Building an On-Ramp to Children's Health Coverage: A Report on California's Express Lane Eligibility Program

Documents the successes and current policy and procedural barriers to enrolling eligible but uninsured children through California's Express Lane Eligibility initiative, which has been piloted in 72 schools in five school districts across California

Our Families

This unit addresses the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guideline “Child identifies similarities and differences in characteristics of families.” At the conclusion of this unit, students will know what a family is, that families can be different, and that changes occur in families and will be able to identify differences between families, identify similarities between families, and identify members of their own families

Shapes

This unit addresses the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guidelines “Child recognizes/describes common shapes” (MVC1) and “Child slides, flips, turns shapes to demonstrate they remain the same” (MVC4), as well as the math standard “Child covers an area with shapes.” At the conclusion of this unit, students will know: - names and features (number of sides/angles) of common shapes: rectangle, square, triangle, circle, oval, and rhombus; and - shapes remain the same regardless of their position; and will be able to: - identify and describe common shapes: rectangle, square, triangle, circle, oval, and rhombus - cover an area with shapes and explain how they did so - combine shapes to create an imag

Energy: Electricity, Heat, and Light

This unit is based on the Pre-Kindergarten Science Guideline “Students will investigate and describe sources of energy, including heat, light, and electricity.” By the end of the unit, students will know that energy comes in the forms of electricity, heat, and light and be able to identify sources of energy and safely use electricity

Changes in the Earth and Sky: Shadows, Day, and Night [pre-kindergarten]

This unit is based on the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guideline, “Child identifies, observes, and discusses objects in the sky.” At the conclusion of this unit, students will know that natural changes occur in the sky, that changes in the sky affect objects on the ground, and differences between the day and night skies and be able to observe and discuss characteristics of clouds and make representations, ask questions and/or make comments about the sun, stars, and moon, and investigate what happens to things exposed to the sun

E-Health Snapshot: Harnessing Technology to Improve Medicaid and SCHIP Enrollment and Retention Practices

Reviews promising practices in current healthcare technology and provides concrete ideas for leaders at the state and federal levels and in the philanthropic and corporate communities who want to use technology tools effectively

Animal Habitats

This unit addresses the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guideline “Child recognizes, observes, and discusses the relationship of organisms to their environments” (SCVIB3). At the conclusion of this unit, students will know that animals and humans depend on plants and vocabulary related to animal habitats (ie: nest, cave). They will be able to investigate organisms in their natural environments and describe and explain animal behaviors

Nutrition and Exercise

This unit addresses the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guideline “Child identifies good habits of nutrition and exercise.” By the end of the unit, students will know that: - exercise is necessary to stay healthy - how the body is affected by eating healthy vs. unhealthy foodsand will be able to: - identify healthy and unhealthy foods; - sort ‘go,’ ‘slow,’ and ‘whoa’ foods; and - demonstrate and discuss the need for exercise and rest to stay healthy

The relationship of allopregnanolone immunoreactivity and HPA-axis measures to experimental pain sensitivity: Evidence for ethnic differences☆

In animal models, allopregnanolone (ALLO) negatively modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and has been shown to exert analgesic effects. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between plasma ALLO immunoreactivity (ALLO-ir), HPA-axis measures, and pain sensitivity in humans. Forty-five African Americans (21 men, 24 women) and 39 non-Hispanic Whites (20 men, 19 women) were tested for pain sensitivity to tourniquet ischemia, thermal heat, and cold pressor tests. Plasma ALLO-ir, cortisol, and β-endorphin concentrations were taken following an extended rest period. Lower concentrations of ALLO-ir were associated with increased pain tolerance to all three pain tests and increased pain threshold to the thermal heat pain task in the non-Hispanic Whites only (rs = -.35 to -.49, ps < .05). Also, only in the non-Hispanic Whites was cortisol associated with thermal heat tolerance (r = +.39, p<.05) and threshold (r = +.50, p < .01) and cold pressor tolerance (r = +.32, p < .05), and was β-endorphin concentrations associated with cold pressor tolerance (r = +.33, p<.05). Mediational analyses revealed that higher cortisol levels mediated the relationship between lower ALLO-ir and increased thermal heat pain threshold in the non-Hispanic Whites only. These results suggest that lower ALLO-ir concentrations are associated with decreased pain sensitivity in humans, especially in non-Hispanic Whites, and that this relationship may be mediated by HPA-axis function

Acute Ethanol Administration Rapidly Increases Phosphorylation of Conventional Protein Kinase C in Specific Mammalian Brain Regions in Vivo

Background Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of isoenzymes that regulate a variety of functions in the central nervous system including neurotransmitter release, ion channel activity, and cell differentiation. Growing evidence suggests that specific isoforms of PKC influence a variety of behavioral, biochemical, and physiological effects of ethanol in mammals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute ethanol exposure alters phosphorylation of conventional PKC isoforms at a threonine 674 (p-cPKC) site in the hydrophobic domain of the kinase, which is required for its catalytic activity. Methods Male rats were administered a dose range of ethanol (0, 0.5, 1, or 2 g/kg, intragastric) and brain tissue was removed 10 minutes later for evaluation of changes in p-cPKC expression using immunohistochemistry and Western blot methods. Results Immunohistochemical data show that the highest dose of ethanol (2 g/kg) rapidly increases p-cPKC immunoreactivity specifically in the nucleus accumbens (core and shell), lateral septum, and hippocampus (CA3 and dentate gyrus). Western blot analysis further showed that ethanol (2 g/kg) increased p-cPKC expression in the P2 membrane fraction of tissue from the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus. Although p-cPKC was expressed in numerous other brain regions, including the caudate nucleus, amygdala, and cortex, no changes were observed in response to acute ethanol. Total PKC? immunoreactivity was surveyed throughout the brain and showed no change following acute ethanol injection