Social Security and Medicare : the impending fiscal challenge

Social Security—and the solvency of its Trust Fund—have increasingly become a focus of discussion in the media and policy circles. The basic problem is that promised benefits will soon exceed program revenues. Without changes in benefits or funding, the Trustees of Social Security project that assets in the Trust Fund will be depleted in 2041. While Social Security is a serious problem for taxpayers and beneficiaries, Medicare poses an even greater challenge. Together, the two programs’ benefits currently amount to about 6 percent of GDP. By 2080 they are projected to swell to 20 percent. With spending on these two programs projected to grow faster than the nation’s GDP, the Board of Trustees of Social Security and Medicare have concluded that “We do not believe the currently projected long-run growth rates of Social Security and Medicare are sustainable under current financing arrangements.” To keep the programs solvent without slashing benefits or increasing tax revenues, the federal budget deficit would need to grow drastically. Thus changes will likely be needed to the structure of the two programs. In fact, any viable solution is likely to involve changes in government spending and taxes. Hakkio and Wiseman provide a framework for understanding the nature of the fiscal challenges posed by Social Security and Medicare—a prerequisite for finding specific solutionsSocial security ; Medicare

Inter-filament Attractions Narrow the Length Distribution of Actin Filaments

We show that the exponential length distribution that is typical of actin filaments under physiological conditions dramatically narrows in the presence of (i) crosslinker proteins (ii) polyvalent counterions or (iii) depletion mediated attractions. A simple theoretical model shows that in equilibrium, short-range attractions enhance the tendency of filaments to align parallel to each other, eventually leading to an increase in the average filament length and a decrease in the relative width of the distribution of filament lengths.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

“Creative Teaching of Engaged Visual Merchandising Courses with Limited Resources”

Previously, two visual merchandising courses were taught as lecture-based classes with no real-world applications. The instructors wanted to reinforce student knowledge of lectured concepts by incorporating various modes of creative teaching to provide hands-on application and real-world experiences to help students transfer learning to different contexts (National Research Council, 2000). The challenge was circumventing the lack of current program resources and limited available storage space. A variety of creative teaching methods were employed to provide students with engaging, real-world applications. The results were availability and access to visual merchandising props and practice with little to no cost and minimal to no storage space. Immersing students in real-world applications, reinforced lectured concepts and fostered higher student engagement, critical thinking, and creative skills. Implications exist for other apparel and textile courses, circumventing challenges for generating an engaged learning environment

Limits to atom-vapor-based room-temperature photon-number-resolving detection

We study the atom-vapor-based photon-number-resolving detection from first principles, including quantum-mechanical treatment of the electromagnetic field. We study a photon detector model that combines coherently controlled absorption of light and resonance fluorescence to achieve photon counting at room temperature. In particular we identify the fundamental limits to this particular scheme of photon detection. We show that there exists a time-energy uncertainty between the incident pulse strength and the time period of the incident pulse. We verify the role of a large ensemble of atoms to boost the efficiency of such a detector

Investigation into the Factors Influencing Trace DNA Recovery from Unfired and Fired Ammunition

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.Within many jurisdictions, including New South Wales (Australia), fired cartridge cases (FCCs) recovered as part of criminal and coronial investigations are not routinely examined for DNA. This is because the success of obtaining useful DNA profiles from FCCs in casework is very low, potentially due to low amounts of DNA transferred onto cartridges during handling actions, high firing temperatures and/or loss of DNA during extraction. Recent research efforts have been directed toward finding a method for DNA recovery from FCCs, however, there were few studies comparing methodologies and assessing any potential loss of DNA. This project encompassed a holistic review of DNA recovery from FCCs, with the aim to find an optimised DNA recovery method to improve casework outcomes in NSW and elsewhere. It was composed of several key components: a review of casework data, comparisons of DNA recovery methods, investigation of factors such as calibre, firing and metal composition on DNA recovery, and finally, an assessment of DNA transfer from FCCs during evidence collection. A review of historical NSW casework data revealed that the chance of obtaining a useful DNA profile from unfired and fired cartridges was ≤ 5%, conforming with anecdotal evidence. Further, it was shown that firing reduced the percentages of useful profiles to ≤ 2% and metal cartridges generated lower percentages of useful profiles than shotgun cartridges, which are predominantly plastic. A comparison of DNA recovery methods using cartridges that were spiked with DNA and others that were handled showed that tape lifting yielded the most DNA and a higher number of alleles compared to swabbing, soaking, vacuum filtration and direct PCR. Additionally, calibre was shown to have no influence on DNA recovery whilst fired cartridges and brass cartridges yielded significantly lower amounts of DNA. Finally, an investigation of DNA transfer in a mock crime scene scenario showed that very low amounts of DNA are transferred from unfired and fired cartridges to the gloves handling them during their retrieval and to the internal side of evidence packaging. The results of this research suggest tape lifting as a suitable alternative to swabbing. Other findings include higher yielding firearm and ammunition samples to prioritise for DNA analysis, influential variables affecting DNA analysis from cartridges, and measures to minimise DNA-loss and prevent contamination. Adoption of the suggested improvement opportunities should significantly improve the yield of useful DNA profiles from unfired and fired cartridges during forensic investigations of criminal activity

The Neon Abundance in the Ejecta of QU Vul From Late-Epoch IR Spectra

We present ground-based SpectroCam-10 mid-infrared, MMT optical, and Spitzer Space Telescope IRS mid-infrared spectra taken 7.62, 18.75, and 19.38 years respectively after the outburst of the old classical nova QU Vulpeculae (Nova Vul 1984 #2). The spectra of the ejecta are dominated by forbidden line emission from neon and oxygen. Our analysis shows that neon was, at the first and last epochs respectively, more than 76 and 168 times overabundant by number with respect to hydrogen compared to the solar value. These high lower limits to the neon abundance confirm that QU Vul involved a thermonuclear runaway on an ONeMg white dwarf and approach the yields predicted by models of the nucleosynthesis in such events.Comment: ApJ 2007 accepted, 18 pages, including 5 figures, 1 tabl

Glass Fibre Reinforced Composite Resin Post & Core In Decayed Primary Anterior Teeth – A Case Report

Dental caries is the singled most common chronic childhood disease. In early childhood caries there is early carious involvement and gross destruction of maxillary anterior teeth. This case presents the clinical sequence of rehabilitation of maxillary anterior primary teeth. Endodontic treatment was followed by the placement of a new fibre post, glass fibre reinforced composite resin post. The crown reconstruction was done with strip crowns.KEY WORDS: - Anterior restoration, Post, Glass Fibre Reinforced Composite Resin

A Spitzer IRAC Census of the Asymptotic Giant Branch Populations in Local Group Dwarfs. II. IC 1613

We present Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC photometry of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613. We compare our 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron photometry with broadband optical photometry and find that the optical data do not detect 43% and misidentify an additional 11% of the total AGB population, likely because of extinction caused by circumstellar material. Further, we find that a narrowband optical carbon star study of IC 1613 detects 50% of the total AGB population and only considers 18% of this population in calculating the carbon to M-type AGB ratio. We derive an integrated mass-loss rate from the AGB stars of 0.2-1.0 x 10^(-3) solar masses per year and find that the distribution of bolometric luminosities and mass-loss rates are consistent with those for other nearby metal-poor galaxies. Both the optical completeness fractions and mass-loss rates in IC 1613 are very similar to those in the Local Group dwarf irregular, WLM, which is expected given their similar characteristics and evolutionary histories.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 26 pages, 10 figures, version with high-resolution figures available at: http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~djackson