HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY FARM MANAGERS

A survey of more than 1200 Pennsylvania dairy farm managers showed that almost 20% of those managers do not have health insurance. Of those farm managers with health insurance, 67% had insurance acquired through the farm business. Farm characteristics and demographic information were used to determine indicators of health insurance coverage. Age, education, net farm income, off-farm income, milk marketing cooperative membership, and intensity of hired labor use all had significant effects on the likelihood of having health insurance and on whether such insurance was provided by the farm business.Agribusiness, Health Economics and Policy,

Surface-cooling effects on compressible boundary-layer instability

The influence of surface cooling on compressible boundary layer instability is discussed theoretically for both viscous and inviscid modes, at high Reynolds numbers. The cooling enhances the surface heat transfer and shear stress, creating a high heat transfer sublayer. This has the effect of distorting and accentuating the viscous Tollmien-Schlichting modes to such an extent that their spatial growth rates become comparable with, and can even exceed, the growth rates of inviscid modes, including those found previously. This is for moderate cooling, and it applies at any Mach number. In addition, the moderate cooling destabilizes otherwise stable viscous or inviscid modes, in particular triggering outward-traveling waves at the edge of the boundary layer in the supersonic regime. Severe cooling is also discussed as it brings compressible dynamics directly into play within the viscous sublayer. All the new cooled modes found involve the heat transfer sublayer quite actively, and they are often multi-structured in form and may be distinct from those observed in previous computational and experimental investigations. The corresponding nonlinear processes are also pointed out with regard to transition in the cooled compressible boundary layer. Finally, comparisons with Lysenko and Maslov's (1984) experiments on surface cooling are presented

Some exact results for the velocity of cracks propagating in non-linear elastic models

We analyze a piece-wise linear elastic model for the propagation of a crack in a stripe geometry under mode III conditions, in the absence of dissipation. The model is continuous in the propagation direction and discrete in the perpendicular direction. The velocity of the crack is a function of the value of the applied strain. We find analytically the value of the propagation velocity close to the Griffith threshold, and close to the strain of uniform breakdown. Contrary to the case of perfectly harmonic behavior up to the fracture point, in the piece-wise linear elastic model the crack velocity is lower than the sound velocity, reaching this limiting value at the strain of uniform breakdown. We complement the analytical results with numerical simulations and find excellent agreement.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure

Working With Faith-Based Communities to Develop an Education Tool kit on Relationships, Sexuality, and Contraception

Communities disproportionately affected from higher rates of unplanned teen births are in need of sustainable approaches to prevention strategies. One approach is to build the capacity of faith-based communities (FBCs) to address the sexual health needs of the surrounding community. However there is a need for comprehensive, user-friendly resources designed for FBCs that provide critical decision-making information related to pregnancy prevention inclusive of contraception. Using community-based, theoretical and practice-informed strategies, we developed a user-friendly sexuality education tool kit in five phases: (1) building relationships with faith leaders; (2) piloting educational sessions within churches; (3) gaining insight from participating faith leaders; (4) creating the tool kit; and (5) collecting feedback from training and implementation. Our findings suggest faith leaders remained motivated to overcome perceived barriers by their mission to serve their communities. A sexuality education tool kit that is respectful and guided by the input of FBCs can be a viable and innovative approach to address teen pregnancy

Using Formative Research and Audience-Centric Intelligence to Develop the #JustBe Digital Magazine: An mHealth Strategy to Improve Adolescent Sexual Health

Digital strategies may help to overcome challenges in providing contraception education to overlooked and key sub-populations (older teens, ethnic minority youth, LGBTQ youth, high school dropouts and males). However, many current digital strategies are not culturally specific and often have limited information on the most effective contraceptive methods. In this article, we describe the preliminary steps used to develop #JustBe, a user-centered digital strategy for ethnic minority older youth and young adults with a specific focus contraception, sexual health, consent, and healthy relationships. Technology-based strategies such as #JustBe offer advantages over traditional face-to-face methods by utilizing a confidential way to retrieve sexual health information that may be sensitive and potentially embarrassing. Questions still remain regarding the feasibility and long-term effects of mobile health interventions for contraception use

Reducing Sexual Risk among Racial/ethnic-minority Ninth Grade Students: Using Intervention Mapping to Modify an Evidenced-based Curriculum

Background: Racial/ethnic-minority 9th graders are at increased risk for teen pregnancy, HIV, and STIs compared to their White peers. Yet, few effective sexual health education programs exist for this population. Purpose: To apply IM Adapt—a systematic theory- and evidence-based approach to program adaptation—to modify an effective middle school sexual health education curriculum, It’s Your Game…Keep It Real! (IYG), for racial/ethnic-minority 9th graders. Methods: Following the six steps of IM Adapt, we conducted a needs assessment to describe the health problems and risk behaviors of the new population; reviewed existing evidence-based programs; assessed the fit of IYG for the new population regarding behavioral outcomes, determinants, change methods, delivery, and implementation; modified materials and activities; planned for implementation and evaluation. Results: Needs assessment findings indicated that IYG targeted relevant health and risk behaviors for racial/ethnic-minority 9th graders but required additional focus on contraceptive use, dating violence prevention, active consent, and access to healthcare services. Behavioral outcomes and matrices of change objectives for IYG were modified accordingly. Theoretical methods and practical applications were identified to address these behavioral outcomes, and new activities developed. Youth provided input on activity modifications. School personnel guided modifications to IYG’s scope and sequence, and delivery. The adapted program, Your Game, Your Life, comprised fifteen 30-minute lessons targeting determinants of sexual behavior and healthy dating relationships. Pilot-test data from 9th graders in two urban high schools indicate promising results. Conclusion: IM Adapt provides a systematic theory- and evidence-based approach for adapting existing evidence-based sexual health education curricula for a new population whilst retaining essential elements that made the original program effective. Youth and school personnel input ensured that the adapted program was age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and responsive to the needs of the new population. IM Adapt contributes to the limited literature on systematic approaches to program adaptation