How Important Are Wages to the Elderly? Evidence from the New Beneficiary Data System and the Social Security Earnings Test

More than 40 percent of Social Security beneficiaries continue to work after age 65. This research investigates the extent to which these individuals substitute labor across periods in response to anticipated wage changes induced by the Social Security earnings test. While we find that a disproportionate number of individuals choose earnings within a few percentage points of the earnings limit, we find no evidence that these individuals substitute labor supply between

Effectiveness Of Intuitive Eating Intervention Through A Text Messaging Program Among College Students

A critical time period to prevent overweight may be the college age years. College students experience newfound food independence, possibly resulting in the formation of poor eating habits, such as overeating, or binge eating, placing them at high risk for obesity. Additionally, college students with high perceived stress levels are more likely to experience emotional eating, which may lead to weight gain. Intuitive Eating (IE) practice focuses on listening to the hunger and satiety signals, in hopes that it will prevent overeating, resulting in weight loss. Recently, texting intervention has been seen to be a successful intervention platform for behavior change and nutrition education. Therefore, reaching college students through a text messaging platform may increase the success and adherence to IE guidelines. This study examines if IE through text messaging influences the IE habits, perceived stress, and perceived self-efficacy of college students in comparison to an electronically emailed handout with the same information. Midwestern college students (n=300) completed a pre-survey online which assessed: IE practice (Intuitive Eating Scale), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale and Eating Habits Confidence Survey). Participants were then randomly divided into the control (n=150) or intervention (n=150) group. The intervention group received five weeks of intervention with weekly IE texts, and the control received the same information in an emailed handout. After intervention was complete, participants took a post-survey, which reassessed participants by the same measures used in the pre-survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated for participant characteristics and variables of interest. Control and intervention groups’ pre- and post-intervention IE, Perceived Stress, General Self-Efficacy, and Eating Habits Confidence were compared with paired t-tests to assess if the intervention program was associated with significant change in these variables. Additionally, linear regression was used to assess if change in Eating Habits Confidence and Perceived Stress was associated with the IE intervention. A total of 146 (99 intervention, 47 control) participants fully completed the survey, and the majority of participants were 18 years of age (70%), white (90%), female (85%), freshman in college (75%), and currently unemployed (75%). The results of this study found IE texting intervention to significantly increase total IE habits within the college student population. Additionally, IE texting was found increase GSE scores and limit increase PSS levels. The results of this study provide evidence that texting can be a successful platform for increasing IE behaviors among college students

Cadherin composition and multicellular aggregate invasion in organotypic models of epithelial ovarian cancer intraperitoneal metastasis.

During epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) progression, intraperitoneally disseminating tumor cells and multicellular aggregates (MCAs) present in ascites fluid adhere to the peritoneum and induce retraction of the peritoneal mesothelial monolayer prior to invasion of the collagen-rich submesothelial matrix and proliferation into macro-metastases. Clinical studies have shown heterogeneity among EOC metastatic units with respect to cadherin expression profiles and invasive behavior; however, the impact of distinct cadherin profiles on peritoneal anchoring of metastatic lesions remains poorly understood. In the current study, we demonstrate that metastasis-associated behaviors of ovarian cancer cells and MCAs are influenced by cellular cadherin composition. Our results show that mesenchymal N-cadherin-expressing (Ncad+) cells and MCAs invade much more efficiently than E-cadherin-expressing (Ecad+) cells. Ncad+ MCAs exhibit rapid lateral dispersal prior to penetration of three-dimensional collagen matrices. When seeded as individual cells, lateral migration and cell-cell junction formation precede matrix invasion. Neutralizing the Ncad extracellular domain with the monoclonal antibody GC-4 suppresses lateral dispersal and cell penetration of collagen gels. In contrast, use of a broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor (GM6001) to block endogenous membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) activity does not fully inhibit cell invasion. Using intact tissue explants, Ncad+ MCAs were also shown to efficiently rupture peritoneal mesothelial cells, exposing the submesothelial collagen matrix. Acquisition of Ncad by Ecad+ cells increased mesothelial clearance activity but was not sufficient to induce matrix invasion. Furthermore, co-culture of Ncad+ with Ecad+ cells did not promote a 'leader-follower' mode of collective cell invasion, demonstrating that matrix remodeling and creation of invasive micro-tracks are not sufficient for cell penetration of collagen matrices in the absence of Ncad. Collectively, our data emphasize the role of Ncad in intraperitoneal seeding of EOC and provide the rationale for future studies targeting Ncad in preclinical models of EOC metastasis

Direct observation of magnetization dynamics generated by nano-contact spin-torque vortex oscillators

Time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy has been used to directly image the magnetization dynamics of nano-contact (NC) spin-torque vortex oscillators (STVOs) when phase-locked to an injected microwave (RF) current. The Kerr images reveal free layer magnetization dynamics that extend outside the NC footprint, where they cannot be detected electrically, but which are crucial to phase-lock STVOs that share common magnetic layers. For a single NC, dynamics were observed not only when the STVO frequency was fully locked to that of the RF current, but also for a partially locked state characterized by periodic changes in the core trajectory at the RF frequency. For a pair of NCs, images reveal the spatial character of dynamics that electrical measurements show to have enhanced amplitude and reduced linewidth. Insight gained from these images may improve understanding of the conditions required for mutual phase-locking of multiple STVOs, and hence enhanced microwave power emission.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Sedimentation in a semi-arid zone reservoir in Australia determined by 137 Cs

Sediment has accumulated behind a masonry dam built in the 1880s in the Barrier Range, north - west of Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. The contributing catchment has an area of 12.5 ha, and is used for rangeland grazing for sheep and goats. It is estimated from surveys and measurements of heavy metals and caesium-137 that over 1000 tonnes of sediment have accumulated in the reservoir since its inception. Approximately one-third of the sediment has been delivered since the mid-1950s. Sediment accumulation is equivalent to a catchment erosion rate of 0.78 t ha-1 y-1 prior to the mid-1950s, whereas from the mid-1950s to the present it is 0.59 t ha-1 y-1. This indicates that the trap efficiency of the reservoir has decreased and/or the sediment supply has become relative ly exhausted and/or there has been a progressive increase in vegetation cover related to reduced grazing pressures. The estimated rates of erosion are considerably lower than for other sites in semi-arid New South Wales probably because sediment has been transported in overflows of the damwall