The age at first birth and timing of the second in Costa Rica and Guatemala

This paper explores the relationship between the age at first birth and the timing of subsequent fertility in Costa Rica and in four rural villages and two urban areas of Guatemala. The results indicate that, for Costa Rica, the age at first birth is significantly related to the tempo of subsequent births, and that this association, at least for the interval to second birth, remains significant when socio-economic factors and marital status at the time of first birth are held constant. While the results suggest that the age at first birth is related to timing of the second in the Guatemalan sample as well, the association is weaker and less consistent than in Costa Rica.     

Frame modifications with a dying client

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of the treatment frame with a client in extreme circumstances. A move is made, through frame alterations, from a more “pure” technical mode to a more humanistic one. The costs and gains of these frame modifications are evaluated and the therapist's internal experience of the process presented. The paper concludes that the traditional frame is inadequate in therapy with a dying client. Blending the customary frame with a more flexible one more fully meets the needs of the client who is in extremis, enhancing treatment and the treatment alliance.     

Examination of a Psychoeducational Intervention and a Respite Grant in Relieving Psychosocial Stressors Associated with Being an Alzheimer's Caregiver

Alzheimer's disease can be particularly devastating to those who are caring for their loved one with the condition. There have been recent calls for the tailoring of caregiving interventions to examine outcome differences between groups of caregivers and the reporting of effectiveness via longitudinal and specific outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine 3 interventions (psychoeducational training, a respite voucher-type grant, or their combination) while looking for possible group differences. A total of 367 caregivers participated in the study. Participants completed surveys and questionnaires before the intervention and at a 6-month follow-up. Positive outcomes were found, including lower depression scores, increased support service use, and increased support group usage. Possible effectiveness of the 3 types of interventions and variation among caregiver characteristics are discussed along with implications for future research.     

A method for approximate fully bayesian analysis of parameters

Stochastic modeling of the geology in petroleum reservoirs has become an important tool in order to investigate flow properties in the reservoir. The stochastic models used contain parameters which must be estimated based on observations and geological knowledge. The amount of data available is however quite limited due to high drilling costs etc., and the lack of data prevents the use of many of the standard data driven approaches to the parameter estimation problem. Modern simulation based methods using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation, can however be used to do fully Bayesian analysis with respect to parameters in the reservoir model, with the drawback of relatively high computational costs. In this paper, we propose a simple, relatively fast approximate method for fully Bayesian analysis of the parameters. We illustrate the method on both simulated and real data using a two-dimensional marked point model for reservoir characterization.     

Racing Against the Biological Clock? Childbearing and Sterility Among Men and Women in Second Unions in France

In developed countries, rising rates of union disruption have induced an increase in the share of people experiencing several fertile partnerships during their fertile life-span. However, from the large-scale 1999 French Family Survey, in the 1939–1954 birth cohorts it appears that completed fertility of repartnered men is slightly higher than that of never-separated men while repartnered women have fertility levels similar to those who remain in a first intact partnership. Following this observation, this article aims to study whether people, and especially women, have enough time to have children in the context of second union before they become limited by the “biological clock”. Using a cure model, we find that once age-related sterility is controlled for, the decrease in risk of having children with age is not visible anymore up to age 40. This offers some evidence that people in their second partnership, especially women, are constrained in their childbearing by the decline in fecundity with age. Additionally, childless women seem to respond proactively to the decline in fecundity with age by accelerating childbearing.     

Green Care services in the Nordic countries: an integrative literature review

This article reviews Nordic literature on Green Care for people out of work or school, or with mental health- and/or drug-related problems, published from 1995 to April 2014. Green Care is a well-established international concept that uses animals, plants and nature in an active process to offer health-promoting activities for people. Reports, evaluations and scientific articles are included. The main finding was that the Green Care services described in the literature provided positive activities for our target group. Seven main categories emerged during the analysis: mastery and coping, positive effects on mental health, physical activity, structure and meaningfulness, the feeling of dignity produced by performing a decent ordinary job, social gains, animals and nature experienced as being supportive. Essential intervention factors identified can be described as: (i) contact with animals, (ii) supportive natural environments, (iii) the service leader as a significant important other, (iv) social acceptance and fellowship with other participants and (v) meaningful and individually adapted activities in which mastery can be experienced. These five components interact in a holistic way; the synergetic effects extend the sum of the single factors.     

Competitive intelligence embeddedness: Drivers and performance consequences

The proliferation of Web-based information sources and social media draw firms' attention to these channels as sources of competitive intelligence (CI). To date, research has focused mainly on information collection techniques rather than on CI uses and its influence on firm performance. We define CI embeddedness as the extent to which management and employees incorporate CI in daily routines, so that actionable knowledge is transferred throughout the organization. A survey of 124 decision makers reveals positive impact of Web CI sources as well as alliances with information providers on CI embeddedness. Furthermore, while CI embeddedness shows no direct influence on firms’ performance, it has a mediated effect on performance through customer satisfaction.