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We use a data set which contains information on a nationally representative sample of drug purchases in 1996 to investigate the relationship between the type of insurance individuals have for prescription drugs — private insurance, Medicaid, or uninsured — and both the type of drugs they purchase and the prices they pay for drugs. We find that uninsured persons use more generic drugs than privately insured persons but fewer generic drugs than Medicaid recipients. Overall, uninsured persons purchase drugs whose unit costs are 45% lower than the drugs purchased by privately insured persons and 43% lower than the drugs purchased by Medicaid recipients. Differences in unit costs across insurance types reflect differences in the market basket of drugs they purchase. To compare retail drug prices across insurance types we use standardized prices — the retail unit price of each drug relative to a benchmark price. We final that uninsured individuals pay standardized prices which are, on average, 16.5% higher than the standardized prices paid by privately insured persons, and 8.4% higher than the standardized prices paid by Medicaid recipients.

Classical definitions of motivation typically involve two main components: direction and activation. Motivated behavior is directed toward or away from particular stimuli (i.e., appetitive and aversive motivation). Furthermore, activational aspects of motivation refer to the observation that motivated behavior is characterized by substantial activity, vigor, persistence, and exertion of effort in both the initiation and maintenance of behavior. Although separate neural systems direct organisms toward distinct motivational stimuli (e.g., food, water, sex), there appears to be a common circuitry regulating behavioral activation and the exertion of effort. Mesolimbic dopamine is one of the brain systems mediating activational aspects of motivation and exertion of effort. This system integrates aspects of motivation and motor control functions involved in the instigation of action. Research on the neurobiology of effort has contributed to our understanding of the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders that are characterized by motivational dysfunction.

This chapter theorizes a proposal for applying the study of Brexit as a pedagogical strategy in an European Studies (ES) bachelor program, as a means to activate theoretical knowledge for different disciplinary and thematic fields of study about the European Union. The proposal uses the problem-based learning (PBL) approach as a pedagogical methodology and the bachelor of ES at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Coimbra as a case study to rehearse teaching innovation. It is based on a theoretical part, conciliating PBL as a pedagogical tool in social sciences and humanities with the exceptionalism of Brexit within the European integration theories and the study of European policies to activate and question prior scientific knowledge, and on a survey to bachelor’s students and alumni on the pertinence of PBL and of Brexit as an empirical element for scientific knowledge in ES. As a result, specific proposals to use Brexit in PBL experiences in different disciplinary areas of ES are made, paving the way for a range of teaching and learning opportunities and challenges released by Brexit to make progress in the ES pedagogical framework.

Past research suggests that whether pregnancies are wanted, unwanted, or mistimed may influence breastfeeding behavior. The purpose of this chapter is to develop a more precise understanding of this relationship. Specifically, this chapter asks three questions: first, do pregnancy intentions matter most in sustaining breastfeeding for long or for short durations postpartum; second, at what time postpartum are rates of breastfeeding discontinuation most differentiated by pregnancy intentions; and third, how does poverty (measured here by Medicaid receipt) moderate the relationship between pregnancy intentions and breastfeeding duration.

Logistic regression analysis of survey data from a national sample representative of US mothers is used to determine the relationship of pregnancy intentions to whether breastfeeding continues for various durations and through various intervals after birth. Interaction terms between pregnancy intentions and mother’s Medicaid status are used to test for relationships specific to poor or nonpoor mothers between pregnancy intentions and breastfeeding duration.

Results show that pregnancy timing matters most for sustaining breastfeeding for durations past 6 months and that differences in rates of breastfeeding discontinuation between mothers with wanted, unwanted, and mistimed pregnancies are most pronounced in the 3–7 months postpartum period. In addition, findings show that Medicaid recipients (but not nonrecipients) are less likely to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months when their pregnancies are mistimed.

The literature on fundamental causes of health disparities typically suggests that poverty impairs access to resources necessary for effective planning to achieve desirable health outcomes. This study’s results, however, show that planning of pregnancies is more critical for poor mothers to sustain exclusive breastfeeding. Further research is needed to explain this relationship. The results also suggest that policy interventions to help mothers with unplanned pregnancies to sustain breastfeeding should target the period from 3 to 7 months postpartum.

These findings can help shape policies for facilitating the continuation of breastfeeding for durations recommended by health authorities and advance our understanding of the effects of poverty on health behaviors.

The advent of Web 2.0 technologies invites educators to fundamentally rethink the systems we choose to manage our courses. Although many scholars have examined the democratizing functions of online and hybrid learning (Hall, 1999; Kibby, 2006; McCormick, 2006) and offered case studies of successful social media integration (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2009), a need exists to theorize about how faculty and students actually envision the changing role of learning technologies, particularly the LMS and now social media, in their everyday education. Grounded in critical pedagogy and building from a brief history of the learning management system and new media learning technologies, we examine which features have been most beneficial to the shared learning experience between faculty and students. Through this discussion we provide a working model of a re-imagined learning technology platform that integrates the best tools of the LMS with the more shared, democratizing features of social media in common use among today's students and faculty. We envision a shift from that of a management system to a dynamic platform built from the ground-up to integrate traditional course technologies such as grade books and testing, with the open, collaborative nature of social media. Toward this end, the chapter includes examples of combining Wordpress, Buddypress, and Twitter into a tri-fold approach that reaches beyond the physical classroom walls to build a community of learning where students are the educators via content creation and critical analysis of cultural institutions.