Do financial incentives for supplementary private health insurance reduce pressure on the public system? Evidence from Australia, CHERE Working Paper 2006/11

In many developed countries, budgetary pressures have made government investigate private insurance to reduce pressure on their public health system. Between 1997 and 2000 the Australian government implemented a series of reforms intended to increase enrollment in private health insurance and reduce public health care costs. Using the ABS 2001 National Health Survey, we examine the impact of increased insurance coverage on use of the hospital system, in particular on public and private admissions and lengths of stay. We model probability of hospital admission and length of stay for public (Medicare) and private patients. We use Propensity Score Matching to control for selection in the insurance decision and estimate a two-part model for hospital admission and length of stay on the matched sample. Our results indicate that there is selection associated with insurance choice. We also find that unconditional public patient and private patient lengths of stay in 2001 differ markedly depending on insurance duration. Those with shorter periods of insurance coverage behave more like the uninsured than those insured prior to the insurance incentives. While the insurance incentives substantially increased the proportion of the population with supplementary cover, the impact on use of the public system appears to be quite modest. Increased private usage outweighs reduced public usage and the insurance incentives appear to be an extremely costly way of reducing pressure on the public hospital system.Private Health Insurance, Australia

Bimodal waveguide interferometer RI sensor fabricated on low-cost polymer platform

A refractive index sensor based on bimodal waveguide interferometer is demonstrated on the low-cost polymer platform for the first time. Different from conventional interferometers which make use of the interference between the light from two arms, bimodal waveguide interferometers utilize the interference between the two different internal modes in the waveguide. Since the utilized first higher mode has a wide evanescent tail which interacts with the external environment, the interferometer can reach a high sensitivity. Instead of vertical bimodal structure which is normally employed, the lateral bimodal waveguide is adopted in order to simplify the fabrication process. A unique offset between the centers of single mode waveguide and bimodal waveguide is designed to excite the two different modes with equal power which contributes to the maximum fringe visibility. The bimodal waveguide interferometer is finally fabricated on optical polymer (Ormocore) which is transparent at both infrared and visible wavelengths. It is fabricated using the UV-based soft imprint technique which is simple and reproductive. The bulk sensitivity of fabricated interferometer sensor with a 5 mm sensing length is characterized using different mass concentration sodium chloride solutions. The sensitivity is obtained as 316 pi rad/RIU and the extinction ratio can reach 18 dB

Psychiatric Disorders and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the National Latino and Asian American Study

This paper investigates to what extent psychiatric disorders and mental distress affect labor market outcomes among ethnic minorities of Latino and Asian descent, most of whom are immigrants. Using data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, we examine the labor market effects of meeting diagnostic criteria for any psychiatric disorder in the past 12 months as well as the effects of psychiatric distress in the past year. Among Latinos, psychiatric disorders and mental distress are associated with detrimental effects on employment and absenteeism, similar to effects found in previous analyses of mostly white, American born populations. Among Asians, we find mixed evidence that psychiatric disorders and mental distress detract from labor market outcomes.

Leveraging Mobile App Classification and User Context Information for Improving Recommendation Systems

Mobile apps play a significant role in current online environments where there is an overwhelming supply of information. Although mobile apps are part of our daily routine, searching and finding mobile apps is becoming a nontrivial task due to the current volume, velocity and variety of information. Therefore, app recommender systems provide users’ desired apps based on their preferences. However, current recommender systems and their underlying techniques are limited in effectively leveraging app classification schemes and context information. In this thesis, I attempt to address this gap by proposing a text analytics framework for mobile app recommendation by leveraging an app classification scheme that incorporates the needs of users as well as the complexity of the user-item-context information in mobile app usage pattern. In this recommendation framework, I adopt and empirically test an app classification scheme based on textual information about mobile apps using data from Google Play store. In addition, I demonstrate how context information such as user social media status can be matched with app classification categories using tree-based and rule-based prediction algorithms. Methodology wise, my research attempts to show the feasibility of textual data analysis in profiling apps based on app descriptions and other structured attributes, as well as explore mechanisms for matching user preferences and context information with app usage categories. Practically, the proposed text analytics framework can allow app developers reach a wider usage base through better understanding of user motivation and context information

Drosophila Spastin Regulates Synaptic Microtubule Networks and Is Required for Normal Motor Function

Nina Tang Sherwood is with California Institute of Technology, Qi Sun is with California Institute of Technology, Mingshan Xue is with UT Austin, Bing Zhang is with UT Austin, Kai Zinn is with California Institute of Technology.The most common form of human autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (AD-HSP) is caused by mutations in the SPG4 (spastin) gene, which encodes an AAA ATPase closely related in sequence to the microtubule-severing protein Katanin. Patients with AD-HSP exhibit degeneration of the distal regions of the longest axons in the spinal cord. Loss-of-function mutations in the Drosophila spastin gene produce larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) phenotypes. NMJ synaptic boutons in spastin mutants are more numerous and more clustered than in wild-type, and transmitter release is impaired. spastin-null adult flies have severe movement defects. They do not fly or jump, they climb poorly, and they have short lifespans. spastin hypomorphs have weaker behavioral phenotypes. Overexpression of Spastin erases the muscle microtubule network. This gain-of-function phenotype is consistent with the hypothesis that Spastin has microtubule-severing activity, and implies that spastin loss-of-function mutants should have an increased number of microtubules. Surprisingly, however, we observed the opposite phenotype: in spastin-null mutants, there are fewer microtubule bundles within the NMJ, especially in its distal boutons. The Drosophila NMJ is a glutamatergic synapse that resembles excitatory synapses in the mammalian spinal cord, so the reduction of organized presynaptic microtubules that we observe in spastin mutants may be relevant to an understanding of human Spastin's role in maintenance of axon terminals in the spinal cord.Biological Sciences, School o

Hypertension among Danish seafarers

Background: Due to the high prevalence of arterial hypertension and its role in the development of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and stroke, hypertension is a major public health challenge worldwide. There is limited knowledge of the prevalence of hypertension among seafarers who, however, are known to have an excess morbidity and mortality from these disorders. This article addresses the prevalence of hypertension among Danish seafarers and discusses potential risk factors for hypertension in maritime settings. Materials and methods: A representative sample of 629 Danish seafarers who had statutory medical examinations was studied from the beginning of October 2011 to the end of June 2012. The medical examination included measurements of blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension in the study population was stratified by age, work place on board, smoking status, alcohol intake, and body mass index. Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension in the study population was 44.7% (95% CI 40.8–48.6). In a comparison sample of adult Danes, the crude rate of hypertension was 12.6%. In addition, 41.8% (95% CI 38.0–45.7) of seafarers were pre-hypertensive. Hypertension was particularly increased among younger seafarers. The proportion of seafarers in antihypertensive treatment was low, in particular among the young seafarers. Conclusions: Hypertension is a major health issue among Danish seafarers. In addition to ensuring antihypertensive treatment when needed, individual and collective prevention should address lifestyle issues as well as physical and psychosocial exposures at sea