New Yorkers Negatively Impacted by Hurricane Sandy: How are They Faring Since?

Hurricane Sandy, which hit New York City on October 29, 2012, was one of the worst weather-related disasters to hit New York City in decades. In far-flung parts of the city, the storm wreaked havoc on New York City residents and their communities. Some were stranded in their homes without power, others lost vehicles, belongings, or even their homes to catastrophic damage, and still others were injured or even lost their lives. And for some, the storm was a direct hit to the pocketbook, as the results of the storm caused them to lose pay or even their job altogether. The extent of Hurricane Sandy’s immediate impact was fairly well documented shortly after the storm. This brief focuses on what happened since. We find that a year after Hurricane Sandy landed in New York City, those who were negatively impacted by the storm are experiencing elevated levels of material hardships, independent of their disadvantages and hardships prior to the storm

Trends in Poverty with an Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure

Poverty measures set a poverty line or threshold and then evaluate resources against that threshold. The official poverty measure is flawed on both counts: it uses thresholds that are outdated and are not adjusted appropriately for the needs of different types of individuals and households; and it uses an incomplete measure of resources which fails to take into account the full range of income and expenses that individuals and households have. Because of these (and other) failings, statistics using the official poverty measure do not provide an accurate picture of poverty or the role of government policies in combating poverty. To address these well-known limitations, the Census Bureau recently implemented a supplemental poverty measure (SPM) which applies an improved set of thresholds and a more comprehensive measure of resources. In this report we apply an alternative poverty measure which differs from the SPM in only one respect. Instead of having a threshold that is re-calculated over time, we use today’s threshold and carry it back historically by adjusting it for inflation using the CPI-U-RS. Because this alternative measure is anchored with today’s SPM threshold, we refer to as an anchored supplemental poverty measure or anchored SPM for short. In addition to the reasons discussed above, another advantage of an anchored SPM (or any absolute poverty measure, for that matter) is that poverty trends resulting from such a measure can be explained by changes in income and net transfer payments (cash or in kind). Trends in poverty based on a relative measure (e.g. SPM poverty), on the other hand, could be due to over time changes in thresholds. Thus, an anchored SPM arguably provides a cleaner measure of how changes in income and net transfer payments have affected poverty historicall

Waging War on Poverty: Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure

Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we calculate historical poverty estimates based on the new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) from 1967 to 2012. During this period, poverty as officially measured has stagnated. However, the official poverty measure (OPM) does not account for the effect of near-cash transfers on the financial resources available to families, an important omission since such transfers have become an increasingly important part of government anti-poverty policy. Applying the SPM, which does count such transfers, we find that historical trends in poverty have been more favorable than the OPM suggests and that government policies have played an important and growing role in reducing poverty --- a role that is not evident when the OPM is used to assess poverty. We also find that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns

Repowering Flexibility of Coal-Based Advanced Power Systems

The Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) helps enhance the economic competitiveness, environmental quality, and national well-being of the U.S. by developing advanced power-generation systems. The potential market for advanced power-generation systems is large. In the U.S., electric demand is estimated to grow at about 1 percent per year through the year 2010. The total power generation market also includes new-capacity as well as replacement of existing power plants as they age. Thus, the market for power systems over the next 15 years is estimated to be about 279,000 megawatts (MW), but could range from as much as 484,000 MW to as little as 153,000 MW. These predictions are summarized. Over the next 15 years, the replacement market is potentially much larger than the expansion market because of the large base of aging power plants in the U.S

Role of PHOSPHO1 in periodontal development and function

The tooth root and periodontal apparatus, including the acellular and cellular cementum, periodontal ligament (PDL), and alveolar bone, are critical for tooth function. Cementum and bone mineralization is regulated by factors including enzymes and extracellular matrix proteins that promote or inhibit hydroxyapatite crystal growth. Orphan Phosphatase 1 (Phospho1, PHOSPHO1) is a phosphatase expressed by chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and odontoblasts that functions in skeletal and dentin mineralization by initiating deposition of hydroxyapatite inside membrane-limited matrix vesicles. The role of PHOSPHO1 in periodontal formation remains unknown and we aimed to determine its functional importance in these tissues. We hypothesized that the enzyme would regulate proper mineralization of the periodontal apparatus. Spatiotemporal expression of PHOSPHO1 was mapped during periodontal development, and Phospho1(-/-) mice were analyzed using histology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, radiography, and micro–computed tomography. The Phospho1 gene and PHOSPHO1 protein were expressed by active alveolar bone osteoblasts and cementoblasts during cellular cementum formation. In Phospho1(-/-) mice, acellular cementum formation and mineralization were unaffected, whereas cellular cementum deposition increased although it displayed delayed mineralization and cementoid. Phospho1(-/-) mice featured disturbances in alveolar bone mineralization, shown by accumulation of unmineralized osteoid matrix and interglobular patterns of protein deposition. Parallel to other skeletal sites, deposition of mineral-regulating protein osteopontin (OPN) was increased in alveolar bone in Phospho1(-/-) mice. In contrast to the skeleton, genetic ablation of Spp1, the gene encoding OPN, did not ameliorate dentoalveolar defects in Phospho1(-/-) mice. Despite alveolar bone mineralization defects, periodontal attachment and function appeared undisturbed in Phospho1(-/-) mice, with normal PDL architecture and no evidence of bone loss over time. This study highlights the role of PHOSPHO1 in mineralization of alveolar bone and cellular cementum, further revealing that acellular cementum formation is not substantially regulated by PHOSPHO1 and likely does not rely on matrix vesicle–mediated initiation of mineralization

Mafb and c-Maf Have Prenatal Compensatory and Postnatal Antagonistic Roles in Cortical Interneuron Fate and Function

Mafb and c-Maf transcription factor (TF) expression is enriched in medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) lineages, beginning in late-secondary progenitors and continuing into mature parvalbumin (PV(+)) and somatostatin (SST(+)) interneurons. However, the functions of Maf TFs in MGE development remain to be elucidated. Herein, Mafb and c-Maf were conditionally deleted, alone and together, in the MGE and its lineages. Analyses of Maf mutant mice revealed redundant functions of Mafb and c-Maf in secondary MGE progenitors, where they repress the generation of SST(+) cortical and hippocampal interneurons. By contrast, Mafb and c-Maf have distinct roles in postnatal cortical interneuron (CIN) morphological maturation, synaptogenesis, and cortical circuit integration. Thus, Mafb and c-Maf have redundant and opposing functions at different steps in CIN development