Does identity affect intermarriage decision? Evidence from NLSY

The marriage gap between black and white Americans has widened since 1950s. Black women are less than half as likely to marry than white women, across all education and income levels. In 2012, nearly 50% of black women in the age group 25-50 have never been married whereas only 20% of white women in that same age group have never married. It has been hypothesized in the literature that sex-ratio imbalance of African American is the major culprit of the phenomenon due to high incarceration rate of black males, however, this explanation is only partial. We pay particular attention to the fact that black female is also the least likely group to form interracial marriage, which has not been paid much attention in the literature. In 2010, only 9% of black females married someone outside of own race, whereas the number is 36% and 26% for Asian and Hispanic women, respectively. Building on the framework of Akerlof and Kranton (2000)’s identity model, we empirically test the role of identity, a sense of self, in black females’ decision to intermarry. Two identification strategies are used to test the hypothesis of identity effects: i) fathers’ region of origin, which was categorized according to the timeline of each states decision to repeal anti-miscegenation laws, was used as a proxy for identity. ii) third-generation migrants were used as a proxy for identity under the assumption that a lag exists between assimilation to the host culture and one’s identity. The results of the empirical analysis using NLSY data indicate significant effect of identity on black female’s inter-marriage decision, which take a partial role in the current diverging marriage gap in U.S

Does identity affect intermarriage decision? Evidence from NLSY

The marriage gap between black and white Americans has widened since 1950s. Black women are less than half as likely to marry than white women, across all education and income levels. In 2012, nearly 50% of black women in the age group 25-50 have never been married whereas only 20% of white women in that same age group have never married. It has been hypothesized in the literature that sex-ratio imbalance of African American is the major culprit of the phenomenon due to high incarceration rate of black males, however, this explanation is only partial. We pay particular attention to the fact that black female is also the least likely group to form interracial marriage, which has not been paid much attention in the literature. In 2010, only 9% of black females married someone outside of own race, whereas the number is 36% and 26% for Asian and Hispanic women, respectively. Building on the framework of Akerlof and Kranton (2000)’s identity model, we empirically test the role of identity, a sense of self, in black females’ decision to intermarry. Two identification strategies are used to test the hypothesis of identity effects: i) fathers’ region of origin, which was categorized according to the timeline of each states decision to repeal anti-miscegenation laws, was used as a proxy for identity. ii) third-generation migrants were used as a proxy for identity under the assumption that a lag exists between assimilation to the host culture and one’s identity. The results of the empirical analysis using NLSY data indicate significant effect of identity on black female’s inter-marriage decision, which take a partial role in the current diverging marriage gap in U.S

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells are superior to adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of limb ischemia

Conference invited speaker: Dr. Lian, QOral Presentation: Session S31 - Genetic Determinants of Heart Disease, Gene and Cell Based Therapies, Basic Research: abstract no. 1489postprintThe 16th World Congress on Heart Disease of the International Academy of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions 2011, Vancouver, B.C., 23-27 July 2011

Effects of Child Care Vouchers on Price, Quantity, and Provider Turnover in Private Care Markets

Harnessing changes in funding for a voucher program that subsidizes consumers’ use of child care services at private providers, this study quantifies effects on local markets’ service capacity and prices. We also estimate how increased funding effects provider entry rate, exit rate, and highly rated provider market share. The evidence shows that an additional $100 in private voucher funding per local young child would 1) raise the number of private-provider slots by 0.026per local young child, 2) raise average prices by$0.56 per week, mainly driven by a price increase among incumbent providers, and 3) induce new provider entry to the market by 0.4 percentage points. The estimates imply a highly elastic supply elasticity of 10.7. Thus an increase in public funding and subsequent increase in demand is expected to result in expansion of available slots accompanied by a limited increase in price

As a Matter of Fact: The National Charter School Study III 2023

Now in its third version, this study evaluates the academic progress of students enrolled in charter schools in the United States. Using a common methodology across the three studies, results are translated into trends that support insights into the performance of charter school students over the past 15 years

Perioperative antithrombotic management in joint replacement surgeries

Objectives To determine optimal perioperative antithrombotic management for patients with cardiac diseases undergoing joint replacement surgeries. Data sources MEDLINE and PubMed database search up to January 2013. Study selection Those dealing with perioperative antithrombotic management of patients undergoing orthopaedic operations, especially joint replacement, and also those undergoing general surgery. Various combinations of the following key words were used in our search: 'antiplatelet', 'antithrombotic', 'anticoagulant', 'coronary stent', 'perioperative', 'venous thromboembolism', 'cardiovascular', 'surgery', 'orthopaedic', 'knee replacement', 'hip replacement', 'joint replacement', and 'arthroplasty'. Data extraction Literature review, original articles, and best practice guidelines. Data synthesis Patients should be stratified according to their risk of developing arterial thromboembolism in order to decide the most appropriate perioperative antiplatelet or anticoagulant regimen for them. After recent coronary stenting, including bare-metal stents implanted within 6 weeks and drug-eluting stents implanted within 6 months, surgery should be deferred. For venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in patients already on aspirin, the dosage should be adjusted as necessary or additional low-molecular-weight heparin administered. Conclusion The perioperative management of patients with cardiac diseases in receipt of antithrombotic agents is based upon a delicate balance between the perceived risk of arterial thromboembolism and the perceived risk of perioperative bleeding. One must exercise good judgement in deciding the most appropriate perioperative antithrombotic regimen. Venous thromboembolism is also a common problem after joint replacement surgeries. For patients already on aspirin, optimal venous thromboembolism prophylaxis is still being debated.published_or_final_versio

Sequence Variations of Full-Length Hepatitis B Virus Genomes in Chinese Patients with HBsAg-Negative Hepatitis B Infection

BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanism of HBsAg-negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is notoriously difficult to elucidate because of the extremely low DNA levels which define the condition. We used a highly efficient amplification method to overcome this obstacle and achieved our aim which was to identify specific mutations or sequence variations associated with this entity. METHODS: A total of 185 sera and 60 liver biopsies from HBsAg-negative, HBV DNA-positive subjects or known chronic hepatitis B (CHB) subjects with HBsAg seroclearance were amplified by rolling circle amplification followed by full-length HBV genome sequencing. Eleven HBsAg-positive CHB subjects were included as controls. The effects of pivotal mutations identified on regulatory regions on promoter activities were analyzed. RESULTS: 22 and 11 full-length HBV genomes were amplified from HBsAg-negative and control subjects respectively. HBV genotype C was the dominant strain. A higher mutation frequency was observed in HBsAg-negative subjects than controls, irrespective of genotype. The nucleotide diversity over the entire HBV genome was significantly higher in HBsAg-negative subjects compared with controls (p = 0.008) and compared with 49 reference sequences from CHB patients (p = 0.025). In addition, HBsAg-negative subjects had significantly higher amino acid substitutions in the four viral genes than controls (all p<0.001). Many mutations were uniquely found in HBsAg-negative subjects, including deletions in promoter regions (13.6%), abolishment of pre-S2/S start codon (18.2%), disruption of pre-S2/S mRNA splicing site (4.5%), nucleotide duplications (9.1%), and missense mutations in "alpha" determinant region, contributing to defects in HBsAg production. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest an accumulation of multiple mutations constraining viral transcriptional activities contribute to HBsAg-negativity in HBV infection.published_or_final_versio