The unequal distribution of child poverty: highest rates among young blacks and children of single mothers in rural America

Measuring by race, place, and family, this brief highlights poverty rates for two rural groups--young black children and children of single mothers--who each face rates around 50%

Total children covered by health insurance increased in 2009

This brief uses data collected in 2008 and 2009 from the U.S. Census Bureau\u27s American Community Survey (ACS) to examine changes in overall insurance coverage rates, as well as changes in types of coverage, and differences by region, state, and place type. The data show that together with new and more inclusive parameters for children\u27s health insurance coverage, rates of children\u27s health insurance have grown during the final year of the recession. Authors Jessica Bean and Michael Staley of the Carsey Institute discuss the complex factors contributing to the shift from private to public health insurance among children. The authors conclude that, because those who have health insurance are healthier overall and, more importantly, because healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults, focusing on covering eligible children should remain at the forefront of the nation\u27s agenda

More than one in ten American households relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the most responsive federal programs to economic downturns, as evidence by the increases in SNAP use between 2007 and 2009. Nationally, more than one in ten households relies on SNAP benefits, and the rate is even higher in rural areas, with more than 13 percent of households reporting use. This brief examines the trends in SNAP use across the United States since the recession began in 2007 and considers the impact of legislation in the Congress on those who rely on SNAP to make ends meet

TANF in rural America: informing re-authorization

In 1996 welfare reform ushered in a new era in which cash assistance for poor parents became both temporary and conditional on activities to promote economic independence through work. Cash assistance from TANF relieves, but does not eliminate, poverty because benefit levels are far too low to lift families above the poverty threshold. These ameliorative effects are weaker in rural than urban areas. Over time, the positive impacts of TANF receipt have continued to decline. The authors assert that the necessity of re-authorizing TANF gives us an opportunity to reflect on its strengths and limitations

Unemployment in the Great Recession: single parents and men hit hard

This brief discusses the sweeping impact the Great Recession has had on Americans, particularly men, single parents, young adults, and people with less education. Using data from the 2007 and 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey, the authors report that unemployment is highest among men and among unmarried adults, regardless of place or parenting status. Although this was also true before the recession, gaps between men and women, and the unmarried and married, have widened considerably during the recession. Also during the Great Recession, unemployment rose more in central cities and suburban places than in rural places, perhaps because rural unemployment was already high prior to the start of the recession

A framework to combine low- and high-resolution spectroscopy for the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets

Current observations of the atmospheres of close-in exoplanets are predominantly obtained with two techniques: low-resolution spectroscopy with space telescopes and high-resolution spectroscopy from the ground. Although the observables delivered by the two methods are in principle highly complementary, no attempt has ever been made to combine them, perhaps due to the different modeling approaches that are typically used in their interpretation. Here we present the first combined analysis of previously-published dayside spectra of the exoplanet HD 209458b obtained at low resolution with HST/WFC3 and Spitzer/IRAC, and at high resolution with VLT/CRIRES. By utilizing a novel retrieval algorithm capable of computing the joint probability distribution of low- and high-resolution spectra, we obtain tight constraints on the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere. In contrast to the WFC3 data, we do not confidently detect H2O at high spectral resolution. The retrieved water abundance from the combined analysis deviates by 1.9 sigma from the expectations for a solar-composition atmosphere in chemical equilibrium. Measured relative molecular abundances of CO and H2O strongly favor an oxygen-rich atmosphere (C/O<1 at 3.5 sigma) for the planet when compared to equilibrium calculations including O rainout. From the abundances of the seven molecular species included in this study we constrain the planet metallicity to 0.1-1.0x the stellar value (1 sigma). This study opens the way to coordinated exoplanet surveys between the flagship ground- and space-based facilities, which ultimately will be crucial for characterizing potentially-habitable planets.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL. Section 4 largely updated from previous version, Figure 2 updated to contain information on the T-p profil

One million additional children in poverty since 2009: 2010 data reveal nearly one in four southern children now live in poverty

In this brief, the authors use the ACS data released on September 22 to focus on child poverty. The authors report that between 2009 and 2010 an additional one million children joined the ranks of those in poverty. This brings the total to an estimated 15.7 million poor children in 2010, an increase of 2.6 million since the Great Recession began in 2007

Rates of public health insurance coverage for children rise as rates of private coverage decline

This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points. Rural places and central cities witnessed significant declines in rates of private health insurance for children in nearly every region. Rates of public insurance coverage rose in every region and place type. Children’s health insurance coverage overall continued to rise in 2010, increasing by 0.6 of a percentage point since 2009, and 1.9 percentage points since 2008

Over sixteen million children in poverty in 2011

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Jessica Bean, and Andrew Schaefer use American Community Survey data released on September 20, 2012 to address patterns of child poverty. To evaluate the changes in child poverty, they focused on two time periods -- change since 2007, as the nation entered the recession, and change since 2010. According to the American Community Survey, the overall child poverty rate for the United States rose slightly from 21.6 in 2010 to 22.5 percent in 2011, resulting in an estimated 16.4 million children living in poverty. Of these children, 6.1 million are young (under age 6). Forty-five percent, or 32.7 million, of America’s children reside in families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty threshold. They conclude that, in the wake of the recession, child poverty remains high, presenting significant challenges for children’s futures

Isolation of Nuclei from Physarum flavicomum: Demonstration of Nuclear Cyclic Acid AMP Phosphodiesterase

Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity in the nucleus of the myxomycete Physarum flavicomum was demonstrated by cytochemical staining utilizing electron microscopy and by enzymatic assays with tritiated cyclic AMP as the substrate. Cytochemical staining showed Physarum\u27s plasmodial phosphodiesterase activity to be located in the nucleus, along the plasma membrane, in vesicles, and free in the cytoplasm. Nuclear phosphodiesterase, which may be cell cycle dependent, was primarily located in the nucleolus. Nuclei from three to five day old microplasmodial cultures were isolated by the method of Henney and Yee. Whole cells were collected through centrifugation and washed. Pellets were homogenized in a medium composed of 0.01 MTris-HC1 (pH 7.2 at 4 °C), 0.25 M sucrose, 0.01% Triton X-100, and 5mM CaC1₂. Nuclei were collected through double filtration and two 1.0 M sucrose density gradient centrifugations. After the nuclei were washed, microscopic examination revealed a purity of over 90%. Radioactive assays of the nuclear preparations demonstrated phosphodiesterase activity consistant with that indicated by cytochemical localization. The specific activity of the nuclear enzyme was 15 nMole of cyclic AMP hydrolyzed /min/mg. of protein