Profit implications of estimation methods for the allocation of marketing resources

We deal with the question whether estimating heterogeneous multiplicative sales response models without carry over effects by either ordinary least squares or Gibbs sampling makes a difference if resources (like advertising budgets, sales budgets, sales force sizes, sales calls) have to be allocated to sales units (like sales districts, customer groups, individual costumers or prospects) in a profit maximizing way and only short time series are available. To this end we generate artificial series on sales and allocations by stochastic simulation. These series are used to estimate multiplicative models whose coefficients are either specific to individual sales units or follow a hierarchical Bayesian framework. Ordinary least squares and Gibbs sampling serve as appropriate estimation methods. Performance of the two estimation methods is measured by recovery of optimal profits which are computed on the basis of the known true parameter values. We start to determine optimal allocations based on the plug-in method which uses average coefficients to determine expected profits. Gibbs sampling always leads to profits nearer to the true optima. This advantage of Gibbs sampling is especially pronounced for combinations with high average elasticity, high variation of elasticity and high number of sales units. On the other hand, differences between Gibbs sampling and OLS become smaller the more observations are available. Optimization with expected profits taking parameter uncertainty (i.e., the distribution of parameters) into account leads to higher profits than the plug-in method, but relative increases turn out to be rather small.     

Identifying the death gender -- the ghost of masochism in queer subject

This article re-assesses the theories of death, narcissism and identification from a selection of essays by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan in order to demonstrate that gender is generated out of masochism and the 'death drive' (Todestrieb). In closely reading and amending key sections of Judith Butler's queer theories, the author argues against her Foucaltian claim that the queer subject is constituted in the face of a sadistic Law, which s/he is forced to eroticise and internalise, and therefore conflate with her/his own masochism. It is argued that the subject's masochism is a queer attempt not to be; to bridge the constitutional split enforced by the Lacanian idea of the assumption of subjectivity through misidentification, and to become a living mortuary for the (dead) identifications that found the subject on his/her illusory ground through the (contingent) foreclosure of the Other.     

Subjective evaluation of well-being: Problems and prospects

This paper discusses some of the substantive and methodological pitfalls that arise in the subjective evaluation of well-being. The discussion includes illustrative references to the empirical findings of the 1977 Edmonton Area Study. Issues discussed include (1) specific, domain, and global measures; (2) objective states and subjective perceptions; (3) micro and macro units of analysis; and (4) the problem of cultural relativism. It is concluded that it is not yet possible to delineate a simple set of social indicators for use by policy-makers and social planners. Accurate assessment of social well-being currently requires the study of demographic and objective states together with cognitive and evaluational responses and also requires assessment not only at the global ‘general satisfaction’ level but also at more specific levels of analysis.     

Humour in the Ancient World

Since the ending of the Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations, the international concept of racism, first initialised in the 1930s, has been inscribed in an unacknowledged conceptual double bind. Western political culture has inherited a hegemonic concept of racism that foregrounds those meanings associated with the anti‐fascist critiques of the Jewish Holocaust, while foreclosing subaltern anti‐colonial critiques centred on Western Imperialism. This can be taken to suggest a divergence within a western tradition of critical thought that in one of its guises occurs between the view that ‘‘race’ thinking’ resembles ideological exceptionality and the contrary view that ‘race relations’ approximates colonial conventions. The present essay explores the extent to which these views are constituted conceptually and dialogically in opposition and divergence. This is defined as racism's conceptual double bind. In other words, the international concept of racism is doubly bound into revealing its imprints in nationalism and concealing its anchorage in liberalism; or recognising extremist ideology while denying routine governmentality. The essay, therefore, asks the following: is it im/plausible to deny that there is an inescapable conceptual double bind between these differing conceptualisations of racism that has been ignored by the dominant social science traditions in the West? The idea of a double bind in the concept of racism, reiterated throughout this essay, is not to be confused with the proposition that there are two concepts of racism. On the contrary, during the twentieth‐century conceptualisation of racism, there have rather been two distinct orientations, the hegemonic Eurocentric and the subaltern De/colonial, based on conflicting yet dialogical paradigmatic experiences of the referent of racism.     

Does Culture Affect Divorce? Evidence From European Immigrants in the United States

This article explores the role of culture in determining divorce by examining country-of-origin differences in divorce rates of immigrants in the United States. Because childhood-arriving immigrants are all exposed to a common set of U.S. laws and institutions, we interpret relationships between their divorce tendencies and home-country divorce rates as evidence of the effect of culture. Our results are robust to controlling for several home-country variables, including average church attendance and gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, specifications with country-of-origin fixed effects suggest that immigrants from countries with low divorce rates are especially less likely to be divorced if they reside among a large number of coethnics. Supplemental analyses indicate that divorce culture has a stronger impact on the divorce decisions of females than of males, pointing to a potentially gendered nature of divorce taboos.     

Long-term safety of stimulant medications used to treat children with ADHD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common mental health condition that affects children, adolescents, and adults. Because it is a chronic condition and typically requires effective treatment for several years or more, information on the benefits and risks of long-term pharmacotherapy for ADHD is vital to clinicians. This article reviews the emerging literature on the safety of long-term stimulant medications in ADHD-the most commonly prescribed medications for this condition. Common side effects, including cardiovascular effects, growth effects, and tics, are discussed, as well as treatment of children younger than age 6 and evidence of carcinogenic and reproductive effects.     

The relationship between childhood abuse and suicidality in adult bipolar disorder

This study evaluates the effect of childhood sexual and physical abuse on suicidality in adults with bipolar disorder. We conducted a retrospective chart review of adult outpatients (N= 381) with DSM-IV-TR-defined bipolar disorder seeking evaluation and treatment at an academic specialty research program (i.e., Mood Disorders Pharmacology Unit, University Health Network, University of Toronto) between October 2002 and November 2005. Eighteen percent (n = 68) of adult patients with bipolar disorder had a recorded history of childhood abuse (p = 0.009). Sixty-three percent (n = 43) of bipolar patients with a history of childhood abuse reported lifetime suicidality (chi2 = 6.885, df= 1, p = 0.009). Logistic regression analysis indicated that Childhood abuse was a significant predictor of lifetime suicidality in adult bipolar patients (OR = 2.05, CI = 1.19-3.510). Childhood abuse is associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in adults with bipolar disorder. Anamnestic inquiry regarding childhood maltreatment is salient to risk assessment, illness management planning, preventative strategies, and treatment interventions in bipolar disorder.     

Socioeconomic Status,Income Inequality,and Health Complaints: A Basic Psychological Needs Perspective

Socioeconomic status (SES) and income inequality are now recognized as important determinants of health, and there is growing interest in uncovering the intermediary psychosocial pathways through which the socioeconomic context affects physical well-being (Marmot in The status syndrome: how social standing affects our health and longevity, Henry Holt, New York, 2004; Wilkinson and Pickett in The Spirit Level: why more equal societies almost always do better, Allen Lane, London, 2009). We adopted the applied framework of self-determination theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan in Psychol Inq 11:227–268, 2000) and hypothesized that fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness would mediate the relationships that SES and income inequality have to self-rated health. An online community sample of American participants (N = 1,139) completed a detailed demographic survey and provided self-reports of need fulfillment and health complaints. Structural equation models controlled for impression management and self-deceptive enhancement. Controlling for sex and age, need fulfillment was predicted positively by subjective SES and objective household income and negatively by state-level income inequality; in turn, need fulfillment predicted lower levels of health complaints. These findings suggest that SDT provides a useful framework for the study of SES, income inequality, and health, and that basic psychological needs are an important mechanism through which socioeconomic contexts influence health.     

Dual Estimation of Prevalence and Disease Incidence in Pool-Testing Strategy

Pool-testing is a cost effective method over individual testing. When imperfect tests are used in pool testing strategy, there tend to be loss of sensitivity. The loss in sensitivity can be recovered by re-testing the pools classified initially. Apart from improving the sensitivity of the testing scheme, it also improves the efficiency of the estimator. This article proposes a pool-testing scheme with re-testing, and estimate the prevalence based on the proposed testing scheme.