Population aging and long-term care policies in the Gulf region: a case study of Oman

Population aging is a phenomenon occurring across the globe including in countries traditionally exhibiting population dividends and “youth bulges.” The Gulf Corporation Council countries are no exception as they currently experience a process of population aging, albeit at a different stage from many developed countries. However, due to historically high fertility rates and fast-paced epidemiological transition, some of these countries will experience population aging at a higher pace than what has been observed in Europe and the United States. This article reviews recent developments in long-term care policies in the Gulf region with a focus on Oman as an example of a high-income Arab country that is experiencing population aging while still being governed by traditional family aged-care norms. Utilizing existing data and published research complemented by policy analysis and field visits, we analyze the process of population aging in Oman and neighboring countries and its policy implications.     

建立以本土企业为主体的协同创新机制研究

改革开放以来，我国经济发展取得了巨大成就，但也面临一些重大挑战，特别是本土企业加入、依赖跨国公司主导的产业链，在短期内得以迅速发展的同时，也导致本土产业链出现了断裂和碎片化的问题，这对本土企业的创新和发展是不利的。文章研究在我国建立以本土企业为主体的协同创新机制的基本规律和特点，为提高本土企业的创新能力提供借鉴。研究的主要发现是，这是一个复杂和曲折的过程，在这一过程的启动阶段和转折阶段，非经济因素或者至少是长期经济因素而不是短期经济因素具有独特的、非常重要的作用。     

Migration,gender and low-paid work: on migrant men’s entry dynamics into the feminised social care work in the UK

The literature on workers in gender atypical occupations has been dominated by a focus on women doing men’s work. Much less attention has been paid to men in women’s work, and even less to the impact of migration. Based on 28 in-depth interviews with migrant men having experiences of working in hands-on social care in England, this article is a contribution to the understanding of migrant men’s entry dynamics into a female-dominated occupation. Focusing on migrant life experiences, it discusses how they actively engage in three entry dynamics: (1) facing barriers and negotiating them, (2) ‘stumbling upon’ women’s work, then developing compensating strategies and (3) migratory/temporary settling into the sector. The article suggests a theory about lifelong ‘travelling’ when entering women’s work: a continuing process of negotiating work options within a specific historical sector context, the intersection of gender and migration being part of this.     

A general long-term aging model with different underlying activation mechanisms: Modeling,Bayesian estimation,and case influence diagnostics

In this paper we propose a general cure rate aging model. Our approach enables different underlying activation mechanisms which lead to the event of interest. The number of competing causes of the event of interest is assumed to follow a logarithmic distribution. The model is parameterized in terms of the cured fraction which is then linked to covariates. We explore the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to develop a Bayesian analysis for the proposed model. Moreover, some discussions on the model selection to compare the fitted models are given, as well as case deletion influence diagnostics are developed for the joint posterior distribution based on the ψ-divergence, which has several divergence measures as particular cases, such as the Kullback–Leibler (K-L), J-distance, L₁ norm, and χ²-square divergence measures. Simulation studies are performed and experimental results are illustrated based on a real malignant melanoma data.     

Staff Member Reactions to Same-Gender,Resident-to-Resident Sexual Behavior Within Long-Term Care Facilities

The current study assesses ageism and heterosexism relating to older adult sexual activity within long-term care facilities. To assess caregiver reactions, 153 residential care facility staff members read one of three vignettes. Each vignette described a scenario in which a staff member walks in on two residents (male/female, male/male, or female/female) engaging in sexual activity. Although no main effects were discovered for vignette type, exploratory analyses revealed that the facility where participants were employed was significantly related to their ratings of approval. Furthermore, an interaction effect between vignette and facility types was also discovered for caregivers’ approval of sexual activity among residents. Additionally, a strong overall approval rating of older adult sexuality was reported by staff members. The results of this study warrant that further research is necessary regarding older adults’ perception of caregiver bias, as well as further investigation of caregivers’ perceptions of older adults’ sexual activity.     

Exploring Home Sharing for Elders

Research suggests that third party-arranged home sharing (“TPAHS”) enables elders to remain at home in advanced age by connecting elder home owners with suitable live-in “matches.” TPAHS potentially saves elders, their families, and Medicaid budgets millions of a dollars per year in avoided and postponed nursing home costs. In interviews with elder TPAHS participants of one TPAHS program, we found that similarity in values, ability to utilize the TPAHS organization's guidance, and, when relevant, familiarity with their matches' mental health challenges, correlated with said participants' satisfaction with their matches while a lack of these qualities correlated with match dissatisfaction. With these findings in mind, we suggest strategies TPAHS organizations can use to best serve the elderly TPAHS participants who may benefit from intensified match support but may not seek it.     

长期护理需求评估体系建设研究——基于地方试点与德国实践

长期护理需求评估是长期护理保险筹资与给付的联结点,直接决定了保险给付,并对长期护理保险筹资有重要影响.当前我国试点地方在长期护理需求评估制度的设计上分歧较大,虽积累了差异化的经验与案例,但地区分割不利于社会公平与社会流动.应立足于长期护理保险的社会保险属性,结合社会实际与试点效果,适当借鉴德国经验,统筹设计长期护理需求评估体系,通过"法律+行政法规+部门规章"的规范形式,精准定位评估对象,明确独立的评估主体、科学设计评估指标与评估工具、严格规范评估程序等确保评估结果的科学、客观与公正,并根据评估结果进行分级分类给付,实现长期护理保险资源流向精准.     

长时工作记忆的模块优化机制——基于理想认知模型的分析

记忆术是在新异信息与固有信息间强制建立一种人为意义联系的记忆策略。记忆术之所以能够有效提升记忆品质，是因为它能帮助构建稳定的理想认知模型，而理想化认知模型可被用作完整的记忆组块被个体提取到工作记忆中。组块中处于个体意识中央的那部分信息作为提取线索，将组块内的其它信息牵引到长时工作记忆中，这一方面增强了信息的可得性，另一方面还有效克服了短时工作记忆的容量限制。总之，记忆术通过理想认知模型优化了长时工作记忆，从而改善了记忆效率，提升了记忆品质。     

长期股权投资准则修订变化及对企业财务的影响研究

2014年7月1日,新修订的企业会计准则率先在所有执行企业会计准则的企业范围内施行,这意味着企业的财务核算、财务报表等面临新的问题和挑战.长期股权投资是企业会计核算中的重点和难点,其会计核算方法比较复杂,不同的会计核算会对企业的财务产生不同的影响.本次长期股权投资的修订,规范了长期股权投资的会计核算方法,使其持续趋同于国际会计准则,有利于我国对外经济合作,有利于适应社会经济的发展.本文主要剖析了长期股权投资准则修订前后的变化,对其主要会计核算进行举例分析,并分析其对企业财务的影响.