OBJECTIVE Previous studies have found preliminary evidence for associations between common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cannabinoid receptor gene CNR1 and cannabis use and dependence. The present study examined a set of eight independent SNPs in or near CNR1 in relation to cannabis use measured longitudinally across emerging adulthood. METHOD Using latent growth curve modelin...

Carriers of germline mutations in the BRCA1 gene have a significant increased lifetime risk for being diagnosed with breast cancer. The incomplete penetrance of BRCA1 suggests that environmental and/or genetic factors modify the risk and incidence among mutation carriers. Nutrition and particular micronutrients play a central role in modifying the phenotypic expression of a given genotype by re...

The roles of oxygen and light on the regulation of photosynthesis gene expression in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 have been well studied over the past 50 years. More recently, the effects of oxygen and light on gene regulation have been shown to involve the interacting redox chains present in R. sphaeroides under diverse growth conditions, and many of the redox carriers comprising these chains...

To gain insights into the impact of Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act, this study assesses the enrollment, utilization, and financial performance measures of California Medicaid focused health insurers. The study compares these quarterly measures, during the expansion period of 2014 to the same quarterly measures in 2013 and 2012. During 2014, Medicaid focused insurers expanded e...

ing from the likely increase in saving and wealth, the implications of growth in institutions, notably life insurers and pension funds, for financing patterns arise from differences in behaviour from the personal sector, which would otherwise hold assets directly. As we showed in Tables 7-9, portfolios of long-term institutions vary widely, but in most cases, they hold a greater proportion of c...

BACKGROUND With rising health spending, predicting costs is essential to identify patients for interventions. Many of the existing approaches have moderate predictive ability, which may result, in part, from not considering potentially meaningful changes in spending over time. Group-based trajectory modeling could be used to classify patients into dynamic long-term spending patterns. OBJECTIV...

2005 Hurricane Katrina: The extended flooding reminded insurers that storm surge is possibly the most serious threat posed by hurricanes both in terms of human life (WMO, 2007) and in terms of damages (Knutson, et al., 2010). Moreover, the important role engineering (levee design) plays in these situations was highlighted. Casinos floating on barges were swept inland by the surge. These aspects...

To achieve the aims of the Affordable Care Act, state and federal regulators must construct an effective system of risk adjustment, one that protects health insurers that attract a disproportionate share of patients with poor health risks. This brief, which summarizes a Commonwealth Fund–supported conference of leading risk adjustment experts, explores the challenges regulators will face, consi...

The health care industry cannot sidestep these changes. As a result, “pay-for-performance” initiatives by insurers and employers that offer some form of financial incentive to either physicians or hospitals for delivering the “right kind of care” are quickly spreading throughout the country. These initiatives, however, have not yet been applied to hospitals and physicians working together becau...