Politics & poverty: Is the new media changing the message? An analysis of framing in new media news

Many media researchers have turned their attention to new media, specifically how the proliferation of blogs has changed the way media inuences the public agenda. Less attention has been paid to how blogs and new media are changing the way news is framed and reported. In a preliminary case study two elements of political news reporting on blogs were explored: 1) Do political blogs focus more on insider information and process news than traditional media’s online news outlets? 2) What implications, if any, does this dierence have on the value of the information in assisting the audience form opinions about public issues? A content analysis of articles on four blogs hosted by Politico.com and articles from the New York Times online edition, found that during the time frame studied, the Politico blogs carried signicantly more insider news than The New York Times, both in raw number of articles and as a percentage of total articles. Based on traditional models of media agenda-setting, as the public becomes more exposed to and more dependent on political blogs for their news, they may become more aware and concerned with process news, insider information and scandals, while becoming less informed and less equipped to make judgments about candidates and legislation. This breakdown of news barriers by new media outlets needs to be further explored to understand how new media may impact political discourse and communication. Building on this research, which suggests that blogs and new media may be changing news boundaries, the next stage of research will integrate textual analysis of news media frames with survey data of online news readers to better understand the ways in which various news sources affect knowledge and perceptions of social issues

Investigation into Developmental Stages of Chicken and Quail Blood to Determine Alternative Splicing Isoforms of Myostatin

Myostatin is key to understanding avian muscle development, as it is known to negatively regulate skeletal muscle growth. The primary objective of this study was to reveal myostatin isoforms of broiler and layer chickens and the heavyweight, random-bred, and lightweight lines of Japanese quail. The heavy weight line is hypothesized to have less myostatin or more myostatin inhibition by propeptide binding and inactivation, which will inhibit muscle growth and development. The myostatin isoforms are also compared by broiler and layer chickens during different stages of growth. Broiler chickens are selected for improved growth rate and muscle mass compared to layer chickens. We hypothesize that because broilers produce so much more muscle mass, broilers will have more propeptide isoforms that bind and inhibit mature myostatin to promote increased muscle growth. Blood samples collected at various stages of embryonic development are tested to determine propeptide and mature myostatin during muscular growth. More cleavage and propeptide isoforms in the early developmental stages is indicative of increased muscle growth and development.This work was supported by Dr. Kichoon Lee at The Ohio State UniversityA one-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Animal Science

Trading Pain for Gain: Addressing Misaligned Interests in Prescription Drug Benefit Administration

Over the last two decades, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), organizations that act as middlemen between health plans and drug manufacturers, have become increasingly powerful players in the healthcare industry. PBMs promise to leverage their expertise and ability to aggregate buying power to negotiate lower drug prices and administer prescription drug benefit plans. In practice, however, PBMs are widely criticized for benefitting from, and contributing to, inefficiencies in the prescription drug market, particularly by imposing restrictions on beneficiary access to drugs in exchange for rebates paid to PBMs by manufacturers. To the extent that the rebates are retained by PBMs, or otherwise do not result in a benefit to the beneficiaries, this practice amounts to trading the pain of plan beneficiaries for the PBM’s own gain. Despite this criticism, regulatory and enforcement efforts directed against PBMs have been anemic. Existing structural and legal protections for beneficiaries are largely ineffectual. While this problem is widely acknowledged, regulators have failed to pass new laws that successfully address the challenges posed by the insertion of PBMs as middlemen into the web of prescription drug benefits and reimbursement. Regulators express frustration with the complexity of balancing the interests of beneficiaries with PBMs’ aspirational goal of cost-control, as well as with addressing the inherent conflict of interest in PBMs’ competing goals of profitability for themselves and cost containment for their clients. Lawsuits alleging PBM mistreatment of beneficiaries are sparse, and a consistent vision of what is and is not permissible to PBMs has not emerged from the case law. But the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute can—and there are indications that it increasingly will—be used to regulate manufacturer-PBM rebate arrangements. The U.S. Department of Justice recently settled a case predicated on an allegation that a pharmaceutical manufacturer, Roche, violated the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute when it paid a health insurance company, Humana, a kickback of lump sum debt forgiveness for formulary placement, conditioned on the exclusion of a competitor. Also, the federal government recently adopted a rule applicable to Medicare Part D plans that radically reconfigures the existing incentives by prohibiting manufacturers from extending rebates other than at the point of sale, and from making the rebates contingent on the plans or PBMs taking various steps with respect to encouragement of use of the drugs. These developments likely presage increased use of the Anti-Kickback Statute to attack rebating arrangements and underscore the need for PBMs to reevaluate their current practices with respect to their relationships with manufacturers to ensure that they are complying with the law. In this Article, we argue that the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and its state law analogs, state anti-kickback statutes, can be used to effectively protect beneficiary interests against manufacturer-purchased, PBM-imposed restrictions on access to drugs. We also identify key issues that may be hampering effective enforcement, and suggest an analysis that effectively addresses these issues. We demonstrate that current law is best understood to allow manufacturers to extend discounts and rebates to plans (either directly or through PBMs) but not to PBMs, and that those rebates cannot make those payments contingent on PBMs or plans adopting specific preferences for drugs. By embracing these principles, PBMs can protect beneficiary interests, achieve enforcement certainty, and perhaps ward off the ultimate adoption of more radical restrictions

A multi-centre study of adults with learning disabilities referred to services for antisocial or offending behaviour: demographic, individual, offending and service characteristics

This study was carried out as part of a larger study commissioned by the UK Department of Health to investigate the service pathways for offenders with learning disabilities (LD). The study covered three health regions in the UK and included 477 people with LD referred to services because of antisocial or offending behaviour during a 12-month period. Data were collected concerning demographic, individual, offending behaviour and service characteristics. The findings of the study are broadly consistent with contemporary research concerning this population, particularly in relation to the nature and frequency of offending, history of offending, psychopathology, age and gender distribution. However, very few of those referred had any form of structured care plan, despite having significant offending histories, and this may have compromised early identification of their needs and communication between the health, social and other services involved

Referrals into services for offenders with intellectual disabilities: variables predicting community or secure provision

Background There is a need for research to promote an understanding among service developers on why people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are referred to offender services in order for them to receive appropriate assessment and treatment. Previous studies investigating referrals into forensic ID services have concentrated on referral sources and administrative variables such as legal status. Aims To construct a predictive model for choice of service referral based on a comprehensive range of information about the clientele. Method We conducted a case record study of 336 people referred to community services and 141 to secure provision. We gathered information on referral source, demographics, diagnosis, index behaviour, prior problem behaviours and history of abuse. Results Comparisons revealed 19 candidate variables which were then entered into multivariate logistic regression. The resulting model retained six variables: community living at time of referral, physical aggression, being charged, referral from tertiary health care, diverse problem behaviour and IQ < 50, which correctly predicted the referral pathway for 85.7% of cases. Conclusions An index act of physical aggression and a history of diversity of problem behaviours as predictors against the likelihood of community service referral suggest that professionals have similar concerns about people with ID as they do about their more average offending peers; however, the more severe levels of ID mitigated in favour of community referral, regardless. Offenders with ID tend to be referred within levels of service rather than between them, for example, form tertiary services into generic community services

A comparison of sex offenders and other types of offenders referred to intellectual disability forensic services

This study compared 131 sex offenders with ID and 346 other types of offenders with ID using case file records. All the females in the study were non sexual offenders. Significantly more sexual offenders were referred from court and criminal justice services while significantly fewer were referred from secondary healthcare. A higher percentage of sex offenders had some form of legal status at time of referral. Greater proportions of non sexual offenders were referred for aggression, damage to property, substance abuse and fire setting while only the sex offenders had an index sex offence. For previous offending, the non sexual offenders had higher rates of aggression, cruelty and neglect of children, property damage and substance abuse while the sexual offenders had higher rates of previous sexual offending. For psychiatric disturbance and adversity in childhood, only ADHD showed a significant difference between groups with the non sexual offenders recording higher rates