Alien Registration- Macmillan, Muriel L. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/22228/thumbnail.jp

The capacity to maintain ion and water homeostasis underlies interspecific variation in Drosophila cold tolerance

Many insects, including Drosophila, succumb to the physiological effects of chilling at temperatures well above those causing freezing. Low temperature causes a loss of extracellular ion and water homeostasis in such insects, and chill injuries accumulate. Using an integrative and comparative approach, we examined the role of ion and water balance in insect chilling susceptibility/ tolerance. The Malpighian tubules (MT), of chill susceptible Drosophila species lost [Na+] and [K+] selectivity at low temperatures, which contributed to a loss of Na+ and water balance and a deleterious increase in extracellular [K+]. By contrast, the tubules of chill tolerant Drosophila species maintained their MT ion selectivity, maintained stable extracellular ion concentrations, and thereby avoided injury. The most tolerant species were able to modulate ion balance while in a cold-induced coma and this ongoing physiological acclimation process allowed some individuals of the tolerant species to recover from chill coma during low temperature exposure. Accordingly, differences in the ability to maintain homeostatic control of water and ion balance at low temperature may explain large parts of the wide intra- and interspecific variation in insect chilling tolerance

Income Inequality, Intergenerational Mobility, and the Great Gatsby Curve: Is Education the Key?

It is widely believed that countries with greater levels of income inequality also have lower levels of intergenerational mobility. This relationship, known as the Great Gatsby Curve (GGC), has been prominently cited by high-ranking public policymakers, bestselling authors, and Nobel Prize–winning academics. Yet, relatively little crossnational work has empirically examined the mechanisms thought to underpin the GGC—particularly with regard to the role of educational attainment. This paper uses the cross-nationally comparable Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data set to shed new light on this issue. We find that income inequality is associated with several key components of the intergenerational transmission process—including access to higher education, the financial returns on education, and the residual effect of parental education upon labor-market earnings. Thus, consistent with theoretical models, we find that educational attainment is an important driver of the relationship between intergenerational mobility and income inequality. We hence conclude that unequal access to financial resources plays a central role in the intergenerational transmission of advantage

The unequal scarring effects of a recession on young people's life chances

Large parts of the economy were suspended from late March - June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK economy shrank by 20% in April 2020 as a result (ONS, 2020a). Given a 2% decline in GDP in the first three months of 2020, a severe recession is inevitable. NIESR's main-case scenario is a 7% economic contraction across 2020 (Lenoel & Young, 2020). The UK Government has sought to buffer the economic effects of this crisis through support such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), allowing employers to place employees on "furlough". However, such schemes are designed to support those already in work, plus likely effects of the increase in employer contributions in August, suggests young people face an extremely challenging job market. Job vacancies were estimated to be 637,000 in February-April 2020; this is a fall of 170,000 compared to the previous 3-month period, which is the largest fall since comparable records began (ONS, 2020b). Henehan (2020) estimates that an additional 640,000 18-24-year-olds could find themselves unemployed this year alone. This note summarises the evidence on the effects of youth unemployment on later outcomes, of father's unemployment on child outcomes, and the unequal effects of recessions on life chances. It then highlights what the literature suggests about how policymakers could buffer some of these negative consequences, and why this may save money in the long run

Does education raise people's productivity or does it just signal their existing ability?

As has been widely documented, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to 'significant' learning loss. While many have called for catch-up measures, there are counterarguments based on the hypothesis that education itself is a waste of time and money (Caplan, 2018) which imply that such measures aren't necessary: as long as young people are ultimately awarded educational qualifcations (e.g. GCSE and A level grades) reflecting their ability then they will be able to progress in their lives regardless. At the heart of this debate is the fundamental question of whether education is a worthwhile investment from society's perspective, acting to drive economic growth by making individuals happier, healthier and more productive. Or whether it is merely an expensive way for individuals to signal their pre-existing productivity and, hence, to help education institutions and employers choose between applicants. This question has been the subject of research for many years, and in this briefing note we present the evidence from the most rigorous quantitative studies