Redistributing wealth to families: the advantages of the MYRIADE model

This study aims to shed light on the main characteristics of the French system for redistributing wealth to families through tax revenues and social transfers. For the purposes of this exercise, the authors used the MYRIADE microsimulation model, which covers most of the redistribution system, though it is limited to monetary flows such as family benefits, housing allowances, minimum social welfare payments, income tax, and tax on furnished accommodation. The authors used a particular methodology to highlight the way this redistribution works; rather than calculate the difference between each family's disposable income and their gross primary income, they opted to isolate the variation in disposable income that could be attributed to the youngest member of each family where there is at least one child under the age of 25. The average increase in disposable income that this child contributes to his or her family amounts to in200 per month.     

AIDS: A case management approach. The illinois experience

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services provides through their Medical Foster Care Program substitute living arrangements for wards of the state with positive antibody tests, ARC, and AIDS. At present there are ten children (eight in Cook County) that fall into one of these categories. Half (5) of these children are infants under the age of one year. Three (3) are adolescents who were exposed through intravenous drug abuse and/or prostitution. Case illustrations and discussion together with case planning and management techniques are presented for two of the cases: an adolescent with a positive antibody test, and a three-year-old with AIDS. Current trends and future issues for investigation are also presented.     

Solutions to the Exploration/Exploitation Dilemma: Networks as a New Level of Analysis

This paper reviews the extant literature on the exploration/exploitation dilemma. Based on a systematic analysis of structural, behavioural, systemic and temporal solutions, the authors are able to show that the learning literature continues to struggle with the question of how exactly an organization can separate exploration and exploitation and at the same time enable necessary knowledge exchange and cooperation between these two notions. Paying closer attention to networks might enable future research to answer this question. In particular, a combination of structural aspects of networks and social ties has the potential to explain how the solutions currently on offer can be implemented successfully, how organizations can combine several of them, and how they can shift between them.     

Family planning program effects on contraceptive use in Morocco, 1992–1995

This study illustrates the use of panel data and a fixed-effects estimator to investigate the impact of family planning program inputs on contraceptive utilization in Morocco during the 1992–1995 period. By controlling the potential bias resulting from common unobserved determinants of program resource allocation decisions and program outcomes, the methodology helps overcome an important constraint to the use of non-experimental study designs in undertaking meaningful impact assessments. Data from a panel of women interviewed in both the 1992 and 1995 Morocco Demographic and Health Surveys were used in the study, along with program data from Service Availability Modules undertaken in conjunction with each survey round. The results indicate that changes in the family planning supply environment, in particular increased presence of nurses trained in family planning and the level of infrastructure at public clinics, played a significant role in the increased use of modern contraceptives during the study period.     

Simultaneous estimation of several CDF’s: homogeneity constraint

Let {x_ij(1 ? j ? n_i)|i = 1, 2, …, k} be k independent samples of size n_j from respective distributions of functions F_j(x)(1 ? j ? k). A classical statistical problem is to test whether these k samples came from a common distribution function, F(x) whose form may or may not be known. In this paper, we consider the complementary problem of estimating the distribution functions suspected to be homogeneous in order to improve the basic estimator known as “empirical distribution function” (edf), in an asymptotic setup. Accordingly, we consider four additional estimators, namely, the restricted estimator (RE), the preliminary test estimator (PTE), the shrinkage estimator (SE), and the positive rule shrinkage estimator (PRSE) and study their characteristic properties based on the mean squared error (MSE) and relative risk efficiency (RRE) with tables and graphs. We observed that for k ? 4, the positive rule SE performs uniformly better than both shrinkage and the unrestricted estimator, while PTEs works reasonably well for k < 4.     

Quantitative risk assessment of rabies being introduced into mainland France through worldwide noncommercial dog and cat movements

France has been rabies-free among nonflying mammals since 2001. Despite this status, the rabies virus has been introduced several times through noncommercial pet movements, posing a threat of infection by this 100%-lethal zoonosis among local animal and human populations. To quantify the risk of rabies being introduced through worldwide noncommercial dog and cat movements, we performed a quantitative risk assessment using stochastic scenario tree modeling. The mean annual probability of at least one rabies introduction incident was 0.35 (median: 0.24, 90% prediction interval (PI) [0.04; 0.98]) and the mean annual number of rabies-infected pets introduced through pet movements was 0.96 (median: 0.27, 90% PI [0.04; 3.88]). These results highlight a nonnegligible, even high risk due to the associated consequences of such events. In alternative scenario testing, preventive anti-rabies vaccination proved to be an effective measure since removing the vaccination requirement led to a > 15-fold increase in risk. The serological testing requirement had less of an effect (approximately two-fold increase when removed) and the posttest waiting period to ensure that antibodies were not linked to an infection had a negligible effect. Any change in pet owner compliance, especially regarding vaccination, could have a major impact on the risk. This study also shows that reinforced border control staff training could be more effective in reducing risk than more frequent checks. These results provide quantitative data for assessing the probability of the rabies virus entering France, and could help policymakers decrease this risk in rabies-free areas.     

Hybridising the cultural identity of Mulan from a Chinese ballad to American films

Hybridisation refers to the fusion of diverse cultural elements which generates new cultural forms that are distinct yet interconnected with one another. Previous studies affirmed that hybridisation has become part of an ongoing trend in transnational culture, emerging from a Third Space where diverse cultural elements enmesh. This study aims to explore how Mulan's cultural identity is hybridised when the folklore flows from China to America, becoming entangled within a conflict of Chinese-Western transcultural clashes. Using Jameson's cultural identity model, the paper analyses Mulan's cultural identity in three texts which are the original The Ballad of Mulan, Disney's animated movie Mulan (1998) and its subsequent life-action installment Mulan (2020). Components measuring the protagonist's cultural identity comprising vocation, class, geography, philosophy, language, biological traits with cultural aspects are compared. The findings show that the movies have particularly hybridise the protagonist's cultural identity from the aspects of geography, philosophy, and language. This results in a hybrid cultural identity with transnational markers in Mulan. The significance of the research thus lies in its contribution towards highlighting how Chinese figures are increasingly hybridised by Western influences as the Chinese culture continues to transcend transnational borders.