Margin Of Discretion Research Articles

A proposal for modeling and simulating correlated discrete Weibull variables

Researchers in applied sciences are often concerned with multivariate random vari9ables. In particular, multivariate discrete data often arise in many fields (statistical10 quality control, biostatistics, failure and reliability analysis, etc.) and modeling such11 data is a relevant task, as well as simulating correlated discrete data satisfying some spe12cific constraints. Here we consider the discrete Weibull distribution as an alternative to13 the popular Poisson random variable and propose a procedure for simulating correlated14 discrete Weibull random variables, with marginal distributions and correlation matrix as15signed by the user. The procedure indeed relies upon the Gaussian copula model and an16 iterative algorithm for recovering the proper correlation matrix for the copula ensuring17 the desired correlation matrix on the discrete margins. A simulation study is presented,18 which empirically assesses the performance of the procedure in terms of accuracy and19 computational burden, also in relation to the necessary (but temporary) truncation of20 the support of the discrete Weibull random variable. Inferential issues for the proposed21 model are also discussed and are eventually applied to a dataset taken from the literature,22 which shows that the proposed multivariate model can satisfactorily fit real-life correlated23 counts even better than the most popular or recent existing ones.

El derecho intertemporal penal chileno y el Tribunal Constitucional

The article examines a judgment of the Chilean Constitutional Court regarding the constitutional status of the lex mitior-principle (retrospective application of the milder criminal law). The problem examined is the determination of the margin of legislative discretion left by the constitutional entrenchment of the principle.

El derecho intertemporal penal chileno y el Tribunal Constitucional

The article examines a judgment of the Chilean Constitutional Court regarding the constitutional status of the lex mitior-principle (retrospective application of the milder criminal law). The problem examined is the determination of the margin of legislative discretion left by the constitutional entrenchment of the principle.

‘Positive Obligations’ Doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights: Is it Cogent or Obscure?

Over the last half century, positive obligations jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been playing a pivotal role in sculpting European Human Rights system. There is, however, some potential for disagreement on whether it is an effective and well-established doctrine or not. On the one hand, the activeness of the ECtHR brings about some practical benefits in order to keep out with new societal context, but on the other, unique tensions (e.g., underestimation of state’s margin of discretion, increasing burden on state, inconsistencies and uncertainties of verdicts) in the implementation of that doctrine give rise to anxieties about its cogency. Since this issue is quite multifaceted, this paper aims to elucidate in what ways positive obligations doctrine is justified and to what extent it has been deliberate while deriving positive obligations regarding Article 2. At the end, it asserts that without positive obligations doctrine, the Convention might be outmoded and ineffective. However, despite some immature aspects of it, the Court at least strived to dynamically interpret the Convention thanks to this doctrine. For this reason, it is claimed that considering existing and possible benefits of that doctrine, common legitimization for the judicial creativity of the ECtHR might be assured in foreseeable future.

Chronic Enteropathy Associated With SLCO2A1 Gene [CEAS]-Characterisation of an Enteric Disorder to be Considered in the Differential Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease.

Small intestinal ulcers include mucosal damage caused by drugs, particularly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], infectious diseases, and idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. Previously, a group of Japanese investigators reported an unusual and uncommon type of enteritis and referred to the condition as chronic nonspecific multiple ulcers of the small intestine [CNSU]. CNSU is characterised by chronic blood and protein loss through persistent small intestinal ulcers. Recently, four candidate mutations in the solute carrier organic anion transporter family, member 2A1 [SLCO2A1] gene, encoding a prostaglandin transporter, were identified by whole-exome sequencing in patients with CNSU. However, because the name 'CNSU' was somewhat ambiguous, the more appropriate nomenclature of 'chronic enteropathy associated with the SLCO2A1 gene' [CEAS] has been suggested. CEAS ulcers are characterised by multiple, circular or eccentric oblique, shallow lesions with discrete margins. The most frequently affected site of CEAS is the ileum, in contrast to 'cryptogenic multifocal ulcerous stenosing enteritis [CMUSE]', for which the most frequent site is the jejunum. Impaired prostaglandin utilisation is thought to cause the small intestinal mucosal damage observed in CEAS, CMUSE, and NSAID-induced enteropathy. This review article focuses on endoscopic and clinical features of genetically diagnosed CEAS, accumulated in a nationwide survey, and illustrates the observations in the format of an atlas.

‘Interests of justice’: Defining the scope of Prosecutorial discretion in Article 53(1)(c) and (2)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

AbstractThe International Criminal Court (ICC) was established with the aim of prosecuting individuals for the gravest crimes of concern to the international community. Yet some provisions of its Statute (the Rome Statute) recognize the need for temporarily setting aside criminal investigations or prosecutions in favour of different considerations. Two of these provisions are Article 53(1)(c) and (2)(c) of the Statute. They allow the Prosecutor of the Court to use his or her discretion in deciding not to initiate an investigation or a prosecution in the ‘interests of justice’. Nonetheless, the ambiguity of this phrase, coupled with an absent definition, have given rise to a polarized debate about its meaning and the Prosecutor's ensuing margin of discretion: some consider matters of peace and security and alternative justice mechanisms as possible ‘interests of justice’, while others exclude them. Among those adopting the latter view is the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), as can be inferred from a 2007 Policy Paper on the Interests of Justice and a 2013 Policy Paper on Preliminary Examinations, which continue to be upheld by the Office. Against this backdrop and amid new developments at the ICC which call into question the OTP's position, the purpose of this article is to develop a comprehensive interpretation of Article 53(1)(c) and (2)(c) of the Rome Statute, using all the interpretative tools provided by Articles 31 to 33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Decisões judiciais em matéria de saúde: as conexões entre o Direito e a Moral

A partir da transferência, cada vez mais intensa, da atribuição de decidir questões importantes na área da saúde, para o Judiciário, justifica-se o interesse em investigar, identificar e compreender os principais conflitos morais experimentados por magistrados no cotidiano de sua jurisdição de saúde, buscando compreender as razões desses conflitos e o modo pelo qual têm sido deliberadas questões de saúde em face dos entes públicos. Uma vez que nestas situações, os juízes, de uma forma geral, dispõem de certa margem de liberdade na escolha dos padrões - políticas, princípios (jurídicos ou morais) ou regras – que devem utilizar, em alguns casos, para chegar a uma decisão que considerem adequada, avulta-se a questão do chamado poder discricionário do juiz. Mas até onde vai a discricionariedade dos juízes? Será que podem decidir livremente, de acordo com as regras jurídicas, princípios jurídicos, política, ou mesmo de acordo com suas convicções morais, a seu único e exclusivo talante? Este estudo busca trazer respostas para estas questões a partir da teoria de Ronald Dworkin, no contexto de suas divergências com Herbert L. A. Hart e Richard Posner, mais especificamente no que diz respeito às conexões entre a moral e o direito. Ao final, desenvolvemos uma técnica a fim de identificar conflitos morais experimentados pelos magistrados que aplicamos em casos concretos de demandas de saúde.

Estimating a multivariate model with discrete Weibull margins

Recently, a proposal for simulating correlated discrete Weibull variables has been suggested, based on the Gaussian copula. Although the procedure is straightforward and allows the user to directly assign the desired pairwise correlations between the discrete margins (or simply assign the correlation matrix of the Gaussian copula), on the other hand the estimation process is more tricky. In this work, we describe and assess, with a special focus on the bivariate case, three techniques for the estimation of the model parameters; an application to real data is provided as well.

Mellem Skylla og Charybdis – træk af legalitetsprincippets historie i dansk strafferet

This article deals with the history of the principle of legality in Danish criminal law. The principle of legality is a relatively new invention and was first introduced with the criminal code of 1866 § 1. Before that, courts were given broad discretion in criminal cases. This discretion must be viewed as the logical consequence of the lack of a comprehensive and systematic criminal code such as that first issued in 1866 where it replaced the sixth book in the National Law of Denmark1683. With the promulgation of a new systematic criminal code it was possible to introduce the principle of legality in Danish criminal law in 1866. While the principle of legality was designed to secure the predictability of the criminal law, measures were also taken in order to secure flexibility in the application of the code by the courts. The often casuistic definitions of the criminal offenses in the National Law of Denmark were thus replaced by abstract definitions and thecourts were generally left with a wide margin of discretion when it came to questions of punishment. The criminal code of 1866 was thus built on a compromise between legality and flexibility.

Copula regression models for discrete and mixed bivariate responses

ABSTRACTEstimation of the dependencies between bivariate discrete or mixed responses can be difficult. In this article, we propose a copula-based model with latent variables associated with discrete margins to account for correlations between bivariate discrete responses. Furthermore, we generalize this strategy for jointly modeling the dependencies between mixed responses in regression mixed models. The proposed method allows the adoption of flexible discrete margins and copula functions for various types of data. Maximum likelihood is used for model estimation; particularly, the estimation for bivariate responses in copula-based regression mixed models can be implemented using the SAS PROC NLMIXED procedure via adaptive Gaussian quadrature. In addition, a mixed model with non-Gaussian random effects can also be easily fitted using the same SAS procedure after reformulating the likelihood function by multiplying and dividing by a Gaussian density. Simulation results show good performance for bivariate di...

Comparison between Intestinal Behçet's Disease and Crohn's Disease in Characteristics of Symptom, Endoscopy, and Radiology.

Aim To evaluate different parameters in differentiating intestinal BD from CD. Methods The medical records of inpatients with intestinal BD and CD were retrospectively reviewed. The univariate value of different parameters was analyzed, respectively. A differentiation model was established by pooling all valuable parameters together. Diagnostic efficacy was evaluated, and a receiver operating curve (ROC) was plotted. Results Forty-two BD patients and ninety-seven CD patients were reviewed. Demographic and clinical parameters that showed significant value included diarrhea, fever, perianal disease, oral ulcers, genital ulcers, skin lesions, and musculoskeletal lesions. Endoscopic parameters reaching clinical significance included multiple-site lesions, lesions confined to the ileocecal region, longitudinal ulcers, round or oval ulcers, punch-out ulcers, ulcers with discrete margin, ulcer size > 2 cm, stricture of bowel, and anorectal involvement. Radiologic parameters aiding the differentiation included involvement segments ≤ 3, asymmetrical pattern of involvement, intraluminal pseudopolyp formation, target sign, stricture with proximal dilation, comb sign, and fistula. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the differentiation model were 90.5%, 93.8%, 92.8%, 86.4%, and 95.8%, respectively. The cutoff value was 0.5 while the area under the ROC curve was 0.981. Conclusion The differentiation model that integrated the various parameters together may yield a high diagnostic efficacy in the differential diagnosis between intestinal BD and CD.

Ważny interes podatnika i interes publiczny w klauzulach generalnych Ordynacji podatkowej

<p>Użyte w przepisach Ordynacji podatkowej takie zwroty, jak „ważny interes podatnika” i „interes publiczny” nie mają stałego zakresu treści. Organy podatkowe podczas rozpatrywania poszczególnych spraw obowiązane są zatem wypełnić te pojęcia właściwą zawartością według własnego rozeznania. Z tego powodu doniosłą rolę w stosowaniu klauzul generalnych mają kryteria oceny ważnego interesu podatnika oraz interesu publicznego, które muszą mieć charakter zobiektywizowany. Klauzule generalne ujęte w Ordynacji podatkowej pozwalają na dokonywanie wyboru określonych w niej konsekwencji prawnych i rozstrzygania konfliktu dóbr. Jest to dokonywane w ramach tzw. uznania administracyjnego. Dyrektywy wyboru tkwią w założeniach ogólnych oficjalnie przyjętego systemu wartości. Ustaleniu właściwego znaczenia norm zawierających tego rodzaju środki techniki prawodawczej musi towarzyszyć przekonanie, że tworzenie prawa nie odbywa się w oderwaniu od wpływów aksjologicznych. Uwzględniają one konstytucyjne wolności gospodarcze, socjalne, kulturalne i inne. Klauzule generalne wykorzystywane w prawie podatkowym, przy zachowaniu stabilności przepisów prawnych, powodują jednocześnie uelastycznienie tekstu aktu prawnego, a co za tym idzie – stosowanie przepisów prawnych. Użycie przez prawodawcę klauzul generalnych nie jest równoznaczne z przyznaniem interpretatorowi absolutnej i pozostającej poza wszelką kontrolą dowolności wykładni przepisów prawnych. Musi on posługiwać się zobiektywizowanymi kryteriami ocen pozaprawnych zdarzeń i zjawisk prawnie istotnych znajdujących uzasadnienie aksjologiczne.</p>

Retraction note: Uterine mast cell tumor: a clinical and cytohistopathological study.

Mast cells are one of the characteristic factors in angiogenesis, growth, and metastatic spread of tumors. Further studies are suggested to determine the type of these cells which might be useful in the assessment of biological nature of the tumor and its future treatment modality. Few studies have evaluated mast cell infiltration in visceral tumors, especially uterine tumors. In this study, age, sex, death rate, and histologic patterns were in agreement with those of previous reports on canine mast cell tumors. Cytopathology assays are widely used to prognosticate canine uterine mast cell tumors (MCT). There is limited information about these prognostic assays used on MCT that arise in the uterine. The anisocytosis and anisocytosis and giant cells were present in the tumor. Furthermore, the tumor had nuclear atypia with scattered multinucleated cells and prominent nucleoli and tumor were classified as poorly granulated. Under microscopic examination, we observed diffuse infiltration and proliferation of tumor cells from the uterine different area and the infiltrative characteristics and distribution patterns of neoplastic cells were observed. This tumor consisted of sheets and cords of uniform round cells with discrete cytoplasmic margins. Microscopically, the neoplastic masses were poorly-demarcated and lacked capsules and tumor cell usually showed a distinct cell boundary. Nevertheless, the neoplastic cells were located between collagen bundles forming small clusters and sheets and had large, centrally located, round to ovoid nuclei. In addition, eosinophils were scattered among the mast cells at the periphery of the masses. The presence of eosinophils and the observation, at high magnification, of cells with cytoplasmic metachromatic granules. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of poorly-differentiated mast cell tumor was made and data histologic grading was available for tumor. Neoplasm was poorly differentiated or gradeIII.

Investigation of precursor lesions of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy using contralateral eye findings

PurposeThe purpose was to investigate precursor lesions of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).MethodsThis cross-sectional study involved 276 unaffected contralateral eyes from unilateral PCV patients (Group 1), unilateral typical exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients (Group 2), and unilateral epiretinal membrane patients (Group 3) as age-matched controls. Grayish-yellow sub-retinal or sub-retinal-pigment-epithelial deposits larger than 63 μm in size with irregular but discrete margins were defined as drusen-like deposits (DLDs). The frequencies of DLDs, drusen, and pigmentary changes in each group were compared.ResultsDLDs larger than 125 μm in size were found more frequently in Group 1 (19.5 %) than in Groups 2 (3.4 %) and 3 (3.2 %) (p < 0.001). Soft drusen were discovered more frequently in Group 2 eyes than in Groups 1 and 3 (p < 0.001). Pigmentary changes were found more frequently in Groups 1 and 2 compared to Group 3. Compared with the other groups, Group 1 manifested a higher frequency of choroidal vascular hyperpermeability (p < 0.005) and thicker choroid (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe precursor lesions of PCV are different from those of exudative AMD. DLDs larger than 125 μm and pigmentary changes may be early preclinical markers of PCV. Long-term longitudinal studies are warranted for validation.

Endoscopic Diagnosis and Differentiation of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have significantly increased in recent decades in Korea. Intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) and intestinal Behcet’s disease (BD), which should be differentiated from Crohn’s disease (CD), are more frequent in Korea than in the West. Thus, the accurate diagnosis of these inflammatory diseases is problematic in Korea and clinicians should fully understand their clinical and endoscopic characteristics. Ulcerative colitis mostly presents with rectal inflammation and continuous lesions, while CD presents with discontinuous inflammatory lesions and frequently involves the ileocecal area. Involvement of fewer than four segments, a patulous ileocecal valve, transverse ulcers, and scars or pseudopolyps are more frequently seen in ITB than in CD. A few ulcers with discrete margins are a typical endoscopic finding of intestinal BD. However, the differential diagnosis is difficult in many clinical situations because typical endoscopic findings are not always observed. Therefore, clinicians should also consider symptoms and laboratory, pathological, and radiological findings, in addition to endoscopic findings.

Discrete Wasserstein barycenters: optimal transport for discrete data

Wasserstein barycenters correspond to optimal solutions of transportation problems for several marginals, and as such have a wide range of applications ranging from economics to statistics and computer science. When the marginal probability measures are absolutely continuous (or vanish on small sets) the theory of Wasserstein barycenters is well-developed [see the seminal paper (Agueh and Carlier in SIAM J Math Anal 43(2):904–924, 2011)]. However, exact continuous computation of Wasserstein barycenters in this setting is tractable in only a small number of specialized cases. Moreover, in many applications data is given as a set of probability measures with finite support. In this paper, we develop theoretical results for Wasserstein barycenters in this discrete setting. Our results rely heavily on polyhedral theory which is possible due to the discrete structure of the marginals. The results closely mirror those in the continuous case with a few exceptions. In this discrete setting we establish that Wasserstein barycenters must also be discrete measures and there is always a barycenter which is provably sparse. Moreover, for each Wasserstein barycenter there exists a non-mass-splitting optimal transport to each of the discrete marginals. Such non-mass-splitting transports do not generally exist between two discrete measures unless special mass balance conditions hold. This makes Wasserstein barycenters in this discrete setting special in this regard. We illustrate the results of our discrete barycenter theory with a proof-of-concept computation for a hypothetical transportation problem with multiple marginals: distributing a fixed set of goods when the demand can take on different distributional shapes characterized by the discrete marginal distributions. A Wasserstein barycenter, in this case, represents an optimal distribution of inventory facilities which minimize the squared distance/transportation cost totaled over all demands.

An extension on INAR models with discrete Laplace marginal distributions

ABSTRACTThe main theme considered in this article is an integer-valued thinning operator with both positive and negative values, its properties, and a new time series with skew discrete Laplace marginals. Some properties of this model are discussed, as well as estimators of unknown parameters, similarities and differences with some other existing models, applications in real-life situations, and identification and approximation of latent processes affecting the concerning process.

The Allocation of Gambling Licences, Radio Frequencies and CO2 Emission Permits in Romania

The Romanian administrative law currently lacks the sophistication from other legal systems and the legal theory often lags behind the socio-economic developments in society. There is a limited discussion in our public law doctrine about public rights and about specific types of public rights, as described in the context of this book. Of course, public rights and authorizations are present in different laws and addressed by the doctrine but there is no coherent and unitary theory on this topic. The definition of authorization in the Romanian law implies that the applicant has the right to be granted the authorization once all the conditions laid down by the supporting legislation are met. There is a margin of discretion when assessing in concreto the fulfilment of certain requirements for authorization, but generally there is no discretion in granting the authorizations when the conditions are met. Almost no reference can be found for example with regard to grants or subsidies, which are funds that the administrative authority can award to private or public entities, under certain conditions. The public law literature often ignores the policy dimension of certain legal topics. The granting of public rights/authorizations cannot be completely separated from economic, social, moral and other policy objectives that the state aims to implement when regulating the legal regime of certain public rights. In conclusion, the public law doctrine on the topic of the allocation of public rights in Romania is of limited importance in the context of our research topic.

Focus: Mexican unionism and the international outsourcing model

INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 10 Volume 23 Issue 1 2016 The mechanisms that formerly strengthened Mexican unions’ control and legitimacy have been transferred to the employers FOCUS ❐ LATIN AMERICA T he main characteristic of the Mexican unions from the end of the Revolution in the 1930s up to the ‘lost decade’ of the 1980s, was its close and subordinate relation with the Mexican State. The main Mexican confederations have always had close links to the government of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional / Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). That meant many significant things: on the one hand, that the working class interests of the Mexican workers where subordinated to the nationalistic/developmentist project of the Mexican State. It also permitted the PRI regime to maintain itself in power for more than 70 years, based upon the diffuse support of the Mexican population and the active support of the organised masses that voted for the party, voluntarily or forced by their leaders. This modernisation pact, that also comprised the peasants (that had been benefited by the land reform) and diverse other popular groups, permitted the Mexican State to implement a system of control that gave huge margins of discretion to the government, and that has worked against the unions and the workers since the 1980s, when the economic model changed. This system of control rests (as it is still in place in spite of the reform of the labour law of 2012) on the capacity of the government to decide whether a union should or should not be registered and allocated the legal power to represent the workers, the same for any change in leadership and the legality or illegality of the strikes. This faculty is complemented by a double closed shop – entry and exit – which means that a worker has to belong to the union in order to be admitted for the job, and that if they are expelled from the union, they lose their job. On the other hand, there can only be one union per enterprise (and collective negotiation is done at the plant level), and unions can be imposed on any enterprise with 20 or more workers; this did not mean that the union was active, but that it existed formally. This latter principle , made the two closed shop measures all the more powerful to control workers, and especially to prevent dissidence. State corporatism was accepted by both the unions and the workers. In the first place, because it meant an exchange relationship: the leaders got economic and political benefits, while the workers had social and economic benefits (especially those situated in the large stateowned companies). This exchange relationship was a way for both unions and the government to earn legitimacy among workers: the benefits that the union secured (in terms of employment, social protection and wages) provided the support of labour for the government. In the third place, this system was functional for the project of industrialisation, as corporatism implied a form (in terms of Foucault) of disciplining the workers: labour discipline resulted in productivity increases and economic growth, which led to an increase in labour demand, higher wages and social protection. This last capability of corporatism was essential in order to convert a rural population into an urban/industrial one. This system functioned as long as the economy grew and produced benefits for the workers that were unionised, and until other political parties became strong enough to demand more transparent elections and question the role of the ‘official’ Confederación de Trabajadores de México / Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) unions in controlling the vote of the workers. This happened as a result of the crisis that exploded in 1982, when both oil prices fell and interest rates of the huge Mexican debt went up. Mexico suspended payments and had to turn to the IMF, which imposed draconian measures on the country . The financial catastrophe and the recipes of the international financial institution resulted in the abandoning of import substitution and the orientation of the Mexican economy towards the external market. The new export-led growth mode led to an exceptional expansion of the assembly maquiladora industry. It also led to the orientation of other exporting industries to...

Modeling Multiple Responses via Bootstrapping Margins with an Application to Genetic Association Testing.

The need for analysis of multiple responses arises from many applications. In behavioral science, for example, comorbidity is a common phenomenon where multiple disorders occur in the same person. The advantage of jointly analyzing multiple correlated responses has been examined and documented. Due to the difficulties of modeling multiple responses, nonparametric tests such as generalized Kendall's Tau have been developed to assess the association between multiple responses and risk factors. These procedures have been applied to genomewide association studies of multiple complex traits. Unfortunately, those nonparametric tests only provide the significance of the association but not the magnitude. We propose a Gaussian copula model with discrete margins for modeling multivariate binary responses. This model separates marginal effects from between-trait correlations. We use a bootstrapping margins approach to constructing Wald's statistic for the association test. Although our derivation is based on the fully parametric Gaussian copula framework for simplicity, the underlying assumptions to apply our method can be weakened. The bootstrapping margins approach only requires the correct specification of the model margins. Our simulation and real data analysis demonstrate that our proposed method not only increases power over some existing association tests, but also provides further insight into genetic association studies of multivariate traits.