Laws,Desires, and Contaminations—Mutuality with a Price: Commentary on Paper by Taras Babiak

In this commentary on Tara Babiak's analytic work with a very disturbed, almost autistic young man, I take up the function of gender categories as defense and as potential; the power of enactments in analytic treatment; and the difficulties of homophobia in patient, analyst and culture. I focus on the uses and functions of gender and ideals of masculinity in the patient's identity. A central enactment early in the treatment gave rise to intense transference and countertransference scrutiny. I suggest the long shadow cast by this enactment, which was both hopeful and provocatively destructive. I discuss the quandaries (analytic, personal, and cultural) for the analyst working with a patient for whom phobic dread may be a defense against fragmentation and madness.     

Locally quadratic log likelihood and data-based transformations

The investigation of multi-parameter likelihood functions is simplified if the log likelihood is quadratic near the maximum, as then normal approximations to the likelihood can be accurately used to obtain quantities such as likelihood regions. This paper proposes that data-based transformations of the parameters can be employed to make the log likelihood more quadratic, and illustrates the method with one of the simplest bivariate likelihoods, the normal two-parameter likelihood.     

Estimating the Concentration of Propagules of a Plant Pathogen from Soil Dilution Plate Counts when the Response is Non-linear

The estimation of micro-organism concentrations from dilution plate data is discussed for situations where expected counts are not proportional to the amount of sample per plate. Aspects of design and analysis are investigated in relation to an alternative non-linear model in which the concentration is given by the slope at the origin. This exponential model generally provides a good fit to available experimental data. Simulations show that estimators based on the model perform well when the response is non-linear and remain reasonably efficient when the response is linear.     

INTERVENTION PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY OF THE AUTISTIC CHILD: A MULTILEVEL ASSESSMENT OF THE FAMILY SYSTEM*

The clinician working with the family of an autistic child may need to assess the family at several levels. The first level requires an assessment of the behavioral deficits and excesses of the child. The next level examines the family in terms of their behavioral skills and the impediments that occur when they implement behavior change programs. The third level involves assessing the family unit to identify obstacles to change. While many well-functioning families may be stressed by the crises that arise in raising an autistic child, other families are predisposed to dysfunction regardless of the presence of the child.     

Grandmas' hands rocked the cradle

A considerable number of women find themselves serving as surrogate parents for their grandchildren. This issue is particularly salient for African-American women. This article highlights the experiences of African-American grandmothers who are rearing their grandchildren in a rural southern community. Data collection included in-depth interviewing, observation, and document review. Findings from the study underscore the need for policy makers and practitioners to understand the structural and cultural context in which grandparent caregiving occurs. Grandmothers serving as surrogate parents should have access to a comprehensive array of services some of which include financial, psychological, medical, and legal services. In addition to these services grandparent caregivers should be empowered to engage in activities which encourage support and self-care. Study findings generate ideas that will be of interest to those responsible for practice and policy decisions.     

Planning in a state of turbulence

This paper is concerned with an exploration of the role of the long range planner, whether in the private or public sector of the economy, and the impact made upon the processes of his work by government's increasing propensity to manipulate the economy. The authors' researches over the last 2 years into the comparative nature of planning processes in the U.K. economy have made it abundantly clear to them that planners are increasingly concerned at the dangerous potential of such impact upon their forecasting procedures. The emphasis here will rest upon the planner in private enterprises, although the authors' work in both local government and the nationalized enterprises suggest that the problem is of equal importance in these sectors.The authors consider first the past nature of the search processes in long range planning and the context of such attempts to narrow down the range of variables that form the enterprise's perception of its future. Secondly, they examine the emerging discontinuity and the changing role of government, with particular reference to indicative planning concepts. Then they introduce some of the findings of a recent survey of attitudes towards long range planning in the construction industry of the U.K., a sector vitally influenced by turbulence in the economy and with particular interest in government's ideas of macro-planning. Finally Edwards and Harris examine the implications to government and to planners of their findings.     

Using tri-reference point theory to evaluate risk attitude and the effects of financial incentives in a gamified crowdsourcing task

Crowdsourcing has rapidly developed as a mechanism to accomplish tasks that are easy for humans to accomplish but are challenging for machines. However, unlike machines, humans need to be cajoled to perform tasks, usually through some type of incentive. Since participants from the crowd are typically anonymous and have no expectation of an ongoing work relationship with a task requester, the types of incentives offered to workers are usually short-term monetary bonuses, which have had an inconclusive impact on crowdsourcing worker quality. In this paper, we explore the notion that the risk attitude of crowdsourcing workers may play an important role in the effectiveness of incentives on task accuracy. Traditional utility theories, such as prospect theory, depend on decisions made relative to a singular reference point, whereas the tri-reference point (TRP) theory (Wang and Johnson, J Exp Psychol Gen 141:743–756, 2012) holds that three reference points impact decision making. Using the TRP theory as a guide, we develop a game that provides workers with three reference points and subsequently explores the role of multiple reference points on worker risk aversion and task accuracy.     

Jordan's Public Policy Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: Insight and Policy Analysis

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how the Jordanian government has responded and continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It utilizes the interpretive policy analysis approach through document analysis. The analysis showed that Jordan created social protection policies to assist people who lost their jobs or whose work was suspended due to the coronavirus. The economic policies build solidarity and facilitate the private sector’s recovery. The health care measures firmly applied included lockdown, wearing masks, and restrictions on gatherings and public events. Jordan uses hard power and imposes sanctions on any violation that threatens the lives of others.