The Twentieth Century Record of Inequality and Poverty in the United States

When the twentieth century is viewed as a whole, no clear trend in income inequality emerges. Inequality was high and rising during the first three decades and peaked during the Depression. It fell sharply during World War II and remained at the lower level in the 1950s and 1960s. From the 1970s through the mid-1990s inequality steadily increased to levels not seen since World War II, though well below those during the first three decades. The rate of poverty exhibited a long-run downward trend from about 60–70 percent in the earlier years of the century to the 12–14 percent range in recent years, with considerable fluctuation around this secular trend. Changes in inequality were produced largely by demographic and technological changes, the growth and decline of various industries, changes in patterns of international trade, cyclical unemployment, and World War II. The primary drivers of the rate of poverty were economic growth and factors that produced changes in income inequality, particularly demographic change and unemployment. Public policy has reduced the market-generated level of inequality, but since 1950 has had little effect on the trend in inequality. Prior to 1950, the growth of government, and particularly the introduction of a broadly based income tax during World War II, coincided with and partly produced the sharp downward shift in inequality of that era. Government had little effect on poverty rates until 1950. Public income transfer programs have reduced poverty rates appreciably in recent decades. Since World War II, when they have been on a large enough scale to matter, changes in tax and transfer policy have tended to reinforce market-generated trends in inequality and poverty rather than offset them.

Evidence for Trait-Based Dominance in Occupancy among Fossil Taxa and the Decoupling of Macroecological and Macroevolutionary Success

Biological systems provide examples of differential success among taxa, from ecosystems with a few dominant species (ecological success) to clades that possess far more species than sister clades (macroevolutionary success). Macroecological success, the occupation by a species or clade of an unusually high number of areas, has received less attention. If macroecological success reflects heritable traits, then successful species should be related. Genera composed of species possessing those traits should occupy more areas than genera with comparable species richness that lack such traits. Alternatively, if macroecological success reflects autapomorphic traits, then generic occupancy should be a by-product of species richness among genera and occupancy of constituent species. We test this using Phanerozoic marine invertebrates. Although temporal patterns of species and generic occupancy are strongly correlated, inequality in generic occupancy typically is greater than expected. Genus-level patterns cannot be explained solely with species-level patterns. Within individual intervals, deviations between the observed and expected generic occupancy correlate with the number of lithological units (stratigraphic formations), particularly after controlling for geographic range and species richness. However, elevated generic occupancy is unrelated to or negatively associated with either generic geographic ranges or within-genus species richness. Our results suggest that shared traits among congeneric species encourage shortterm macroecological success without generating short-term macroevolutionary success. A broad niche may confer high occupancy but does not necessarily promote speciation. Supplemental files attached below (.zip

Evidence for Trait-Based Dominance in Occupancy among Fossil Taxa and the Decoupling of Macroecological and Macroevolutionary Success

Biological systems provide examples of differential success among taxa, from ecosystems with a few dominant species (ecological success) to clades that possess far more species than sister clades (macroevolutionary success). Macroecological success, the occupation by a species or clade of an unusually high number of areas, has received less attention. If macroecological success reflects heritable traits, then successful species should be related. Genera composed of species possessing those traits should occupy more areas than genera with comparable species richness that lack such traits. Alternatively, if macroecological success reflects autapomorphic traits, then generic occupancy should be a by-product of species richness among genera and occupancy of constituent species. We test this using Phanerozoic marine invertebrates. Although temporal patterns of species and generic occupancy are strongly correlated, inequality in generic occupancy typically is greater than expected. Genus-level patterns cannot be explained solely with species-level patterns. Within individual intervals, deviations between the observed and expected generic occupancy correlate with the number of lithological units (stratigraphic formations), particularly after controlling for geographic range and species richness. However, elevated generic occupancy is unrelated to or negatively associated with either generic geographic ranges or within-genus species richness. Our results suggest that shared traits among congeneric species encourage shortterm macroecological success without generating short-term macroevolutionary success. A broad niche may confer high occupancy but does not necessarily promote speciation. Supplemental files attached below (.zip

Evidence for Trait-Based Dominance in Occupancy among Fossil Taxa and the Decoupling of Macroecological and Macroevolutionary Success

Biological systems provide examples of differential success among taxa, from ecosystems with a few dominant species (ecological success) to clades that possess far more species than sister clades (macroevolutionary success). Macroecological success, the occupation by a species or clade of an unusually high number of areas, has received less attention. If macroecological success reflects heritable traits, then successful species should be related. Genera composed of species possessing those traits should occupy more areas than genera with comparable species richness that lack such traits. Alternatively, if macroecological success reflects autapomorphic traits, then generic occupancy should be a by-product of species richness among genera and occupancy of constituent species. We test this using Phanerozoic marine invertebrates. Although temporal patterns of species and generic occupancy are strongly correlated, inequality in generic occupancy typically is greater than expected. Genus-level patterns cannot be explained solely with species-level patterns. Within individual intervals, deviations between the observed and expected generic occupancy correlate with the number of lithological units (stratigraphic formations), particularly after controlling for geographic range and species richness. However, elevated generic occupancy is unrelated to or negatively associated with either generic geographic ranges or within-genus species richness. Our results suggest that shared traits among congeneric species encourage shortterm macroecological success without generating short-term macroevolutionary success. A broad niche may confer high occupancy but does not necessarily promote speciation. Supplemental files attached below (.zip

Evidence for Trait-Based Dominance in Occupancy among Fossil Taxa and the Decoupling of Macroecological and Macroevolutionary Success

Biological systems provide examples of differential success among taxa, from ecosystems with a few dominant species (ecological success) to clades that possess far more species than sister clades (macroevolutionary success). Macroecological success, the occupation by a species or clade of an unusually high number of areas, has received less attention. If macroecological success reflects heritable traits, then successful species should be related. Genera composed of species possessing those traits should occupy more areas than genera with comparable species richness that lack such traits. Alternatively, if macroecological success reflects autapomorphic traits, then generic occupancy should be a by-product of species richness among genera and occupancy of constituent species. We test this using Phanerozoic marine invertebrates. Although temporal patterns of species and generic occupancy are strongly correlated, inequality in generic occupancy typically is greater than expected. Genus-level patterns cannot be explained solely with species-level patterns. Within individual intervals, deviations between the observed and expected generic occupancy correlate with the number of lithological units (stratigraphic formations), particularly after controlling for geographic range and species richness. However, elevated generic occupancy is unrelated to or negatively associated with either generic geographic ranges or within-genus species richness. Our results suggest that shared traits among congeneric species encourage shortterm macroecological success without generating short-term macroevolutionary success. A broad niche may confer high occupancy but does not necessarily promote speciation. Supplemental files attached below (.zip

Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat?

Paleontologists use multiple methods to reconstruct the anatomy and behavior of extinct animals, including direct observations from well-preserved fossils and inferences from the phylogeny of modern and extinct relatives. We illustrate these techniques by reference to the biblical definitions of kosher and non-kosher animals; that is, how can we apply these approaches to the hypothetical question of whether an extinct form would have been kosher. The biblical categories do not readily map to modern understandings of systematics, but are heavily based on life mode. When given, distinguishing characteristics, such as the presence of fins and scales in aquatic animals, can be readily seen directly in fossils. In other cases, such as cud chewing, they need to be inferred from the phylogenetic relationships of the fossil forms. Dinosaurs (other than birds), unfortunately, are not kosher. A kosher “paleo diet” would be increasingly difficult further in the past. The use of biblical content as a way of introducing concepts from paleontology and evolutionary biology, such as crown groups and stem groups, should be of broad interest.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-015-0047-

Universal Formulae for Percolation Thresholds

A power law is postulated for both site and bond percolation thresholds. The formula writes $p_c=p_0[(d-1)(q-1)]^{-a}d^{\ b}$, where $d$ is the space dimension and $q$ the coordination number. All thresholds up to $d\rightarrow \infty$ are found to belong to only three universality classes. For first two classes $b=0$ for site dilution while $b=a$ for bond dilution. The last one associated to high dimensions is characterized by $b=2a-1$ for both sites and bonds. Classes are defined by a set of value for $\{p_0; \ a\}$. Deviations from available numerical estimates at $d \leq 7$ are within $\pm 0.008$ and $\pm 0.0004$ for high dimensional hypercubic expansions at $d \geq 8$. The formula is found to be also valid for Ising critical temperatures.Comment: 11 pages, latex, 3 figures not include

X-RHex: A Highly Mobile Hexapedal Robot for Sensorimotor Tasks

We report on the design and development of X-RHex, a hexapedal robot with a single actuator per leg, intended for real-world mobile applications. X-RHex is an updated version of the RHex platform, designed to offer substantial improvements in power, run-time, payload size, durability, and terrain negotiation, with a smaller physical volume and a comparable footprint and weight. Furthermore, X-RHex is designed to be easier to build and maintain by using a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for a majority of its internals. This document describes the X-RHex architecture and design, with a particular focus on the new ability of this robot to carry modular payloads as a laboratory on legs. X-RHex supports a variety of sensor suites on a small, mobile robotic platform intended for broad, general use in research, defense, and search and rescue applications. Comparisons with previous RHex platforms are presented throughout, with preliminary tests indicating that the locomotive capabilities of X-RHex can meet or exceed the previous platforms. With the additional payload capabilities of X-RHex, we claim it to be the first robot of its size to carry a fully programmable GPU for fast, parallel sensor processing

Wnt11/Fzd7 signaling compartmentalizes AKAP2/PKA to regulate L-type Ca2+ channel

Calcium influx through the voltage-gated L-type calcium channels (LTCC) mediates a wide range of physiological processes from contraction to secretion. Despite extensive research on regulation of LTCC conductance by PKA phosphorylation in response to β-adrenergic stimulation, the science remains incomplete. Here, we show that Wnt11, a non-canonical Wnt ligand, through its G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) Fzd7 attenuates the LTCC conductance by preventing the proteolytic processing of its C terminus. This is mediated across species by protein kinase A (PKA), which is compartmentalized by A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAP). Systematic analysis of all AKAP family members revealed AKAP2 anchoring of PKA is central to the Wnt11-dependent regulation of the channel. The identified Wnt11/AKAP2/PKA signalosome is required for heart development, controlling the intercellular electrical coupling in the developing zebrafish heart. Altogether, our data revealed Wnt11/Fzd7 signaling via AKAP2/PKA as a conserved alternative GPCR system regulating Ca(2+) homeostasis