"Employment Effects of the 2009 Minimum Wage Increase: Evidence from State Comparisons of At-Risk Workers"

In July, 2009, the U.S. Federal minimum wage was increased from $6.55 to$7.25. Individuals in some states were unaffected by this increase, since the state minimum wage already exceeded $7.25 and the state minimum was not increased further. We use this variation, as well as variation in the actual amount of the increase, to make comparisons of the employment of “at-risk” workers across states with their peers and within states with workers arguably unaffected by the increase. Our data come from the 2009 CPS, four and five months before and after the increase. We find some evidence that the employment of some at-risk demographic groups declined as a result of the minimum wage increase, but the impacts are not statistically significant. We also find that the employment changes were not responsive to the actual amount of the increase.minimum wage

"Employment Effects of the 2009 Minimum Wage Increase: Evidence from State Comparisons of At-Risk Workers (Revised Version)"

In July, 2009, the U.S. Federal minimum wage was increased from $6.55 to$7.25. Individuals in some states were unaffected by this increase, since the state minimum wage already exceeded $7.25. We use this variation to make comparisons of the employment of “at-risk” workers with their peers across states and with workers within states who were arguably unaffected by the increase. Our data come from the 2009 CPS, four and five months before and after the increase. We find little evidence of negative employment effects for teens or less- educated adults, but some stronger evidence of a negative effect for young adults with a high school degree or less. Control for demographic characteristics reduces the size and significance of the estimated effects.Minimum Wage

Developing an Information Literacy Assessment Rubric: A Case Study of Collaboration, Process, and Outcomes

A team of four librarians at the [Institution Name] ([Institution Initials]) Libraries partnered with the [Institution Initials] Office of Institutional Effectiveness and its Director of Assessment & Accreditation Services for General Education to conduct a campus-wide, exploratory assessment of undergraduate information literacy skills. The project evaluated a selection of graduating, senior-level student papers using a rubric developed as part of the collaboration. This paper describes and discusses the collaborative rubric development and rating process, the practical implications for other librarians seeking to conduct a similar assessment, and the impact the project is having on the library instruction program

Suppression of Superconductivity by Twin Boundaries in FeSe

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy are employed to investigate twin boundaries in stoichiometric FeSe films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Twin boundaries can be unambiguously identified by imaging the 90{\deg} change in the orientation of local electronic dimers from Fe site impurities on either side. Twin boundaries run at approximately 45{\deg} to the Fe-Fe bond directions, and noticeably suppress the superconducting gap, in contrast with the recent experimental and theoretical findings in other iron pnictides. Furthermore, vortices appear to accumulate on twin boundaries, consistent with the degraded superconductivity there. The variation in superconductivity is likely caused by the increased Se height in the vicinity of twin boundaries, providing the first local evidence for the importance of this height to the mechanism of superconductivity.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Male Pattern Baldness in Relation to Prostate Cancer–Specific Mortality: A Prospective Analysis in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study

We used male pattern baldness as a proxy for long-term androgen exposure and investigated the association of dermatologist-assessed hair loss with prostate cancer–specific mortality in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. From the baseline survey (1971–1974), we included 4,316 men who were 25–74 years of age and had no prior cancer diagnosis. We estimated hazard ratios and used Cox proportional hazards regressions with age as the time metric and baseline hazard stratified by baseline age. A hybrid framework was used to account for stratification and clustering of the sample design, with adjustment for the variables used to calculate sample weights. During follow-up (median, 21 years), 3,284 deaths occurred; prostate cancer was the underlying cause of 107. In multivariable models, compared with no balding, any baldness was associated with a 56% higher risk of fatal prostate cancer (hazard ratio = 1.56; 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 2.37), and moderate balding specifically was associated with an 83% higher risk (hazard ratio = 1.83; 95% confidence interval: 1.15, 2.92). Conversely, patterned hair loss was not statistically significantly associated with all-cause mortality. Our analysis suggests that patterned hair loss is associated with a higher risk of fatal prostate cancer and supports the hypothesis of overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms

What lies beneath: A comparison of reading aloud in pure alexia and semantic dementia

Exaggerated effects of word length upon reading aloud performance define Pure Alexia, but have also been observed in Semantic Dementia. Some researchers have proposed a readingspecific account, whereby performance in these two disorders reflects the same cause: impaired orthographic processing. In contrast, according to the primary systems view of acquired reading disorders, Pure Alexia results from a basic visual processing deficit, whereas degraded semantic knowledge undermines reading performance in Semantic Dementia. To explore the source of reading deficits in these two disorders, we compared the reading performance of 10 Pure Alexic and 10 Semantic Dementia patients, matched in terms of overall severity of reading deficit. The results revealed comparable frequency effects on reading accuracy, but weaker effects of regularity in Pure Alexia than Semantic Dementia. Analysis of error types revealed a higher rate of letter-based errors and a lower rate of regularisation responses in Pure Alexia than Semantic Dementia. Error responses were most often words in Pure Alexia but most often nonwords in Semantic Dementia. Although all patients made some letter substitution errors, these were characterised by visual similarity in Pure Alexia and phonological similarity in Semantic Dementia. Overall, the data indicate that the reading deficits in Pure Alexia and Semantic Dementia arise from impairments of visual processing and knowledge of word meaning, respectively. The locus and mechanisms of these impairments are placed within the context of current connectionist models of reading

The illusion of competency versus the desirability of expertise: Seeking a common standard for support professions in sport

In this paper we examine and challenge the competency-based models which currently dominate accreditation and development systems in sport support disciplines, largely the sciences and coaching. Through consideration of exemplar shortcomings, the limitations of competency-based systems are presented as failing to cater for the complexity of decision making and the need for proactive experimentation essential to effective practice. To provide a better fit with the challenges of the various disciplines in their work with performers, an alternative approach is presented which focuses on the promotion, evaluation and elaboration of expertise. Such an approach resonates with important characteristics of professions, whilst also providing for the essential ‘shades of grey’ inherent in work with human participants. Key differences between the approaches are considered through exemplars of evaluation processes. The expertise-focused method, although inherently more complex, is seen as offering a less ambiguous and more positive route, both through more accurate representation of essential professional competence and through facilitation of future growth in proficiency and evolution of expertise in practice. Examples from the literature are also presented, offering further support for the practicalities of this approach

The fermi arc and fermi pocket in cuprates in a short-range diagonal stripe phase

In this paper we studied the fermi arc and the fermi pocket in cuprates in a short-range diagonal stripe phase with wave vectors $(7\pi/8, 7\pi/8)$, which reproduce with a high accuracy the positions and sizes of the fermi arc and fermi pocket and the superstructure in cuprates observed by Meng et al\cite{Meng}. The low-energy spectral function indicates that the fermi pocket results from the main band and the shadow band at the fermi energy. Above the fermi energy the shadow band gradually departs away from the main band, leaving a fermi arc. Thus we conclude that the fermi arc and fermi pocket can be fully attributed to the stripe phase but has nothing to do with pairing. Incorporating a d-wave pairing potential in the stripe phase the spectral weight in the antinodal region is removed, leaving a clean fermi pocket in the nodal region.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Imaging the Electron-Boson Coupling in Superconducting FeSe Films Using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy has been used to reveal signatures of a bosonic mode in the local quasiparticle density of states of superconducting FeSe films. The mode appears below Tc as a “dip-hump” feature at energy Ω∼4.7kBTc beyond the superconducting gap Δ. Spectra on strained regions of the FeSe films reveal simultaneous decreases in Δ and Ω. This contrasts with all previous reports on other high-Tc superconductors, where Δ locally anticorrelates with Ω. A local strong coupling model is found to reconcile the discrepancy well, and to provide a unified picture of the electron-boson coupling in unconventional superconductors.Physic

Telepresence and the Role of the Senses

The telepresence experience can be evoked in a number of ways. A well-known example is a player of videogames who reports about a telepresence experience, a subjective experience of being in one place or environment, even when physically situated in another place. In this paper we set the phenomenon of telepresence into a theoretical framework. As people react subjectively to stimuli from telepresence, empirical studies can give more evidence about the phenomenon. Thus, our contribution is to bridge the theoretical with the empirical. We discuss theories of perception with an emphasis on Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Gibson, the role of the senses and the Spinozian belief procedure. The aim is to contribute to our understanding of this phenomenon. A telepresence-study that included the affordance concept is used to empirically study how players report sense-reactions to virtual sightseeing in two cities. We investigate and explore the interplay of the philosophical and the empirical. The findings indicate that it is not only the visual sense that plays a role in this experience, but all senses