The American Middle Class, Income Inequality, and the Strength of Our Economy

Analyzes 1979-2007 income growth by income group and how the state of the middle class and level of income inequality affect factors shaping the economy, such as human capital, demand for goods and services, entrepreneurship, and inclusive institutions

Causes of inequality in health : who are you? where do you live? or who your parents were?

Data from the British National Child Development Study show that, among 33-year-olds, ill health (as measured by cardinalized responses to a question on self-assessed health) is concentrated among the worse off. The authors seek to decompose the inequalities in health status into their socioeconomic causes. In this decomposition, inequalities in health status depend on inequalities in each of the underlying determinants of health and on the elasticities of health status with respect to each of these determinants. The authors estimate these elasticities using regression models that allow for unobserved heterogeneity at the community level. They find that inequalities in unobserved community-level influences account for only 6 percent of health inequality, and inequalities in parental education and social class for only 4 percent. Inequalities in income and housing tenure account for most health inequality, though inequalities in educational attainment and in math scores at age seven also play a part.Health Systems Development&Reform,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Child and Children's Health,Disease Control&Prevention,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems,Housing&Human Habitats,Gender and Health,Regional Rural Development

Precursor Analysis for Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling: From Prescriptive to Risk-Informed Regulation

The Oil Spill Commission’s chartered mission—to “develop options to guard against … any oil spills associated with offshore drilling in the future” (National Commission 2010)—presents a major challenge: how to reduce the risk of low-frequency oil spill events, and especially high-consequence events like the Deepwater Horizon accident, when historical experience contains few oil spills of material scale and none approaching the significance of the Deepwater Horizon. In this paper, we consider precursor analysis as an answer to this challenge, addressing first its development and use in nuclear reactor regulation and then its applicability to offshore oil and gas drilling. We find that the nature of offshore drilling risks, the operating information obtainable by the regulator, and the learning curve provided by 30 years of nuclear experience make precursor analysis a promising option available to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) to bring cost-effective, risk-informed oversight to bear on the threat of catastrophic oil spills.catastrophic oil spills, quantitative risk analysis, risk-informed regulation

Teaching TAs To Teach: Strategies for TA Training

"The only thing that scales with undergrads is undergrads". As Computer Science course enrollments have grown, there has been a necessary increase in the number of undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants (TAs, and UTAs). TA duties often extend far beyond grading, including designing and leading lab or recitation sections, holding office hours and creating assignments. Though advanced students, TAs need proper pedagogical training to be the most effective in their roles. Training strategies have widely varied from no training at all, to semester-long prep courses. We will explore the challenges of TA training across both large and small departments. While much of the effort has focused on teams of undergraduates, most presenters have used the same tools and strategies with their graduate students. Training for TAs should not just include the mechanics of managing a classroom, but culturally relevant pedagogy. The panel will focus on the challenges of providing "just in time", and how we manage both intra-course training and department or campus led courses

Planning decision-making: Independence, subsidiarity, impartiality and the state

This paper explores recent changes that involve the Planning Inspectorate in England, considering as part of this the relevance and value of independence and impartiality in effective decision-making, together with a consideration of the significance of these changes in the context of localism and the subsidiarity narrative. To inform this debate, this paper focuses upon the value of having an independent body for planning decisions through a comparison with the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) in Northern Ireland. The paper points towards the potential need for change in the structural approach and arrangements of the system in England, drawing particularly upon the PAC as a potential model for consideration

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive & Dependence: Using Dodgeball to Explore Frequency Dependent Selection

The term frequency dependence describes scenarios in which the likelihood of an event occurring is strongly tied to how common a particular trait is. Understanding frequency dependence is key to understanding numerous biological processes relevant to evolution by natural selection, such as predation, mimicry, disease, and effective vaccinations. We use dodgeball to demonstrate frequency dependent selection in a hypothetical predator–prey community, and provide possible extensions into other topics. This activity can be used with biology students in high school through upper-level undergraduate courses

NAD+-dependent DNA ligases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Streptomyces coelicolor

Sequencing of the genomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) identified putative genes for an NAD+-dependent DNA ligase. We have cloned both open reading frames and overexpressed the protein products in Escherichia coli. In vitro biochemical assays confirm that each of these proteins encodes a functional DNA ligase that uses NAD+ as its cofactor. Expression of either protein is able to complement E. coli GR501, which carries a temperature-sensitive mutation in ligA. Thus, in vitro and in vivo analyses confirm predictions that ligA genes from M. tuberculosis and S. coelicolor are NAD+-dependent DNA ligases

Because I Said So: Ten Tips for Finding Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy

Volunteers, interns and student workers are indispensable at local museums and archives in achieving their yearly goals. Teaching and managing the occasional quirks of this important group of people is as important as knowing how to sew a tag on an artifact. “Because I Said So” will provide ideas for how to work with volunteers of all ages doing collections management and archival tasks without tearing out your hair, or ruining any artifacts