The Public Cost of Low Wages in New York

This report outlines the public cost of New York's Minimum wage. Over the next several years New York State will raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 per hour; Gov. Andrew Cuomo is now pushing for legislation to extend this to New York workers in all industries. The governor also recently committed to pay all state government workers$15 an hour.The Labor Center's report on the public cost of jobs paying less than $15 per hour in New York echoes the findings of earlier Labor Center research examining the fiscal impacts of low-wage work in the fast-food and retail sectors, including bank tellers and Wal-Mart employees, and in individual states. Report highlights for the study include:Of all New York workers paid less than$15 an hour, 52 percent received public assistance or had a family member enrolled in a safety net program.Of all New York workers, 32 percent earned less than $15 an hour.Eighteen percent of workers in New York earned less than$15 an hour and had at least one family member, including themselves, receiving public assistance such as food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicaid, or cash assistance programs.Approximately 26 percent of state and local assistance funds in New York went to help low-wage workers

Professional Sports Attendance as a Proxy for New Stadium Spillover Benefits

One of the most interesting issues in state and local public finance over the last 10-15 years has been the debate over state and local contributions to professional sports stadiums. Despite a large amount of empirical evidence indicating that state and local governments receive very little, if any economic benefit from the stadiums they help build, for some reason they keep building them (Bade, Rosentraub). Much research has gone into this issue, and essentially the same result was found each time: stadiums are poor investments for governments

The Impact of Oakland's Proposed City Minimum Wage Law: A Prospective Study

The Lift Up Oakland Coalition, an alliance of community, labor, small business, and faith organizations, has placed an initiative on the Oakland November 2014 ballot that would establish a minimum wage of $12.25 for businesses in the city starting March 1, 2015. This study examines the effects of a$12.25 minimum wage on Oakland workers and businesses. Drawing on a variety of government data sources, we estimate that more than a quarter of the Oakland workforce would benefit from the proposed policy, with the average worker earning an additional $2,700 a year. Our analysis of the existing economic research literature suggests that businesses will adjust to modest increases in operating costs through reduced employee turnover costs, improved work performance, and a small, one-time increase in restaurant prices

Bull Nutrition

Bull nutrition is often overlooked by many producers, except when problems arise. Bulls are often managed as one group even though there may be large differences in age, size, and body condition. Seedstock producers are the primary individuals managing the development program of bulls being sold. For commercial producers, feeding programs usually include feeding purchased bull(s) from delivery until the breeding season and bulls retained from one breeding season to the next. The debate over the correct method for developing bulls is not settled: Should you develop bulls at a moderate rate of gain? Or should you develop bulls on a ration that is capable of supporting high rates of gain so genetic differences can be measured for selection and marketing purposes? Bulls put into many bull test stations are placed on rations to support high rates of gain. Many seedstock producers have established specific feeding programs to fit the desired animal performance (where bulls show their genetic potential and are cost efficient)

Applying Gaming Technology to Tomahawk Mission Planning and Training

Fall 2005 Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Paper Number 4 & Presentation.Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) SIW Conference PaperOver the past decade the computer gaming industry has not only generated its own multi-billion dollar section of the entertainment industry, but it has also made significant inroads into the military market, especially in training and simulation, starting with Marine Doom and continuing up to today ’s Full Spectrum Command and America ’s Army. This paper describes a Navy-funded research project that uses gaming technology for not only training, but also as an operational decision aid for the Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System (TTWCS). The research is aimed at adapting game engine technology to predict and simulate the motion of ground target vehicles (e.g. SCUD Launchers) through their local terrain over a given period of time, then use the associated rendering capabilities to provide realistic 3D views. The paper presents an overview of the TTWCS mission and how it will benefit from specific advances in gaming technology, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence, path finding, and physics. It discusses the current state of the project using existing commercial gaming technology and the future plans for adapting and expanding the open source game engine technology of the Delta3D project underway at the MOVES Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School

Addressing Avoidable Inequalities: The Role of One University in Place-Based Transformational Change

This chapter explores one UK university’s influence and involvement as a key partner within the 2025 Movement, a movement for change with a collective vision to tackle avoidable health and housing inequalities by 2025 in North Wales, UK. The approach to building 2025 is founded in systems leadership and social movements resulting in transformational change in the way we work, think and deliver across a region as a collective. The innovative role of the university as a key partner has shifted the perceptions of the university in the region and its capacity to act as an instrument of government, contributing to the political imperative to support communities as part of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The chapter outlines the principles behind 2025 and the university’s role to date, as illustrated through three case studies: Learning and Leadership; Social Prescribing; and Healthy Homes–Healthy People. The chapter reflects upon the challenges faced and how they have been overcome. Finally, enablers for successful collective working are identified, which have resulted in the university being able to utilize its expertise, energy and education to work in partnership in order to tackle some of the most complex issues facing our communities

Bull Management and Nutrition

Proper management and nutrition of bulls is essential to ensure cow/calf producers maximize reproductive efficiency and genetic improvement of the calf crop. In addition, the herd bull influences overall herd fertility more than any other single animal, and loss of fertility by a bull can cause substantial loss to a potential calf crop. Each cow produces one calf per year; however, bulls should contribute to the calf crop by 25 to 60 times via siring 25 to 60 calves. Additionally, bulls influence their daughters’ production in the cow herd. Therefore, bull selection can be the most powerful method of genetic improvement in the herd, but bulls with low fertility, structural problems and low libido reduce the percent calf crop weaned

Bull Management and Nutrition

Proper management and nutrition of bulls is essential to ensure cow/calf producers maximize reproductive efficiency and genetic improvement of the calf crop. In addition, the herd bull influences overall herd fertility more than any other single animal, and loss of fertility by a bull can cause substantial loss to a potential calf crop. Each cow produces one calf per year; however, bulls should contribute to the calf crop by 25 to 60 times via siring 25 to 60 calves. Additionally, bulls influence their daughters’ production in the cow herd. Therefore, bull selection can be the most powerful method of genetic improvement in the herd, but bulls with low fertility, structural problems and low libido reduce the percent calf crop weaned

Genetic Regulation of Puberty Timing in Humans.

Understanding the regulation of puberty timing has relevance to developmental and human biology and to the pathogenesis of various diseases. Recent large-scale genome-wide association studies on puberty timing and adult height, body mass index (BMI) and central body shape provide evidence for shared biological mechanisms that regulate these traits. There is a substantial genetic overlap between age at menarche in women and BMI, with almost invariable directional consistency with the epidemiological associations between earlier menarche and higher BMI. By contrast, the genetic loci identified for age at menarche are largely distinct from those identified for central body shape, while alleles that confer earlier menarche can be associated with taller or shorter adult height. The findings of population-based studies on age at menarche show increasing relevance for other studies of rare monogenic disorders and enrich our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the timing of puberty and reproductive function.This work was supported by the MRC.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Karger at http://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/43102

Elucidating the genetic basis of social interaction and isolation.

The negative impacts of social isolation and loneliness on health are well documented. However, little is known about their possible biological determinants. In up to 452,302 UK Biobank study participants, we perform genome-wide association study analyses for loneliness and regular participation in social activities. We identify 15 genomic loci (P < 5 × 10-8) for loneliness, and demonstrate a likely causal association between adiposity and increased susceptibility to loneliness and depressive symptoms. Further loci were identified for regular attendance at a sports club or gym (N = 6 loci), pub or social club (N = 13) or religious group (N = 18). Across these traits there was strong enrichment for genes expressed in brain regions that control emotional expression and behaviour. We demonstrate aetiological mechanisms specific to each trait, in addition to identifying loci that are pleiotropic across multiple complex traits. Further study of these traits may identify novel modifiable risk factors associated with social withdrawal and isolation