Fiscal rules in a volatile world: A welfare-based approach

It is widely agreed that a fiscal rule should boost discipline and credibility. A rule should also reduce macroeconomic volatility and be easily understood. Toward such ends, a government may run structural surpluses. In so doing, the government accumulates a precautionary cushion of assets on behalf of agents who do not enjoy access to capital markets. As an additional criterion, that level of assets should be bounded. We provide an example of a structural surplus rule that satisfies all such criteria. In our general equilibrium simulations, we show that such a rule benefits credit-constrained consumers but may hurt others.     

From bedside to bench: research agenda for frailty

The American Geriatrics Society sponsored a working conference in January 2004, funded by the National Institute on Aging, to establish the state of the art in frailty research and to set a research agenda for the future. The invited participants included senior basic biologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, and clinical investigators who study aging-related issues. This article summarizes the central theoretical observations on frailty and research needs and opportunities presented and discussed at this conference, and lays out an agenda for future research on frailty.     

Multidimensional Demand Strength of Recreational Activity Programming in Assisted Living: A Conceptual Model and Prototypical Rating Scale

ABSTRACT

This article describes a framework for measuring activity demands and the psychometric properties of a related measurement tool, the Multidimensional Activities Demand Strength for Assisted Living (MADS-AL). Nine experts—three in physical, cognitive, and social domains, respectively—rated demands of 37 common assisted-living activities. Interrater reliability and internal consistency for physical, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)(2, 3) = .96, Cronbach's α = .97, cognitive, ICC(2, 3) = .71, α = .93, and social, ICC(2, 3) = .80, α = .86, scales give preliminary support for reliability of the MADS-AL tool. Overall, this article moves the field toward considering task demands as a relevant variable to inform future activities research and practice.     

Sex Differences and HIV Risk Behaviors: The Interaction between the Experience of Multiple Types of Abuse and Self-Restraint on HIV Risk Behaviors

Adolescents with abuse histories have been shown to be at increased risk to acquire human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, teens with lower levels of self-restraint or higher levels of distress, such as those with psychiatric concerns, have also demonstrated increased sexual risk behaviors. This study explored sex differences in sexual risk behaviors among a sample of adolescents in a therapeutic/alternative high school setting. Moderated regression analysis showed that a lower level of self-restraint was associated with sexual risk behaviors in boys but not in girls. Rather, the interaction of self-restraint and multiple types of abuse was associated with greater sex risk within girls in this sample. Results suggest that girls and boys with abuse histories and low levels of self-restraint may have different intervention needs related to sexual risk behaviors.     

Transmen's Health Care Experiences: Ethical Social Work Practice Beyond the Binary

Informed by institutional ethnography approaches, this study includes interviews with 3 young transmen (21–29) about their experiences regarding Canadian health care and the work they perform to access care. Semistructured interviews were used to gather data that were then analyzed to identify key aspects of participants’ experiences and perceptions. Findings describe the extra work transmen perform to compensate for a lack of provider competence in transgender health care. Influences of the dominant gender binary ideology as it shapes the health care experiences of transmen are discussed. This article calls for social workers to challenge the gender binary and use practice frameworks informed by transgender theory.     

Properties of two tests for outliers in multivariate data

Mardia's multivariate kurtosis and the generalized distance have desirable properties as multivariate outlier tests. However, extensive critical values have not been published heretofore. A published approximation formula for critical values of the kurtosis is shown to inadequately control the type I error rate, with observed error rates often differing from their intended values by a factor of two or more. Critical values derived from simulations for both tests for up to 25 dimensions and 500 observations are presented. The power curves of both tests are discussed. The generalized distance is the more powerful test when exactly one outlier is present and the contaminant is substantially mean-shifted. However, as the number of outliers increases, the kurtosis becomes the more powerful test. The two tests are compared with respect to power and vulnerability to masking. Recommendations for the use of these tests and interpretation of results are given.     

‘We can play tag with a stick’. Children's knowledge,experiences, feelings and creative thinking during the COVID-19 pandemic

Using a relational approach, we draw on repeated interviews with a group of 30 diverse children from Ontario to share and reflect on their knowledge, experiences and feelings early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prioritising relational interdependence and relational agency, this paper illustrates our participants' embedded engagements with the pandemic and their contribution to the co-production of knowledge. We emphasise their thoughtful responses to the pandemic; their creative, self-reflexive strategies for managing a difficult time; and their advice to others. We thus prioritise children's viewpoints and emphasise their relational interconnections with others during a time that was marked by social isolation.     

DETERMINING THE MOST PROFITABLE RETAIL BRAND MIX FROM EMPIRICAL MEASURES OF BRAND PREFERENCE

This paper refers to the brand-preference parameters of a previously accepted empirical model, and axiomatically generates several basic propositions and their proofs, which define the retail store's most profitable short-run blend of product brands.