ALLOCATING INFECTION: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE SWINE FLU (H1N1) VACCINE

Previous research has isolated the effect of “congressional dominance” in explaining bureaucracy‐related outcomes. This analysis extends the concept of congressional dominance to the allocation of H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine doses. States with Democratic United States Representatives on the relevant House oversight committee received roughly 60,000 additional doses per legislator during the initial allocation period, though this political advantage dissipated after the first 3 weeks of vaccine distribution. As a result political factors played a role in determining vaccine allocation only when the vaccine was in particularly short supply. At‐risk groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), such as younger age groups and first responders, do not receive more vaccine doses, and in fact receive slightly fewer units of vaccine. (JEL D72, D73, I18)     

Child Therapy and Evidence in Court Proceedings: Tensions and Some Solutions

Correspondence to Kate Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. Summary Recent policy developments in the UK, implemented in the wakeof well-publicized child abuse court cases, have highlightedthe tension between offering the abused child adequate supportand providing sound evidence in any statutory proceedings. Therapeuticwork can give the court clear indications of the child's wishes,feelings and developmental needs, with or without explicit verbalstatements, and non-directive play therapy, because it is non-coerciveand largely free from therapist suggestion, is particularlyeffective in this respect. Particular features of non-directiveplay therapy which enhance the validity of such evidence areconsidered and a range of factors involved in presenting therapeuticwork to the courts are explored.     

The Enduring Relevance of Case Management

Correspondence to Peter Ryan, School of Health, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Middlesex University, Archway, 7, Highgate Hill, London N19 5NF Summary This article summarizes the main results and policy implicationsof a Department of Health funded mental health case managementresearch and development project. The project implemented casemanagement services in four different sites, and worked withclients who were severely disabled with long-term mental illness.Higher levels of engagement (95 per cent) were achieved by case-managedas compared to control clients. They were also linked to a widerrange of community services. However, costs of the experimentalservices were higher, and client outcome variable. In two sites,case-managed clients achieved significant improvements in psycho-socialadjustment, whereas on the third site, there were no differencesin outcome between the control andexperimental clients. The article concludes that case management continues to be amode of service delivery which can achieve real benefits forclients in terms of preventing them from falling through thenet, and in linking them in responsive ways to community services.However, the increased costs can make it an unattractive optionfor purchasers, and ways need to be found to retain the establishedbenefits, whilst reducing the costs to service purchasers.     

French connections: the networking strategies of French highly skilled migrants in London

Although the migration studies literature often takes social networks for granted, these social ties are not spontaneous but require effort and nurturing. There has been insufficient research on the actual process of networking, especially among highly skilled migrants. Our understanding of why and how migrants form networks with particular characteristics is still poor. In this article, we argue that it is necessary to consider both the structure and content of networks – the nature of the relationships as well as the flow of resources within various social ties. Drawing on qualitative data from a study of highly skilled French migrants in London's business and financial sector, we use a microanalysis of network‐making processes. In the context of London as a dynamic and highly competitive financial centre, we examine the importance of opportunities, skills and shared interests in building new social relationships from scratch. In addition, we also assess how mobility and proximity, virtual communication and co‐presence impact on geographically dispersed networks and why some long distance relationships endure while others fade over time. By bringing together classic literature on professional networking and wider discussions on how relationships are managed across time and space, our work contributes to a fuller understanding of why and how highly skilled migrants form networks with particular characteristics.     

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正如果你想改变你人生中的某一方面,不管是去创业还是减肥或者移民,以下8条建议都能帮助你达到你的目标,得到自己想要的,最终成为一名人生赢家。不要在意他人的眼光我知道不去顾及他人的眼光是一件很难的事,但是一旦你做到了你的人生将发     

Inference on Survival Data with Covariate Measurement Error – An Imputation-based Approach

Abstract.  We propose a new method for fitting proportional hazards models with error-prone covariates. Regression coefficients are estimated by solving an estimating equation that is the average of the partial likelihood scores based on imputed true covariates. For the purpose of imputation, a linear spline model is assumed on the baseline hazard. We discuss consistency and asymptotic normality of the resulting estimators, and propose a stochastic approximation scheme to obtain the estimates. The algorithm is easy to implement, and reduces to the ordinary Cox partial likelihood approach when the measurement error has a degenerate distribution. Simulations indicate high efficiency and robustness. We consider the special case where error-prone replicates are available on the unobserved true covariates. As expected, increasing the number of replicates for the unobserved covariates increases efficiency and reduces bias. We illustrate the practical utility of the proposed method with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group clinical trial where a genetic marker, c- myc expression level, is subject to measurement error.     

Travelers' Day-to-Day Route Choice Behavior with Real-Time Information in a Congested Risky Network

Nonrecurring disruptions to traffic systems caused by incidents or adverse conditions can result in uncertain travel times. Real-time information allows travelers to adapt to actual traffic conditions. In a behavior experiment, subjects completed 120 “days” of repeated route choices in a hypothetical, competitive network submitted to random capacity reductions. One scenario provided subjects with real-time information regarding a probable incident and the other did not. A reinforcement learning model with two scale factors, a discounting rate of previous experience and a constant term, is estimated by minimizing the deviation between predicted and observed daily flows. The estimation combines brute force enumeration and a subsequent stochastic approximation method. The prediction over 120 runs has a root mean square error of 1.05 per day per route and a bias of 0.14 per route.