Health Care Coverage and Access for Children in Low-Income Families: Stakeholder Perspectives from California

An important question to ask about any health care system is how well it serves children in low-income families. In California, the question raises much optimism, though there are continuing areas of concern. On one hand, 88 percent of eligible children were enrolled in Medi-Cal as of 2013, the state's Medicaid program, up 7 percent since 2007 (The Urban Institute 2015). Moreover, the state is now gearing to expand Medi-Cal eligibility to all children in low-income families. The increase is thanks to California's comprehensive implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and additional state-based initiatives that will soon expand. On the other hand, stakeholders are concerned that access to high quality health care services for children in low-income families is not keeping pace with rapid expansion in access to insurance. This issue brief was prepared as part of a small-scale qualitative study funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to convey recent positive developments, remaining unmet needs, and emerging issues in children's health care coverage and delivery, from the perspective of knowledgeable stakeholders. Issue briefs on children's health in Colorado and Texas and a cross-state analysis are also available

After-school success: Associations between youth participants and youth outcomes

After-school programs (ASPs) are becoming more and more popular among children and their parents, with an abundance of children lacking access to ASPs. Participation in ASPs has been proven to positively impact participants. The positive impacts of ASPs include higher grades, less behavioral problems, and healthy youth development. After-school programs that provide a structural environment, influential leaders, goals, and evaluation of the program are characteristically proven to be more successful than programs who do not have these characteristics. Funding of ASPs can come from various sources and can be classified into one of three sectors; private for-profit, non-profit, and public

Horses of Agency, Element, and Godliness in Tolkien and the Germanic Sagas

Russian princesses were once buried with them. Royalty ride only white ones. They are often regarded as the only panacea for handicapped children. Richard III would have given his entire kingdom for just one of them. Their ownership can radically define one‟s position in the social hierarchy of Saudi Arabia. The road to great human civilization and imagination has always been carved by the hoof prints of a horse. No matter what section of the globe is studied, Japan with its samurai tradition, the Mediterranean with conquerors like Alexander, the Bedouin, the American West, the Crusades, and certainly the sagas of ancient Iceland, horses figure predominantly and with gravitas. What is the contract between man and equine that allows a beast ten times our size and one hundred times our strength to willingly serve in our ambitions? What magnetism (and who placed it) is it that draws humanity and horses together? Pegasus, Epona, The Houyhnhnms, Bucephalus, Black Beauty, Mr. Ed!! Horses have equal pride of place in art and mythology. J.R.R. Tolkien, in his epochal books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, utilizes horses as a representation of the human soul and a direct mirroring of a divine will. Horses in Tolkien‟s books function as both masculine and feminine symbols of sexuality. Ever the great narrative balancer, Tolkien features ponies of rambunctious, pudgy resolve in The Hobbit and counterpoises them with valiant, magisterial warhorses in The Lord of the Rings. For every Shadowfax the reader receives a Bumpkin, just as for every Frodo there must be a Gollum—this equality representing one more connection amongst man and horse in Tolkien‟s world. All of the horses in Tolkien evoke visages of hope, glory, nobility, or power—and all of the qualities on that same list could be said to be running themes in the books. What contract is thus in place between Tolkien and the image and power of the horse in his fictional works? Tolkien‟s horses epitomize more than simply personified warriors/characters, but elemental forces that belong to something even beyond Mother Nature. Their magic, unlike that of all other fantastical creatures in The Lord of the Rings, is never explained away. In this sense, horses come to represent the mystery of the natural world and perhaps even the unknown face of God in Tolkien‟s Middle Earth

Perceptions of Gender Bias in Vocational Training at an Employment Service Organization in Central Virginia

This was a qualitative study conducted at an employment service organization in Central Virginia. The researcher examined.supervisor for perceptions of gender bias on the vocational training of client employees, through the use of interviews and observation. Four interviews were conducted with supervisors at the employment service organization. Results indicated three themes: gender roles are changing so no gender bias exists, placed by interest into jobs, and no physical strength requirement. Interrater reliability was calculated by two experts. The policy manual for the employment service organization was examined for gender specific vocational training procedures. Also the researcher observed the frequencies of males and females working in different training stations. A t:wo-way chi square was calculated to determine the observed and expected frequencies. The chi square was statistically significant at the .05 level

Dissociation, Association and Running Time

The objective of this research was to investigate relationship between dissociative and associative cognitive strategies for coping with the discomfort of running and running performance. Subjects were volunteers enrolled in two Dynamic Fitness classes which were taught during Spring Quarter, 1980, at Utah State University. Class A consisted of 36 subjects (24 male, 12 female) and Class B consisted of 28 subjects (13 male, 15 female). All pretest, posttest, and treatment procedures were conducted during the class\u27s respective regularly scheduled meeting times. Subjects completed a 2.75 mile, timed, pretest run and were systematically assigned to one of three groups based on pretest time: 1) Control, 2) dissociation training group, and 3) association training group. Two training sessions were conducted to provide instruction in developing and using a cognitive strategy for both dissociation and association groups. Control group subjects also met with the researcher twice, but no instructions for development and use of a cognitive strategy were given. A posttest 2.75 mile, timed run was completed and subjects completed a posttest questionnaire. Due to differences in procedures for subject recruitment and weather conditions for the posttest run, data from Class A and B were analyzed separately. Analysis of covariance revealed no statistically significant relationship between teaching of a cognitive strategy and running time for either class. Posttest questionnaire information was also analyzed. For both classes, statistically significant negative correlations were found between difference for pretest/posttest timed runs and dissociation points as reported on the posttest questionnaire. Also t-tests of independent means showed that association group subjects reported significantly higher levels of association than control group subject for both classes. It was suggested that although training may have increased the reported use of a cognitive strategy it was not an important factor in running performance. The researcher suggested, instead, that willingness to exert oneself may have been the primary factor in determining performance in relationship to physical limitations

A Tree-Ring Oxygen Isotope Record of Tropical Cyclone Activity, Moisture Stress, and Long-term Climate Oscillations for the Southeastern U.S.

Geological proxies are needed to extend the record of hurricane occurrence beyond historical observations. Tree rings preserve uniquely high resolution and precisely dated records of past environmental conditions. Oxygen isotopic compositions of alpha cellulose in seasonally-resolved components (earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW)) of tree rings of southeastern coastal plain pines predominantly reflect precipitation source and/or temperature providing a snapshot of climate activity for the region. Tropical cyclones produce large amounts of precipitation with distinctly lower oxygen isotope ratios than typical low-latitude thunderstorms. Evidence of isotopically depleted precipitation may persist in surface and soil waters for several weeks after a large event, and will be incorporated into cellulose during tree growth, capturing an isotopic record of tropical cyclone activity. A 227-year record of EW and LW oxygen isotope compositions of alpha cellulose in slash and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill. and Pinus elliottii Engelm.) tree rings record evidence of past tropical cyclone activity, seasonal moisture stress, and multidecadal climate oscillations. The isotopic values for EW and LW are overprinted on systematic, decadal to multi-decadal-scale variations. Negative isotopic anomalies in the time series, interpreted as hurricane events, were identified using a one-year autoregression modeling technique. Hurricane occurrence inferred from the oxygen isotope proxy compare well with the instrumental record of hurricanes over the period 1940-1997. The proxy record further supports historical records back to 1770 and suggests a number of possible tropical cyclone events not captured by documentary evidence. The results suggest the potential for a tree-ring oxygen isotope proxy record, extending back many centuries, of long-term trends in hurricane occurrence. Records of seasonal moisture stress, inferred from positive isotopic anomalies in the isotopic time series are similarly tested and yield a robust record of moisture stress in the study area. Long-term variations in the oxygen isotope compositions of tree-ring alpha cellulose are governed by the influence of long-term climate oscillations, including the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and El Niño Southern Oscillation. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) shows a strong negative correlation with tree ring δ18O values until ~1950s. The breakdown in the correlation with the AMO coincides with a major Pacific Decadal Oscillation-El Niño Southern Oscillation shift from warm to cool conditions (1947–1976 Cool Period II) that was followed by two of the strongest La Niña episodes in the last 50 years. Latewood treering oxygen isotopes from the decade of the 1950s strongly correlate with Niño 3.4 indices. Spectral analysis of the latewood tree-ring oxygen isotopes reveal significant periodicities of ~82.7, 33.7, 7.9, and 5.1 years. These periodicities may reflect solar activity such as the Gleissberg Period (82.7) and the Bruckner Cycle (33.7) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (7.9 and 5.1) influences on climate of the southeastern U.S. Five-tosix and seven-to-nine year periodicities have been related to the frequency of tropical only and baroclinically enhanced Atlantic hurricanes. Oxygen isotopes from tree-ring cellulose of sub-fossil longleaf pines recovered from Lake Louise, southern Georgia record climate conditions during a portion of the Little Ice Age (1580–1650) for the southeastern U.S. Oxygen isotope compositions for this time period are very similar to modern values (1895–1997) for this area. These results support previous studies that suggest the southeastern U.S. did not experience dramatic climate effects of the Little Ice Age. The slight overall enrichment of oxygen isotope ratios may primarily reflect changes in precipitation source and moisture stress. The results suggest that tropical cyclone activity was low to moderate for 1580-1640, but increased noticeably in the last decade of the study (1640s)

A comparison of the effectiveness of direct reading instruction on students of Caucasian and Hispanic backgrounds

According to U.S. census data Hispanics made up only 7% of the population of Dalton, Georgia in 1990. The 2000 census reveals the Hispanic population approaching 30%. Demographic change of this magnitude in a relatively short period of time has had a major impact on the community and the schools serving that community. One area of concern was reading instruction Beginning in 1997, the commercially available Direct Instruction Reading Program was fully implemented by Dalton Public Schools. The focus of this research was to compare the Iowa Test of Basic Skills reading scores of Caucasians and Hispanics in second, third, and fourth grades taught using this method. A comparison was made of. (1) the average total gain over the three-year period for Caucasians and Hispanics, (2) the average gain each year for Caucasians and Hispanics, and (3) the percentage of Caucasians and Hispanics at or above grade level in reading comprehension at the end of the three years. Independent t-tests were utilized to determine if significant differences existed between Caucasians and Hispanics in each of these areas. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Direct Instruction Reading program for Hispanic and Caucasian students as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills Reading Comprehension Test

Occurance and stable isotope compositions of soil carbonate and organic matter within a climatic transect of modern Vertisols along the coastal prairie of Texas

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from pedogenic carbonate and soil organic matter in a modem Vertisol preserve coherent isotopic records that reflect changes in climate and vegetation during pedogenesis. Three sites from Lake Charles series Vertisols, on the Coastal Prairie of Texas showed similar and systematic carbon isotope inflections with depth. These inflections suggest the following climate/ecosystem changes: base of the profiles record cooler conditions, warmer/drier conditions are recorded at mid-profile, and evidence for cooler/wetter conditions again is present at the top of the profiles which agrees with a historical increase in C3 vegetation seen in Texas and Oklahoma. Although both soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonate have similar depth profiles, coexisting organic matter and carbonate are not contemporaneous. Pedogenic carbonates do not show the uppermost, negative shift in isotopic composition, most likely the result of insufficient time to crystallize carbonate with modern signatures. Stable carbon isotopes of soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonate appear to be sensitive to soil horizonation and microtopography. The coherent record of stable carbon isotopes preserved in these Vertisols indicate that these soils have not experienced significant self-mulching or whole sale pedoturbation. Instead, the systematic soil morphology and isotopic profiles suggest that Vertisols may preserve useful paleoclimate records

SOT: A rapid prototype using TAE windows

The development of the window interface extension feature of the Transportable Applications Executive (TAE) is discussed. This feature is being used to prototype a space station payload interface in order to demonstrate and assess the benefits of using windows on a bit mapped display and also to convey the concept of telescience, the control and operation of space station payloads from remote sites. The prototype version of the TAE with windows operates on a DEC VAXstation 100. This workstation has a high resolution 19 inch bit mapped display, a keyboard and a three-button mouse. The VAXstation 100 is not a stand-alone workstation, but is controlled by software executing on a VAX/8600. A short scenario was developed utilizing the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) as an example payload. In the scenario the end-user station includes the VAXstation 100 plus an image analysis terminal used to display the CCD images. The layout and use of the prototype elements, i.e., the root menu, payload status window, and target acquisition menu is described