Governance in the Age of Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for South and Southeast Asia

This article addresses governance in the age of globalization, the confusion over the meanings of governance, and the flaws of ‘good governance,’ while offering a novel theory of ‘sound governance’ with many elements or dimensions. It also discusses the implications, challenges, and opportunities for governance and administration in South and South East nations in a rapidly changing world of predatory globalization, and suggests strategies for coping with and managing global pressures while practicing sound governance at home.     

Bayesian prediction based on Pareto doubly censored data

Based on Doubly type II censored data, this paper present Bayesian prediction intervals for future ordered failure times of components whose failure times have the classical Pareto distribution. Two different sampling schemes have been considered. Conjugate priors for either the one or the two-parameter cases are outlined. Illustrative examples and a simulation study are included.     

Disability, Ethnicity and Childhood: a critical review of research

Whilst there is an increasing body of literature on the perspectives of carers of disabled children, there is little research giving the disabled child's perspective from either majority or minority populations. Indeed, the voices of black and Asian children in disability research have been almost silent. This literature review collates and analyses existing knowledge about the perceptions held by disabled and non-disabled children, and young people from black and Asian families concerning issues of disability and impairment. The Disability Movement has long proclaimed its belief in the full participation and self-representation of all disabled people. However, despite this laudable objective, the Disability Movement in Britain has mirrored society in general and for the most part been led by white, middle-class, heterosexual, articulate males. This review discusses the simultaneous oppression faced by black and Asian disabled children, and concludes that their experience is unique and different from that of white disabled children. Accordingly, it emphasises the need for further research about the subjective experience of black and Asian disabled children in order to meet their particular needs.     

Functional data: local linear estimation of the conditional density and its application

In this paper, we introduce a new nonparametric estimation procedure of the conditional density of a scalar response variable given a random variable taking values in a semi-metric space. Under some general conditions, we establish both the pointwise and the uniform almost-complete consistencies with convergence rates of the conditional density estimator related to this estimation procedure. Moreover, we give some particular cases of our results which can also be considered as novel in the finite-dimensional setting. Notice also that the results of this paper are used to derive some asymptotic properties of the local linear estimator of the conditional mode.     

Improving Default Risk Prediction Using Bayesian Model Uncertainty Techniques

Credit risk is the potential exposure of a creditor to an obligor's failure or refusal to repay the debt in principal or interest. The potential of exposure is measured in terms of probability of default. Many models have been developed to estimate credit risk, with rating agencies dating back to the 19th century. They provide their assessment of probability of default and transition probabilities of various firms in their annual reports. Regulatory capital requirements for credit risk outlined by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have made it essential for banks and financial institutions to develop sophisticated models in an attempt to measure credit risk with higher accuracy. The Bayesian framework proposed in this article uses the techniques developed in physical sciences and engineering for dealing with model uncertainty and expert accuracy to obtain improved estimates of credit risk and associated uncertainties. The approach uses estimates from one or more rating agencies and incorporates their historical accuracy (past performance data) in estimating future default risk and transition probabilities. Several examples demonstrate that the proposed methodology can assess default probability with accuracy exceeding the estimations of all the individual models. Moreover, the methodology accounts for potentially significant departures from “nominal predictions” due to “upsetting events” such as the 2008 global banking crisis.     

A generalization of the multivariate slash distribution

In this paper, we propose a generalization of the multivariate slash distribution and investigate some of its properties. We show that the new distribution belongs to the elliptically contoured distributions family, and can have heavier tails than the multivariate slash distribution. Therefore, this generalization of the multivariate slash distribution can be considered as an alternative heavy-tailed distribution for modeling data sets in a variety of settings. We apply the generalized multivariate slash distribution to two real data sets to provide some illustrative examples.     

Remaking the Image: The Changing Legibility and Visibility of Derby's City Center,UK

It was in 1960 when the concept of imageability was coined by Lynch, who also emphasized the importance of meaning, legibility, and visibility in the physical environment. Similarly, this study will explore the value of a memorable image within the city center's quarters, by analyzing socio-spatial interaction, pedestrian flow, and users' perception. This study will focus on the relationship between two retailing quarters of a city center and will analyze impacts of a hugely-scaled urban shopping mall on the whole image and memory of a city center. A case study of two main quarters in the City Center of Derby, UK will be analyzed to give analytical suggestions for planning and design in the future and possibly similar developments.     

Evaluation of the relationship between compliance with the follow-up and treatment protocol and health literacy in bladder tumor patients

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the compliance of bladder cancer patients with cystoscopic follow-up and the treatment protocol, and their health literacy.

Methods: Patients who underwent transurethral resection surgery for bladder tumor were found to have non-muscular invasive bladder carcinoma on pathology examination and then underwent cystoscopic follow-up for 1?year or more were included in the study. Cystoscopic follow-up was recommended to the low- and high-risk groups in terms of progression and recurrence. The patients were evaluated with the Health Literacy Survey-European Union scale.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 67.13?±?10.77 years. The treatment continuity rate was 80.50% (n?=?33) in the adequate health literacy group (n?=?41) and significantly higher than the 56.50% (n?=?48) rate in the inadequate health literacy group (n?=?85) (p?=?.008). The health literacy results revealed that the health promotion and general index score was higher in the group of patients under the age of 65.

Conclusions: Adequate health literacy in bladder cancer patients is associated with better compliance with the treatment protocol. Young patients show better compliance with the follow-up protocol recommended by the physician. Increasing the follow-up protocol compliance of elderly patients with inadequate health literacy is necessary.     

‘It's so much better than contact’: A qualitative study exploring children and young people's experiences of a sibling camp in the United Kingdom

This article explores children and young people's experiences of a sibling camp based in the United Kingdom. Sibling camps are an intervention based on children's activity holidays that aim to promote meaningful contact for siblings separated in public care. This study adopted a qualitative approach using semi‐structured interviews with 11 children and young people; this included one sibling group of three and four sibling groups of two. The children's ages ranged from 8 to 17 years old, and they had all attended at least one camp with their sibling. Findings highlighted how the children valued the extended time they could spend with their siblings at camp, and how they felt this enabled them to better understand their siblings and improve their relationships. Findings also showed how the children developed close supportive relationships with the staff at the camps, who ensured they were cared for, and they also supported them with managing their relationships, which some participants acknowledged at times could be challenging. The participants also valued spending time with other sibling groups who also experienced separation. The study found camps provided a space for these children to maintain links with their siblings and to strengthen their sibling bonds.     

Segmentation Opportunities for a Social Planner: Impact of Limited Resources

In this research note, we investigate segmentation opportunities for social planners such as government agencies, nonprofits, and public organizations. These opportunities arise when the potential products are vertically (quality) differentiated and the consumers are heterogeneous in their preferences toward quality. In these cases, whether to offer quality differentiated products and what quality level to choose are important decisions for a social planner. In this research note, we identify the conditions where it is socially optimal to offer either one homogenous or two quality differentiated products. We find that the resource limitations may result in a single product offering and that the quality of the product depends on the maximum surplus per unit resource consumed by the products. We also compare our findings to a profit‐maximizing firm. We find that the resource limitations may cause a profit‐maximizing firm to provide a better service to some consumers than the social planner. Contrary to common wisdom, we also show that the capacity limitations may force the social planner to act like a profit‐maximizing firm in terms of its pricing and product mix choice.