Hope Works: Student Use of Education Tax Credits

Surveys University of California students on their use of Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credit programs. Explores the debate over whether federal aid should emphasize incentives to attend college or relief to those already planning to attend

What the 2008 Stock Market Crash Means for Retirement Security

Compares future retirement resources before and after the stock market decline, by gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, and retirement income quintile, under three scenarios: no recovery, full recovery, and partial recovery in ten years

The Potential Impact of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes

Estimates the effects of job loss, slower wage growth, and withdrawals from retirement savings during the 2007-09 recession on retirement incomes at age 70, including decline in income by age group and number of those likely to live in poverty at 70

Polarities

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"Working for a Good Retirement"

The choice of retirement age is the most important portfolio choice most workers will make. Drawing on the Urban Institute's Dynamic Simulation of Income model (DYNASIM3), this report examines how delaying retirement for nondisabled workers would affect individual retiree benefits, the solvency of the Social Security trust fund, and general revenues. The results suggest that delaying retirement by itself does not generate enough additional revenue to make Social Security solvent by 2045. Benefit cuts or supplementary funding sources will be necessary to achieve solvency. However, the size of the benefit cuts or tax increases could be minimized if individuals worked longer. This additional work also substantially increases worker's retirement well-being. Lower-income workers, to the extent they can work longer, have the most to gain from their additional labor. Policy changes that encourage work at older ages will substantially improve both economic and personal well-being in the future.

Food Security Status and Barriers to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Two Economically Deprived Communities of Oakland, California, 2013-2014.

IntroductionFood security status may moderate how people perceive barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption. This study aimed to 1) describe the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and microbarriers and mezzobarriers to consumption, and 2) test whether these associations differ by food security status.MethodsWe surveyed adults (n = 531) living in 2 economically deprived communities in Oakland, California, in 2013 and 2014. Multivariate linear regression assessed associations between microbarriers (taste, cost, busyness) and mezzobarriers (produce selection, quality, and purchase ease) and fruit and vegetable consumption, derived from a 26-item dietary screener. Interactions were tested by food security status.ResultsRespondents consumed a mean 2.4 (standard deviation, 1.5) servings of fruits and vegetables daily; 39% of the sample was food insecure. Being too busy to prepare healthy foods was associated with reduced fruit and vegetable consumption (β(busyness) = -0.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.52 to -0.28) among all respondents. Food security moderated the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and taste, cost, and perceived ease of purchase of healthy foods. Among the food secure, disliking healthy food taste (β(taste) = -0.38; 95% CI, -0.60 to -0.15) and cost (β(cost) = -0.29; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.15) concerns were associated with lower consumptions of fruits and vegetables. Mezzobarriers were not significantly associated with consumption in either group.ConclusionPerceived time constraints influenced fruit and vegetable consumption. Taste and cost influenced fruit and vegetable consumption among the food secure and may need to be considered when interpreting analyses that describe dietary intake and designing diet-related interventions

Western Iowa 1992 Apple Cultivar x Rootstock Trial

To better serve the commercial apple industry in western Iowa, a cultivar by rootstock study was established at the Western Iowa Research Farm in 1992. The trail is evaluating the performance of three apple cultivars (Smoothee Golden Delicious, Empire, and Nured Jonathan) on seven commercially available rootstocks (seedling, MM.111, MM.106, M.7 EMLA, M.26 EMLA, M.9 EMLA, and Mark) trained to a central leader system. Due to the differences in size-control potential of the rootstocks, trees on seedling, MM.111 and MM.106 were planted at an in-row spacing of 16 ft and were not staked. Trees on M.7 EMLA, M.26 EMLA, M.9 EMLA, and Mark were spaced 12 ft apart in the rows and were supported with a wooden stake. Large and small trees were maintained in separate rows. Between-row spacing was established to allow for 8 ft of clearance between rows (24 ft between rows of large trees, 22 ft between large and small trees, and 20 ft between rows of small trees). Each cultivar/rootstock combination was replicated 10 times in a split-plot arrangement of randomized complete block design with cultivar whole-plots and rootstock sub-plots. Cultivar and rootstock performance has been reported in the 1994 through 1999 Annual Fruit and Vegetable Progress Reports. This report summarizes the tree growth and yield characteristics for the 2000 growing season by cultivar and rootstock main effects

Fault Diagnosis Using First Order Logic Tools

An automated circuit diagnostic tool implementing R. Reiter\u27s theory of diagnosis (1987) based on deep knowledge (i.e. knowledge based on certain design information) and using first-order logic as the representation language is discussed. In this approach, the automated diagnostician uses a description of the system structure and observations describing its performance to determine if any faults are apparent. If there is evidence that the system is faulty, the diagnostician uses the system description and observations to ascertain which component(s) would explain the behavior. In particular, Reiter\u27s method finds all combinations of components which explain this behavior

A System for the Diagnosis of Faults using a First Principles Approach

One of the primary areas of application of Artificial Intelligence is diagnosis. Diagnosis from first principles is a diagnostic technique which uses knowledge of the designed structure and function of a device to determine the possible causes of the malfunction. This work builds on the foundation of a theory of diagnosis by implementing and extending the theory. A correction to the algorithm which defines the theory is presented. The theory is extended for multiple sets of observations of the system and measurement data. A fundamental problem in diagnosis is selecting the measurement which will be of the most benefit in reducing the number of competing diagnoses for a system. A heuristic which selects a component whose measurement is likely to be beneficial in isolating the actual diagnosis is also presented