Photoelectrochemical cells including chalcogenophosphate photoelectrodes

Photoelectrochemical cells employing chalcogenophosphate (MPX3) photoelectrodes are described where M is selected from the group of transition metal series of elements beginning with scandium (atomic number 21) through germanium (atomic number 32) yttrium (atomic number 39) through antimony (atomic number 51) and lanthanum (atomic number 57) through polonium (atomic number 84); P is phosphorus; and X is selected from the chalogenide series consisting of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. These compounds have bandgaps in the desirable range from 2.0 eV to 2.2 eV for the photoelectrolysis of water and are stable when used as photoelectrodes for the same

COHABITATION: AN ELUSIVE CONCEPT

Rates of out-of-wedlock births in the US have increased over the past three decades and rates of cohabitation among unwed parents have risen. Consequently, unwed parenthood is decreasingly synonymous with single parenthood. As we focus more attention on unwed parents, their living arrangements, and relationships, it is becoming clear that cohabitation is an ambiguous concept that is difficult to measure. In this study, we use the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data to document how sensitive cohabitation estimates can be to various sources of information and we demonstrate that relationships among unwed parents fall along a continuum, from marriage-like cohabitation at one extreme to parents who have no contact at all with one another at the other. The results underscore the limitations of using binary measures of cohabitation to characterize parent relationships.

Mental Illness as a Barrier to Marriage Among Mothers With Out-of-Wedlock Births

This study explores how mental illness shapes transitions to marriage among unwed mothers using augmented data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. We estimate proportional hazard models to assess the effects of mental illness on the likelihood of marriage over a five year period following a non-marital birth. Diagnosed mental illness was obtained from the survey respondents' prenatal medical records. We find that mothers with mental illness were about two thirds as likely as mothers without mental illness to marry, even after controlling for demographic characteristics, and that human capital, relationship quality, partner selection, and substance abuse explain only a small proportion of the effect of mental illness on marriage.

Effects of Child Health on Parents' Relationship Status

We use data from the national longitudinal Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to estimate the effect of poor child health on father presence. We look at whether parents live in the same household 12-18 months after the child's birth and also at how their relationships changed along a continuum (married, cohabiting, romantically involved, friends, or not involved) during the same period. We find that having an infant in poor health reduces the likelihood that parents will live together and increases the likelihood that they will become less committed to their relationship, particularly among parents with low socioeconomic status.

Mothers' and Fathers' Labor Supply in Fragile Families: The Role of Child Health

We estimate the effect of poor child health on the labor supply of mothers and fathers post welfare reform, using a national sample of mostly unwed parents and their children-a group at high risk of living in poverty. We account for the potential endogeneity of child health and find that having a young child in poor health reduces the mother's probability of working, the mother's hours of work, and the father's hours of work. These results suggest that children's health problems may diminish their parents' capacity to invest in their health.

Effects of Child Health on Sources of Public Support

We estimate the effects of having a child in poor health on the mother's receipt of both cash assistance and in-kind public support in the form of food, health care, and shelter. We control for a rich set of covariates, include state fixed effects, and test for the potential endogeneity of child health. Mothers with children in poor health are 5 percentage points (20%) more likely to rely on TANF and 16 percentage points more likely to rely on cash assistance (TANF and/or SSI) than those with healthy children. They are also more likely than those with healthy children to receive Medicaid and housing assistance, but not WIC or food stamps.

Mother's Labor Supply in Fragile Families: The Role of Child Health

A growing body of research indicates that low socioeconomic status in early childhood sets the stage for increasing disadvantages in both health and educational capital over the child's life course and can cause low socioeconomic status to persist for generations. The study estimated the effects of poor child health on the labor supply of mothers with one-year-old children using a national longitudinal data set that oversampled unmarried parents in the post welfare reform era. It was found that having a child in poor health reduces the mother's probability of working by eight percentage points and her hours of work by three per week when she is employed. Another important finding is that the father having children with another partner increases the mothers' labor supply, even after controlling for the focal child's health status and numerous other covariates.

Current pharmacologic options for patients with Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to provide general practitioners with an overview of the available treatment options for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since general practitioners provide the majority of medical care for AD patients, they should be well versed in treatment options that can improve function and slow the progression of symptoms. DESIGN: Biomedical literature related to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) was surveyed. In the United States, there are four AChEIs approved for the treatment of AD: tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine. There are other agents under investigation, but at present, AChEIs are the only approved drug category for AD treatment. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: AD is becoming a major public health concern and underdiagnosis is a significant problem (with only about half of AD patients being diagnosed and only half of those diagnosed actually being treated). Clinical trials have demonstrated that patients with AD who do not receive active treatment decline at more rapid rates than those who do. CONCLUSIONS: Given that untreated AD patients show decline in three major areas (cognition, behavior, and functional ability), if drug treatment is able to improve performance, maintain baseline performance over the long term, or allow for a slower rate of decline in performance, each of these outcomes should be viewed a treatment success

Prenatal Drug Use and the Production of Infant Health

We estimate the effect of illicit drug use during pregnancy on low birth weight. We use data from a national longitudinal study of urban parents that includes post-partum interviews with mothers, hospital medical record data on the mother and newborn, extensive demographic information on both parents, and information about the city where the mother resides. We address the potential endogeneity of prenatal drug use and present estimates using alternative measures of prenatal illicit drug use. Depending on how drug use is measured, we find deleterious effects of illicit drug use on low birth weight that range from 3 to 5 percentage points.