The Myth of Superiority of American Encryption Products

Encryption software and hardware use sophisticated mathematical algorithms to encipher a message so that only the intended recipient may read it. Fearing that criminals and terrorists will use encryption to evade authorities, the United States now restricts the export of encryption products with key lengths of more than 56 bits. The controls are futile, because strong encryption products are readily available overseas. Foreign-made encryption products are as good as, or better than, U.S.-made products. U.S. cryptographers have no monopoly on the mathematical knowledge and methods used to create strong encryption. Powerful encryption symmetric-key technologies developed in other countries include IDEA and GOST. Researchers in New Zealand have developed very strong public-key encryption systems. As patents on strong algorithms of U.S. origin expire, researchers in other countries will gain additional opportunities to develop strong encryption technology based on those algorithms

Welfare to Work in the U.S.: A Model for Other Nations?

The 1996 welfare reform legislation establishing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program marks a significant change in U.S. social and economic policy. This legislation represents the ascendance of the view that individuals and families need to be self-reliant and that collective support for individual well-being should be minimized. We first describe the major provisions of TANF, providing some background on its differences from prior policy targeted at needy families. Then we catalogue the wide variety of economic changes that are implicit in the new law, stressing those related to changed property rights, fiscal relations among jurisdictions, and economic incentives facing families. Third, we illustrate the form of state reforms that are likely to develop in response to the federal policy change by describing the actions of the state of Wisconsin, which has taken the lead in implementing the new policy. We conclude with a list of yet unanswered questions that will ultimately determine just how far this policy change will slide the nation along the efficiency-equity tradeoff function, away from the equity axis. The answer to these questions will influence the attraction the U.S. reform might hold as a model for other nations concerned with their own safety net programs for poor people.

The X-ray line and continuum emission from a solar active region

The X-ray spectrum of the quiet sun in the energy range 2.3 - 6.9 keV was observed from an Aerobee rocket using an uncollimated graphite crystal spectrometer. These results and spatial measurements made with an onboard modulation collimator are analyzed using solar models

Uncoupling of p97 ATPase activity has a dominant negative effect on protein extraction

p97 is a highly abundant, homohexameric AAA+ ATPase that performs a variety of essential cellular functions. Characterized as a ubiquitin-selective chaperone, p97 recognizes proteins conjugated to K48-linked polyubiquitin chains and promotes their removal from chromatin and other molecular complexes. Changes in p97 expression or activity are associated with the development of cancer and several related neurodegenerative disorders. Although pathogenic p97 mutations cluster in and around p97's ATPase domains, mutant proteins display normal or elevated ATPase activity. Here, we show that one of the most common p97 mutations (R155C) retains ATPase activity, but is functionally defective. p97-R155C can be recruited to ubiquitinated substrates on chromatin, but is unable to promote substrate removal. As a result, p97-R155C acts as a dominant negative, blocking protein extraction by a similar mechanism to that observed when p97's ATPase activity is inhibited or inactivated. However, unlike ATPase-deficient proteins, p97-R155C consumes excess ATP, which can hinder high-energy processes. Together, our results shed new insight into how pathogenic mutations in p97 alter its cellular function, with implications for understanding the etiology and treatment of p97-associated diseases

Do Teens Make Rational Choices? The Case of Teen Nonmarital Childbearing

With emphasis on the role of economic incentives, we explore the determinants of a woman’s choice of whether or not to give birth as an unmarried teenager. Our data are taken from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Guided by a simple utility-maximization model, we represent the income possibilities available to teenaged women if they do and do not give birth out of wedlock. We estimate these choice-conditioned income possibilities through a two-stage probit procedure, relying on the observed incomes of a secondary sample of somewhat older women. The response of the young women in our primary sample to these income expectations is measured after controlling for the effects of a variety of other factors, including the characteristics of the girl’s family, the social and economic environment in which she lives (including such policy-related factors as expenditures by states on family planning programs and education), and her own prior choices. We use the estimated structural parameters from our model to simulate the effects of a variety of policy interventions on the probability of becoming an unmarried teen mother. Our estimations provide evidence that income expectations have a persistent influence on the childbearing decision. They also provide evidence that the provision of public family planning expenditures and increases in parental education could reduce the prevalence of teen nonmarital births.

Nonmarket outcomes of schooling

Most studies of the benefits of education focus on market outcomes, particularly labor market returns. But the rewards of education are not limited to success at finding a job and earning money; schooling also affects nonmarket outcomes, such as one's health and the cognitive development of one's children. The authors discuss several nonmarket outcomes of education that have been confirmed by researchers and estimate the value that an additional year of schooling has on some of those outcomes.

Biogeochemical ecology of six species of Sphagnum in Costa Rica

There is very little information on the biogeochemical ecology of Sphagnum species in tropical regions. The majority of the ecological information on Sphagnum species in the tropics consists of general habitat information and pH values that are reported in new species descriptions and regional floras such as those of Crum (1980, 1989), Crum and Buck (1988), Karlin (1991), and McQueen (1989)

I Beg Your Pardon: A Call for Renewal of Executive Clemency and Accountability in Massachusetts

The pardon power, often described as a safety valve on the criminal justice system, is in a state of atrophy. Against a backdrop of “tough-on-crime” rhetoric, a systemic devaluation of rehabilitation efforts, and significant racial disparities in punishment, the disuse of clemency means no possibility of exit for those who have transformed themselves while incarcerated. This Note examines the origins, history, and philosophical underpinnings of clemency in the United States, focusing on the delicate balance between executive discretion and accountability. It then considers the structural and political factors that have contributed to the almost total failure of the clemency process in Massachusetts in recent years. The Note argues for the revitalization of executive clemency as a means of achieving optimal justice in individual criminal cases and system-wide, and it suggests changes to the administration of the clemency process in Massachusetts to achieve that end