Employer Health Benefits 2016 Annual Survey

This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions. The 2016 survey included almost 1,900 interviews with non-federal public and private firms.Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $18,142 this year, up 3 percent from last year, with workers on average paying$5,277 towards the cost of their coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Education Trust 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey. The 2016 survey includes information on the use of incentives for employer wellness programs, plan cost-sharing as well as firm offer rate. Survey results are released here in a variety of ways, including a full report with downloadable tables on a variety of topics, summary of findings, and an article published in the journal Health Affairs

Development and validation of a T7 based linear amplification for genomic DNA

BACKGROUND: Genomic maps of transcription factor binding sites and histone modification patterns provide unique insight into the nature of gene regulatory networks and chromatin structure. These systematic studies use microarrays to analyze the composition of DNA isolated by chromatin immunoprecipitation. To obtain quantities sufficient for microarray analysis, the isolated DNA must be amplified. Current protocols use PCR-based approaches to amplify in exponential fashion. However, exponential amplification protocols are highly susceptible to bias. Linear amplification strategies minimize amplification bias and have had a profound impact on mRNA expression analysis. These protocols have yet to be applied to the analysis of genomic DNA due to the lack of a suitable tag such as the polyA tail. RESULTS: We have developed a novel linear amplification protocol for genomic DNA. Terminal transferase is used to add polyT tails to the ends of DNA fragments. Tail length uniformity is ensured by including a limiting concentration of the terminating nucleotide ddCTP. Second strand synthesis using a T7-polyA primer adapter yields double stranded templates suitable for in vitro transcription (IVT). Using this approach, we are able to amplify as little as 2.5 ng of genomic DNA, while retaining the size distribution of the starting material. In contrast, we find that PCR amplification is biased towards species of greater size. Furthermore, extensive microarray-based analyses reveal that our linear amplification protocol preserves dynamic range and species representation more effectively than a commonly used PCR-based approach. CONCLUSION: We present a T7-based linear amplification protocol for genomic DNA. Validation studies and comparisons with existing methods suggest that incorporation of this protocol will reduce amplification bias in genome mapping experiments

In the beginning was the word : the discursive construction of spiritual work and spiritual workers

290 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 257-284).The methods of critical discourse analysis are used to shed light onto workplace spirituality. This research is premised upon the idea that reality is socially constructed, and language is the central mechanism through which constructed realities take shape. Using a representative corpus for the purpose of analysis, insights are offered into the objects, concepts and subject positions established by the discourse of workplace spirituality to better understand the particular reality authors of these texts are attempting to construct. The manifestation of workplace spirituality is evident to the extent that workers have developed higher levels of consciousness, appreciate the interconnected reality of their organizational role, and improve upon their capacity to lead in particular ways. These collectively are the signs of spiritual workers, and it is largely incumbent upon members of organizations to construct their realities accordingly as an existential exercise. Once workers have changed, spiritual work can happen - the second manifestation of workplace spirituality. Spiritual work is constructed to be motivating, personally meaningful, and to some extent socially responsible. Although there are specific qualities of spiritual work presented, it rests largely upon the workers' capacity to make sense of their work in particular ways. The work organization is also advised to adopt several practices to help facilitate this change. The combined development of spirituality in organizations is made meaningful as advantageous, most commonly in ways that promote the economic objectives of organizations. To the extent that this discourse subsumes spirituality as a means to economic ends, it does ideological work. The actors who participate in constructing this reality employ various strategies of legitimization to reinforce their message and bolster their subject positions as credible agents of change. Moreover, the meanings they attach to spiritual work and spiritual workers are drawn from numerous other texts embedded with ideas about spirituality and other discourses prominent within organizational studies. The tracing of these intertextual linkages, combined with the appreciation of power and strategy, and the location of the discourse of workplace spirituality within a broader social context, all contribute to our understanding of how this discourse came to be structured as such

Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Individual Differences in Uncertainty-Driven Exploration

SummaryHow do individuals decide to act based on a rewarding status quo versus an unexplored choice that might yield a better outcome? Recent evidence suggests that individuals may strategically explore as a function of the relative uncertainty about the expected value of options. However, the neural mechanisms supporting uncertainty-driven exploration remain underspecified. The present fMRI study scanned a reinforcement learning task in which participants stop a rotating clock hand in order to win points. Reward schedules were such that expected value could increase, decrease, or remain constant with respect to time. We fit several mathematical models to subject behavior to generate trial-by-trial estimates of exploration as a function of relative uncertainty. These estimates were used to analyze our fMRI data. Results indicate that rostrolateral prefrontal cortex tracks trial-by-trial changes in relative uncertainty, and this pattern distinguished individuals who rely on relative uncertainty for their exploratory decisions versus those who do not.Video Abstrac

Quaternary sea level changes in Scotland

This paper summarises developments in understanding sea level change during the Quaternary in Scotland since the publication of the Quaternary of Scotland Geological Conservation Review volume Quaternary of Scotland in 1993. We present a review of progress in methodology, particularly in the study of sediments in isolation basins and estuaries as well as in techniques in the field and laboratory, which have together disclosed greater detail in the record of relative sea level (RSL) change than was available in 1993. However, progress in determining the record of RSL change varies in different areas. Studies of sediments and stratigraphy offshore on the continental shelf have increased greatly, but the record of RSL change there remains patchy. Studies onshore have resulted in improvements in the knowledge of rock shorelines, including the processes by which they are formed, but much remains to be understood. Studies of Late Devensian and Holocene RSLs around present coasts have improved knowledge of both the extent and age range of the evidence. The record of RSL change on the W and NW coasts has disclosed a much longer dated RSL record than was available before 1993, possibly with evidence of Meltwater Pulse 1A, while studies in estuaries on the E and SW coasts have disclosed widespread and consistent fluctuations in Holocene RSLs. Evidence for the meltwater pulse associated with the Early Holocene discharge of Lakes Agassiz-Ojibway in N America has been found on both E and W coasts. The effects of the impact of storminess, in particular in cliff-top storm deposits, have been widely identified. Further information on the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami has enabled a better understanding of the event but evidence for other tsunami events on Scottish coasts remains uncertain. Methodological developments have led to new reconstructions of RSL change for the last 2000 years, utilising state-of-the-art GIA models and alongside coastal biostratigraphy to determine trends to compare with modern tide gauge and documentary evidence. Developments in GIA modelling have provided valuable information on patterns of land uplift during and following deglaciation. The studies undertaken raise a number of research questions which will require addressing in future work

Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in Irish prisoners, part II: prevalence and risk in committal prisoners 1999.

The results of a census survey of 1205 Irish prisoners, published in August 1999, showed that the prevalence of infection with hepatitis B was 9%, the prevalence of infection with hepatitis C was 37%, and the prevalence of infection with HIV was 2%. The current report presents the results of a survey of committal prisoners. The reason the committal survey was undertaken was to ensure adequate representation of short-term prisoners, and to determine if the prevalence of the infections differed in committal prisoners from that found in 'resident' prisoners. Five of the seven Irish committal prisons were included in the survey. A total of 607 prisoners took part in the survey, a response rate of 96%. The survey consisted of completing a four page questionnaire and collecting a sample of oral fluid for testing for antibodies to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. The fieldwork was carried out between 6th April and 1st May 1999. Overall the prevalence of infection with hepatitis B among committal prisoners was 6%, the prevalence of infection with hepatitis C was 37% and the prevalence of HIV was 2%. Almost one quarter (140/596) of the committal prisoners tested and evidence of at least one of the three infections. Prevalence in women prisoners was significantly higher: 22% for hepatitis B, 56% for hepatitis C, and 10% for HIV. Prevalence was also higher among drug users (18% for hepatitis B, 72% for hepatitis C, and 6% for HIV) and in the Dublin prisons. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that injecting drug use was by far the most important predictor of hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection. Female gender was an independent risk factor for all three infections. Reporting treatment for sexually transmitted infection, and increasing time spent in prison, were also associated with higher rates of hepatitis C. Among injecting drug users, sharing needles in prison and high frequencies of injecting in the previous month were linked to increased risk of hepatitis C infection. The prevalence of HIV was higher in those who had spent more than three of the last 10 years in prisons

Borders and Catastrophe: lessons from COVID-19 for the European Green Deal

This article considers how the European Union and Member States’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the first half of 2020 could inform climate action in Europe, and particularly the resumption of actions on the EGD. It first outlines the EU’s public health and economic responses to COVID-19 and Europe’s role in the global response to the pandemic. We find that, based on the challenges and successes of all these responses, a strong argument can be made for ‘more Europe’ – greater integration, and stronger EU-level institutions – to lead and govern the COVID-19 response. This has direct lessons for the governance and scope of future climate action

Global nucleosome occupancy in yeast

BACKGROUND: Although eukaryotic genomes are generally thought to be entirely chromatin-associated, the activated PHO5 promoter in yeast is largely devoid of nucleosomes. We systematically evaluated nucleosome occupancy in yeast promoters by immunoprecipitating nucleosomal DNA and quantifying enrichment by microarrays. RESULTS: Nucleosome depletion is observed in promoters that regulate active genes and/or contain multiple evolutionarily conserved motifs that recruit transcription factors. The Rap1 consensus was the only binding motif identified in a completely unbiased search of nucleosome-depleted promoters. Nucleosome depletion in the vicinity of Rap1 consensus sites in ribosomal protein gene promoters was also observed by real-time PCR and micrococcal nuclease digestion. Nucleosome occupancy in these regions was increased by the small molecule rapamycin or, in the case of the RPS11B promoter, by removing the Rap1 consensus sites. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of transcription factor-binding motifs is an important determinant of nucleosome depletion. Most motifs are associated with marked depletion only when they appear in combination, consistent with a model in which transcription factors act collaboratively to exclude nucleosomes and gain access to target sites in the DNA. In contrast, Rap1-binding sites cause marked depletion under steady-state conditions. We speculate that nucleosome depletion enables Rap1 to define chromatin domains and alter them in response to environmental cues