The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking input on research priorities for basic behavioral and social science research. For details, see the Request for Information.

Some primary care physicians are offering patients prepaid plans, according to the Wall Street Journal (kaisernetwork.org). Supporters say such plans tackle two crises: a shortage of primary care physicians and an increasing number of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. Critics say patients may opt to purchase such plans instead of broader coverage and that the plans will compete with insurers.

The Council of Science Editors organized a Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development, in which science journals throughout the world simultaneously publish articles on this topic on October 22. 235 journals from developed and developing countries participated in the theme issue, including American Journal of Public Health, Health Education and Behavior, Journal of Adolescence, Reproductive Health Matters, and Science.

Penn State users can use the University Libraries Citation Linker to retrieve copies of individual articles.

The following grant announcements are new this week on the Population Research Institute Funding Announcements web page.

AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship – American Anthropological Association

Centers Program for Research on HIV/AIDS and Mental Health (P30) – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Continued Development and Maintenance of Software (R01) – National Cancer Institute (NCI) – National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute – National Human Genome Research Institute – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) – National Institute of General Medical Sciences – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) – National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Geospatial Technology – National Institute of Justice (NIJ)

Integrative Prevention Research for Alcohol Users At-Risk for HIV/AIDS (R21) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Integrative Prevention Research for Alcohol Users At-Risk for HIV/AIDS (RO1) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Josehp L. Fisher Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship – Resources for the Future (RFF)

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Fellowship – American Psychological Association (APA) – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program – Council of American Overseas Research Centers

National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreement Program – U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Research Grants – William T. Grant Foundation

Research on Research Integrity (R03) [deadline extended] – National Cancer Institute (NCI) – National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute – Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

Research on Research Integrity (R21) [deadline extended] – National Cancer Institute (NCI) – National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) – National Institute of General Medical Sciences – Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Southeast European Studies Programs: Conference and Travel Grants – American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

Southeast European Studies Programs: Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowships – American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

White students were less segregated from minority students in 2005-2006 than they were in 1993-1994, but over the same period black and Hispanic students became slightly more isolated from white students, according to an analysis of the Education Department’s Common Core of Data (CCD) Public School Universe Survey by the Pew Hispanic Center. The center’s report attributes the seemingly contradictory trend to Latinos comprising a larger proportion, and whites a smaller proportion, of the student population.

Citation: Rick Fry (2007, August). The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of U.S. Public Schools. Pew Hispanic Center. (Available online)

Foreign-born Latino workers moved out of the low end of wage distribution into the middle between 1995 and 2005, according to an analysis of CPS data by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Citation: Rakesh Kochhar (2007, August). 1995–2005: Foreign-Born Latinos Make Progress on Wages. Pew Hispanic Center. (Available online)

“[T]the most pragmatic approach to coverage for all is mixed private–public group insurance that builds on the best features of our current system with shared responsibility for financing from individuals, employers, and government that minimizes dislocation for the millions of Americans who currently have good coverage,” according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund.

Citation: S. R. Collins, C. Schoen, K. Davis, A. K. Gauthier, and S. C. Schoenbaum (2007, October). A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform. The Commonwealth Fund. (Available online)

Collectively, more Asian American college and university students are experiencing obstacles to academic success in US higher education than in the past, according to a new UCLA report. The report, Beyond Myths: The Growth and Diversity of Asian American College Freshmen, 1971–2005, is available for order from the Higher Education Research Institute.

There is some discussion about the data used in the report on the Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog.

Preliminary datasets are now available for the 2006 Niger Demographic and Health Survey. PRI researchers may request it from the Data Archivist.

Economist Saul Lach found that immigrants keep prices low in a study of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel (Washington Post). Lach’s study found that for every 1% increase in the ratio of immigrants to natives, prices go down by about 0.5%.

Citation: Saul Lach (2007). Immigration and prices. Journal of Political Economy 115(4): 548-587. (Available online to the Penn State community)