How Managed Care Affects Medicaid Utilization: A Synthetic Difference-in-Difference Zero-Inflated Count Model

We develop a synthetic difference-in-differences statistical design to apply to experimental data for adult women living in Hennepin County, Minnesota, to estimate the impact of Medicaid managed care on various modes of medical care use.Because the outcomes of interest are utilization counts with many persons using none of a particular mode of care we use count regression models that are adjusted for excessive zeros.We find no reductions in physician visits or hospital inpatient and emergency department care use, but reductions in hospital outpatient care.Simulations designed to judge the economic significance of our results suggest a program effect that is a savings of about ten percent.health;statistical methods

The Effect of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on Health Insurance Coverage

This paper presents the first national estimates of the effects of the SCHIP expansions on insurance coverage. Using CPS data on insurance coverage during the years 1996 through 2000, we estimate two-stage least squares regressions of insurance coverage. We find that SCHIP had a small, but statistically significant positive effect on insurance coverage. Our regression results imply that between 4% and 10% of children meeting income eligibility standards for the new program gained public insurance. While low, these estimates indicate that states were more successful in enrolling children in SCHIP than they were with prior Medicaid expansions focused on children just above the poverty line. Crowd-out of private health insurance was estimated to be in line with estimates for the Medicaid expansions of the early 1990s, between 18% and 50%.

A Glance in their Direction: The New York City Press and their Coverage of African Americans during World War II

My thesis examines the New York City press’ interpretation of African Americans and the Civil Rights movement of World War II. I seek to determine in what measure the press reported on African Americans in the military and at home during the war including segregation of the Armed Forces, and the riots of 1943. Through examining the white and black media’s perception of these events I hope to elucidate how the press wrote about the topic of race during the period and if there was any change in their reporting on race due to the war. Although addressed marginally in the context of African American history I believe this to be an underwritten facet in the fields of African American and World War II history as well as the history of the press. I pursued my study through researching publications of the period including the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the New York Age, and others in the microfilm archives. I also consulted such works as Nat Brandt’s Harlem at War: The Black Experience in WWII for an understanding of the setting as well as Patrick Washburn’s The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom. My work has shown that the war did provide an impetus for a slight change within the city’s reporting of African Americans, taking a less biased tone and placing stories concerning African Americans in a more prominent capacity. The war thrust a number of stories concerning African Americans that the press could report under the banner of war in addition to the race factor which was not deemed a selling point. Black citizens went from being barely mentioned except in cases of criminal acts and musicians to being written about as warriors and patriots

Integrating the Funds of Knowledge to Impact the Literacy Learning Experience for Students with Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact on the literacy learning experience for students with disabilities when integrating the funds of knowledge into the curriculum. Prior to this research, students were given books with no relevance to their at home literacy. The curriculum was missing components of a framework that included the sociocultural perspectives of diverse learners. The participants for this study were three eight year old students. Two of the students were males and the one student was a female. The study was conducted during a 30-minute pull-out reading support. The students were interviewed to gain a better insight of their funds of knowledge. Based off of their results, these topics were incorporated into our small group reading. Qualitative research was utilized in the study. A teacher\u27s research journal, surveys, student interviews, and student journal responses were used to collect and analyze data from the small group sessions. The data that was collected was analyzed through the use of triangulation and coding of student conversations and work to determine patterns and themes that emerged from the study. Based on the data analysis, emotions, lack of confidence, personal interests, and rapport and trusting relationships were four major themes that contributed to a stronger literacy learning experience for the students when the funds of knowledge were integrated into the curriculum

Exploring the Feasibility of Incorporating Sexual Education into Routine Adolescent Office Visits

Preventative sexual education can reduce the negative health outcomes of sexual behavior in adolescent populations.1 The objective of this pilot study was to determine if sexual education can be delivered as a scripted five-minute module during a routine adolescent office visit in a manner that is non-disruptive of clinic flow and acceptable to both patients and providers. • 85% of providers reported the intervention did not interrupt clinic flow • 86% of patients reported the intervention to be appropriate and 92% of providers were satisfied overall with the intervention These pilot data highlight that the incorporation of brief scripted sexual education into routine adolescent preventative office visits is both feasible and acceptable to patients and providers.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/cwicposters/1024/thumbnail.jp

The artificial neural network for the rockfall susceptibility assessment. A case study in Basilicata (Southern Italy)

This paper presents the results obtained by the elaboration of an artificial neuronal network for the creation of a rockfall susceptibility map. The analysis was carried out by analysing the predisposing and triggering factors of the rockfall phenomenon. The parameters considered for this study and representing the input data of the artificial neural network are factors such as: gradient, soil use, lithology, rockfall source areas and kinetic energy values obtained by considering the probable pathways of the blocks through simulations with dedicated softwares, DEMs and niches of the rockfalls that have already occurred in the past. The processing of this data (required in a versatile dedicated software for the realization of the artificial neural network in ASCII format) is done using GIS softwares, useful tools for the creation of hazard maps. An important step is the realization of the rockfall inventory map: it allows to identify the training set (consisting of 50% of the pixels relative to the rockfall niches) for the network training and the testing set (considering the remaining 50% of the pixels relative to the rockfall niches) to assess the network accuracy by overlaying the rockfall niches belonging to the testing set with the obtained susceptibility map

Towards the Energy Transition of the Building Stock with BIPV: Innovations, Gaps and Potential Steps for a Widespread Use of Multifunctional PV Components in the Building Envelope

The scenario that emerges from scientific research on the use of BIPV systems in architecture shows that photovoltaic technologies and systems have reached a significant development in production and installation, becoming a strategic approach in the field of energy efficiency and enabling a progressive decarbonisation of the building stock. Still, knowledge and methods of architectural integration are not fully developed, especially in Italy. The present paper reports the results of a research activity that, systematising the main criteria and indicators for assessing the integrability of BIPVs in architecture, has led to the development of BIPV Product and Case Study Catalogues that define an up-to-date state of the art on aspects of design and technological innovation using BIPV systems and components. Catalogues have been created with the objective of contributing to the growth of knowledge on the most up-to-date methods of design by implementing a ‘technology transfer’ from good practice, in which photovoltaic systems are an integral part of the design concept and construction techniques of the architecture. The analysis related to the production of BIPV systems and components and their application in architectural projects allows one to highlight the main critical factors in the diffusion throughout the country and to identify the main research demand arising from the specific national situation