2008 Health Insurance Survey of California Farm and Ranch Operators: Overview of Findings

Presents findings on the healthcare costs of the state's farmers and ranchers, including health status, insurance source, reason for uninsurance, healthcare expenditures, payment source, financial burden, and access to care. Discusses policy implications

2008 Health Insurance Survey of California Farm and Ranch Operators: Who Experiences Financial Hardship Because of Health Care Costs?

Analyzes factors affecting California farmers' and ranchers' likelihood of spending more than 10 percent of their income on health care or reporting financial hardship due to medical costs, including source of insurance. Discusses policy implications

2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators

Presents findings on the health insurance status of farmers and ranchers in the Great Plains states and the factors that raise their risk of spending 10 percent or more of their income on health care or reporting financial hardship due to medical costs

Radio frequency component and method of making same

An electrical component and a method of constructing it are disclosed. The component includes a hollow tubular structure. The structure includes a series of axially spaced apart rings and at least one outer perimeter housing member. The housing member interconnects the rings for defining an internal configuration of the hollow tubular structure for electrical purposes. The rings and the housing member each include inter-engageable elements for helping secure mechanically the rings and housing member together to facilitate final assembly of the electrical component

Developing close combat behaviors for simulated soldiers using genetic programming techniques.

Genetic programming is a powerful methodology for automatically producing solutions to problems in a variety of domains. It has been used successfully to develop behaviors for RoboCup soccer players and simple combat agents. We will attempt to use genetic programming to solve a problem in the domain of strategic combat, keeping in mind the end goal of developing sophisticated behaviors for compound defense and infiltration. The simplified problem at hand is that of two armed agents in a small room, containing obstacles, fighting against each other for survival. The base case and three changes are considered: a memory of positions using stacks, context-dependent genetic programming, and strongly typed genetic programming. Our work demonstrates slight improvements from the first two techniques, and no significant improvement from the last

Importance of clinical measures of ischemia in the prognosis of patients with documented coronary artery disease

AbstractTo examine the value of clinical measures of ischemia for stratifying prognosis, 5,886 consecutive patients who had symptomatic significant (≥75% stenosis) coronary artery disease were studied. Using the Cox regression model in a randomly selected half of the patients, the prognostically independent clinical variables were weighted and arranged into a simple angina score: angina score = angina course × (1 + daily angina frequency) + ST-T changes, where angina course was equal to 3 if unstable or variant angina was present, 2 if the patient's angina was progressive with nocturnal episodes, 1 if it was progressive without nocturnal symptoms and 0 if it was stable; 6 points were added for the presence of “ischemic” ST-T changes. This angina score was then validated in an independent patient sample.The score was a more powerful predictor of prognosis than was any individual anginal descriptor. Furthermore, the angina score added significant independent prognostic information to the patient's age, sex, coronary anatomy and left ventricular function. Patients with three vessel disease and a normal ventricle (n = 1,233) had a 2 year infarction-free survival rate of 90% with an angina score of 0 and a 68% survival rate with an angina score ≥9. With an ejection fraction <50% and three vessel disease (n = 1,116), the corresponding infarction-free survival figures were 76 and 56%. Thus, a careful summarization of clinical markers of ischemia in the form of an angina score can provide a powerful prognostic tool and may aid clinicians in identifying high risk patients who are candidates for aggressive therapeutic interventions

Clinical judgement and therapeutic decision making

AbstractClinical decision making is under increased scrutiny due to concerns about the cost and quality of medical care. Variability in physician decision making is common, in part because of deficiencies in the knowledge base, but also due to the difference in physicians' approaches to clinical problem solving. Evaluation of patient prognosis is a critical factor in the selection of therapy, and careful attention to methodology is essential to provide reliable information.Randomized controlled clinical trials provide the most solid basis for the establishment of broad therapeutic principles. Because randomized studies cannot be performed to address every question, observational studies will continue to play a complementary role in the evaluation of therapy. Randomized studies in progress, meta analyses of existing data, and increased use of administrative and collaborative clinical data bases will improve the knowledge base for decision making in the future

Objectively measured physical activity is associated with dorsolateralprefrontal cortex volume in older adults

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest physical activity (PA) can slow or prevent both cognitive decline and age-related atrophy in frontal and hippocampal gray matter volumes. However, much of this evidence is based on self-reported measures of PA. Methods: PA was measured objectively with a SenseWear™ Armband to examine the cross-sectional associations between the duration of light, moderate and vigorous intensity PA with gray matter volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and hippocampus in 167 (female: 43%) cognitively healthy older adults aged 73 to 78. Results: The duration of objective moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) was associated with a greater volume of the right DLPFC (β ​= ​0.16; p ​= ​0.04). In addition, objective moderate-intensity PA alone was also associated with greater volume of the left (β ​= ​0.17; p ​= ​0.03) and right (β ​= ​0.19; p ​= ​0.01) DLPFC after controlling for covariates and adjustment for multiple comparisons. In contrast, there were no significant associations between light- or vigorous-intensity PA and gray matter volumes (all p ​> ​0.05). No associations between PA and cognitive performance were detected, and self-reported PA was not associated with any of the outcomes investigated. Conclusions: These findings suggest that an intensity-dependent relationship may exist, whereby a greater duration of MVPA, perhaps driven by moderate-intensity PA, is associated with preserved gray matter volume in frontal regions of the brain. Future research should investigate the mechanisms of this dose-effect and determine whether greater brain volumes associated with objective PA convey protective effects against cognitive decline

Corporate Strategies for Addressing Climate Change

Executive Summary Climate change is now a bright, blinking issue on the radar screens of companies worldwide. Companies have started addressing climate change for a myriad of reasons – reasons as diverse as their respective business models. The academic and business literature has done a fairly good job of exploring why companies are addressing climate change. This study examines how they are addressing climate change. It explores the risks, rewards, opportunities and barriers surrounding corporate action on climate change and provides insight into the strategies employed by companies that have led the way in taking early action. The lessons learned by early actors can inform the efforts of those who follow. Climate change presents companies with significant risks, uncertainties, and an increasing number of market opportunities. Companies now confront a patchwork of regional regulation. In addition, most companies in our survey expect federal regulations to limit GHG emissions within the next decade. The unknowns of potential regulation create uncertainty, and therefore risk, for businesses making strategic decisions. Volatile energy prices wreak havoc on cost structures, severely impairing the ability to accurately forecast profitability. Large storm events have caused companies to think differently about the physical risks of climate change. Accumulating scientific evidence, coupled with these large storms, has boosted public awareness, leading to changing consumer preferences. Companies are looking at these changing preferences and identifying market opportunities, broadening the traditional risk-mitigationcentered approach to climate change. The focus of this study is “climate-related strategies,” defined as the set of goals and implementation plans within a corporation that either aim to reduce GHG emissions, or that significantly reduce GHG emissions as a co-benefit. This includes strategies and measures for achieving near-term emission reductions from a company’s own operations; research, development, and investment in low-carbon production and process-related technologies; alternative products that have a more attractive carbon profile; energy-efficiency initiatives; reductions obtained through offsets and emissions trading; and activities to reduce “upstream” or “downstream” GHG emissions along their value chain.Master of Science (MS)School of Natural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49546/1/SNRE Masters Project Report - Final.pd