Indexing Giving: Examining State-level Data about Itemized Charitable Deductions Using Known Determinants of Giving

Average itemized charitable deductions by state are widely used as a measure of giving yet grossly misstate “generosity.” Extending a model initially developed by Gittell and Tebaldi (2004), this work finds that when considering state-level measures of economic and social factors determinant of individual giving at the micro-level, six of the 20 states said to be most generous on the popular “generosity index” have average itemized contributions at least 5 percent LOWER than their predicted giving capacity. Nine states in the bottom 20 on the “generosity index” have average itemized giving at or above the predicted levels. Further analysis using household-level survey data from the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (a part of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics conducted by the University of Michigan) reveals significant differences in total secular and total religious giving by households in different Census regions (analysis is not possible at the state level using this data set). The secular and religious differences in giving largely account for the differing total amounts reported. The paper concludes with an appeal that generosity be evaluated as a percentage of income donated combined with percentage of households that donate in a given region

Giving Following a Crisis: An Historical Analysis

While conventional wisdom in fundraising maintains that donors of all types give in response to need, analysis of contributions from 1939 to 1999, including years of 17 national crises ranging from war, natural disaster, political crisis, and terrorism, shows that economic variables are strongly associated with giving, whereas crisis is seldom a significant factor. Crisis seems to matter in bivariate (giving/crisis) analysis, but not after controlling for economic changes in multivariate analyses. Results are very robust to type of crisis, time period, sources of giving and specification of model

Persistent current formation in a high-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate: an experimental test for c-field theory

Experimental stirring of a toroidally trapped Bose-Einstein condensate at high temperature generates a disordered array of quantum vortices that decays via thermal dissipation to form a macroscopic persistent current [T. W. Neely em et al. arXiv:1204.1102 (2012)]. We perform 3D numerical simulations of the experimental sequence within the Stochastic Projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation using ab initio determined reservoir parameters. We find that both damping and noise are essential for describing the dynamics of the high-temperature Bose field. The theory gives a quantitative account of the formation of a persistent current, with no fitted parameters.Comment: v2: 7 pages, 3 figures, new experimental data and numerical simulation

lHuman cytotoxic T lymphocytes with reduced sensitivity to Fas-induced apoptosis

Effector-memory T cells expressing Fas (Apo-1/CD95) are switched to an apoptotic program by cross-linking with Fas-ligand (FasL). Consequently, tumors that express FasL can induce apoptosis of infiltrating Fas-positive T lymphocytes and subdue any antitumor host immune response. Since Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated tumors such as Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) express FasL, we determined whether EBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (EBV-CTLs) could be modified to resist this evasion strategy. We show that long-term down-modulation of Fas can be achieved in EBV-CTLs by transduction with small interfering RNA (siRNA) encoded in a retrovirus. Modified T cells resisted Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis compared with control cells and showed minimal cleavage of the caspase3 substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) protein after Fas engagement. Prolonged Fas stimulation selected a uniformly Fas(low) and FasL resistant population. Removal of responsiveness to this single death signal had no other discernible effects on EBV-CTLs. In particular, it did not lead to their autonomous growth since the modified EBV-CTLs remained polyclonal, and their survival and proliferation retained dependence on antigen-specific stimulation and on the presence of other physiologic growth signals. EBV-CTLs with knocked down Fas should have a selective functional and survival advantage over unmodified EBV-CTLs in the presence of tumors expressing FasL and may be of value for adoptive cellular therapy. (c) 2005 by The American Society of Hematology

ESTIMATING CORPORATE CHARITABLE GIVING for Giving USA

Estimating corporate giving is an important part of the estimation process for Giving USA and is used independently by a variety of practitioners, policy makers, business leaders, and the media. While Giving USA has changed its estimation process over time, it has never previously examined what might be the “best” model for these estimations. We tested hundreds of permutations and combinations of variables and specifications that were used historically and that were suggested to us by scholars and practitioners from around the country. This paper summarizes the problem, the process and the results

Estimating charitable giving by will bequest for Giving USA

In a typical year since 2000, Giving USA has estimated that living individuals contributed 75 percent of total charitable gifts and that estates contributed about 7 or 8 percent, with institutional donors donating the balance. The estimating procedure used for estate contributions relies extensively on amounts claimed by estate tax returns as deductions for charitable contributions. Giving USA supplements the tax return data with an estimate of giving by estates that fall below the tax filing threshold. As the estate tax filing threshold began increasing and tax rates began decreasing in 2001, a number of authors (Joulfaian 2000; Gale & Bakija; Greene and McClelland) predict declining charitable contributions from bequest gifts. With fewer estates tax returns filed, and the possibility that none will be filed after 2010, the impact of the reduced tax rates must be measured using new methods that do not rely so extensively on tax return data. Giving USA has been investigating and continues to investigate alternative methods to estimate charitable bequests that do not rely so heavily on estate tax return data. This paper reports the results of this effort and describes the bequest estimating procedure adopted for use in Giving USA beginning with the 2005 edition. This procedure incorporates survey results showing bequest amounts received at higher educational institutions and estimates charitable bequests made by estates below the federal filing threshold. The paper concludes that to track changes resulting from lowered tax rates and higher filing thresholds adequately, alternative data sources will need to be developed

A Methodological Comparison of Giving Surveys: Indiana as a Test Case

Every 4 years, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University conducts a telephone survey (called Indiana Gives) of the giving and volunteering behaviors of Indiana citizens. In preparing to conduct Indiana Gives for 2000, a larger methodological question was asked: How much does survey methodology matter in generating accurate measures of giving and volunteering? In this most recent wave of the Indiana survey, conducted in October and November 2000, eight groups of approximately 100 randomly selected Indiana residents were asked to complete one of eight surveys related to giving and volunteering. It was found that the longer the module and the more detailed its prompts, the more likely a household was to recall making any charitable contribution and the higher the average level of its giving. These differences persisted even after controlling for differences in age, educational attainment, income, household status, race, and gender.ARNOV

Characteristics of Two-Dimensional Quantum Turbulence in a Compressible Superfluid

Under suitable forcing a fluid exhibits turbulence, with characteristics strongly affected by the fluid's confining geometry. Here we study two-dimensional quantum turbulence in a highly oblate Bose-Einstein condensate in an annular trap. As a compressible quantum fluid, this system affords a rich phenomenology, allowing coupling between vortex and acoustic energy. Small-scale stirring generates an experimentally observed disordered vortex distribution that evolves into large-scale flow in the form of a persistent current. Numerical simulation of the experiment reveals additional characteristics of two-dimensional quantum turbulence: spontaneous clustering of same-circulation vortices, and an incompressible energy spectrum with $k^{-5/3}$ dependence for low wavenumbers $k$ and $k^{-3}$ dependence for high $k$.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Reference [29] updated for v

Expression of Epstein–Barr Virus–Encoded Small RNA (by the EBER-1 Gene) in Liver Specimens from Transplant Recipients with Post-Transplantation Lymphoproliferative Disease

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)—associated post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) develops in 1 to 10 percent of transplant recipients, in whom it can be treated by a reduction in the level of immunosuppression. We postulated that the tissue expression of the small RNA transcribed by the EBER-1 gene during latent EBV infection would identify patients at risk for PTLD. We studied EBER-1 gene expression in liver specimens obtained from 24 patients 2 days to 22 months before the development of PTLD, using in situ hybridization with an oligonucleotide probe. Control specimens were obtained from 20 recipients of allografts with signs of injury due to organ retrieval, acute graft rejection, or viral hepatitis in whom PTLD had not developed 9 to 71 months after the biopsy. Of the 24 patients with PTLD, 17 (71 percent) had specimens in which 1 to 40 percent of mononuclear cells were positive for the EBER-1 gene. In addition, 10 of these 17 patients (59 percent) had specimens with histopathological changes suggestive of EBV hepatitis. In every case, EBER-1—positive cells were found within the lymphoproliferative lesions identified at autopsy. Only 2 of the 20 controls (10 percent) had specimens with EBER-1—positive cells (P<0.001), and such cells were rare. EBER-1 gene expression in liver tissue precedes the occurrence of clinical and histologic PTLD. The possibility of identifying patients at risk by the method we describe here and preventing the occurrence of PTLD by a timely reduction of immunosuppression needs to be addressed by future prospective studies. (N Engl J Med 1992;327:1710–4.), POST-TRANSPLANTATION lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), either polyclonal or monoclonal, complicates the clinical course of 1 to 10 percent of organ-transplant recipients.123 Immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated that the lymphoid cells within the lesions of PTLD almost invariably contain Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), primarily in a state of latent infection.4,5 The EBER-1 gene is expressed early during latent EBV infection and codes for a small messenger RNA (mRNA) expressed at up to 107 copies per cell.6 We and others have previously demonstrated the value of the detection of EBER-1 RNA for identifying EBV-infected cells in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues.7,8 In the current investigation, we used… © 1992, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved