Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Including Group Quarters Residents with Household Residents Can Change What We Know About Working-Age People with Disabilities

Information about residents of institutional and noninstitutional group quarters (GQ), particularly those with disabilities, has been limited by gaps in survey data, and statistics based on data that exclude some or all GQ residents are biased as estimates of total population statistics. We used the 2006 and 2007 American Community Survey (ACS) to identify the distribution of working-age populations with and without disabilities by major residence type, and to assess the sensitivity of disability statistics to GQ residence. Our findings showed that (1) of those with disabilities, about one in 13 males and one in 33 females live in GQ; (2) younger males with disabilities are more likely to reside there, particularly at institutional GQ; (3) individuals with and without disabilities who are black, American Indian, never married, or have less than a high school education had higher GQ residence rates; (4) 40% of male and 62% of female GQ residents have a disability; (5) adding GQ residents to household residents increases estimated disability prevalence for males by 6% and the estimated difference between disability prevalence rates by gender nearly disappears; and (6) inclusion of the GQ population substantively lowers employment rate estimates for males with disabilities—especially young blacks and American Indians

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Lens Search. I. Discovery of Intermediate-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies Behind Foreground Luminous Red Galaxies

We present a catalog of 49 spectroscopic strong gravitational lens candidates selected from a Sloan Digital Sky Survey sample of 50996 luminous red galaxies. Potentially lensed star-forming galaxies are detected through the presence of background oxygen and hydrogen nebular emission lines in the spectra of these massive foreground galaxies. This multiline selection eliminates the ambiguity of single-line identification and provides a very promising sample of candidate galaxy-galaxy lens systems at low to intermediate redshift, with foreground redshifts ranging from 0.16 to 0.49 and background redshifts from 0.25 to 0.81. Any lenses confirmed within our sample would be important new probes of early-type galaxy mass distributions, providing complementary constraints to those obtained from currently known lensed high-redshift quasars.Comment: 23 pages; to appear in The Astronomical Journal, 2004 April. Version with full-resolution figures available at http://web.mit.edu/bolton/www/speclens.ps.gz (PostScript) or http://web.mit.edu/bolton/www/speclens.pdf (PDF

SDSS J092455.87+021924.9: an Interesting Gravitationally Lensed Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report the discovery of a new gravitationally lensed quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS J092455.87+021924.9 (SDSS J0924+0219). This object was selected from among known SDSS quasars by an algorithm that was designed to select another known SDSS lensed quasar (SDSS 1226-0006A,B). Five separate components, three of which are unresolved, are identified in photometric follow-up observations obtained with the Magellan Consortium's 6.5m Walter Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Two of the unresolved components (designated A and B) are confirmed to be quasars with z=1.524; the velocity difference is less than 100 km sec^{-1} according to spectra taken with the W. M. Keck Observatory's Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea. A third stellar component, designated C, has the colors of a quasar with redshift similar to components A and B. The maximum separation of the point sources is 1.78". The other two sources, designated G and D, are resolved. Component G appears to be the best candidate for the lensing galaxy. Although component D is near the expected position of the fourth lensed component in a four image lens system, its properties are not consistent with being the image of a quasar at z~1.5. Nevertheless, the identical redshifts of components A and B and the presence of component C strongly suggest that this object is a gravitational lens. Our observations support the idea that a foreground object reddens the fourth lensed component and that another unmodeled effect (such as micro- or milli-lensing) demagnificates it, but we cannot rule out the possibility that SDSS0924+0219 is an example of the relatively rare class of ``three component'' lens systems.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A

Closures Are the Tip of the Iceberg: Exploring the Variation in State Vocational Rehabilitation Program Exits After Service Receipt (Abstract)

State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies play an important role in promoting employment for people with disabilities. However, little information has been available about how many people with disabilities exit after VR service receipt and how exits vary with individual characteristics and across states compared to the general population with disabilities. We used RSA administrative data from fiscal year 2007 and public use files from the American Community Survey to calculate the ratio of the number of individuals completing VR services to the estimated number of working-age people with disabilities in 2007 at the national and state-levels and for demographic, educational, and disability subgroups. Overall, our results show that 1.3 of every 100 working-age adults with a disability living in the community exited a VR agency after receiving services, with state variation ranging from 0.6 percent in Washington and Puerto Rico to 4.0 percent in Vermont. We also found large differences in these numbers across sex, age, racial, ethnic, and educational groups—differences that are much larger in some states than in others. These observed disparities raise questions about why some groups are more likely to complete VR services than others and whether VR agencies should be systematically targeting more resources to certain groups. Further research and additional data collection strategies are needed to better understand how well people with disabilities complete VR agency services

Chemical evolution of the intra-cluster medium

The high metallicity of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) is generally interpreted on the base of the galactic wind scenario for elliptical galaxies. In this framework, we develop a toy-model to follow the chemical evolution of the ICM, formulated in analogy to chemical models for individual galaxies. The model computes the galaxy formation history (GFH) of cluster galaxies, connecting the final luminosity function (LF) to the corresponding metal enrichment history of the ICM. The observed LF can be reproduced with a smooth, Madau-plot like GFH peaking at z~ 1-2, plus a "burst" of formation of dwarf galaxies at high redshift. The model is used to test the response of the predicted metal content and abundance evolution of the ICM to varying input galactic models. The chemical enrichment is computed from "galactic yields" based on models of elliptical galaxies with a variable initial mass function (IMF), favouring the formation of massive stars at high redshift and/or in more massive galaxies. For a given final galactic luminosity, these model ellipticals eject into the ICM a larger quantity of gas and of metals than do standard models based on the Salpeter IMF. However, a scenario in which the IMF varies with redshift as a consequence of the effect of the the cosmic background temperature on the Jeans mass scale, appears to be too mild to account for the observed metal production in clusters. The high iron-mass-to-luminosity-ratio of the ICM can be reproduced only by assuming a more dramatic variation of the typical stellar mass, in line with other recent findings. The mass in the wind-ejected gas is predicted to exceed the mass in galaxies by a factor of 1.5-2 and to constitute roughly half of the intra-cluster gas.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Measuring Strategic Uncertainty in Coordination Games

Lecture on the first SFB/TR 15 meeting, Gummersbach, July, 18 - 20, 2004This paper explores predictability of behavior in coordination games with multiple equilibria. In a laboratory experiment we measure subjects' certainty equivalents for three coordination games and one lottery. Attitudes towards strategic uncertainty in coordination games are related to risk aversion, experience seeking, gender and age. From the distribution of certainty equivalents among participating students we estimate probabilities for successful coordination in a wide range of coordination games. For many games success of coordination is predictable with a reasonable error rate. The best response of a risk neutral player is close to the global-game solution. Comparing choices in coordination games with revealed risk aversion, we estimate subjective probabilities for successful coordination. In games with a low coordination requirement, most subjects underestimate the probability of success. In games with a high coordination requirement, most subjects overestimate this probability. Data indicate that subjects have probabilistic beliefs about success or failure of coordination rather than beliefs about individual behavior of other players

Identification and characterization of mechanistically distinct inducers of gamma-globin transcription

Inhibition of HbS polymerization is a major target for therapeutic approaches in sickle cell anemia. Toward this goal, initial efforts at pharmacological elevation of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) has shown therapeutic efficacy. In order to identify well-tolerated, novel agents that induce HbF in patients, we developed a high-throughput screening approach based on induction of gamma-globin gene expression in erythroid cells. We measured gamma-globin transcription in K562 cells transfected with either gamma promoter elements fused with the locus control region hypersensitivity site 2 and luciferase reporter gene (HS2 gamma) or a beta-yeast artificial chromosome in which the luciferase reporter gene was recombined into the gamma-globin coding sequences (gamma YAC). Corresponding pharmacological increases in HbF protein were confirmed in both K562 cells and in human primary erythroid progenitor cells. Approximately 186,000 defined chemicals and fungal extracts were evaluated for their ability to increase gamma gene transcription in either HS2 gamma or gamma YAC models. Eleven distinct classes of compounds were identified, the majority of which were active within 24-48 hr. The short chain hydroxamate-containing class generally exhibited delayed maximal activity, which continued to increase transcription up to 120 hr. The cyclic tetrapeptide OSI-2040 and the hydroxamates were shown to have histone deacetylase inhibitory activity. In primary hematopoietic progenitor cell cultures, OSI-2040 increased HbF by 4.5-fold at a concentration of only 40 nM, comparable to the effects of hydroxyurea at 100 microM. This screening methodology successfully identifies active compounds for further mec

REFERRED WATERFLOOD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR THE SPRABERRY TREND AREA

This report describes the work performed during the first semi-annual third year of the project, ''Preferred Waterflood Management Practices for the Spraberry Trend Area''. The objective of this project is to significantly increase field-wide production in the Spraberry Trend in a short time frame through the application of preferred practices for managing and optimizing water injection. Our goal is to dispel negative attitudes and lack of confidence in water injection and to document the methodology and results for public dissemination to motivate waterflood expansion in the Spraberry Trend. To achieve this objective, in this period we concentrated our effort on analyzing production and injection data to optimize the reservoir management strategies for Germania Spraberry Unit. This study address the reservoir characterization and monitoring of the waterflooding project and propose alternatives of development of the current and future conditions of the reservoir to improve field performance. This research should serve as a guide for future work in reservoir simulation and can be used to evaluate various scenarios for additional development as well as to optimize the operating practices in the field. The results indicate that under the current conditions, a total of 1.410 million barrels of oil can be produced in the next 20 years through the 64 active wells and suggest that the unit can be successfully flooded with the current injection rate of 1600 BWPD and the pattern consisting of 6 injection wells aligned about 36 degrees respect to the major fracture orientation. In addition, a progress report on GSU waterflood pilot is reported for this period

PREFERRED WATERFLOOD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR THE SPRABERRY TREND AREA

This report describes the work performed during the second year of the project, ''Preferred Waterflood Management Practices for the Spraberry Trend Area''. The objective of this project is to significantly increase field-wide production in the Spraberry Trend in a short time frame through the application of preferred practices for managing and optimizing water injection. Our goal is to dispel negative attitudes and lack of confidence in water injection and to document the methodology and results for public dissemination to motivate waterflood expansion in the Spraberry Trend. To achieve this objective, in this period we concentrated our effort on characterization of Germania Unit using an analog field ET ODaniel unit and old cased hole neutron. Petrophysical Characterization of the Germania Spraberry units requires a unique approach for a number of reasons--limited core data, lack of modern log data and absence of directed studies within the unit. The need for characterization of the Germania unit has emerged as a first step in the review, understanding and enhancement of the production practices applicable within the unit and the trend area in general. In the absence or lack of the afore mentioned resources, an approach that will rely heavily on previous petrophysical work carried out in the neighboring ET O'Daniel unit (6.2 miles away), and normalization of the old log data prior to conventional interpretation techniques will be used. A log-based rock model has been able to guide successfully the prediction of pay and non-pay intervals within the ET O'Daniel unit, and will be useful if found applicable within the Germania unit. A novel multiple regression technique utilizing non-parametric transformations to achieve better correlations in predicting a dependent variable (permeability) from multiple independent variables (rock type, shale volume and porosity) will also be investigated in this study. A log data base includes digitized formats of Gamma Ray, Cased Hole Neutron, limited Resistivity and Neutron/Density/Sonic porosity logs over a considerable wide area. In addition, a progress report on GSU waterflood pilot is reported for this period. We have seen positive response of water injection on new wells. We believe by proper data acquisition and precise reservoir engineering techniques, any lack of confidence in waterflooding can be overcome. Therefore, we develop field management software to control a vast data from the pilot and to perform precise reservoir engineering techniques such as decline curve analysis, gas and oil material balances, bubble map plot and PVT analysis. The manual for this software is listed in the Appendix-A