Faulty Metrics and the Future of Digital Journalism

This report explores the industry of Internet measurement and its impact on news organizations working online. It investigates this landscape through a combination of documentary research and interviews with measurement companies, trade groups, advertising agencies, media scholars, and journalists from national newspapers, regional papers, and online-only news ventures

Why Do People Lack Health Insurance?

Currently, 46 million people or nearly one in five nonelderly adults and children lack health insurance in the United States, an increase of 6 million since 2000. The recent rise in uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage. This brief looks at the reasons people report being uninsured overall and by key population subgroups (defined by age, race/ethnicity, health status, and family and employment characteristics). We also examine how those reasons have changed over time

Application of pop-up satellite archival tag technology to estimate postrelease survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) caught on circle and straight-shank (“J”) hooks in the western North Atlantic recreational fis

Short-duration (5- or 10-day) deployments of pop-up satellite archival tags were used to estimate survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from the western North Atlantic recreational fishery. Forty-one tags, each recording temperature, pressure, and light level readings approximately every two minutes for 5-day tags (n= 5) or four minutes for 10-day tags (n= 36), were attached to white marlin caught with dead baits rigged on straight-shank (“J”) hooks (n =21) or circle hooks (n=20) in offshore waters of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela. Forty tags (97.8%) transmitted data to the satellites of the Argos system, and 33 tags (82.5%) transmitted data consistent with survival of tagged animals over the deployment duration. Approximately 61% (range: 19−95%) of all archived data were successfully recovered from each tag. Survival was significantly (P<0.01) higher for white marlin caught on circle hooks (100%) than for those caught on straight-shank (“J”) hooks (65%). Time-to-death ranged from 10 minutes to 64 hours following release for the seven documented mortalities, and five animals died within the first six hours after release. These results indicate that a simple change in hook type can significantly increase the survival of white marlin released from recreational fi

Flow Cell Characterisation: Flow Visualisation, Pressure Drop and Mass Transport at 2D Electrodes in a Rectangular Channel

The reaction environment in a C-Flow Lab 5 × 5® laboratory-scale electrochemical flow cell was characterised in terms of fluid flow, hydraulic pressure drop and space averaged mass transport coefficient. The cell was studied in flow-by configuration with smooth, planar electrodes within its rectangular flow channels. The effect of a turbulence promoter (a polymer mesh with a volumetric porosity of 0.84) placed next to the working electrode was also evaluated. Electrolyte volumetric flow rates ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 dm3 min-1, corresponding to mean linear velocities of 2 to 10 cm s-1 past the electrode surface and channel Reynolds numbers of 53 to 265. The pressure drop was measured both over the electrode channel and through the whole cell as a function of mean linear velocity. The electrochemical performance was quantified using the limiting current technique, which was used to determine the mass transport coefficient over the same range of flow rate. Results were compared to well-characterised electrochemical flow reactors found in the literature. The mass transport enhancement factor due to the presence of the turbulence promoter was between 1.6 and 3.9 under the studied conditions. Reactant conversion in batch recirculation mode and normalised space velocity were predicted from the electrochemical plug flow reactor equation

Impact of Small Employers on Income Inequality

Income inequality in the United States has increased substantially over the last four decades. This paper attempts to analyze the relationship between the small employers and income inequality (as measured by the Gini index). Other explanatory variables include the natural logarithm of real GDP, percentage of income from retirement income, percentage of income from social security, unemployment rate, percentage of population that identifies as a minority, percentage of population with a high school education, urban population share, and median age. A negative association between income inequality and small employers is hypothesized and supported by the linear regression model in this study

Molecular insights into the population structures of cosmopolitan marine fishes

Many marine fishes are cosmopolitan, occurring in continuous (e.g., circumtropical) or discontinuous (e.g., antitropical) distributions. Little is known of the genetic basis of population structure of these species, even though several support extensive fisheries. To develop a database that would facilitate comparison of the population structures among cosmopolitan fishes we consistently included restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as a common approach to our investigations of these species. This article presents a review of those analyses. Considerable intra`specific genetic variation was revealed within all cosmopolitan marine species. Continuously distributed species displayed population structures ranging from a lack of significant heterogeneity between ocean samples to shallow but significant structuring within an ocean basin. In general, greater intraspecific genetic divergence was revealed within discontinuously distributed fishes. Levels of population structuring ranged from species comprising conspecific populations with no mtDNA haplotypes in common to those comprising populations with homogeneous distributions of mtDNA haplotypes across ocean basins. The close affinity of haplotypes among conspecific populations of all discontinuously distributed species was consistent with contact since the Pleistocene. Although general patterns of genetic population structure were similar among continuously and discontinuously distributed cosmopolitan marine species there were some striking differences. These differences underscore the need for a thorough understanding of the genetic basis of population structure of each species for proper management