Affirmative action,duality of error,and the consequences of mispredicting the academic performance of african american college applicants

The implications of different potential affirmative action policies depend on three factors: selection rate from the applicant pool, base rate of qualified applicants, and accuracy of performance predictions. A series of analyses was conducted under various assumptions concerning affirmative action plans, causes of racial differences in average college admissions test scores, and racial differences in accuracy of performance predictions. Evidence suggesting a lower level of predictive accuracy for African Americans implies that, under a program of affirmative action, both proportionately more false positives (matriculated students who do not succeed) and proportionately more false negatives (rejected applicants who could have succeeded) will be found among African American applicants. Unless equivalent levels of predictive accuracy are achieved for both groups, no admission policy can be fair simultaneously to majority group applicants and African American applicants. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Who Should Be at the Top of Bottom-Up Development? A Case-Study of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission in Rajasthan,India

It is widely acknowledged that top-down support is essential for bottom-up participatory projects to be effectively implemented at scale. However, which level of government, national or sub-national, should be given the responsibility to implement such projects is an open question, with wide variations in practice. This paper analyses qualitative and quantitative data from a natural experiment of a large participatory project in the state of Rajasthan in India comparing central management and state-level management. We find that locally managed facilitators formed groups that were more likely to engage in collective action and be politically active, with higher savings and greater access to subsidised loans.     

“Promoter” as an agency in decline of “market orientation” across small scale enterprises in Andhra Pradesh: Study on three selected districts

The study emphasizes the exploration of the influences that “promoter” of the small‐scale unit exerts in shaping the loss of market orientation in regional perspective. The small‐scale firm‐based “inefficiencies” have been measured with aid of the factors “promoter's entrepreneurial orientation,” “faulty resource based planning,” “inefficient managerial control,” and “improper capacity utilization.” The factors were shortlisted after extensive review of the existing literature, theoretical frameworks, and the conceptual notes with regard to the phenomenon of the market orientation decline or industrial sickness across the small‐scale units. The study across promoters of 300 sick industrial units observed the incidence of the sizable and quantifiable impact of the promoter in shaping the prospects for small‐scale unit‐based survival.     

Exchange rate policy modeling and forecasting the exchange rate: Indian rupee vis‐à‐vis the U.S. dollar

The exchange rate is a very important key financial variable that affects decisions made by the foreign exchange investors, exporters, importers, bankers, businesses, financial institutions, policymakers, and tourists in the developed as well as the developing world. Exchange rate fluctuations affect the value of international investment portfolios, competitiveness of exports and imports, value of international reserves, currency value of debt payments, and the cost of tourists. Movements in exchange rates thus have very important implications for any country's economy's business cycle, trade, and capital flows and are therefore crucial for understanding financial developments and changes in economic policy. The study will be looking at the various aspects of country's economic policy with respect to the exchange rate and modeling and forecasting the exchange rate. The study will be analyzing India's exchange rate story and will be discussing the structure of the foreign exchange market in India in terms of participants, instruments, and trading platform as also a turnover in the Indian foreign exchange market and forward premia. The study will be attempting to develop a model for the rupee–dollar exchange rate taking into account variables from monetary and microstructure models as well as other variables including intervention by the central bank. The main focus will be on the exchange rate of the Indian rupee vis‐à‐vis the U.S. dollar, that is, the Re/$ rate. The data will be covering from January 1990 through April 2013. This study will be examining the forecasting performance of the monetary model and various extensions of it in the vector autoregressive and Bayesian vector autoregressive framework.     

律师与法官关系的重构

律师与法官是一个国家司法的中坚力量,如何构建我国律师与法官的关系,是一个常说常新的话题。笔者在实证调查的基础上,提出了律师与法官关系的重构措施:认为应当加强律师与法官的自律;实现律师与法官的关系合理"隔离";建立律师和法官之间的沟通与互动机制;完善律师与法官的监督与制约程序;构建法律职业共同体。     

Two tricyclic antidepressant poisonings: levels of amitriptyline, nortriptyline and desipramine in post-mortem biological samples

Two deaths due to amitriptyline and desipramine overdoses are reported. The first case deals with a 20-year-old Caucasian male who was found dead at his residence. Toxicological analysis of the blood, urine, liver and kidney revealed the presence of amitriptyline (1.7 mg/l, 0.13 mg/l, 36.0 mg/kg and 98.0 mg/kg) and nortriptyline (0.66 mg/l, 0.74 mg/l, 12.0 mg/kg and 37.0 mg/kg). The gastric content contained only 220 mg of amitriptyline. The urine also contained norverapamil, which was consistent with previous verapamil therapy. The second case involved a 19-year-old Caucasian male who attempted suicide earlier and was on desipramine medication. The blood, urine, liver and gastric content disclosed the presence of desipramine in the concentrations of 14.2 mg/l, 33.7 mg/l, 112.5 mg/kg and 180 mg, respectively. The levels of these tricyclics analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography were in agreement with the levels reported in the literature. Though with the amitriptyline poisoning no significant anatomic changes were noted, the desipramine-caused death was further supported by the multisystem vascular congestion and ischemic changes consistent with cardiopulmonary failure.     

Symmetrical hypopigmentation of the nipples secondary to trauma

Deviant sexual behavior may lead to unusual skin lesions. The following is a case report of unusual trauma-related, symmetrical lesions of the nipples in a male homosexual from repeated application of bondage apparatus to his areolae and nipples.