The Changing Spatial Concentration of America’s Rural Poor Population

This paper documents changing patterns of concentrated poverty in nonmetro areas. Data from the 1970 through 2000 U.S. Census Summary Files reveal the changing shares of poor people and children living in rural counties with disproportionately poor populations. Nonmetro poverty rates – both overall and for children – declined more rapidly than metro rates in the 1990s. The 1990s also brought large reductions in the number of high-poverty nonmetro counties, and declines in the share of rural people, including rural poor people, who were living in them. In particular, the number and percentage of rural people living in extremely poor counties (i.e., over 40 percent) declined dramatically. This suggests a “drying up” of America’s rural pockets of poverty and indicates a decline in spatial inequality in nonmetro America, at least at the county level. On a less optimistic note, concentrated poverty among rural minorities remains exceptionally high (e.g., almost one-half of rural blacks live in poor counties). Moreover, the recent transformation of concentrated rural poverty may be short-lived. Rural children – especially rural minority children -- have poverty rates well above national and nonmetro rates, the concentration of rural minority children is often extreme (i.e., over 90 percent lived in high-poverty counties), and the number of nonmetro counties with high levels of persistent child poverty remains high. Rural children may be more disadvantaged than ever, if measured by their lack of exposure to middle-class role models, and their economic divergence with the rest of the nation’s children

The changing faces of America\u27s children and youth

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate that between July 2008 and July 2009, 48.6 percent of the 4 million children born in the United States were minorities. In contrast, nearly 60 percent of the children born ten years ago were non-Hispanic white. This rapid change demonstrates that America\u27s youth are at the forefront of the country\u27s rapidly shifting demographic makeup. This brief reveals the factors causing this increase in the proportion of minority births

Population growth in new Hispanic destinations

Natural increase—more births than deaths—is now the major engine of Hispanic population growth in many large metro areas and their suburbs, as well as numerous smaller metropolitan areas and rural communities. Hispanics now account for half of U.S. population growth, and Hispanic population growth is the reason many communities grew instead of declined

Electron-dependent thermoelectric properties in Si/Si_(1_x)Ge_(x) heterostructures and Si_(1-x)Ge_(x) alloys from first-principles

Unlike phononic thermal conductivity (which is shown in the literature to be reduced due to alloying and has a nearly constant value over a range of compositional variations), electron-dependent thermoelectric properties are shown here, from first-principles, to vary nonlinearly with composition. Of the Si/Si_(1_x)Ge_(x) systems considered, the maximum thermopower observed, which is 10% higher than that of crystalline Si, is obtained for a Si_(0.875)Ge_(0.125) alloy. Also, heterostructuring is shown to reduce thermopower, electrical conductivity, and electron thermal conductivity. Additionally, neither Lorenz number nor Seebeck coefficient shows oscillations for heterostructures, regardless of electron/hole energies, contradicting the conclusions obtained with miniband approximations

The Changing Faces of America’s Children and Youth

Recent U.S. Census Bureau projections indicate that by the middle of this century, non-Hispanic whites will cease to be a majority of the American population. In this article we document how for America’s youngest residents, the future is already here. America’s rapidly changing racial and ethnic composition has important implications for intergroup relations, ethnic identities, and electoral politics

Tissue transglutaminase in normal and abnormal wound healing: review article

A complex series of events involving inflammation, cell migration and proliferation, ECM stabilisation and remodelling, neovascularisation and apoptosis are crucial to the tissue response to injury. Wound healing involves the dynamic interactions of multiple cells types with components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors. Impaired wound healing as a consequence of aging, injury or disease may lead to serious disabilities and poor quality of life. Abnormal wound healing may also lead to inflammatory and fibrotic conditions (such as renal and pulmonary fibrosis). Therefore identification of the molecular events underlying wound repair is essential to develop new effective treatments in support to patients and the wound care sector. Recent advances in the understating of the physiological functions of tissue transglutaminase a multi functional protein cross-linking enzyme which stabilises tissues have demonstrated that its biological activities interrelate with wound healing phases at multiple levels. This review describes our view of the function of tissue trasnglutaminase in wound repair under normal and pathological situations and highlights its potential as a strategic therapeutic target in the development of new treatments to improve wound healing and prevent scarring

The Changing Spatial Concentration of America\u27s Rural Poor Population

This paper documents changing patterns of concentrated poverty in nonmetro areas. Data from the Decennial U.S. Census Summary Files show that poverty rates—both overall and for children—declined more rapidly in nonmetro than metro counties in the 1990s. The 1990s also brought large reductions in the number of high-poverty nonmetro counties and declines in the share of rural people, including rural poor people, who were living in them. This suggests that America\u27s rural pockets of poverty may be “drying up” and that spatial inequality in nonmetro America declined over the 1990s, at least at the county level. On a less optimistic note, concentrated poverty among rural minorities remains exceptionally high. Roughly one-half of all rural blacks and one-third of rural Hispanics live in poor counties. Poor minorities are even more highly concentrated in poor areas. Rural children—especially rural minority children—have poverty rates well above national and nonmetro rates, the concentration of rural minority children is often extreme (i.e., over 80% lived in high-poverty counties), and the number of nonmetro counties with high levels of persistent child poverty remains high (over 600 counties). Rural poor children may be more disadvantaged than ever, especially if measured by their lack of access to opportunities and divergence with children living elsewhere. Patterns of poverty among rural children—who often grow up to be poor adults— suggest that recent declines in concentrated rural poverty may be short-lived

Efficient Computation of Power, Force, and Torque in BEM Scattering Calculations

We present concise, computationally efficient formulas for several quantities of interest -- including absorbed and scattered power, optical force (radiation pressure), and torque -- in scattering calculations performed using the boundary-element method (BEM) [also known as the method of moments (MOM)]. Our formulas compute the quantities of interest \textit{directly} from the BEM surface currents with no need ever to compute the scattered electromagnetic fields. We derive our new formulas and demonstrate their effectiveness by computing power, force, and torque in a number of example geometries. Free, open-source software implementations of our formulas are available for download online

Peak wind speed anemometers /maxometer/ Final report, 26 Mar. 1969 - 25 May 1970

Fabrication and testing of peak wind speed recording devic