The Growing Gap in Life Expectancy by Income: Recent Evidence and Implications for the Social Security Retirement Age

[Excerpt] This report provides a brief overview of the concept of life expectancy, how it is measured, and how it has changed over time in the United States. While life expectancy may be studied in a variety of contexts, this report focuses on the link between life expectancy and SES, as measured by lifetime income. In particular, this report synthesizes recent research on (1) the life expectancy gap by income and (2) the relationship between this gap and Social Security benefits. Finally, this report discusses the implications of this research for one type of Social Security reform proposal: increasing the Social Security retirement age

Globular Cluster UVIT legacy Survey (GlobUleS) III. Omega Centauri in Far-Ultraviolet

We present the first comprehensive study of the most massive globular cluster Omega Centauri in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) extending from the center to ~ 28% of the tidal radius using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope aboard AstroSat. A comparison of the FUV-optical color-magnitude diagrams with available canonical models reveals that the horizontal branch (HB) stars bluer than the knee (hHBs) and the white dwarfs (WDs) are fainter in the FUV by ~ 0.5 mag than model predictions. They are also fainter than their counterparts in M13, another massive cluster. We simulated HB with at least five subpopulations, including three He-rich populations with a substantial He enrichment of Y up to 0.43 dex, to reproduce the observed FUV distribution. We find the He-rich younger subpopulations to be radially more segregated than the He-normal older ones, suggesting an in-situ enrichment from older generations. The Omega Cen hHBs span the same effective temperature range as their M13 counterparts, but some have smaller radii and lower luminosities. This may suggest that a fraction of Omega Cen hHBs are less massive than those of M13, similar to the result derived from earlier spectroscopic studies of outer extreme HB stars. The WDs in Omega Cen and M13 have similar luminosity-radius-effective temperature parameters, and 0.44 - 0.46 M$_\odot$ He-core WD model tracks evolving from progenitors with Y = 0.4 dex are found to fit the majority of these. This study provides constraints on the formation models of Omega Cen based on the estimated range in age, [Fe/H] and Y (in particular), for the HB stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL; 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Government wage differentials for women: do city dwellers earn more?

Previous research has shown that female workers, unlike other minorities, continue to earn a wage premium in the US public sector. We examine the nature of government wage differentials for female workers separately for city dwellers and non-city dwellers. A bivariate selectivity approach is used which recognizes the endogeneity of the government worker status variable and the union choice variable in the wage formation process. The public sector wage premium is found to be higher for city dwellers than non-city dwellers, pointing to the role of political influence in the government wage setting process.

Adoption of young and intraspecific nest parasitism in Barnacle Geese

Prior to use of genetic techniques, extra-pair copulations and intraspecific brood parasitism were rarely observed in long-term monogamous geese. DNA fingerprinting analysis of nine families of Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) revealed one case of intraspecific nest parasitism with the offspring fathered by the attendant male, and one adoption of a foreign gosling. Observations showed that adoptions accounted for 5.8% and 24.6% of goslings hatched, or 13.3% and 24% of families in two successive years. Adoption appears to be common shortly after the young have hatched and has been assumed to result from accidental brood mixing when parent-offspring recognition is not yet fully developed. We found adoptions to occur in goslings as old as 4-12 weeks, when both parents and offspring are capable of recognizing each other, suggesting that accidental mixing alone cannot explain this phenomenon