Equity in Unemployment Insurance Benefit Access

This paper examines the uneven pattern of access to unemployment insurance (UI) by age, gender, and race across the United States. We present results from a descriptive analysis using publicly available longitudinal data reported by states on rates of UI recipiency and characteristics of UI beneficiaries. Recipiency measures the proportion of all unemployed who are receiving UI benefits. UI is intended to provide temporary, partial income replacement to involuntarily unemployed UI applicants with strong labor force attachments while they are able, available, and actively seeking return to work. Each of these UI eligibility conditions contributes to the UI recipiency rate being less than 100 percent, and the individual decision to apply for benefits also affects the recipiency rate. We examine each of these factors and find suggestive evidence of reasons for differences in recipiency by age, gender, and race. We discuss practical program reforms to improve equity in access to UI that could be adopted by all states and required by the federal government

Genital warts and cervical neoplasia: an epidemiological study.

Cervical carcinoma and cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) are likely to be associated with all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). To help discover which (if any) of the recognised STDs might actually cause these conditions, a key question is whether one particular such association is much stronger than the others. The present study is therefore only of women newly attending an STD clinic, and compares the prevalences of cytological abnormalities of the cervix among 415 women attending with genital warts, 135 with genital herpes, and 458 with trichomoniasis or gonorrhoea. Significantly more genital wart patients (8.1%) than trichomoniasis or gonorrhoea patients (1.9%) showed dyskaryotic changes (adjusted relative risk (RR) = 5.8 with 95% limits 2.5-13.5) at, or a few months before, first attendance, while no excess whatever was seen in women with genital herpes. Moreover, half the women had a subsequent smear (at an average of 3-4 years after first attendance) and, although the diagnosis at first attendance was not related to the onset rate of dyskaryotic changes observed in these subsequent smears, it was related to the onset rate of grade III cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN III), which was found in 7 previous genital wart patients, in 2 previous trichomonas patients, but in 0 previous genital herpes patients. Thus, our findings suggest that herpes is not directly relevant to dyskaryotic change, but that one or more of the human papilloma viruses that cause genital warts may be

A Phase 2 study of cisplatin analog CI-973 in the treatment of patients with refractory, advanced ovarian cancer

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71591/1/j.1525-1438.1996.06040257.x.pd

Morphological and geographical traits of the British Odonata

Trait data are fundamental for many aspects of ecological research, particularly for modeling species response to environmental change. We synthesised information from the literature (mainly field guides) and direct measurements from museum specimens, providing a comprehensive dataset of 26 attributes, covering the 43 resident species of Odonata in Britain. Traits included in this database range from morphological traits (e.g. body length) to attributes based on the distribution of the species (e.g. climatic restriction). We measured 11 morphometric traits from five adult males and five adult females per species. Using digital callipers, these measurements were taken from dry museum specimens, all of which were wild caught individuals. Repeated measures were also taken to estimate measurement error. The trait data are stored in an online repository (https://github.com/BiologicalRecordsCentre/Odonata_traits), alongside R code designed to give an overview of the morphometric data, and to combine the morphometric data to the single value per trait per species data

A genome-wide survey of imprinted genes in rice seeds reveals imprinting primarily occurs in the endosperm

Abstract Genomic imprinting causes the expression of an allele depending on its parental origin. In plants, most imprinted genes have been identified in Arabidopsis endosperm, a transient structure consumed by the embryo during seed formation. We identified imprinted genes in rice seed where both the endosperm and embryo are present at seed maturity. RNA was extracted from embryos and endosperm of seeds obtained from reciprocal crosses between two subspecies Nipponbare (Japonica rice) and 93-11 (Indica rice). Sequenced reads from cDNA libraries were aligned to their respective parental genomes using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Reads across SNPs enabled derivation of parental expression bias ratios. A continuum of parental expression bias states was observed. Statistical analyses indicated 262 candidate imprinted loci in the endosperm and three in the embryo (168 genic and 97 non-genic). Fifty-six of the 67 loci investigated were confirmed to be imprinted in the seed. Imprinted loci are not clustered in the rice genome as found in mammals. All of these imprinted loci were expressed in the endosperm, and one of these was also imprinted in the embryo, confirming that in both rice and Arabidopsis imprinted expression is primarily confined to the endosperm. Some rice imprinted genes were also expressed in vegetative tissues, indicating that they have additional roles in plant growth. Comparison of candidate imprinted genes found in rice with imprinted candidate loci obtained from genome-wide surveys of imprinted genes in Arabidopsis to date shows a low degree of conservation, suggesting that imprinting has evolved independently in eudicots and monocots

Service User/Carers contribution to Value Based Recruitment in a Pre-registration Adult Nursing Programme.

Within the UK, the patients’ voice is becoming more powerful politically, due to the recognition of the importance of their voice in service development and delivery (Department of Health (DoH) 2008). This commitment towards hearing individual voices has been further endorsed in the National Health Service (NHS) Constitution (DoH 2009), and Liberating the NHS (DoH 2010). All of these reports highlight the need for the NHS to utilise the voices of its users in assessing the quality of the care provided, recognising that individuals are best placed to judge their experiences. This focus on engagement with service users has transcended into nurse preparatory programmes. Indeed the regulatory body for nursing in the UK (Nursing Midwifery Council NMC) highlight one of its core standards for education is that Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) clearly demonstrate how service users/carers contribute to both programme design and delivery (NMC 2010). A further consideration within the UK nurse education is an increased focus on value based recruitment. A re-focus on values within the NHS was one of the areas identified in the Francis Report (2013). In 2014, Health Education England (HEE) published their Value Based Recruitment Framework in which they articulate how future recruitment of healthcare practitioners will focus on how applicants’ individual values and behaviours align with the core values of the NHS Constitution (DoH 2009). HEIs are expected to comply with the guidance published from HEE as 50% student nurse programmes are based in healthcare settings. As part of reviewing our admissions process in light of the requirements of values based recruitment we decided we would like to include service users/carers more formally into our recruitment process. We have a long established link with service users within the university (coordinated by 2 part time designated staff), which includes engagement in both curriculum development and review, delivery of education as well as assisting us in the past in designing interview questions. In addition, service users and carers have been successfully engaged in social work interviews at the university for a number of years; however the numbers of candidates are very small. We sought inspiration from a study by Rhodes & Nyawata (2011) who evaluated involvement of service users in the recruitment of ninety child health and adult field nursing students and we wondered if we could implement that within our adult student nursing programme which interviews several hundreds of candidates each year. This paper will present our experience of implementing an initiative which enabled service users and carers to formally contribute towards the interviewing of pre-registration adult student nurses. It will explore some of the highlights and the challenges we experienced during the last year. Lastly, it will reflect upon our experience of how service users and carers are a fundamental aspect of value based recruitment. References Department of Health. (2008) High Quality Care for All (Darzi Report). Department of Health. Department of Health. (2009) The NHS Constitution. Department of Health. Department of Health. (2010) Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. Department of Health. Francis, R. (2013) Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry; Executive Summary. London. Health Education England. (2014) Value Based Recruitment Framework. Available from: http://hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/blogs.dir/321/files/2014/10/VBR-Framework.pdf (accessed 07/02/15) Nursing Midwifery Council. (2010) Standards for Pre-registration Education. London: Nursing Midwifery Council. Rhodes, C., and Nyawata, I. (2011) Service user and carer involvement in student nurse selection: Key stakeholder perspectives. Nurse Education Today, 31, 439-443

Sleep quality in middle-aged and elderly Chinese: distribution, associated factors and associations with cardio-metabolic risk factors

Background Poor sleep quality has been associated with increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and mortality. However, limited information exists on the distribution and determinants of sleep quality and its associations with cardio-metabolic risk factors in Chinese populations. We aimed to evaluate this in the current study. Methods A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2005 of 1,458 men and 1,831 women aged 50–70 years from urban and rural areas of Beijing and Shanghai. Using a questionnaire, sleep quality was measured in levels of well, common and poor. Comprehensive measures of socio-demographical and health factors and biomarkers of cardio-metabolic disease were recorded. These were evaluated in association with sleep quality using logistic regression models. Results Half of the population reported good sleep quality. After adjusting for potential confounders, women and Beijing residents had almost half the probability to report good sleep quality. Good physical and mental health (good levels of self-rated health (OR 2.48; 95%CI 2.08 to 2.96) and no depression (OR 4.05; 95%CI 3.12 to 5.26)) related to an increased chance of reporting good sleep quality, whereas short sleep duration (<7 hrs OR 0.10; 95%CI 0.07 to 0.14)) decreased it substantially. There were significant associations between levels of sleep quality and concentrations of plasma insulin, total and LDL cholesterol, and index of insulin resistance. Conclusion Levels of good sleep quality in middle-age and elderly Chinese were low. Gender, geographical location, self-rated health, depression and sleep quantity were major factors associated with sleep quality. Prospective studies are required to distil the factors that determine sleep quality and the effects that sleep patterns exert on cardio-metabolic health

Service user engagement in healthcare education as a mechanism for value based recruitment: an evaluation study

Aim Within the United Kingdom (UK) there is an increasing focus on Values Based Recruitment (VBR) of staff working in the National Health Service (NHS) in response to public inquiries criticising the lack of person-centred care. All NHS employees are recruited on the basis of a prescribed set of values. This is extended to the recruitment of student healthcare professionals, yet there is little research of how to implement this. Involving Service Users in healthcare educational practice is gaining momentum internationally, yet involvement of service users in VBR of ‘would be’ healthcare professionals remains at an embryonic phase. Adult nurses represent the largest healthcare workforce in the UK, yet involvement of service users in their recruitment has received scant attention. This paper is an evaluation of the inclusion of service users in a VBR of 640 adult student nurses. Background Design This study used a participatory mixed methods approach, with service users as co-researchers in the study. Methods The study consisted of mixed methods design. Quantitative data via an online questionnaire to ascertain candidates' perspectives (n = 269 response rate of 42%), and academic/clinical nurses (n = 35 response rate 34.65%). Qualitative data were gathered using focus groups and one to one interviews with service users (n = 9). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings 4 overarching themes were identified; increasing sense of humanness, substantiating care values; impact of involvement; working together and making it work, a work in progress. Conclusion The findings from the study highlight that involving service users in VBR of student healthcare professionals has benefits to candidates, service users and local health services. Appreciating the perceptions of healthcare professionals is fundamental in the UK and internationally to implementing service users' engagement in service enhancement and delivery. Findings from this study identify there may be a dissonance between the policy, the nurses' thoughts and their practice