SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM MICHIGAN AND ILLINOIS

Social capital is a resource increasingly recognized as having important economic and social consequences. Robison and Siles (1999) examined some of these consequences at the U.S. state level and this study extends their efforts. Their 1999 study found important connections between the distributions of social capital and the distributions of household incomes. This study asks if the relationships between social capital and household incomes discovered at the state level are also present at the community level.Consumer/Household Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Cryogenic and room temperature strength of sapphire jointed by hydroxide-catalysis bonding

Hydroxide-catalysis bonding is a precision technique used for jointing components in opto-mechanical systems and has been implemented in the construction of quasi-monolithic silica suspensions in gravitational wave detectors. Future detectors are likely to operate at cryogenic temperatures which will lead to a change in test mass and suspension material. One candidate material is mono-crystalline sapphire. Here results are presented showing the influence of various bonding solutions on the strength of the hydroxide-catalysis bonds formed between sapphire samples, measured both at room temperature and at 77 K, and it is demonstrated that sodium silicate solution is the most promising in terms of strength, producing bonds with a mean strength of 63 MPa. In addition the results show that the strengths of bonds were undiminished when tested at cryogenic temperatures

Direct Observation by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of the Two-Dimensional Lattice Structure of the S-Layer Sheath of the Archaeobacterium Methanospirillum hungatei GP1

Observation of the two-dimensional (2-D) 3 nm x 3 nm lattice structure of the S-layer sheath of the archaeobacterium Methanospirillum hungatei is reported for the first time by scanning tunneling microscopy. The samples consisted of sheath fragments deposited on a TaSe2 substrate and coated with a Pt/Ir film. In addition to confirming the 2-D structure, the images reveal some new information about the nano-scale details of the sheath structure. A lateral resolution of 1 nm was achieved, suggesting that the grain size of the Pt/Ir films was much less than for similar films deposited on a smooth metal surface

Perspective taking in language:integrating the spatial and action domains

Language is an inherently social behaviour. In this paper, we bring together two research areas that typically occupy distinct sections of the literature: perspective taking in spatial language (whether people represent a scene from their own or a different spatial perspective), and perspective taking in action language (the extent to which they simulate an action as though they were performing that action). First, we note that vocabulary is used inconsistently across the spatial and action domains, and propose a more transparent vocabulary that will allow researchers to integrate action- and spatial-perspective taking. Second, we note that embodied theories of language comprehension often make the narrow assumption that understanding action descriptions involves adopting the perspective of an agent carrying out that action. We argue that comprehenders can adopt embodied action-perspectives other than that of the agent, including those of the patient or an observer. Third, we review evidence showing that perspective taking in spatial language is a flexible process. We argue that the flexibility of spatial-perspective taking provides a means for conversation partners engaged in dialogue to maximise similarity between their situation models. These situation models can then be used as the basis for action language simulations, in which language users adopt a particular action-perspective

Space Climate Manifestation in Earth Prices - from Medieval England Up to Modern Usa

In this study we continue to search for possible manifestations of space weather influence on prices of agricultural products and consumables. We note that the connection between solar activity and prices is based on the causal chain that includes several nonlinear transition elements. These non-linear elements are characterized by threshold sensitivity to external parameters and lead to very inhomogeneous local sensitivity of the price to space weather conditions. It is noted that "soft type" models are the most adequate for description of this class of connections. Two main observational effects suitable for testing causal connections of this type of sensitivity are considered: burst-like price reactions on changes in solar activity and price asymmetry for selected phases of the sunspot cycle. The connection, discovered earlier for wheat prices of Medieval England, is examined in this work on the basis of another 700-year data set of consumable prices in England. Using the same technique as in the previous part of our work (Pistilnik and Yom Din 2004) we show that statistical parameters of the interval distributions for price bursts of consumables basket and for sunspot minimum states are similar one to another, like it was reported earlier for wheat price bursts. Possible sources of these consistencies between three different multiyear samples are discussed. For search of possible manifestations of the "space weather - wheat market" connection in modern time, we analyze dynamics of wheat prices in the USA in the twentieth century. We show that the wheat prices revealed a maximum/minimum price asymmetry consistent with the phases of the sunspot cycle. We discuss possible explanations of this observed asymmetry, unexpected under conditions of globalization of the modern wheat market.Comment: First International Symposium on Space Climate: Direct and Indirect Observations of Long-Term Solar Activity, 20-23 June 2004, Oulu, Finlan

The tumor suppressor miR-642a-5p targets Wilms tumor 1 gene and cell-cycle progression in prostate cancer

RNA-based therapeutics are emerging as innovative options for cancer treatment, with microRNAs being attractive targets for therapy development. We previously implicated microRNA-642a-5p (miR-642a-5p) as a tumor suppressor in prostate cancer (PCa), and here we characterize its mode of action, using 22Rv1 PCa cells. In an in vivo xenograft tumor model, miR-642a-5p induced a significant decrease in tumor growth, compared to negative control. Using RNA-Sequencing, we identified gene targets of miR-642a-5p which were enriched for gene sets controlling cell cycle; downregulated genes included Wilms Tumor 1 gene (WT1), NUAK1, RASSF3 and SKP2; and upregulated genes included IGFBP3 and GPS2. Analysis of PCa patient datasets showed a higher expression of WT1, NUAK1, RASSF3 and SKP2; and a lower expression of GPS2 and IGFBP3 in PCa tissue compared to non-malignant prostate tissue. We confirmed the prostatic oncogene WT1, as a direct target of miR-642a-5p, and treatment of 22Rv1 and LNCaP PCa cells with WT1 siRNA or a small molecule inhibitor of WT1 reduced cell proliferation. Taken together, these data provide insight into the molecular mechanisms by which miR-642a-5p acts as a tumor suppressor in PCa, an effect partially mediated by regulating genes involved in cell cycle control; and restoration of miR-642-5p in PCa could represent a novel therapeutic approach

Muon Catalyzed Fusion in 3 K Solid Deuterium

Muon catalyzed fusion in deuterium has traditionally been studied in gaseous and liquid targets. The TRIUMF solid-hydrogen-layer target system has been used to study the fusion reaction rates in the solid phase of D_2 at a target temperature of 3 K. Products of two distinct branches of the reaction were observed; neutrons by a liquid organic scintillator, and protons by a silicon detector located inside the target system. The effective molecular formation rate from the upper hyperfine state of $\mu d$ and the hyperfine transition rate have been measured: $\tilde{\lambda}_(3/2)=2.71(7)_{stat.}(32)_{syst.} \mu/s$, and $\tilde{\lambda}_{(3/2)(1/2)} =34.2(8)_{stat.}(1)_{syst.} \mu /s$. The molecular formation rate is consistent with other recent measurements, but not with the theory for isolated molecules. The discrepancy may be due to incomplete thermalization, an effect which was investigated by Monte Carlo calculations. Information on branching ratio parameters for the s and p wave d+d nuclear interaction has been extracted.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PRA Feb 20, 199