Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - Initial Results

Funded by the Department of Human Resources, the Georgia State welfare leavers study is tracking families as they leave Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Using administrative data combined with the results of a telephone interview, the project monitors the impact of leaving welfare on the individuals, their families and their communities.2 The study includes both single-parent and child-only leavers and, unlike studies in some other states, does include individuals who have returned to the rolls. The response rate for this study approaches 35% and continues to rise as the project makes intensive efforts to locate respondents. Preliminary analyses of administrative data indicate that interview respondents closely resemble individuals whom the project has been unable to interview

Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - Technical Appendices

The following provides an overview of the Georgia State study and compares it to that of leavers studies in other states. While there are similarities, this study differs in several crucial ways from these other studies

From Crop to Cup; The Plight of Coffee

Coffee is in demand across the globe and remains the second most valuable exported legal commodity on earth, only second to oil. The majority of North Americans have a type of ritual with their morning cup of coffee. However only an extremely modest percentage of those people are cognizant of where their coffee comes from or the processes undergone for it to reach their kitchen counters. This paper examines the role that direct trade coffee programs may play in helping to create long lasting, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships between producers and roasters. The project accompanying the paper is the development of a direct trade coffee relationship between Black Coffee Roasting Company of Missoula, Montana and Finca Buena Vista of El Salvador. Providing examples from previous case studies, as well as an extensive literature review, I will demonstrate the harsh realities facing producer countries and the very distinct relationship between poverty and coffee growing communities. In order to bring this project to fruition and to ensure its success, I examine many characteristics of coffee as a commodity, not just those directly related to trade. I begin with the history of coffee and examine the many certification schemes currently available. I also explain the methods, procedures and activities undertaken to create the relationship between Black Coffee Roasting Company, myself, and Finca Buena Vista. I reflect upon challenges faced, as well as anticipated successes, during the planning, research, and execution stages of this project. I discuss opportunities for expansion of this trade as well as potential future outcomes for this project. Finally, I conclude by reviewing the key issues and suggest how this project can be used as a model for similar trading practices based on building long-lasting relationships with maximum stakeholder benefits. This paper shows that the sustainable development of coffee must acknowledge the economic, social, political and ecological dimensions of development are interconnected and must be understood and addressed collectively (Bacon et al., 2008). By eliminating those people who do not have a legitimate function to play in bringing coffee to the market, it is possible to create a more sustainable coffee trade

Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - (Life After Welfare) Technical Appendix

In this section we review distinguishing features of TANF as implemented in Georgia and describe recent trends in the welfare caseload

Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - Life After Welfare

Funded by the Department of Human Resources, the Georgia State welfare leavers study tracked families as they left Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).1 Using administrative data combined with the results of a telephone survey, the project monitored the impact of leaving welfare on the individuals and their families. The study includes both single-parent and child-only leavers as well as individuals who have returned to the rolls

The clinical pharmacology of intranasal l-methamphetamine.

BackgroundWe studied the pharmacology of l-methamphetamine, the less abused isomer, when used as a nasal decongestant.Methods12 subjects self-administered l-methamphetamine from a nonprescription inhaler at the recommended dose (16 inhalations over 6 hours) then at 2 and 4 (32 and 64 inhalations) times this dose. In a separate session intravenous phenylephrine (200 microg) and l-methamphetamine (5 mg) were given to define alpha agonist pharmacology and bioavailability. Physiological, cardiovascular, pharmacokinetic, and subjective effects were measured.ResultsPlasma l-methamphetamine levels were often below the level of quantification so bioavailability was estimated by comparing urinary excretion of the intravenous and inhaled doses, yielding delivered dose estimates of 74.0 +/- 56.1, 124.7 +/- 106.6, and 268.1 +/- 220.5 microg for ascending exposures (mean 4.2 +/- 3.3 microg/inhalation). Physiological changes were minimal and not dose-dependent. Small decreases in stroke volume and cardiac output suggesting mild cardiodepression were seen.ConclusionInhaled l-methamphetamine delivered from a non-prescription product produced minimal effects but may be a cardiodepressant

A Bird Cannot Fly With One Wing: A Study of Women\u27s Responses to and Attitudes Toward Sexual Infidelity in Montego Bay, Jamaica

This research focuses on women\u27s emotional and behavioral responses to men\u27s sexual infidelity in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Sexual infidelity can be defined as extradyadic sex within a monogamous relationship that threatens the stability of the relationship (Mark et al., 2011). Since the ultimate reproductive constraint for women is access to resources, this study explores how a woman\u27s education level (as an indicator of her socioeconomic status) affects her response to her partner\u27s sexual infidelity. The Caribbean region is largely absent from the literature on sexual infidelity, with the exception of one study in Trinidad (Flinn, 1988) that focuses on mate guarding behavior. Existing research on sexual infidelity is limited by sample sociodemographics in the following ways: age (most studies are of people in their 20s), nationality (primarily American samples, with less cross-cultural research), university undergraduates (limits socioeconomic variety), sex (most focus on male behavior, perception, and attitudes), and the context of marriage (omits a variety of relationship types). Additionally, most studies focus on motivations of and correlates of engaging in sexual infidelity, rather than addressing female responses to sexual infidelity. Thus, the goal of this research was to expand the cross-cultural scope of research on sexual infidelity while addressing the previously mentioned gaps in research. A mixed-methods research design was employed to gather quantitative and qualitative data regarding women\u27s views of sexual infidelity. A short questionnaire was used to gather sociodemographic information about the participants and their partners. It also probed for how women of different education levels would be expected to respond to being cheated on. For example, it asked, Think of one of your well-educated female friends. How would she respond if her partner had sex with another woman? A longer questionnaire was designed to gather culturally contextual information to supplement data from the short questionnaires. A total of 101 women from downtown Montego Bay, Jamaica and Montego Bay Community College completed the short questionnaire and 4 of those 101 completed the follow up questionnaire. Results from a chi-square (χ2) test of independence show that a woman\u27s education level was not associated with her projected response (df=5, χ2=6.554, p=0.265) nor was it associated with her actual response (df=6, χ2=7.608, p=0.268). There were, however, overall patterns in women\u27s responses. For example, for the projected responses of participants\u27 friends: higher educated women tend to respond by ending the relationship more than any other behavioral response (35.5%) and lesser-educated women respond with violence (22.6%) more than they respond with discussing the situation (5.6%). The results of this study are discussed in regard to its limitations, broader evolutionary and cultural contexts/expectations, an African American comparison, the role of religion, and ideas for future research

Tone Stimulus Detection in Rats Using RRAM-Based Local Field Potential Monitoring

The comprehension of brain activity presents signif-icant challenges in the field of neuroscience. Contrary to spikes, Local Field Potentials (LFPs) present improved stability acqui-sition in chronic implant scenarios and potential reductions in sampling and processing rates. While existing electrophysiology acquisition systems focus predominantly on spike detection and sorting, there is a lack of real-time tools for exploiting LFPs. To address this gap, we present a Resistive-RAM (RRAM) based approach to process LFP traces. Our method follows an improved Memristive Integrating Sensor (MIS) protocol to effectively detect LFP events recorded from the deep-brain of an awake rat, while externally stimulated by a tone. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of real-time neural activity processing, offering insights into detecting meaningful external stimuli and facilitating efficient neural state estimation