The Deficit Reduction Act's (DRA) Citizenship Documentation Requirements for Medicaid Through the Eyes of State Officials in December 2006 and January 2007

Based on interviews, summarizes how state officials expect the 2005 citizenship documentation requirement for Medicaid to affect efforts to simplify application processes and enrollment in Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs

Covering Kids & Families Evaluation: Lasting Legacies of Covering Kids & Families

Outlines results of a survey of Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program officials in forty-six states on the impact of RWJF's initiative to increase outreach and enrollment, including grantees' strategies, effectiveness, and sustainability

Preparing Students for Success on Examinations: Readiness Assurance Tests in a Graduate-Level Statistics Course

Formative feedback is one way to foster students' readiness for statistics examinations. The use of Readiness Assurance Tests was examined as an educational intervention in which feedback was provided for both correct and incorrect responses in a graduate-level statistics course. Examination scores in the intervention group ( n = 56) were compared with those in a control group ( n = 42). Intervention group examination scores significantly improved from 75.92 ± 14.52 on the Readiness Assurance Test to 90.06 ± 7.06, p < .001, on the midterm, and final examination scores improved from 78.23 ± 17.29 to 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .002. Intervention group midterm scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (90.06 ± 7.06 versus 79.7 ± 11.6, p < .001); however, no differences were found between the groups on the final examination (85.35 ± 9.46 versus 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .91). Use of Readiness Assurance Tests was an effective modality to increase student self-efficacy, learning experience, and, relative to a control group, midterm examination performance in statistic

Covering Kids & Families Evaluation: Sustaining the Effects of Covering Kids & Families on Policy Change

Presents results of a follow-up survey of Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program officials to assess the policy and procedural changes shaped by Covering Kids & Families, RWJF's initiative to expand enrollment in these programs

Peer coaching through mHealth targeting physical activity in people with Parkinson disease: feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Long-term engagement in exercise and physical activity mitigates the progression of disability and increases quality of life in people with Parkinson disease (PD). Despite this, the vast majority of individuals with PD are sedentary. There is a critical need for a feasible, safe, acceptable, and effective method to assist those with PD to engage in active lifestyles. Peer coaching through mobile health (mHealth) may be a viable approach. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop a PD-specific peer coach training program and a remote peer-mentored walking program using mHealth technology with the goal of increasing physical activity in persons with PD. We set out to examine the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of the programs along with preliminary evidence of individual-level changes in walking activity, self-efficacy, and disability in the peer mentees. METHODS: A peer coach training program and a remote peer-mentored walking program using mHealth was developed and tested in 10 individuals with PD. We matched physically active persons with PD (peer coaches) with sedentary persons with PD (peer mentees), resulting in 5 dyads. Using both Web-based and in-person delivery methods, we trained the peer coaches in basic knowledge of PD, exercise, active listening, and motivational interviewing. Peer coaches and mentees wore FitBit Zip activity trackers and participated in daily walking over 8 weeks. Peer dyads interacted daily via the FitBit friends mobile app and weekly via telephone calls. Feasibility was determined by examining recruitment, participation, and retention rates. Safety was assessed by monitoring adverse events during the study period. Acceptability was assessed via satisfaction surveys. Individual-level changes in physical activity were examined relative to clinically important differences. RESULTS: Four out of the 5 peer pairs used the FitBit activity tracker and friends function without difficulty. A total of 4 of the 5 pairs completed the 8 weekly phone conversations. There were no adverse events over the course of the study. All peer coaches were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the training program, and all participants were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the peer-mentored walking program. All participants would recommend this program to others with PD. Increases in average steps per day exceeding the clinically important difference occurred in 4 out of the 5 mentees. CONCLUSIONS: Remote peer coaching using mHealth is feasible, safe, and acceptable for persons with PD. Peer coaching using mHealth technology may be a viable method to increase physical activity in individuals with PD. Larger controlled trials are necessary to examine the effectiveness of this approach.This study is supported by Boston Roybal Center for Active Lifestyle Interventions (RALI Boston), Grant #P30 AG048785, and the American Parkinson Disease Association, Massachusetts chapter. The authors would like to thank Nicole Sullivan, SOT, for her assistance with data management and data collection and Nick Wendel, DPT, for his assistance with data collection. Additionally, the authors would like to thank the participants in this study for their time, effort, and insights. (P30 AG048785 - Boston Roybal Center for Active Lifestyle Interventions (RALI Boston); American Parkinson Disease Association, Massachusetts chapter)Accepted manuscrip

Synthesizing Middle Grades Research on Cultural Responsiveness: The Importance of a Shared Conceptual Framework

In conducting a literature review of 133 articles on cultural responsiveness in middle level education, we identified a lack of shared definitions, theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and foci, which made it impossible to synthesize across articles. Using a conceptual framework that required: 1) clear definitions of terms; 2) a critically conscious stance; and 3) inclusion of the middle school concept, we identified 14 articles that met these criteria. We then mapped differences and convergences across these studies, which allowed us to identify the conceptual gaps that the field must address in order to have common definitions and understandings that enable synthesis across studies

Solving the Cosmological Moduli Problem with Weak Scale Inflation

Many models of supersymmetry breaking involve particles with weak scale mass and Planck mass suppressed couplings. Coherent production of such particles in the early universe destroys the successful predictions of nucleosynthesis. We show that this problem may be solved by a brief period of weak scale inflation. Furthermore the inflaton potential for such an inflation naturally arises from the same assumptions which lead to the cosmological problem. Successful baryogenesis and preservation of density fluctuations for large scale structure formation are also possible in this scenario.Comment: 21 pages, MIT-CTP-2331, NSF-ITP-94-70, SCIPP 94-16, uses phyzz

Investigating perception and liking of non-nutritive sweeteners in individuals representing different taste receptor genotypes

This study investigates whether variations in taste receptor genotypes account for differences in perception and liking of the non-nutritive sweeteners sucralose and Rebaudioside A (RebA). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of sweet taste re-ceptor subunits TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 (8 SNPs), bitter taste receptors TAS2R4 and TAS2R14 (2 SNPs), and carbonic anhydrase 6 (CA6, GUSTIN) were studied. Consumer liking and perception of apple beverages varying in sucralose or RebA concentration were measured. Of the sweet receptor SNPs, TAS1R2 rs12137730 had a significant effect on sweet perception of sucralose beverages. No sweet taste receptor SNPs had any significant effect on liking. The bitter taste receptor SNP TAS2R4 rs2234001, how-ever, significantly affected bitter perception of stevia beverages; the more bitter sensitive consumers, homozygous for the GG allele, liked the RebA-sweetened drinks substantially but not significantly less than the homozygous CC group

Wino Cold Dark Matter from Anomaly-Mediated SUSY Breaking

The cosmological moduli problem is discussed in the framework of sequestered sector/anomaly-mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking. In this scheme, the gravitino mass (corresponding to the moduli masses) is naturally 10 - 100 TeV, and hence the lifetime of the moduli fields can be shorter than $\sim 1 sec$. As a result, the cosmological moduli fields should decay before big-bang nucleosynthesis starts. Furthermore, in the anomaly-mediated scenario, the lightest superparticle (LSP) is the Wino-like neutralino. Although the large annihilation cross section means the thermal relic density of the Wino LSP is too small to be the dominant component of cold dark matter (CDM), moduli decays can produce Winos in sufficient abundance to constitute CDM. If Winos are indeed the dark matter, it will be highly advantageous from the point of view of detection. If the halo density is dominated by the Wino-like LSP, the detection rate of Wino CDM in Ge detectors can be as large as $0.1 - 0.01$ event/kg/day, which is within the reach of the future CDM detection with Ge detector. Furthermore, there is a significant positron signal from pair annihilation of Winos in our galaxy which should give a spectacular signal at AMS.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure