Government Influence and the Failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

In 2008 two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were placed into conservatorship due to insolvency. The financial bailout of the two publically traded corporations came at the expense of the American tax payer. This study investigates the relationship between direct and indirect government influence and the increasing risk taking of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the late 1990’s through their conservatorship in 2008. As government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have many special advantages that other publically traded companies did not possess. These advantages allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their profitability. Theoretical literature regarding Congress and the bureaucracy suggests that the actions of bureaucrats can be linked to the preferences of Congressional members because bureaucrats are responsive to potential threats or perceived threats from the legislature. This theory is applicable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and is used to explain why the government was able to directly and indirectly influence the government-sponsored enterprises. Overall this investigation has determined that the United States government pursued a clear mission that determined to increase the availability of housing to all Americans, specifically to low-income and under-served individuals, through the use of the government-sponsored enterprises. Despite this link there is no conclusive data to show that the pursuit of this housing mission led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to operate in riskier business segments. This study has also found that motivation regarding profit-seeking and compensation structure provide a more plausible explanation for why the government-sponsored enterprises began to engage in riskier business practices that led to their insolvency.

Plato's Doctrine Of Forms: Modern Misunderstandings

Among the philosophical ideas of Plato, perhaps the most famous is his doctrine of forms. This doctrine has faced harsh criticism due, in large part, to the interpretations of this position by modern philosophers such as René Descartes, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant. For example, Plato has been interpreted as presenting a ¿two-worlds¿ approach to form and thing and as advancing a rationalist approach to epistemology. His forms have often been interpreted as ideas and as perfect copies of the things of the visible world. In this thesis, I argue that these, along with other interpretations of Plato presented by the moderns, are based on misunderstandings of Plato¿s overall philosophy. In so doing, I attempt to show that the doctrine of forms cannot be directly interpreted into the language of Cartesian, Lockean, and Kantian metaphysics and epistemology, and thus should not be prematurely dismissed because of these modern Platonic interpretations. By analyzing the Platonic dialogues beside the writings of the modern philosophers, I conclude that three of the most prominent modern philosophers, as representatives of their respective philosophical frameworks, have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of Plato¿s famous doctrine of forms. This could have significant implications for the future of metaphysics and epistemology by providing an interpretation of Plato which adds to, instead of contradicts, the developments of modern philosophy.

Physiological Consequences Of White-Nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease that has caused the mass mortality of hibernating bat species. Since its first discovery in the winter of 2006-2007, an estimated five million bats or more have been killed. Although infection with Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd, the causative agent of WNS) does not always result in death, bats that survive Pd infection may experience fitness consequences. To understand the physiological consequences of WNS, I measured reproductive rates of free-ranging hibernating bat species of the Northeastern United States. In addition, captive little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) bats that were infected by Pd but survived (¿WNS survivors¿) and uninfected bats were studied in order to understand the potential consequences (e.g., lower reproductive rates, decreased ability to heal wounds, degradation of wing tissue, and altered metabolic rates) of surviving WNS. No differences in reproductive rates were found between WNS-survivors and uninfected bats in either the field or in captivity. In addition, wound healing was not affected by Pd infection. However, wing tissue degradation was worse for little brown myotis 19 days post-hibernation, and mass specific metabolic rate (MSMR) was significantly higher for those infected with Pd 22 days post-hibernation. While it is clear that these consequences are a direct result of Pd infection, further research investigating the long-term consequences for both mothers and pups is necessary.

Gender distribution of suicide attempts among immigrant groups in European countries--an international perspective

Studies report high rates of suicide attempts for female immigrants. This study assesses variations in the distribution of suicide attempts across gender in immigrant and non-immigrant groups in Europe.

A prospective study of the impact of air pollution on respiratory symptoms and infections in infants

Rationale: There is increasing evidence that short-term exposure to air pollution has a detrimental effect on respiratory health, but data from healthy populations, particularly infants, are scarce. Objectives: To assess the association of air pollution with frequency and severity of respiratory symptoms and infections measured weekly in healthy infants. Methods: In a prospective birth cohort of 366 infants of unselected mothers, respiratory health was assessed weekly by telephone interviews during the first year of life (19,106 total observations). Daily mean levels of particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were obtained from local monitoring stations. We determined the association of the preceding week's pollutant levels with symptom scores and respiratory tract infections using a generalized additive mixed model with an autoregressive component. In addition, we assessed whether neonatal lung function influences this association and whether duration of infectious episodes differed between weeks with normal PM10 and weeks with elevated levels. Measurements and Main Results: We found a significant association between air pollution and respiratory symptoms, particularly in the week after respiratory tract infections (risk ratio, 1.13 [1.02-1.24] per 10 μg/m(3) PM10 levels) and in infants with premorbid lung function. During times of elevated PM10 (>33.3 μg/m(3)), duration of respiratory tract infections increased by 20% (95% confidence interval, 2-42%). Conclusions: Exposure to even moderate levels of air pollution was associated with increased respiratory symptoms in healthy infants. Particularly in infants with premorbid lung function and inflammation, air pollution contributed to longer duration of infectious episodes with a potentially large socioeconomic impact.

Endothelin antagonism prevents diabetic retinopathy in NOD mice: a potential role of the angiogenic factor adrenomedullin

Altered activity of retinal endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide may play a causal role in the hemodynamic and histopathological changes of diabetic retinopathy. This study evaluated the therapeutic potential of long-term selective blockade of the ET-1(A) receptor (ETRA) to prevent the development of retinopathy in a genetic mouse model of nonobese type 1 diabetes (NOD). Mice with NOD that received subcutaneous implantation of insulin pellets and wild-type control mice were treated for 4 months with the selective ETRA antagonist LU208075 (30 mg/kg/day) via drinking water. At the end of the study, blood glucose levels were evaluated, and animals were anesthetized and perfused intracardially with FITC-labeled dextran. Retinas were removed and either fixed in formalin for confocal microscope evaluation of retinal vascular filling or transferred to RNALater for quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to evaluate expression of NOS-3, NOS-1, ET-1, ETRA, ETRB, and the angiogenic factor adrenomedullin. Compared with wild-type controls, expression of ET-1, ETRA, ETRB, and adrenomedullin in mice with NOD were markedly upregulated in the retinas of nontreated mice (cycle time values relative to GAPDH [deltaCt], 14.8 vs. 13.7, 18.57 vs. 17.5, 10.76 vs. 9.9, and 11.7 vs. 9.1, respectively). Mean integral fluorescence intensity (MIFI) of retinal vascular filling was reduced from normal values of 24 to 12.5 in nontreated animals. LU208075 treatment normalized the upregulated expression of ET-1 and adrenomedullin, as well as the deficit in MIFI, but did not affect the increased ETRA and ETRB expression or the elevated plasma glucose levels found in nontreated animals. NOS isoform expression was essentially unchanged. ETRA antagonists may provide a novel therapeutic strategy to slow or prevent progression of retinal microvascular damage and proliferation in patients for whom there is clear evidence of activation of the ET-1 system.