The impact of alcohol and drug use on employment: A labor market study using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

The purpose of this study was, first, to estimate of the impact of alcohol and drug use on the employment status of men and women, and second, to examine whether a history of past use, as opposed to current use, adversely affects the propensity to be employed. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth we conducted a cross-sectional and a longitudinal analysis with logistic regression estimation to model the probability that a person was employed in 1992. In addition to usual regressors, interactions between substance use measures, between substance use measures and human capital variables, and between substance use measures and race dummies were included in the equation. The longitudinal analysis utilized a conditional likelihood method based on employment data in 1992 and 1988 and included the difference between 1992 regressors and their 1988 counterparts. A comparison was made between the prediction accuracy of the logit choice model, linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor analysis, and three modern classification methods that are used extensively in the area of machine learning. Results showed that the logit model performs relatively well in classifying individuals into employed and unemployed categories based on individual attributes. Results of the cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis were mixed, but not inconsistent with our prior expectations that use of alcohol or drug has a negative impact on a person's propensity to be employed. Cross-sectional results show a clear negative impact of past substance use on a person's employment probability among all demographic groups examined (by gender: all persons, blacks, Hispanics, families with income below the poverty line, and high users of alcohol or drugs). However, when current and past use are considered together, only women seem to experience negative impacts. The results of the longitudinal analysis are less clear, although they do indicate that negative impacts are associated with the interaction between substance use measures and human capital variables. Limitations of the study are pointed out and suggestions are made for future research.

Variational principles for involutive systems of vector fields

In many relevant cases -- e.g., in hamiltonian dynamics -- a given vector field can be characterized by means of a variational principle based on a one-form. We discuss how a vector field on a manifold can also be characterized in a similar way by means of an higher order variational principle, and how this extends to involutive systems of vector fields.Comment: 31 pages. To appear in International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics (IJGMMP

Size, shape and surface chemistry of nano-gold dictate its cellular interactions, uptake and toxicity

Colloidal gold is undoubtedly one of the most extensively studied nanomaterials, with 1000s of different protocols currently available to synthesise gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). While developments in the synthesis of AuNPs have progressed rapidly in recent years, our understanding of their biological impact, with particular respect to the effect of shape, size, surface characteristics and aggregation states, has struggled to keep pace. It is generally agreed that when AuNPs are exposed to biological systems, these parameters directly influence their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties by influencing AuNPs distribution, circulation time, metabolism and excretion in biological systems. However, the rules governing these properties, and the science behind them, are poorly understood. Therefore, a systematic understanding of the implications of these variables at the nano-bio interface has recently become a topic of major interest. This Review Article attempts to ignite a discussion around the influence of different physico-chemical parameters on biological activity of AuNPs, while focussing on critical aspects of cellular interactions, uptake and cytotoxicity. The review also discusses emerging trends in AuNP uptake and toxicity that are leading to technological advances through AuNP-based therapy, diagnostics and imaging

Asymptotic conservation laws in field theory

A new, general, field theoretic approach to the derivation of asymptotic conservation laws is presented. In this approach asymptotic conservation laws are constructed directly from the field equations according to a universal prescription which does not rely upon the existence of Noether identities or any Lagrangian or Hamiltonian formalisms. The resulting general expressions of the conservation laws enjoy important invariance properties and synthesize all known asymptotic conservation laws, such as the ADM energy in general relativity.Comment: 13 pages, AMS-TeX, amsppt.sty, revised to give a better exposition (we hope), and to correct some typesetting error

Towards Verifying Nonlinear Integer Arithmetic

We eliminate a key roadblock to efficient verification of nonlinear integer arithmetic using CDCL SAT solvers, by showing how to construct short resolution proofs for many properties of the most widely used multiplier circuits. Such short proofs were conjectured not to exist. More precisely, we give n^{O(1)} size regular resolution proofs for arbitrary degree 2 identities on array, diagonal, and Booth multipliers and quasipolynomial- n^{O(\log n)} size proofs for these identities on Wallace tree multipliers.Comment: Expanded and simplified with improved result

A large bioassay identifies Stb resistance genes that provide broad resistance against Septoria tritici blotch Disease in the UK

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) is one of the most damaging fungal diseases of wheat in Europe, largely due to the paucity of effective resistance genes against it in breeding materials. Currently dominant protection methods against this disease, e.g. fungicides and the disease resistance genes already deployed, are losing their effectiveness. Therefore, it is vital that other available disease resistance sources are identified, understood and deployed in a manner that maximises their effectiveness and durability. In this study, we assessed wheat genotypes containing nineteen known major STB resistance genes (Stb1 through to Stb19) or combinations thereof against a broad panel of 93 UK Zymoseptoria tritici isolates. Five infection symptom components (days post infection to the development of first symptoms and pycnidia, percentage coverage of the infected leaf area with chlorosis/necrosis and pycnidia and spore counts from spore wash) were measured and average disease levels calculated for each genotype. The different Stb genes were found to vary greatly in the levels of protection they provided, with no Z. tritici isolate found to be virulent against all tested resistance genes. Disease resistance controlled by different Stb genes was associated with different levels of chlorosis, with high levels of early chlorosis in some genotypes correlated with high resistance to fungal pycnidia development. Stb10, Stb11, Stb12, Stb16q, Stb17, and Stb19 were identified as contributing broad spectrum disease resistance, and synthetic hexaploid wheat lines were identified as particularly promising sources of broadly effective STB resistances. Wheat genotypes carrying multiple Stb genes were found to provide higher levels of resistance than expected given their historical levels of use. The knowledge obtained here will aid UK breeders in prioritising Stb genes for future breeding programmes. In addition, this study identified the most interesting Stb genes for cloning and detailed functional analysis

Goto Numbers of a Numerical Semigroup Ring and the Gorensteiness of Associated Graded Rings

The Goto number of a parameter ideal Q in a Noetherian local ring (R,m) is the largest integer q such that Q : m^q is integral over Q. The Goto numbers of the monomial parameter ideals of R = k[[x^{a_1}, x^{a_2},..., x_{a_{\nu}}]] are characterized using the semigroup of R. This helps in computing them for classes of numerical semigroup rings, as well as on a case-by-case basis. The minimal Goto number of R and its connection to other invariants is explored. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the associated graded rings of R and R/x^{a_1}R to be Gorenstein are also given, again using the semigroup of R.Comment: 36 pages, corrected typos and improved exposition throughout. To appear in Communications in Algebr

GEODESIC BEHAVIOR FOR FINSLER METRICS OF CONSTANT POSITIVE FLAG CURVATURE ON S 2

International audienceWe study non-reversible Finsler metrics with constant flag curvature 1 on S 2 and show that the geodesic flow of every such metric is conjugate to that of one of Katok's examples, which form a 1-parameter family. In particular, the length of the shortest closed geodesic is a complete invariant of the geodesic flow. We also show, in any dimension, that the geodesic flow of a Finsler metric with constant positive flag curvature is completely integrable. Finally, we give an example of a Finsler metric on S 2 with positive flag curvature such that no two closed geodesics intersect and show that this is not possible when the metric is reversible or has constant flag curvature