An Investigation of Electronic Tax Filing in Arkansas

As a part of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Congress set a goal for the IRS to have at least 80 percent of federal tax returns filed electronically by 2007. During the last tax filing season, electronic filing of tax returns increased by around 9 percent, up to 41 percent of individual returns filed, with over 18 million taxpayers filing state and federal returns simultaneously. While the number of electronic returns is increasing, the IRS is unlikely to reach its 80 percent mandate by 2007. Government taxing agencies are actively pursuing ways to use technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency while decreasing costs. In order to reach more citizens, research is needed to identify who currently e-files and what are the barriers for those that do not. In response, a survey was mailed to Arkansas citizens concerning their use of electronic filing for federal and state tax returns. The goal was to identify demographic characteristics of taxpayers that file electronically versus those that do not. Responses were statistically analyzed for variations. The results provided a basis for research into possible actions the government can take to increase the number of e-filers. The findings will be of interest to the IRS and state tax authorities, tax researchers and the general public. This is due to the fact that government agencies can create cost savings by automating more of their services and transactions, and these benefits accrue to the public through lower taxes or increased public goods

The Effects of Mood on Empathy, Openness to Diversity, Attitudes, and Willingness to Help Marginalized Groups

Members of marginalized groups such as lesbian women and gay men are often at an increased risk of threat or harm compared to their heterosexual counterparts. They may experience prejudice in the form of discrimination and stigma related behaviors. Due to the stigma lesbian women and gay men face throughout various stages of their lives, it is important to examine and discover which factors increase more acceptance and empathy. Additionally, it is important to examine ways to increase positive regard and reduce discrimination in order to promote psychological and overall wellbeing for lesbians and gay men. Given what we know about stigma, the current study used a MANOVA to examine the impact of mood induction (i.e., happy, sad, and neutral mood groups) on participants’ empathy, openness to diversity, attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men, and stigma behavior following a passage about a lesbian woman overcoming adversity. The sample consisted of 67 undergraduate students. No differences were found on any dependent variable based on mood condition. In addition, there were no rural differences in reports of the dependent variables. The results of the two 2 x 3 factorial ANOVAs illustrated a main effect of time and a significant interaction between time and condition on positive affect. For negative affect, a main effect of time was not found, but there was a significant interaction between time and condition. Given these findings, more research needs to be done to explore other factors that may help in fostering more positive and accepting attitudes towards marginalized groups

Reference Service, Government Information, and COVID-19

The authors designed and distributed two surveys to answer the questions of whether the 2020 federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic affected academic librarians’ trust in government information, and whether it affected the way they use government information professionally. The results showed a limited decrease in trust in 2020, somewhat mitigated by the administration turnover in 2021. Many librarians already discussed considerations such as bias, authority, and disinformation when recommending government information to students, and others indicated they are more likely to do so going forward. They will also use or suggest more caution with government documents than before. Reference interactions do not always allow the necessary time and space for a nuanced conversation about the limits of government information, so libraries and academic institutions should look for other ways to improve student political literacy as well

The Association Between Obesity, Depression, and Anxiety: Evidence From a Community Health Needs Assessment Survey

Background: The obesity epidemic has garnered much attention as a public health crisis. In order to make progress, it is necessary to understand the factors associated with obesity. One area of research needing more development is the link between obesity and other chronic health conditions. The objective of the present study was to further understand the relationship between obesity and the prevalence of anxiety and depression in Athens-Clarke County in northeast Georgia. Methods: Data from the 2015 Athens-Clarke County Community Health Needs Assessment (n=1234) were used to assess the relationship between obesity and the prevalence of anxiety and depression among households at the county level. A linear probability model was utilized to estimate the effects of anxiety and depression, separately on the prevalence of household obesity. Household demographic and economic characteristics were applied as controls. Results: The presence of anxiety in a household was associated with a 16% increase in the probability of obesity in the household (p Conclusions: The results show a positive and statistically significant association between mental health and obesity. Although these findings are specific to Athens-Clarke County residents, the results are similar to those for national surveys, which find an association between obesity and mental health outcomes. Recommendations for public health organizations include the need for additional research and evaluation to create programs that address underlying issues pertaining to obesity

Notch/Delta signaling constrains reengineering of pro-T cells by PU.1

PU.1 is essential for early stages of mouse T cell development but antagonizes it if expressed constitutively. Two separable mechanisms are involved: attenuation and diversion. Dysregulated PU.1 expression inhibits pro-T cell survival, proliferation, and passage through β-selection by blocking essential T cell transcription factors, signaling molecules, and Rag gene expression, which expression of a rearranged T cell antigen receptor transgene cannot rescue. However, Bcl2 transgenic cells are protected from this attenuation and may even undergo β-selection, as shown by PU.1 transduction of defined subsets of Bcl2 transgenic fetal thymocytes with differentiation in OP9-DL1 and OP9 control cultures. The outcome of PU.1 expression in these cells depends on Notch/Delta signaling. PU.1 can efficiently divert thymocytes toward a myeloid-like state with multigene regulatory changes, but Notch/Delta signaling vetoes diversion. Gene expression analysis distinguishes sets of critical T lineage regulatory genes with different combinatorial responses to PU.1 and Notch/Delta signals, suggesting particular importance for inhibition of E proteins, Myb, and/or Gfi1 (growth factor independence 1) in diversion. However, Notch signaling only protects against diversion of cells that have undergone T lineage specification after Thy-1 and CD25 up-regulation. The results imply that in T cell precursors, Notch/Delta signaling normally acts to modulate and channel PU.1 transcriptional activities during the stages from T lineage specification until commitment

Cleared for Launch - Lessons Learned from the OSIRIS-REx System Requirements Verification Program

Requirements verification of a large flight system is a challenge. It is especially challenging for engineers taking on their first role in space systems engineering. This paper describes our approach to verification of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) system requirements. It also captures lessons learned along the way from developing systems engineers embroiled in this process. We begin with an overview of the mission and science objectives as well as the project requirements verification program strategy. A description of the requirements flow down is presented including our implementation for managing the thousands of program and element level requirements and associated verification data. We discuss both successes and methods to improve the managing of this data across multiple organizational interfaces. Our approach to verifying system requirements at multiple levels of assembly is presented using examples from our work at instrument, spacecraft, and ground segment levels. We include a discussion of system end-to-end testing limitations and their impacts to the verification program. Finally, we describe lessons learned that are applicable to all emerging space systems engineers using our unique perspectives across multiple organizations of a large NASA program