A Comparison of the Maximal Torque Production of the Quadriceps Muscle during Morning and Afternoon Strength Assessment

The purpose of this study was to compare maximal quadriceps torque production in morning hours (AM) to maximal quadriceps torque production in afternoon hours (PM). Thirty healthy male subjects between the ages of 19 and 45 were tested during an AM and a PM session on the Kin-Com dynamometer. A trial of six concentric isokinetic contractions of the right quadriceps were tested at a speed of 60° Is. The maximal peak torque measurements were compared between the AM and the PM sessions to establish the accuracy of results taken at differing times of the day. No significant difference in strength assessment due to the time of day of assessment was found. The data collected in this study indicates that clinical assessments of maximal peak torque production can be achieved without bias to the time of day the exercise is performed

Measuring Fiscal Interactions in Local Federalism: Evidence from Florida

Local governments react to one another in expenditure. However, the existing literature concerning these reactions suffer from one of three problems: timing dynamics, county behaviour, or over aggregation. City‐to‐city interaction estimates are shown to shrink up to 50% when appropriately dealing with dynamics and county behaviour using a dynamic spatial Durbin model with a maximum likelihood estimator. Expenditure disaggregation shows that the majority of categories have no spillover. One category, general government expenditure, is responsible for nearly all of the variation. This finding does not fit well with the existing theories for spatial interaction

Drink…Then Drive Away: The Effects of Lowering the Blood Alcohol Concentration in Utah

In March of 2017 Utah announced its intent to lower the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) for driving from 0.08 to 0.05 g/dL. However, this change did not take effect until 2019. We employ a difference‐in‐ differences strategy on Utah counties using neighboring states as controls to test whether this policy change significantly affected the number of traffic accidents or the severity of those accidents. Results show the policy appears to temporarily decrease the total number of accidents, limited primarily to property damage‐ only accidents. We believe these results may be partially explained by drivers who, after the policy is enacted, avoid reporting property damage‐only accidents if possible. Using insurance claims data, we show there is no corresponding fall in insurance claims or payouts suggesting that the fall in total accidents likely comes from under‐reporting

Expression of Neurog1 Instead of Atoh1 Can Partially Rescue Organ of Corti Cell Survival

In the mammalian inner ear neurosensory cell fate depends on three closely related transcription factors, Atoh1 for hair cells and Neurog1 and Neurod1 for neurons. We have previously shown that neuronal cell fate can be altered towards hair cell fate by eliminating Neurod1 mediated repression of Atoh1 expression in neurons. To test whether a similar plasticity is present in hair cell fate commitment, we have generated a knockin (KI) mouse line (Atoh1KINeurog1) in which Atoh1 is replaced by Neurog1. Expression of Neurog1 under Atoh1 promoter control alters the cellular gene expression pattern, differentiation and survival of hair cell precursors in both heterozygous (Atoh1+/KINeurog1) and homozygous (Atoh1KINeurog1/KINeurog1) KI mice. Homozygous KI mice develop patches of organ of Corti precursor cells that express Neurog1, Neurod1, several prosensory genes and neurotrophins. In addition, these patches of cells receive afferent and efferent processes. Some cells among these patches form multiple microvilli but no stereocilia. Importantly, Neurog1 expressing mutants differ from Atoh1 null mutants, as they have intermittent formation of organ of Corti-like patches, opposed to a complete ‘flat epithelium’ in the absence of Atoh1. In heterozygous KI mice co-expression of Atoh1 and Neurog1 results in change in fate and patterning of some hair cells and supporting cells in addition to the abnormal hair cell polarity in the later stages of development. This differs from haploinsufficiency of Atoh1 (Pax2cre; Atoh1f/+), indicating the effect of Neurog1 expression in developing hair cells. Our data suggest that Atoh1KINeurog1 can provide some degree of functional support for survival of organ of Corti cells. In contrast to the previously demonstrated fate plasticity of neurons to differentiate as hair cells, hair cell precursors can be maintained for a limited time by Neurog1 but do not transdifferentiate as neurons

Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in the Insurance Market

Willardsen presented on his upcoming article with the same title. The abstract from this paper is as follows: Understanding the relative significance of adverse selection and moral hazard is important in determining effective policy for insurance markets. Separate identification of these two effects, empirically, is difficult. To overcome this limitation, this paper uses experimental methods to examine how adverse selection and moral hazard separately affect agent performance in a real-effort task. In particular, we explore how agent behavior (effort in the task) changes across a baseline with no insurance option, a treatment where individuals can choose to purchase insurance, and a third treatment where individuals must purchase insurance. We find that our platform can be helpful in studying issues that may arise in different insurance settings (e.g., workers compensation insurance or unemployment insurance).https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/econ_econometrics/1001/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Speed Cameras on Intersection Accidents: Evidence from Dayton

Over 30,000 people die annually in automobile accidents in the United States, which equates to about 10 in every 100,000 deaths. Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of speed cameras is mixed primarily due to the endogeneity of the timing and placement of the cameras. I am able to circumvent these issues by leveraging multiple court cases and political infighting that turn the cameras off, on, and off again on two separate data sets. Using a before-after and a difference-in-differences estimator over a twenty-year period, I find all three exogenous shocks suggest roughly the same effect. Speed cameras are weakly effective at preventing the total number of monthly accidents (0.3), certain types of “Angle” accidents (0.15), and most importantly, the severity of those accidents (0.14), which equate to about an 18.5%, 20%, and 41% decrease respectively.</jats:p