences in real estate knowledge contribute to explaining the racial gap in homeownership rates, a finding that can be addressed through public policy interventions such as counseling programs.     

The Policy Constraints of Deficit Reduction: President Clinton's 1995 Budget

The federal budgeting process is now limited by deficit reduction policy constraints. This article examines the FY 1995 budget requests within the context of long term budget trends, changes in the federal budget process, and the recently established political and fiscal budget constraints. It further examines enactment of the Omnibus Budget Enforcement Act of 1993, the policy changes it contained, and its further tinkering with the process of budgeting. Finally the article evaluates the first budgeting process of the Clinton administration and their initiatives in deficit reduction following these policy constraints.     

High prevalence of 6-acetylmorphine in morphine-positive oral fluid specimens

Identification of 6-acetylmorphine, a specific metabolite of heroin, is considered to be definitive evidence of heroin use. Although 6-acetylmorphine has been identified in oral fluid following controlled heroin administration, no prevalence data is available for oral fluid specimens collected in the workplace. We evaluated the prevalence of positive test results for 6-acetylmorphine in 77,218 oral fluid specimens collected over a 10-month period (January-October 2001) from private workplace testing programs. Specimens were analyzed by Intercept immunoassay (cutoff concentration=30 ng/ml) and confirmed by GC-MS-MS (cutoff concentrations=30 ng/ml for morphine and codeine, and 3 ng/ml for 6-acetylmorphine). Only morphine-positive oral fluid specimens were tested by GC-MS-MS for 6-acetylmorphine. A total of 48 confirmed positive morphine results were identified. An additional 107 specimens were confirmed for codeine only. Of the 48 morphine-positive specimens, 32 (66.7%) specimens were positive for 6-acetylmorphine. Mean concentrations (+/-S.E.M.) of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine and codeine in the 32 specimens were 755+/-201, 416+/-168 and 196+/-36 ng/ml, respectively. Concentrations of 6-acetylmorphine in oral fluid ranged from 3 to 4095 ng/ml. The mean ratio (+/-S.E.M.) of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine was 0.33+/-0.06. It is suggested that, based on controlled dose studies of heroin administration, ratios >1 of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine in oral fluid are consistent with heroin use within the last hour before specimen collection. The confirmation of 6-acetylmorphine in 66.7% of morphine-positive oral fluid specimens indicates that oral fluid testing for opioids may offer advantages over urine in workplace drug testing programs and in testing drugged drivers for recent heroin use.