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CPAs working in modern business and industry face two fundamental and interrelated challenges. On one hand, they're overseeing automation and other tech upgrades to core finance, accounting, and other business [...]

Myriad articles have been written about accounting's pipeline problem over the past couple of years, but for firms and finance departments, the story can be summarized in one sentence: To [...]

University and college accounting programs are changing their teaching approaches. Fundamentals courses are becoming showcases for the profession's opportunities. And in some places the focus is shifting from weeding out [...]

Five years ago, T. Jayden Doye, CPA, prepared clients' tax returns in his employer's Atlanta office and dreamed of doing work on a beach. Today, he runs a small accounting [...]

Generative AI has potential for many capabilities--among them having conversations, analyzing documents, writing memos, and providing advice on solving interpersonal problems. These are all in response to plain-language prompts from [...]

Microsoft Copilot merges generative AI with key apps, potentially revolutionizing how accountants work. Here's what early adopters say. In the early days of the generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) revolution, users [...]

Tech-savvy accountants have found myriad uses for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) since ChatGPT made its debut in November 2022. GenAI tools can draft emails, analyze spreadsheets, summarize tax legislation, research [...]

IT ALL STARTED WITH A HANDSHAKE, OR at least it was supposed to. For as long as anyone can remember, contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit's Big [...]

Objective: To examine geographic variation in preventable hospitalizations among Medicaid/CHIP-enrolled children and to test the association between preventable hospitalizations and a novel measure of racialized economic segregation, which captures residential segregation within ZIP codes based on race and income simultaneously. Data Sources: We supplement claims and enrollment data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) representing over 12 million Medicaid/CHIP enrollees in 24 states with data from the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project measuring racialized economic segregation. Study Design: We measure preventable hospitalizations by ZIP code among children. We use logistic regression to estimate the association between ZIP code-level measures of racialized economic segregation and preventable hospitalizations, controlling for sex, age, rurality, eligibility group, managed care plan type, and state. Data Extraction Methods: We include children ages 0-17 continuously enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP throughout 2018. We use validated algorithms to identify preventable hospitalizations, which account for characteristics of the pediatric population and exclude children with certain underlying conditions. Principal Findings: Preventable hospitalizations vary substantially across ZIP codes, and a quarter of ZIP codes have rates exceeding 150 hospitalizations per 100,000 Medicaid-enrolled children per year. Preventable hospitalization rates vary significantly by level of racialized economic segregation: children living in the ZIP codes that have the highest concentration of low-income, non-Hispanic Black residents have adjusted rates of 181 per 100,000 children, compared to 110 per 100,000 for children in ZIP codes that have the highest concentration of high-income, non-Hispanic white residents (p < 0.01). This pattern is driven by asthma-related preventable hospitalizations. Conclusions: Medicaid-enrolled children's risk of preventable hospitalizations depends on where they live, and children in economically and racially segregated neighborhoods--specifically those with higher concentrations of low-income, non-Hispanic Black residents-are at particularly high risk. It will be important to identify and implement Medicaid/CHIP and other policies that increase access to high-quality preventive care and that address structural drivers of children's health inequities. KEYWORDS child and adolescent health, CHIP, health care disparities, health equity, index of concentration at the extremes, Medicaid, racial/ethnic differences in health and health care, racialized economic segregation, social determinants of health What is known on this topic * Little evidence exists on the importance of where children live for their access to and quality of health care in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). * High rates of preventable hospitalizations may be indicative of poor access to high-quality outpatient care, but little research has examined preventable hospitalizations among Medicaid/CHIP-enrolled children. * Studies examining preventable hospitalizations have focused on adult populations, are often limited to one state, and have not considered the effects of segregation based on both racial and economic privilege. What this study adds * We assess ZIP code level patterns of preventable hospitalizations for over 12 million Medicaid/CHIP-covered children across 24 states and document considerable across- and within-state variation. * We find a strong association between ZIP code-level racial and economic privilege, using an Index of Concentration at the Extremes measure for racialized economic segregation, and preventable hospitalizations among children. * Our findings demonstrate the need for tailored policy changes within Medicaid/CHIP, and investments to address structural inequities related to segregation, to improve outcomes for children living in less privileged neighborhoods., 1 | INTRODUCTION Children who live in different neighborhoods across the United States face different conditions of daily life and have different access to the resources they need to thrive, [...]

Brian Kenney and Henrietta Verma are cofounders and coauthors of first CLUE (firstcluereviews.com), a free weekly newsletter that reviews mysteries and thrillers as far in advance of publication as possible. [...]

An overwhelming majority of finance leaders say a recession is coming: About 96% of those polled in the fourth-quarter AICPA Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey expect a downturn in [...]

Private-equity investors are increasingly buying into accounting firms. The deals, which carry risks and benefits for the profession, change the way the firms operate. The first time she got a [...]

In the emerging ESG field, almost everyone is still adapting and learning. Several professionals explain how they made the transition into this key, fast-growing practice area. Last November, Jackie Umstead, [...]

The leaders of CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) have known for years that climate change and social issues would be part of their work in the future. But they didn't know just [...]

Many firms across the country have begun to abolish requirements for high-hour workweeks during busy season. Here's how they are doing it. When he started working for a large accounting [...]

The ASA Safety Award is designed to elevate the awareness of the importance of safety in all aspects of the PHCP/PVF industry. The award also recognizes ASA members that have [...]

VICE PRESIDENT EDUCATION-TRAINING Part of the value of being an ASA member is the incredible networking opportunities afforded to members through ASA events. At the 2023 Trainer's Forum last month, [...]

The city of McPherson--a tidy little town with a main street and tree-shaded neighborhoods surrounded by the vast plains and farmland of Kansas--is home to about 13,000 people. "It's a [...]

I HAD BEEN WORKING as a librarian for a decade when, in 2001, I joined the staff of Publishers Weekly's sister publication Library Journal. My plan--as much as I had [...]

Sturgeon are found in fossil records as far back as 150 million years, and they survived the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. However, overfishing and habitat loss [...]

Patient and physician completed questionnaires used in clinical trials and clinical practice have previously focused on symptoms. These questionnaires do not cover the full experience of living with Sjögren’s, such as differences in symptoms between individual patients, and their use has also been known to result in inaccurate reports. Another way of thinking about patients’ experiences is to use a questionnaire to ask about the impact Sjögren’s has on patients’ health-related quality of life, meaning how Sjögren’s might affect their life in different ways including physically, emotionally, and socially. The goal of this study was to develop a new questionnaire (named the Sjögren’s-Related Quality of Life [SRQoL] questionnaire) to measure the impact that Sjögren’s has on patients’ lives. Interviews were conducted with people with Sjögren’s to explore their understanding of the new questionnaire and how relevant the content is to their experience of the condition. The results of this study suggest that the SRQoL includes relevant and easy-to-understand questions, suitable for use in future clinical trials and clinical practice, to measure if patients’ HRQoL improves with treatment. Future research is needed to confirm that the questionnaire accurately measures the impact of Sjögren’s on HRQoL for use with patients with Sjögren’s.

The Skipper-in-CMOS image sensor integrates the nondestructive readout capability of skipper charge coupled devices (Skipper-CCDs) with the high conversion gain of a pinned photodiode (PPD) in a CMOS imaging process while taking advantage of in-pixel signal processing. This allows both single photon counting as well as high frame rate readout through highly parallel processing. The first results obtained from a ${15} \times {15}~\mu $ m2 pixel cell of a Skipper-in-CMOS sensor fabricated in Tower Semiconductor’s commercial 180-nm CMOS image sensor process are presented. Measurements confirm the expected reduction of the readout noise with the number of samples down to deep subelectron noise of $0.15\text {e}^ - $ , demonstrating the charge transfer operation from the PPD and the single photon counting operation when the sensor is exposed to light. This article also discusses new testing strategies employed for its operation and characterization.

A fiber delay measurement and tracking system,which consists of low-cost, off-the-shelf instruments and components, and finds application in several areas, such as Telecommunications, Radar and Radio Astronomy, is presented and tested in an on-the-field realisticscenario. Through a comparison performed with a correspondent high-cost version of the same system, and thanks to an accurate, physical-model-based postprocessing procedure, a precision of 0.1 ps is estimated for the fiber delay over a monitored distance of around 100 m.

Private Equity (PE) investment in healthcare has grown substantially in recent years, raising alarm about its impact on patient care, healthcare professionals, and the overall integrity of the healthcare system. The influx of PE investments into healthcare has sparked debates regarding profit-driven motives, cost-cutting measures, and potential risks to patient safety and access to essential services. This article examines the extent and possible impacts of private equity in Canadian healthcare using data from a proprietary database. Drawing upon evidence from academic studies in the United States, this article provides evidence on the adverse impacts on the quality of care, the deterioration in working conditions, and degradation of the healthcare system. It provides suggestions to limit the predatory impacts of PE investment.

The American Civil War was a conflict over the institution of slavery, dominant in the South and threatening to spread to the new territories of the expanding United States. Today, however, the so-called ‘Lost Cause’ movement offers an unapologetic white supremacist view of humankind, while insisting that the war had nothing to do with slavery. In response to persistent American racism, the scholar Ibram X. Kendi suggests a typology of attitudes toward human diversity, culminating in ‘anti-racism’. Juxtaposing Kendi’s model with Alan Race’s well-known typology of responses to religious diversity may clarify and strengthen each of the two.

In the dynamic realm of wholesale distribution, the seamless orchestration of goods and the protection of employee well-being are critical. The science of ergonomics plays a pivotal role in achieving [...]

Housekeeping is as crucial in the workplace as it is at home, especially when it comes to operating in a safe environment. Effective safety management in a warehouse or any [...]

An always popular genre, crime fiction continues to grow and evolve, keeping its core readership solidly engaged but also attracting new readers. In our 2022 preview, looking at books publishing [...]

In the wholesale-distribution business, safety must be a top priority. In a fast-paced environment where employees are handling heavy equipment, moving large objects, and operating machinery, the potential for accidents [...]

Individuals with minor ischaemic stroke and intracranial occlusion are at increased risk of poor outcomes. Intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase might improve outcomes in this population. We aimed to test the superiority of intravenous tenecteplase over non-thrombolytic standard of care in patients with minor ischaemic stroke and intracranial occlusion or focal perfusion abnormality.

PULL A NEW AR OUT OF THE CASE, peer through the sights, and one of the first questions will invariably be 'At what distance should I zero this thing?' I [...]

To highlight common mechanistic targets for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) and IgE-mediated food allergy (IgE-FA) with potential to be effective for both diseases and prevent atopic progression.

ABSTRACTIntraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is shown to be useful in surgeries when the nervous system is at risk. Its success in part relies upon proper setup of often dozens of electrodes correctly placed and secured upon patients and inserted in specific stimulating and recording receptacles. Given the complicated setups and the demanding operating room environment, errors in setup are bound to occur. These have led to false negatives associated with new patient morbidities including, at times, paralysis. No studies quantify the prevalence of these types of setup errors. Approximately 800,000 operations annually utilize intraoperative neuromonitoring in the US alone, so even a small percentage of errors suggests clinical significance. In addition, these types of errors hinder the overall effectiveness of IONM and may result in lower reported sensitivities and lower cost-effectiveness of this important service. We sought to discover through a prospective study and verification through chart review the prevalence of “electrode-swap” errors (when recording and/or stimulating electrodes are incorrectly placed on the patient or in the IONM equipment during setup) across all procedures monitored. We found recording and/or stimulating electrode set up errors in 24 of 454 cases (5.3%). These data and examples of how errors were discovered intraoperatively are reported. We also offer techniques to help reduce this error rate. This study demonstrates a significant potential avoidable error in IONM diagnostic utility, patient outcome, and sensitivity/specificity of alert criteria. The value of identifying and correcting these errors is consequential, multifaceted, and far-reaching.

The recovery of a Haemaphysalis longicornisNeumann (Acari: Ixodidae) tick from a dog in Benton County, Arkansas, in 2018 triggered a significant environmental sampling effort in Hobbs State Park Conservation Area. The objective of the investigation was to assess the tick population density and diversity, as well as identify potential tick-borne pathogens that could pose a risk to public health. During a week-long sampling period in August of 2018, a total of 6,154 ticks were collected, with the majority identified as Amblyomma americanum(L), (Acari: Ixodidae) commonly known as the lone star tick. No H. longicornisticks were found despite the initial detection of this species in the area. This discrepancy highlights the importance of continued monitoring efforts to understand the dynamics of tick populations and their movements. The investigation also focused on pathogen detection, with ticks being pooled by species, age, and sex before being processed with various bioassays. The results revealed the presence of several tick-borne pathogens, including agents associated with ehrlichiosis (n= 12), tularemia (n= 2), and Bourbon virus (BRBV) disease (n= 1), as well as nonpathogenic rickettsial and anaplasmosis organisms. These findings emphasize the importance of public health messaging to raise awareness of the risks associated with exposure to tick-borne pathogens. Prevention measures, such as wearing protective clothing, using insect repellent, and conducting regular tick checks, should be emphasized to reduce the risk of tick-borne diseases. Continued surveillance efforts and research are also essential to improve our understanding of tick-borne disease epidemiology and develop effective control strategies.

ABSTRACT: Over the past couple of decades there has been an increase in people taking more active steps to protect their financial security due to outside events like the 2008 [...]

A special interest group of the International Reading Association publishes a scholarly journal, "The Reading Professor: The Journal of Professors of Reading Teacher Educators." In Volume 22, No. 1, Fall 1999, the following articles are featured: "Young Children Draw Their Images of Literacy" (Roberta A. McKay and Maureen E. Kendrick); "A Comparison of Teachers' Knowledge and Use of Content Literacy Strategies" (Mary E. Howe; Rich Radcliffe; Bonnie Higginson); "Teaching Reading in Inner-City Schools: Teacher Educators Learning from Teachers' Perspectives" (Carol Leroy and Mary Cronin); "Photo Story Writing: Integrating All Language Modes in Teaching Literacy to Elementary ESL Students" (Ping Liu and Richard Parker); and "Interpretive Comprehension: What the NAEP Results Mean for Teachers" (Dale Johnson and Bonnie von Hoff Johnson). In Volume 22, No. 2, Spring 2000, the following articles are featured: "Digital Literacy Portfolio Series: Purpose, Development, Implementation" (Elizabeth Baker); "An Answer to the Shortage of Secondary Reading Teacher Educators" (Gloria A. Neubert); "Identifying Evaluation Norms of Reading Faculty in Higher Education" (Mary B. Campbell); "Voices from the Field: Preservice Teachers' Cases as Sources of Information for Field-Based Teacher Preparation" (Janet C. Richards and Joan P. Gipe); and "Content Area Reading: Why Do I Have To Take This Class" (Patricia Luse Smith). (NKA)

Life after a school system loses accreditation is a slippery slope for school leaders who face three major groups of stakeholders in the process: the educators they lead, the communities [...]

Gregory Franklin, a superintendent in Orange County, Calif., has played an instrumental part in the formal accreditation process that for more than a century has been holding schools accountable to [...]

For years, 'what they didn't teach you in library school' was the fun meme used to capture the less glamorous tasks librarians have to perform, from unplugging the men's room [...]

Hello to Guitarist from Sydney, Australia. I just thought I'd mention a pet hate of mine ... When listening to an online review of a new guitar, it is always [...]

Thought I would like to tell you about my musical life. I took interest in playing guitar at the age of 13, inspired by Buddy Holly and many others at [...]

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Asthma is a common, potentially serious childhood chronic condition that disproportionately afflicts Black children. Hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits for asthma can often be prevented. Nearly half of children with asthma are covered by Medicaid, which should facilitate access to care to manage and treat symptoms. We provide new evidence on racial disparities in asthma hospitalizations and ED visits among Medicaid-enrolled children.We used comprehensive Medicaid claims data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System. Our study population included 279 985 Medicaid-enrolled children with diagnosed asthma. We identified asthma hospitalizations and ED visits occurring in 2019. We estimated differences in the odds of asthma hospitalizations and ED visits for non-Hispanic Black versus non-Hispanic white children, adjusting for sex, age, Medicaid eligibility group, Medicaid plan type, state, and rurality.In 2019, among Black children with asthma, 1.2% had an asthma hospitalization and 8.0% had an asthma ED visit compared with 0.5% and 3.4% of white children with a hospitalization and ED visit, respectively. After adjusting for other characteristics, the rates for Black children were more than twice the rates for white children (hospitalization adjusted odds ratio 2.45, 95% confidence interval 2.23–2.69; ED adjusted odds ratio 2.42; 95% confidence interval 2.33–2.51).There are stark racial disparities in asthma hospitalizations and ED visits among Medicaid-enrolled children with asthma. To diminish these disparities, it will be important to implement solutions that address poor quality care, discriminatory treatment in health care settings, and the structural factors that disproportionately expose Black children to asthma triggers and access barriers.

ABSTRACTEffective teamwork is essential in almost every job, and can even mean life, death, or disability in some jobs. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is a career in which effective teamwork and accurate communication are of utmost importance, yet it comes with a unique set of challenges in which to achieve those goals. Operating rooms can be very stressful environments, even if a surgical neurophysiologist (SNP) works in the same hospital every day. Often an SNP is required to travel from hospital to hospital and work with different teams each day. In addition, communication with the IONM oversight professional (IONM-P) can be challenging by nature of the telemedicine model which is becoming the most commonly applied IONM model in the United States. It is unfortunate that such critical skills are assumed and are rarely formally trained. In this article, we present evidence-based recommendations for establishing effective team function. We also provide several tools designed to help create effective and efficient teams. Teams cannot function at their best without outstanding communication, so improving teamwork also means improving communication. This article also provides several techniques for excellent communication, regardless of the situation or context.