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The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on Personal Bankruptcy: Evidence from the Medicaid Expansion
No full textThis paper investigates the effects of health insurance coverage among low-income people on personal bankruptcies at the county level and the state level, based on the hypothesis that having health insurance reduces the risk of medical out-of-pocket spending and consequently decreases the likelihood of financial distress. In order to estimate the causal effects of health insurance coverage on personal bankruptcy, I exploit the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act as a source of exogenous variation in health insurance coverage and use it as an instrumental variable. Using bankruptcy filings from the US Court, I find that an increase in the share of low-income people with health insurance reduces Chapter 7 bankruptcy rates both at the county level and state level. The implied magnitudes of my estimated impacts are quantitatively important
State Ninimum Wages and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008–2018
No full textThis study examines the effect of minimum wage hikes on the shares of uninsured people during the period 2008–2018. Despite some concern that higher minimum wages would lead to higher uninsured rates by (1) reducing employment, (2) inducing employers to stop offering health insurance to their employees, and (3) making minimum wage workers ineligible for Medicaid by increasing their earnings, the findings indicate that the uninsured rate tends to decrease with higher minimum wages, suggesting that minimum wage hikes might encourage minimum-wage workers to obtain health insurance. The effects appear to come from minimum wage hikes that occurred after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect in 2014, suggesting that higher minimum wages combined with federal subsidies for the ACA marketplace and the individual mandate might have contributed to a reduction in the uninsured rate. However, Medicaid expansions seem to mitigate the effect of the minimum wage on the uninsured rate among low-income households
Performance Prediction of Computer Science Students in Capstone Software Engineering Course Through Educational Data Mining
Get PDFEducational data mining has been extensively used to predict students’ performance in university courses to plan improvements in teaching and learning processes, achieve academic goals, and timely support interventions. Computer Science (CS) courses focus on promoting problem solving skills through writing of software code and developing solutions using computing technologies. Within a four-year CS curriculum, the sequencing of courses is deliberately designed so that knowledge gained in a prerequisite lower level course is critical for success in upper-level courses. Overall, the CS curriculum prepares the students for a capstone experience in a final year Software Engineering (SE) course. The student success in SE course is dependent on skills such as requirement analysis, design, implementation, and testing gained in lower-level prerequisite courses. In this paper, we analyze grades data of 531 students in all under-graduate CS courses at a public university in the United States over a period of 8 years (2010 to 2018). Statistical analysis techniques including multiple linear regression, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and paired samples t-test are used to analyze the data. The performance of students in SE course is investigated based on their grades in sequence of prerequisite courses including CS I, CS II, Data Structures and Object-oriented Programming. These prerequisite courses teach and test fundamental and advanced programming skills essential for success in SE course. The analysis shows CS II is a significant predictor of students’ success in the SE course. We also investigate the relationship between study of theoretical concepts and their application by examining the correlation between CS II (theory) and Data Structures (application) courses. Results shows a strong and positive correlation between students’ academic performance in the Data Structures course and CS I. We also observe the correlation between CS I and CS II. CS I builds fundamental concepts such as syntax, data types, control structures, selection statements, functions, and recursion while CS II focuses on advanced tools to use the concepts studied in CS I for problem solving. The results indicate a significant difference in mean grades in both courses. Conclusion, interpretations, and implications of these findings for the CS students will be discussed in detail in the full paper
Millennials\u27 Strategic Decision Making Through the Lens of Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Management
Get PDFCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the touchstone for millennials when looking at the means for making their world a better place. Higher education’s focus on CSR has allowed millennials to focus their decision-making using a CSR/stakeholder approach to financial management decisions. Millennials’ support for a CSR/stakeholder approach has grown as they have been completing college. The CSR/stakeholder approach has increased partly due to social awareness created by curricula that highlights areas of social and environmental inequality. This CSR/stakeholder approach has recently emerged as a bona fide strategic management option globally. This paper extends CSR research by evaluating millennial financial decisions and the resulting competitive company performance in a widely used business simulation. Proactive university equality initiatives, resulting in curriculum changes, reinforce millennials’ ethos of social and environmental sustainability. As millennials will soon take the reins of industry, the results of their ethos will significantly influence society
Examining Teacher Perceptions of District Policies on Teacher Absenteeism in Arkansas
Get PDFSchool districts have adopted policies to limit chronic absenteeism, including changing policies to incentivize teachers to take fewer days off from the school year (Mershon, 2015) due to the effects of a teacher being out of the classroom. These effects include the effects on student achievement (Clotfelter et al., 2006; Ehrenberg et al., 1991), on colleagues and the school district (Bradley et al., 2007; Miller, 2008), and the use of substitutes in lieu of a teacher (Bruno, 2002; Herrmann & Rockoff, 2010). This qualitative, phenomenological study sought to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding policies and practices that are aimed to promote teacher attendance. Using indepth interviews, this study explored the perceptions and experiences of 12 participants ranging in ages, years working in education, years working in the Stuttgart School District, and grades of students taught. Findings in the study relate to (a) teacher motivations; (b) policy and practice effectiveness; (c) reasons for absences; (d) policy improvements and criticisms; and (e) mental health. Findings may inform policy makers at the state level, local school boards, and school administrators to create policies or practices that promote teacher attendance. The theoretical underpinning for this study was Maslow’s Need Theory (Maslow, 1943)
Exploring a model nuclear planning and response program: Evaluating public awareness of written risk and emergency
No full textHigh-reliability organizations (HROs) including commercial airlines, the NASA Space Shuttle engineering team, US Naval aircraft carrier and nuclear submarine crews, and US nuclear power plants are relatively safe. However, these organizations experience system breakdowns often with catastrophic outcomes. This study focuses on risk information management strategies employed by a nuclear energy power plant located within 10 miles of a population center. The evacuation planning zone (EPZ) includes a hospital, several schools, and a public university. The nuclear plant provides written preparedness and evacuation information for all residents within the EPZ in the event of a radiological emergency. Focusing on the campus community within the EPZ, this study investigates individual awareness regarding the potential of a radiological event, the emergency information booklet, and the information provided within the booklet. We use descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, and cross tabulations (contingency tables) to establish awareness levels. Our study determines those participants who read the emergency instructions booklet are prepared to make an informed decision in the event of a radiological incident. We find college affiliation, educational level, university role, and age significantly related to emergency instruction booklet utilization. We also find gender is significantly linked to overall risk perception regarding a radiological event. Findings support previous research regarding women\u27s higher levels of risk aversion and pessimism involving dangerous new risky technologies and activities like nuclear energy plants. These findings support modifying policy to ensure nuclear facilities assess the efficacy of their warning systems in alerting the public. Furthermore, our findings provide guidance regarding the evaluation of the effectiveness of emergency instruction booklet distribution
Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Cytotoxic Activities of Cedrus atlantica Organic Extracts and Essential Oil
No full textIntroduction: Cedrus atlantica is an endemic pine tree species well known for its wood oil. Its traditional medicinal usages are mainly anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. The current study aimed to explore both the essential oil of the tree\u27s cones and the organic extracts of the branches, chemically and biologically. Methods: The essential oil was analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Phenolic contents of the extracts and fractions were determined following diverse methods described in the literature. The bioactivity was assessed for their antioxidant (FRAP, DPPH• and ABTS•+ radical scavenging activities), antibacterial (Broth microdilution method), and cytotoxic effects (MTT assay). Results: α-pinene (81.49%) was found to be the major constituent of the essential oil. The extracts and fractions were found to be rich in polyphenols. The antioxidant activity was better in the ethyl acetate fraction. Staphylococcus aureus appeared to be the most susceptible strain to C. atlantica\u27s extracts and oil, with a minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration values of 62.5 and 125 µg/mL for the ethyl acetate fraction, respectively, and values of 0.25 and 0.5% for the essential oil, respectively. C. atlantica\u27s essential oil exhibited a potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line with an IC50 value of 143.13±14.6 µg/mL. Conclusion: C. atlantica\u27s essential oil and organic extracts showed antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer activities. Thereby, the ethnobotanical use of C. atlantica in traditional preparations is worth investigating as the plant appears to be a potential source of interesting metabolites
The Economic Impact of Paradise Cove Aquatic Center in Richmond, Kentucky
Get PDFOne of the most effective ways for rural communities to improve the local economy is by exploring opportunities related to tourism. When communities focus their resources on expanding and improving the tourism industry, it leads to additional opportunities for these communities to increase their revenue, provide jobs and revitalize the local economy. Like many other agencies, the Richmond Parks and Recreation Department has gradually expanded the tourism industry within the City of Richmond in Madison County, Kentucky. To help continue the expansion of this industry, Paradise Cove Aquatic Center opened in 2008. This decision was made because waterparks were becoming a more desired aspect within the tourism industry because they “offer the promise of serious tax dollars as well as a mix of temporary, seasonal and permanent jobs” (Rice, 2013). Since the opening of this waterpark, there has been a positive impact on the surrounding economy as well as improving tourism for the City of Richmond and Madison County, Kentucky. The Paradise Cove Aquatic Center has an approximate 1 million dollar impact on the local community (Sims, et al., 2016) annually. As recreation professionals, it is important to understand the economic impact of the facilities within our communities. By understanding this, community leadership may see which aspects of the tourism industry are the most beneficial to the community. The goal of improving the tourism industry within local communities is to meet the needs of the people and increase the capital flowing into our local economies
Endogenous Nutrients are Concentrated in Specific Tissues in the Zea mays Seedling
No full textK, P, Cl, and Ca are distributed in tissue-specific patterns in Zea mays seedlings. These elements were mapped and analyzed using a relatively simple semi-quantitative technique, i.e., fast freezing, followed by freeze fracturing, then freeze drying, and finally scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). In the radicle, endogenously derived (i.e., from seed) K and P transition from being homogenous in the apical meristem to tissue-specific in older regions. At 3 mm from the radicle apex, K concentration is approximately 40 mM in mid-cortex and decreases by approximately 50% at 15 mm. From 3 to 55 mm, P concentration in pericycle is approximately twice that found in adjacent regions. Ca is not detectable in younger portions of the radicle by SEM/EDS, but in older regions, it is present at 13 mM in mid-cortex. K concentration values of entire radicles analyzed with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) exceeded the SEM/EDS values. For Ca, the reverse was true. But, SEM/EDS analysis did not include several vascular tissues that contained high concentrations of K and low concentrations of Ca. The inception of lateral root primordia was accompanied by a localized decrease in Ca in cortical regions that were centrifugal to the primordium tip. A region of O-rich cells in endosperm was identified centripetal to the aleurone. These results indicate that (1) outer, mid-, and inner cortical regions, as well as the adjacent tissues, have distinct ion accumulation properties, and (2) ions are concentrated in some radicle tissues prior to development of Casparian strips