Measuring Poverty at the State Level

Outlines a model for using the National Academy of Sciences poverty measure, which accounts for all income, non-discretionary work and out-of-pocket health expenses, and geographic cost variations, to estimate the effects of poverty reduction policies

Inflation, Public Supports, and Families with Low Incomes

Many families with low incomes rely on public supports to make ends meet. Some of those public supports adjust for inflation annually, offering families with low incomes some salve against rising prices, while others do not. But even programs that do respond to inflation do so with a lag, which may leave some families struggling to make ends meet during periods of rapidly rising prices. This brief examines the challenges of keeping up with the rising cost of living when relying on public support and then describes how several major public supports address inflation

How Do States' Safety Net Policies Affect Poverty?

Using Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts as illustrative examples, examines how states' narrow, medium, or broad policies on cash, non-cash, and tax elements of the safety net affect poverty rates among non-elderly adults and children

Friends of Henderson Library Newsletter

In This Issue: Volunteer Opportunities , Art and the Henderson Library , Henderson Library\u27s Automated Retrieval Collection (ARC) , Farm to Table , Recent Friends Events , A Fine Romance , $aving the Green , James Dunwoody Bulloch & Modern US Naval Strategy , \u27Throw My Troubles Out the Door:\u27Bob Dylan & the Southern Musical Landscape , Memorial Books in Henderson Library , Henderson Heroes: Spotlight on Employees , Save the Dat

The Contribution of Experiential Avoidance and Social Cognitions in the Prediction of Social Anxiety

BACKGROUND: Cognitive models propose that social anxiety arises from specific dysfunctional cognitions about the likelihood and severity of embarrassment. Relational frame theory (RFT), on the other hand, posits that social anxiety arises from the unwillingness to endure unpleasant internal experiences (i.e. experiential avoidance [EA]). Although cognitive models have garnered empirical support, it may be that newer models such as RFT can improve our ability to predict and treat social anxiety. AIMS: We aimed to elucidate the relationship between dysfunctional cognitions and EA, as well as their independent and relative contributions to the prediction of social anxiety symptoms. We hypothesized that dysfunctional cognitions and EA would each be associated with social anxiety, as well as with each other. We also predicted that both EA and dysfunctional cognitions would remain independent predictors of social anxiety symptoms after controlling for each other and general distress. METHOD: Undergraduates high (n = 173) and low (n = 233) in social anxiety completed measures of social anxiety, dysfunctional cognitions, EA, and general distress. The overall sample was 66.3% female; mean age = 20.01 years (SD = 2.06). RESULTS: Correlational analyses revealed that EA, dysfunctional cognitions, and social anxiety symptoms were moderately correlated with one another. Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that dysfunctional cognitions predicted social anxiety symptoms even after controlling for EA; the reverse was not found. CONCLUSIONS: RESULTS suggest that EA and social anxiety specific cognitive distortions overlap to a moderate extent. EA does not add to the prediction of social anxiety symptoms above and beyond dysfunctional cognitions. Additional theoretical and treatment implications of the results are discussed

Volume 07

Introduction from Interim Dean Dr. Jennifer Apperson Spatial Analysis of Potential Risk Factors Associated with Addition of Atlantic Coast Pipeline Through Virginia by Rachel C. Lombardi Delicate Matters with No Speaking, Hope and Nothing, Mono Duality by Ben Osterhout Connect Graphic Design Senior Project by Lindsay Graybill Phenolic Acids in Brassicaceae Plants: Ovipositional Stimulants or Deterrents for Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae? by Rebecca E. Dey And Skyler T. Carpenter Abecedarian Cards by Emma Beckett, Jason Ware, And Mollie Andrews Helvetica: A Type Specimen Book by James Bates, Landon Cooper, Tiffani Jeffries, And Maria Wheaton “Things Left Behind” by Dallas Price Heretic Adornment by Laura Kahler Photography by Sarah Charlton Revisiting Longfellow: Expressing Universality through Accessibility by Anna Bultrowicz Magazine Spreads from “What Dreams May Come: Marriage Across Cultures” by Emily Spittle Magazine Spreads From “Live on The Street: A Naked Look at Human Sex Trafficking” by Erin Godwin Lasting Light by Eamon Brokenbroug

Iconic dishes, culture and identity: the Christmas pudding and its hundred years’ journey in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and India

Asserting that recipes are textual evidences reflecting the society that produced them, this article explores the evolution of the recipes of the iconic Christmas pudding in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Combining a micro-analysis of the recipes and the cookbook that provided them with contemporary testimonies, the article observes the dynamics revealed by the preparation and consumption of the pudding in these different societies. The findings demonstrate the relevance of national iconic dishes to the study of notions of home, migration and colonization, as well as the development of a new society and identity. They reveal how the preservation, transformation and even rejection of a traditional dish can be representative of the complex and sometimes conflicting relationships between colonists, migrants or new citizens and the places they live in

Genetics Mutations in RPGR and RP2 Account for 15% of Males with Simplex Retinal Degenerative Disease

PURPOSE. To determine the proportion of male patients presenting simplex retinal degenerative disease (RD: retinitis pigmentosa [RP] or cone/cone-rod dystrophy [COD/CORD]) with mutations in the X-linked retinal degeneration genes RPGR and RP2. METHODS. Simplex males were defined as patients with no known affected family members. Patients were excluded if they had a family history of parental consanguinity. Blood samples from a total of 214 simplex males with a diagnosis of retinal degeneration were collected for genetic analysis. The patients were screened for mutations in RPGR and RP2 by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified genomic DNA. RESULTS. We identified pathogenic mutations in 32 of the 214 patients screened (15%). Of the 29 patients with a diagnosis of COD/CORD, four mutations were identified in the ORF15 mutational hotspot of the RPGR gene. Of the 185 RP patients, three patients had mutations in RP2 and 25 had RPGR mutations (including 12 in the ORF15 region). CONCLUSIONS. This study represents mutation screening of RPGR and RP2 in the largest cohort, to date, of simplex males affected with RP or COD/CORD. Our results demonstrate a substantial contribution of RPGR mutations to retinal degenerations, and in particular, to simplex RP. Based on our findings, we suggest that RPGR should be considered as a first tier gene for screening isolated males with retinal degeneration. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:8232-8237