Household Charitable Giving among U.S. Working-Class Families, 1918-1919

This paper examines household charitable giving in the period just before the New Deal increased government involvement in social services. The 1918-19 BLS Cost of Living Survey provides a window on middle-class giving to church, charity, and patriotic organizations, as well as investment in Liberty Bonds. A lognormal hurdle model is used to estimate the probability of any giving, and the amount given, to different types of organizations. From this, we estimate income elasticities of giving and the substitutability of giving to different types of organizations. The results are compared to findings from studies on modern giving. I find that giving to similar types of organizations was complementary in this time period. Church giving was particularly income inelastic. In contrast with today, families living in the northeast were most likely to give to churches. I consider a few explanations for this result

The Effect of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on U.S. Life Insurance Holdings

This paper examines the effect of a sharp rise in mortality, the 1918 influenza epidemic, on life insurance holdings in the U.S. The BLS Cost of Living Surveys of 1918-1919 provide a unique opportunity to examine the effect of the pandemic—some households were surveyed before, and others during or shortly after the worst of the influenza outbreak. In addition, I use state-level insurance sales data to compare the increase in spending on insurance in states particularly hard hit by the epidemic, relative to those that were not. I find some evidence that, in the immediate aftermath of the epidemic, those in severely affected areas spent more on industrial insurance. They were less likely, though, to hold ordinary or fraternal policies and the effects appear to be short-lived. I consider a few explanations for the smaller-than-expected results

The investigation, development and testing of novel methods for the statistical characterisation of: - cosmic microwave background data, aimed at isolating and quantifying departures from the standard cosmological model; and, - large scale galaxy clustering data, aimed at refining estimates of key parameters required for the advancement of galaxy for-mation theory.

The thesis concerns the statistical characterisation of large scale properties of the Universe. Two complementary data sets are considered: all-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP); and large area maps of galaxies detected through the sub-millimetre electromagnetic emission using the Herschel Space Observatory. The standard model predicts the distribution of temperature fluctuations in the CMB to be Gaussian, homogeneous and isotropic. Since they could deviate from the standard model in many different ways, a number of complementary descriptors are required. All-sky maps of the CMB are often decomposed into spherical harmonic modes. Any modes aligned with the Galactic plane are particularly interesting because anomalous behaviour in them could indicate errors in the subtraction of Galactic foreground. Here a simple statistical analysis of these modes is tested and shown to be a useful diagnostic of possible foreground subtraction systematics. In addition, two methods for characterizing large-scale anisotropy in all sky CMB maps are discussed. They are tested against simulated anisotropic cosmologies and both show promise as effective diagnostic tools. The second part concerns analytical models of the correlation function for the distribution of galaxies. The 'Halo' model is comprehensive, but it is also rather complex. We promote a simpler alternative based on fitting functions found from numerical simulations. Both models compare well to the observational data, showing that the fitting function method can be a quick and easy option. Also, we show that a 'key' Halo model assumption, intra-halo correlations, is not required to produce a good fit. We summarise by discussing the different approximations used in the current galaxy clustering models, the limits of the currently available data and future areas of development

Extreme energy, ‘fracking’ and human rights: a new field for human rights impact assessments?

This article explores the potential human rights impacts of the ‘extreme energy’ process, specifically focussing on the production of shale gas, coal-bed methane (CBM) and ‘tight oil’, known colloquially as ‘fracking’. The article locates the discussion within a broader context of resource depletion, the ‘limits to growth’ and the process of extreme energy itself. Utilising recent secondary data from the United States and Australia, combined with the preliminary findings of our ethnographic fieldwork in the United Kingdom, the article outlines a prima facie case for investigating ‘fracking’ development through a human rights lens. Indeed, based on considerable emerging evidence we argue that ‘fracking’ development poses a significant risk to a range of key human rights and should thus form the subject of a multitude of comprehensive, interdisciplinary human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) as a matter of urgency. Finally, given the close relationships between government and extractive industries, we argue that these impact assessments must do more than bolster corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements and should be truly independent of either government or industry influence

Towards understanding crime dynamics in a heterogeneous environment:A mathematical approach

Crime data provides information on the nature and location of the crime but, in general, does not include information on the number of criminals operating in a region. By contrast, many approaches to crime reduction necessarily involve working with criminals or individuals at risk of engaging in criminal activity and so the dynamics of the criminal population is important. With this in mind, we develop a mechanistic, mathematical model which combines the number of crimes and number of criminals to create a dynamical system. Analysis of the model highlights a threshold for criminal efficiency, below which criminal numbers will settle to an equilibrium level that can be exploited to reduce crime through prevention. This efficiency measure arises from the initiation of new criminals in response to observation of criminal activity; other initiation routes - via opportunism or peer pressure - do not exhibit such thresholds although they do impact on the level of criminal activity observed. We used data from Cape Town, South Africa, to obtain parameter estimates and predicted that the number of criminals in the region is tending towards an equilibrium point but in a heterogeneous manner - a drop in the number of criminals from low crime neighbourhoods is being offset by an increase from high crime neighbourhoods

The impact of egg incubation temperature on the personality of oviparous reptiles

Personality traits, defined as differences in the behavior of individual animals of the same species that are consistent over time and context, such as ‘boldness,’ have been shown to be both heritable and be influenced by external factors, such as predation pressure. Currently, we know very little about the role that early environmental factors have upon personality. Thus, we investigated the impact of incubation temperature upon the boldness on an oviparous reptile, the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). Eggs, from one clutch, were incubated at two different average temperatures within the normal range. After hatching the lizards were raised under the same environmental conditions. Novel object and novel environment tests were used to assess personality. Each test was repeated in both the short term and the long term. The results revealed that incubation temperature did impact upon ‘boldness’ but only in the short term and suggests that, rather than influencing personality, incubation temperature may have an effect on the development of behavioral of oviparous reptiles at different stages across ontogeny

Evidence for 28 genetic disorders discovered by combining healthcare and research data

De novo mutations in protein-coding genes are a well-established cause of developmental disorders. However, genes known to be associated with developmental disorders account for only a minority of the observed excess of such de novo mutations. Here, to identify previously undescribed genes associated with developmental disorders, we integrate healthcare and research exome-sequence data from 31,058 parent–offspring trios of individuals with developmental disorders, and develop a simulation-based statistical test to identify gene-specific enrichment of de novo mutations. We identified 285 genes that were significantly associated with developmental disorders, including 28 that had not previously been robustly associated with developmental disorders. Although we detected more genes associated with developmental disorders, much of the excess of de novo mutations in protein-coding genes remains unaccounted for. Modelling suggests that more than 1,000 genes associated with developmental disorders have not yet been described, many of which are likely to be less penetrant than the currently known genes. Research access to clinical diagnostic datasets will be critical for completing the map of genes associated with developmental disorders

The swan genome and transcriptome, its not all black and white

BACKGROUND: The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is an iconic species with contrasting plumage to that of the closely related northern hemisphere white swans. The relative geographic isolation of the black swan may have resulted in a limited immune repertoire and increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, notably infectious diseases from which Australia has been largely shielded. Unlike mallard ducks and the mute swan (Cygnus olor), the black swan is extremely sensitive to highly pathogenic avian influenza. Understanding this susceptibility has been impaired by the absence of any available swan genome and transcriptome information. RESULTS: Here, we generate the first chromosome-length black and mute swan genomes annotated with transcriptome data, all using long-read based pipelines generated for vertebrate species. We use these genomes and transcriptomes to show that unlike other wild waterfowl, black swans lack an expanded immune gene repertoire, lack a key viral pattern-recognition receptor in endothelial cells and mount a poorly controlled inflammatory response to highly pathogenic avian influenza. We also implicate genetic differences in SLC45A2 gene in the iconic plumage of the black swan. CONCLUSION: Together, these data suggest that the immune system of the black swan is such that should any avian viral infection become established in its native habitat, the black swan would be in a significant peril. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13059-022-02838-0