The Lifetime Impacts of the New Deal's Youth Employment Program.

We study the lifetime effects of the first and largest American youth employment and training program in the United States-the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 1933-1942. We match newly digitized enrollee records to census, World War II enlistment, Social Security, and death records. We find that longer service in the CCC led to improvements in height, health status, longevity, geographic mobility, and lifetime earnings but did not improve short-term labor market outcomes, including employment and wages.

The effect of economic conditions on the disability insurance program: Evidence from the great recession.

We examine the effect of job displacement during the Great Recession on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. Exploiting variation in the severity and timing of the recession across states, we estimate the effect of unemployment on SSDI applications and awards. We find the Great Recession induced nearly one million SSDI applications that otherwise would not have been filed, of which 41.

Rigor and reproducibility in polymer nanoparticle synthesis and characterization.

Standardized process improvement methods and tools were used to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of diblock copolymer nanoparticle (NP) synthesis and characterization. Models linking design parameters with NP characteristics boosted process control for NP synthesis, which may improve translation and commercialization of NP research.

Synthesis and initial biological evaluation of new mimics of the LXR-modulator 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol.

The generic, synthetic oxysterol 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol (22SHC) has shown antagonistic effects towards liver X receptor (LXR) in vitro and promising effects on plasma triacylglycerol level and body weight-gain in animal studies. On the contrary, the endogenic LXR agonist 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol (22RHC) and synthetic LXR agonists convincingly have shown agonistic effects on genes involved in lipogenesis, and inhibitory effects on cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesized that the carbon side chain containing the hydroxyl group at the 22-position was a pharmacophore affecting these opposite effects on LXR.

Synthesis and initial in vitro biological evaluation of two new zinc-chelating compounds: comparison with TPEN and PAC-1.

The lipophilic, cell-penetrating zinc chelator N,N,N',N',-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl) ethylenediamine (TPEN, 1) and the zinc chelating procaspase-activating compound PAC-1 (2) both have been reported to induce apoptosis in various cell types. The relationship between apoptosis-inducing ability and zinc affinity (Kd), have been investigated with two new model compounds, ZnA-DPA (3) and ZnA-Pyr (4), and compared to that of TPEN and PAC-1. The zinc-chelating o-hydroxybenzylidene moiety in PAC-1 was replaced with a 2,2'-dipicoylamine (DPA) unit (ZnA-DPA, 3) and a 4-pyridoxyl unit (ZnA-Pyr, 4), rendering an order of zinc affinity TPEN>ZnA-Pyr>ZnA-DPA>PAC-1.

Low levels of retirement resources in the near-elderly time period and future participation in means-tested programs.

This article describes the de facto standards of low income and resources reflected in the eligibility standards of the largest means-tested programs that serve the elderly and then applies these standards to a near-elderly cohort. Through juxtaposing retirement resources in the near-elderly time period with program participation in the elderly time period, the author indirectly examines some of the changes between the two time periods that could affect program eligibility, including spend-down of resources and marital dissolution. Retirement resource levels are estimated using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and subsequent participation in one of the means-tested programs--Supplemental Security Income (SSI)--is examined using matched administrative records.

Disability benefit coverage and program interactions in the working-age population.

Over three-fourths of the working-age population in the United States is insured for Disability Insurance (DI); this group is protected against a total loss of earned income typically associated with severe disability. However, little is known about the role the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program plays in protecting against the financial consequences of severe disability for this population. We find that over one-third (36 percent) of the working-age population is covered by SSI in the event of a severe disability.

Disabled workers and the indexing of Social Security benefits.

We examine how benefit amounts and family income would change in response to changing the Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, OASDI) benefit indexing scheme. We are interested in a class of reform options designed to gradually slow the growth of benefits across the board. These options include the "price indexing" and "longevity indexing" proposals that have been part of the recent Social Security reform debate in the United States as well as a range of proposals developed in Europe.

Benefit adequacy among elderly Social Security retired-worker beneficiaries and the SSI federal benefit rate.

Both target effectiveness and administrative simplicity are desirable properties in the design of minimum benefit packages for public retirement programs. The federal benefit rate (FBR) of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program has been proposed by some analysts as a potentially attractive basis of establishing a new minimum benefit for Social Security on both of these grounds. This type of proposal is related to a broader array of minimum benefit proposals that would establish a Social Security benefit floor based on the poverty rate.

The potential of the SSI program to reduce poverty among the elderly.

Is it more effective to reduce poverty among the elderly by increasing the benefits paid by the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program or by increasing eligibility for the program? This paper answers that question from a policymaker's perspective. At given program cost levels, we compare the potential reduction in poverty from increasing benefit levels to the potential reduction associated with a variety of policy proposals that would increase eligibility for the program. This paper employs a microsimulation model containing an eligibility and benefits calculator, a participation model, and an optimization algorithm.

Poverty among elderly women: assessing SSI options to strengthen Social Security reform.

Objectives: We explore the potential of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to reduce poverty among elderly women. We develop a methodological framework that compares how well various reform proposals are targeted to reducing poverty among elderly women.

Methods: Using a microsimulation model and survey data matched to SSI administrative records, we model the effects of eight alternative policies on current and potential SSI recipients.