How Non-Group Health Coverage Varies with Income

Looks at what percentage of people with neither employer-sponsored nor public coverage purchase private non-group health insurance, by income level and family type. Points to the need to make non-group coverage more affordable and more attractive

Change in Percentage of Families Offered Coverage at Work, 1998-2005

Uses data from the National Health Interview Survey to measure changes between 1998 and 2005 in the percentage of families with working adults that have at least one offer of health insurance through an employer

Implementation and perceived benefits of an after-school soccer program designed to promote social and emotional learning: A multiple case study

Social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies such as self-awareness and relationship skills are predictors of academic success, overall well-being, and avoidance of problematic behaviors. Among school-aged children, research has demonstrated that well-implemented programs teach SEL competencies and life skills (e.g., leadership, responsible decision making) that can transfer to other settings. Similar claims have been made in the field of sport-based youth development (SBYD), however, the SEL framework has not been widely applied in sport programming. Implementation, student learning, and transfer of learning in SBYD programs designed to promote SEL require further exploration. Therefore, the current study examined the implementation and perceived benefits of an after-school soccer program designed to promote SEL. Participants were six coaches and 51 students from three different sites where this program is offered. A multiple case study design was used, integrating data from customized feedback surveys, interviews, systematic observation, and field notes. Results indicated the program reflects many SBYD best practices. Although implementation varied between sites, program culture and core values were consistent. Evidence indicated students learned and applied SEL lessons in the soccer program and that transfer beyond the program was promoted. Participants were most likely to report transfer to the school setting, therefore, future studies should examine this topic more directly. Other implications for research and program implementation are discussed

Recovering Classical Dynamics from Coupled Quantum Systems Through Continuous Measurement

We study the role of continuous measurement in the quantum to classical transition for a system with coupled internal (spin) and external (motional) degrees of freedom. Even when the measured motional degree of freedom can be treated classically, entanglement between spin and motion causes strong measurement back action on the quantum spin subsystem so that classical trajectories are not recovered in this mixed quantum classical regime. The measurement can extract localized quantum trajectories that behave classically only when the internal action also becomes large relative to ħ

The Copernicus project

The Copernicus spacecraft, to be launched on May 4, 2009, is designed for scientific exploration of the planet Pluto. The main objectives of this exploration is to accurately determine the mass, density, and composition of the two bodies in the Pluto-Charon system. A further goal of the exploration is to obtain precise images of the system. The spacecraft will be designed for three axis stability control. It will use the latest technological advances to optimize the performance, reliability, and cost of the spacecraft. Due to the long duration of the mission, nominally 12.6 years, the spacecraft will be powered by a long lasting radioactive power source. Although this type of power may have some environmental drawbacks, currently it is the only available source that is suitable for this mission. The planned trajectory provides flybys of Jupiter and Saturn. These flybys provide an opportunity for scientific study of these planets in addition to Pluto. The information obtained on these flybys will supplement the data obtained by the Voyager and Galileo missions. The topics covered include: (1) scientific instrumentation; (2) mission management, planning, and costing; (3) power and propulsion system; (4) structural subsystem; (5) command, control, and communication; and (6) attitude and articulation control

BATTLESPACE/INFORMATION WAR (BAT/IW): a system-of-systems model of a strike operation

This paper presents a low-resolution, high-level modeling methodology for the analysis of the effectiveness of a Blue system of systems operating in a battlespace. The methodology enables quick turn around and efficient exploration of sensitivities of measures of Blue combat success to realistically imperfect Blue intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities: limited and imperfect sensor surveillance and reconnaissance, particularly battle damage assessment (BDA), and finite, hence saturable, communications and weapons delivery capability. The model explicitly represents aircraft sorties, fires, sensor/shooter latencies, target losses, imperfect target type classification, imperfect weapon assignment, and BDAvarious levels of the above imperfections can be applied, facilitating tradeoff studies, The model is deterministic/ expected value in nature, although it analytically represents time-dependent stochastic features such as system saturability. Model experimentation suggests the following results. Decreasing shooter latency can result in greater attrition than correspondingly increasing the probabilities of correct BDA or weapon assignment, although at the expense of a greater number of weapons fired per target killed. Erroneous BDA returns dead targets to the shooter targeting list. These dead targets not only result in wasted weapon expenditure but also take sensor/shooter resources away from legitimate live targets. Increasing the probability of correct BDA can result in a greater number of targets killed during a time period than increasing the probability of correct weapon assignment.

Meer houvast voor de bemesting in de biologische kleinfruitteelt

Informatie over de specifieke bemestingsbehoeften van (biologisch) kleinfruit is beperkt. Er is een groot assortiment aan teelten en er zijn verschillende teeltwijzen. Ook de bemesting op de bedrijven gebeurt zeer verschillend. Een eerste doelstelling van het project was om correct om te gaan met bemestingsadviezen. In dit project werd voor een éénjarige bemestingsproef de invloed van verschillende bemestingsregimes op gewasontwikkeling en opbrengst van herfstframboos bepaald. Ook werd het verband tussen de nutriëntenvoorraad in bodem, blad en plantsap aan de hand van verschillende analyses onderzocht. Na het eerste jaar bleek het ook interessant om in het project de mogelijkheden van maaimeststoffen in de kleinfruitteelt verder te bekijken. Het was vooral de bedoeling een aantal tendensen in kaart te brengen. Voor een meerjarige teelt als herfstframboos is het niet mogelijk om op 2 jaar tijd tot verregaande wetenschappelijke inzichten te komen. Toch werd getracht aan de hand van interpretatie van de resultaten cruciale periodes voor opname en nood aan nutriënten in te schatten. Evenals het acuut en latent gebrek tijdens een teelt, indien mogelijk met een sneltest zoals bladsap-analyse. Omwille van de doelstellingen voor de waterkwaliteit is een laag nitraatresidu in het najaar eveneens belangrijk. Tot slot was ook de uitwisseling van ervaringen rond bemestingsstrategieën waardevol voor dit project

Early contingentnegative variation of the EEG and attentional flexibility are reduced in hypotension

This study explored the question as to whether hypotension is related to decreased attentional performance and reduced cortical activation. A total of 50 females aged 19 44 years participated in the study. Attentional performance was assessed using three subtests of the Attentional and Cognitive Efficiency (ACE) battery. Contingent negative variation (CNV) as a measure of cortical activation was registered during a constant fore-period reaction time paradigm: two conditions were defined using tones as S1 (80 or 60 dB) and S2 (70 dB). The following results were obtained. Hypotensive patients performed significantly more poorly on one subtest of the ACE, which indicates a reduced speed for switching from a routine to a controlled response (quantifying attentional flexibility). They also had longer reaction times and revealed a significantly smaller amplitude of the early CNV component. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between systolic blood pressure and the amplitude of the early CNV component. The data support previous findings that hypotension can be related to lowered cortical activation and indicate that specific aspects of attentional performance might be negatively affected by hypotension