Central Policies for Local Debt: The Case of Teacher Pensions

The recent debt crises in New York City and Cleveland, the deterioration of public infra-structures in certain of our states and larger cities, and the occasional bankruptcy of smaller pension plans suggest that not all of local finance stands on a sound fiscal base. This paper examines the trends in funding for one form of state and local government debt--teacher pensions underfundings -- and asks what a central government might do to check any unwanted growth in these liabilities. The analysis concludes (i) that this form of state-local debt is sizeable and growing, (ii) that state and local governments have an implicit pay-as-you-go bias in pension financing which encourages the growth of debt, but (iii) central government benefit and funding regulations or debt relief policies can slow, or even reverse, that growth.

An Exercise in Molecular Epidemiology: Human Rhinovirus Prevalence and Genitics

Human rhinovirus (HRV) is one of the most common human respiratory pathogens and is responsible for the majority of upper respiratory illnesses. Recently, a phylogeny was constructed from all known Ameri- can Type Culture Collection (ATCC) HRV sequences. From this study, three HRV classifications (HRVA, HRVB, and HRVC) were determined and techniques for classifying new isolates of HRV were reported. The genetic change of this virus in specific populations over time is of great interest to understand the evolution and epidemiology of viruses. To facilitate the collections of HRV sequences over a number of years, a virology experiment was designed in which students test nasal lavage samples to look for HRV infection. Students will learn a variety of techniques including RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, qPCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis as well as bioinformatic skills though examination of sequences from the HRV-field isolates. Furthermore, students can look at symptom data from subjects to investigate correla- tions between symptom severity and factors such as stress and sleep patterns. Such information can be used to examine hypotheses regarding HRV mutation, symptom severity and epidemiology

Lepton Flavour Violation in a Class of Lopsided SO(10) Models

A class of predictive SO(10) grand unified theories with highly asymmetric mass matrices, known as lopsided textures, has been developed to accommodate the observed mixing in the neutrino sector. The model class effectively determines the rate for charged lepton flavour violation, and in particular the branching ratio for $\mu -> e \gamma$, assuming that the supersymmetric GUT breaks directly to the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM). We find that in light of the combined constraints on the CMSSM parameters from direct searches and from the WMAP satellite observations, the resulting predicted rate for $\mu -> e \gamma$ in this model class can be within the current experimental bounds for low $\tan \beta$, but that the next generation of $\mu -> e \gamma$ experiments would effectively rule out this model class if LFV is not detected.Comment: 23 page

Risk-Sensitive Resource Defense in a Territorial Reef Fish

As coral reefs are home to dense aggregations of a variety of species, aggressive territoriality is often a critical component of individual behavior. Identification and assessment of the risk posed by intruders is crucial to defending a territory, and fishes on coral reefs have been found to attend to body shape, body size, and coloration when responding to intruders. We examined the extent to which dusky damselfish (Stegastes adustus) discriminate among distinct categories of intruders by measuring the distance at which a fish attacks an intruder and the relative intensity and frequency of those attacks. We found that S. adustus discriminated among perceived threats, attacking conspecifics more intensely and more often than egg-predators and herbivores, and showing a trend of attacking those groups more often than invertebrate-feeders, which do not compete with damselfish for resources. Furthermore, territory holders attacked initial-phase wrasses from a farther distance than terminal-phase wrasses, suggesting that they can discriminate among classes of individuals within a species other than their own. Dusky damselfish thus exhibit the ability to make fine distinctions among intruders in a diverse ecosystem

Is Large Lepton Mixing Excluded?

The original \bnum -(or $\bar{\nu}_{\tau}$-) energy spectrum from the gravitational collapse of a star has a larger average energy than the spectrum for \bnue since the opacity of \bnue exeeds that of \bnum (or $\nu_{\tau}$). Flavor neutrino conversion, \bnue $\leftrightarrow$ \bnum, induced by lepton mixing results in partial permutation of the original \bnue and \bnum spectra. An upper bound on the permutation factor, $p \leq 0.35$ (99$\%$ CL) is derived using the data from SN1987A and the different models of the neutrino burst. The relation between the permutation factor and the vacuum mixing angle is established, which leads to the upper bound on this angle. The excluded region, $\sin^2 2\theta > 0.7 - 0.9$, covers the regions of large mixing angle solutions of the solar neutrino problem: ``just-so" and, partly, MSW, as well as part of region of $\nu_{e} - \nu_{\mu}$ oscillation space which could be responsible for the atmospheric muon neutrino deficit. These limits are sensitive to the predicted neutrino spectrum and can be strengthened as supernova models improve.Comment: 20 pages, TeX file. For hardcopy with figures contact [email protected]. Institute for Advanced Study number AST 93/1

Social Support Mediates the Relationship Between Mental-Physical Multiple Morbidities and Engagement in Aerobic Physical Activity Among Military Service Members and Veterans

Some research shows that physical activity levels are low among veterans, but research gaps exist specifically in regards to promoting physical activity in veterans with multiple morbidities. For the present study, we retrieved data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The study sample included 57,842 military service members and veterans. We carried out a mediation analysis to determine the effect of social support on the relationship between multiple morbidities and aerobic physical activity. Social support partially mediated the relationship between the presence of multiple morbidities and aerobic physical activity, a*b= -0.003, [95% CI = -0.007, -0.001]. Programs aimed at facilitating adequate social support among service members and veterans with multiple morbidities may increase their uptake of aerobic physical activity, and thus, decrease concomitant risk for health-related disorders. </p

Poverty in the Social World of the Wise

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68560/2/10.1177_030908928701203704.pd