"Billion Dollar Bets" to Create Economic Opportunity for Every American

The American Dream--the notion that if you "work hard and play by the rules," you will improve your lot in life--has become impossible for Americans to achieve. That was the conclusion of nearly six out of ten people who responded to a June 2014, CNNMoney poll. In a December 2015 Harvard Institute of Politics' survey of millennials, nearly half pronounced the American Dream "dead."Given the fact that social mobility in the United States has largely remained stagnant for more than 30 years, many people doubt there's a better economic future for themselves and their children. Indeed, it will take a sustained effort to restore economic opportunity for all Americans. But according to research by The Bridgespan Group, reports of the American Dream's demise just might be premature.Drawing from an extensive research base--as well as dozens of interviews with experts and practitioners and the diverse perspectives of an advisory board--a Bridgespan team embarked on an effort to map out "what matters most" to increase upward economic mobility for millions of low-income Americans. (Learn more about our research effort in the Overview of Research.)The team identified an array of on-the-ground interventions that are already building pathways to the middle class, as well as promising innovations that are just beginning to emerge. The results of that investigation can be found in this report, "Billion Dollar Bets" to Create Economic Opportunity for Every American.We framed our research around this question: "How could a philanthropic investment of $1 billion dramatically increase upward social mobility for low-income individuals and families?" With access to capital that is flexible and adaptable, philanthropists are uniquely positioned to put social mobility on an upward trajectory. Roughly 80 percent of the largest donors aspire to impel social change, but just 20 percent of philanthropic investments above$10 million went to social-change organizations between 2000 and 2012. Philanthropists have lacked the sightlines into shovel-ready projects and they've lacked the confidence that large investments would actually impact the economic lives of many people.Our intent was to create a series of roadmaps that illustrate how investments of $1 billion might improve the lifetime earnings of millions of low-income Americans. We began by identifying four promising areas where large investments of private capital would likely catalyze population-level change.We then evaluated scores of concepts for restoring the meritocratic ideal to many more Americans. Working with our advisory board, we selected 15 of those concepts as illustrative "big bets" that span the four investment areas. To get a better understanding of the promise and pitfalls that come with any attempt to take on the social mobility challenge, we took a deeper dive into six of the proposed bets:Improve early childhood developmentEstablish clear and viable pathways to careersDecrease rates of conviction and incarcerationReduce unintended pregnanciesReduce the effect of concentrated poverty on the lives of people living in distressed neighborhoodsImprove the performance of public systems that administer and oversee social service

Expanding the Supply of High Quality Public Schools

Two levers that play critically important roles in determining how quickly and consistently successful schools and design models can be replicated. One is the degree of managerial responsibility, support, and control the organization chooses to exercise. The other is related to specificity of school design.This paper examines the school development landscape in the context of these levers, with examples of organizations that have chosen different paths with different tradeoffs and outcomes

Choosing a pest management company to protect your home against termites

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Distinct HIV discordancy patterns by epidemic size in stable sexual partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa

OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of HIV infection among stable sexual partnerships across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). METHODS: The authors defined measures of HIV discordancy and conducted a comprehensive quantitative assessment of discordancy among stable partnerships in 20 countries in SSA through an analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey data. RESULTS: HIV prevalence explained at least 50% of the variation in HIV discordancy, with two distinct patterns of discordancy emerging based on HIV prevalence being roughly smaller or larger than 10%. In low-prevalence countries, approximately 75% of partnerships affected by HIV are discordant, while only about half of these are discordant in high-prevalence countries. Out of each 10 HIV infected persons, two to five are engaged in discordant partnerships in low-prevalence countries compared with one to three in high-prevalence countries. Among every 100 partnerships in the population, one to nine are affected by HIV and zero to six are discordant in low-prevalence countries compared with 16-45 and 9-17, respectively, in high-prevalence countries. Finally, zero to four of every 100 sexually active adults are engaged in a discordant partnership in low-prevalence countries compared with six to eight in high-prevalence countries. CONCLUSIONS: In high-prevalence countries, a large fraction of stable partnerships were affected by HIV and half were discordant, whereas in low-prevalence countries, fewer stable partnerships were affected by HIV but a higher proportion of them were discordant. The findings provide a global view of HIV infection among stable partnerships in SSA but imply complex considerations for rolling out prevention interventions targeting discordant partnerships

Pesticide Applicator Certification Series: Toxicity of Pesticides

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311.Entomology and Plant Patholog

Effects of experimental design and its role in interpretation of results

A total of 256 weanling pigs (PIC TR4 × 1050, initially 13.8 lb and 21 d of age) were used in a 28-d growth trial to compare allotment methods of a completely randomized design (CRD) and a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Two treatments were used to compare these designs: a negative control with no antibiotic or growth promoter and a positive control with 35 g/ton of Denagard (Novartis Animal Health), 400 g/ton of chlortetracycline, and zinc from zinc oxide at 3,000 and 2,000 ppm in Phases 1 and 2, respectively. Experimental diets were fed in 2 phases: Phase 1 from d 0 to 14 and Phase 2 from d 14 to 28. Eight replications of each dietary treatment were used for each experimental design. The first statistical model examined dietary treatment, experimental design, and the design × dietary treatment as fixed factors. With the exception of pens in the CRD having a trend for improved (P 0.11) for any responses variables, indicating that treatment means reacted similarly in each of the experimental designs. In both the CRD and the RCBD, pig weights were increased (P < 0.003) with supplementation of growth promoters on d 14 and 28. Variation of weight within pen remained the same in the CRD from d 0 to 28 at approximately 20% but increased from 3% on d 0 to 10% on d 28 for the RCBD. Dietary addition of growth promoters increased (P < 0.003) ADG and ADFI and improved F/G (P < 0.04) in both the CRD and RCBD from d 0 to 14, with lower P-values for the CRD than the RCBD. From d 14 to 28, the CRD detected an increase (P < 0.001) in ADG and ADFI with dietary addition of growth promoters, and the RCBD detected an increase (P < 0.001) only in ADFI. Over the entire 28-d trial, growth promoters increased (P < 0.001) ADG and ADFI and improved (P < 0.03) F/G in the CRD and increased (P < 0.02) ADG and ADFI in the RCBD. Lower standard errors for the difference were also estimated for ADG and F/G in the CRD than in the RCBD from d 0 to 28. The average corrected relative efficiency for each of the three periods was 2.08 for ADG, 5.05 for ADFI, and 0.80 for F/G. The gain and intake values suggest that the added variation explained by blocks in the RCBD was beneficial for achieving a more reduced estimate of σ2error compared with analyzing that particular data set as a CRD. The variance ratios of the CRD to RCBD from d 0 to 28 depict the different responses well with ADG at 0.67, ADFI at 1.70, and F/G at 0.22. When these ratios were compared with an F-test, they were well below the upper critical limit of 4.60, suggesting that the CRD offered estimates for σ2error similar to those of the RCBD. With the same estimate for σ2error, the non-centrality parameter for each design would be similar, and therefore, the increase in degrees of freedom (DF) for the error term would lead to greater power to detect differences in the CRD. Additional studies are needed to verify these results and determine whether blocking is an efficient use of error DF

Adaptive Optics Spectroscopy: Preliminary Theoretical Results

We have done theoretical calculations and simulations for infrared spectroscopy at the MMT 6.5 m with laser guide star AO, which provides almost full sky coverage. The results show we can expect 40-60% of the photons from a unresolved source within 0.2 arcsec diameter circle for J, H, K, L and M bands under typical atmospheric seeing condition at 2.2 micron. Therefore, the spectrograph entrance slit size should match the 0.2 arcsec image to obtain high throughput. Higher resolution can be achieved by narrowing down the slit size to match the diffraction-limited image core size of about 0.1 arcsec in the infrared. However, the throughput will be correspondingly reduced by a factor of two. Due to the limited atmospheric isoplanatic angle in the J, H and K bands, the encircled photon percentage within 0.2 arcsec diameter drops from 40-60% when the object is at the laser pointing direction to 20-40% when the object is about 30 arcsec away from the laser direction. Therefore, the useful field of view for AO multiple object spectroscopy is about 60 arcsec. Further studies of IR background (sky and thermal) and IR detector performance show that spectral resolution of R = 2,000 can take full advantage of AO images without much penalty due to the dark current of the IR detector and IR OH sky emission lines. We have also studied natural guide star AO spectroscopy. More details are in the paper.Comment: Proceeding SPIE Conference on Adaptive Optics and Applications, 1997, 3126, in press, 12 pages and 6 figs included, also available at http://qso.as.arizona.edu/~jge/projects.htm

The carbon footprint of different modes of birth in the UK and the Netherlands: an exploratory study using life cycle assessment

Objective: To compare the carbon footprint of caesarean and vaginal birth. Design: Life cycle assessment (LCA). Setting: Tertiary maternity units and home births in the UK and the Netherlands. Population: Birthing women. Methods: A cradle-to-grave LCA using openLCA software to model the carbon footprint of different modes of delivery in the UK and the Netherlands. Main Outcome Measures: ‘Carbon footprint’ (in kgCO2 equivalents [kgCO2e]). Results: Excluding analgesia, the carbon footprint of a caesarean birth in the UK was 31.21 kgCO2e, compared with 12.47 kgCO2e for vaginal birth in hospital and 7.63 kgCO2e at home. In the Netherlands the carbon footprint of a caesarean was higher (32.96 kgCO2e), but lower for vaginal birth in hospital and home (10.74 and 6.27 kgCO2e, respectively). Emissions associated with analgesia for vaginal birth ranged from 0.08 kgCO2e (with opioid analgesia) to 237.33 kgCO2e (nitrous oxide with oxygen). Differences in analgesia use resulted in a lower average carbon footprint for vaginal birth in the Netherlands than the UK (11.64 versus 193.26 kgCO2e). Conclusion: The carbon footprint of a caesarean is higher than for a vaginal birth if analgesia is excluded, but this is very sensitive to the analgesia used; use of nitrous oxide with oxygen multiplies the carbon footprint of vaginal birth 25-fold. Alternative methods of pain relief or nitrous oxide destruction systems would lead to a substantial improvement in carbon footprint. Although clinical need and maternal choice are paramount, protocols should consider the environmental impact of different choices

Effects of copper sulfate and zinc oxide on weanling pig growth and plasma mineral levels

A total of 216 weanling pigs (PIC TR4 × 1050, initially 13.6 lb and 21 d of age) were used in a 42-d growth trial to compare the effects of supplemental zinc and copper and changing mineral regimens on growth performance and plasma mineral levels. The 6 dietary treatments included a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with main effects of added copper from copper sulfate (0 or 125 ppm) and added zinc from zinc oxide (0 or 3,000 ppm from d 0 to 14 and 0 or 2,000 ppm from d 14 to 42). For the final 2 treatments, either zinc oxide alone or the combinations of zinc and copper were fed from d 0 to 14, with copper sulfate fed from d 14 to 42. There were 6 pens per treatment with 6 pigs per pen. All diets were supplemented with an additional 165 ppm zinc and 16.5 ppm copper from the trace mineral premix. Plasma was collected from 2 pigs per pen on d 14 and 42. From d 0 to 14, ADG, ADFI, and F/G were improved (P < 0.04) with the addition of dietary zinc. Copper supplementation also tended to increase (P < 0.07) ADFI from d 0 to 14. From d 14 to 42, added copper increased (P < 0.003) ADG and ADFI. Over the entire trial, continuous supplemental zinc increased (P < 0.03) ADG and tended to increase (P < 0.09) ADFI. Dietary copper also increased (P < 0.004) ADG and ADFI when fed from d 0 to 42. The most advantageous values for ADG and ADFI were seen in the treatment containing high levels of zinc from d 0 to 14 and high copper levels from d 14 to 42. The addition of either zinc or copper increased (P < 0.02) feed cost per pound of gain. However, income over feed cost was improved (P < 0.006) with the addition of copper, with the greatest value obtained when high zinc was fed from d 0 to 14 and high copper was fed from d 14 to 42. Plasma zinc levels were increased (P < 0.001) with zinc supplementation on d 14. These results indicate the optimal mineral regimen was supplementing zinc oxide from d 0 to 14 and copper sulfate from d 14 to 42