Wisconsin: Round 1 - State Level Field Network Study of the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

This report is part of a series of 21 state and regional studies examining the rollout of the ACA. The national network -- with 36 states and 61 researchers -- is led by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.The drive to enroll consumers in private health insurance coverage has fostered new alignment among consumer advocates, insurance agents and brokers, community-based organizations, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the health care and insurance sectors. The unique policy position on Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin brings collaboration between those who support the ACA and those who may not support the ACA, but recognize that the governor's entitlement reform plan depends on effective outreach and enrollment into the federally facilitated marketplace. The limited federal funding available for outreach and enrollment has also required public/private partnerships and unlikely alliances. Wisconsin's decision against full Medicaid expansion and instead to cover all adults up to 100 percent of the FPL, but remove adults above that level, provides a boost for the commercial insurance sector. Nearly 80,000 adults will transfer from Medicaid to marketplace coverage and be sent to purchase subsidized coverage on the exchange

Quantum Griffiths Phase in the weak itinerant ferromagnetic alloy Ni1−x_{1-x}Vx_x

We present magnetization ($M$) data of the $d$-metal alloy Ni$_{1-x}$V$_x$ at vanadium concentrations close to $x_c \approx 11.4$ where the onset of long-range ferromagnetic (FM) order is suppressed to zero temperature. Above $x_c$, the temperature ($T$) and magnetic field ($H$) dependencies of the magnetization are best described by simple nonuniversal power laws. The exponents of $M/H \sim T^{-\gamma}$ and $M \sim H^\alpha$ are related by $1-\gamma=\alpha$ for wide temperature ($10K < T \leq 300K$) and field ($H \leq 5T$) ranges. $\gamma$ is strongly $x$ dependent, decreasing from 1 at $x\approx x_c$ to $\gamma < 0.1$ for x=15%. This behavior is not compatible with either classical or quantum critical behavior in a clean 3D FM. Instead it closely follows the predictions for a quantum Griffiths phase associated with a quantum phase transition in a disordered metal. Deviations at the lowest temperatures hint at a freezing of large clusters and the onset of a cluster glass phase, presumably due to RKKY interactions in this alloy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 pdf figures included, final version as published

Constructing ‘suspect’ communities and Britishness: mapping British press coverage of Irish and Muslim communities, 1974–2007

There exist many parallels between the experiences of Irish communities in Britain in the past and those of Muslim communities today. However, although they have both been the subject of negative stereotyping, intelligence profiling, wrongful arrest and prejudice, little research has been carried out comparing how these communities are represented in the media. This article addresses this gap by mapping British press coverage of events involving Irish and Muslim communities that occurred between 1974 and 2007. The analysis shows that both sets of communities have been represented as ‘suspect’ to different degrees, which the article attributes to varying perceptions within the press as to the nature of the threat Irish and Muslim communities are thought to pose to Britain. The article concludes that a central concern of the press lies with defending its own constructions of Britishness against perceived extremists, and against abuses of power and authority by the state security apparatus

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment

During the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, millions of Americans faced severe economic hardship, forcing difficult decisions about how to stabilize their families' financial well-being and prevent downward economic mobility. Americans with savings were forced to weigh immediate needs against long-term investments, choosing whether to deplete personal assets in order to stay afloat. Those without wealth to fall back on were in an even more precarious position, leading them to turn to family assistance, debt, and other public and private supports when available.This study examines how families weather economic shocks through a close focus on one particular event -- the experience of unemployment, with specific attention to differences by race and family income. The analysis used a nationally representative sample of working-age families from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics or PSID, following the same households from 1999 to 2009. To provide greater insight into the challenges and choices families faced, the report also drew on a unique longitudinal data set of in-depth interviews with 51 families that endured one month or more of unemployment between 1998 and 2012

ECONOMIES OF SCALE IN THE GREENHOUSE FLORICULTURE INDUSTRY

Crop Production/Industries,

Signatures of a quantum Griffiths phase in a d-metal alloy close to its ferromagnetic quantum critical point

We report magnetization ($M$) measurements close to the ferromagnetic quantum phase transition of the d-metal alloy Ni$_{1-x}$V$_x$ at a vanadium concentration of $x_c \approx 11.4$. In the diluted regime ($x>x_c$), the temperature ($T$) and magnetic field ($H$) dependencies of the magnetization are characterized by nonuniversal power laws and display $H/T$ scaling in a wide temperature and field range. The exponents vary strongly with $x$ and follow the predictions of a quantum Griffiths phase. We also discuss the deviations and limits of the quantum Griffiths phase as well as the phase boundaries due to bulk and cluster physics.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, final version as published in the Strongly Correlated Electron Systems special issue of J. Phys. Condens. Matte