Choosing to become a 'lost cause': the perverse effects of benefit preconditions

This paper argues that preconditions for welfare benefit entitlements based on labour market prospects can be counterproductive when they create an incentive for individuals to abstain from any investment earlier in life that could improve future prospects. Benefit entitlements based partly on investments made prior to labour market entry are then Pareto-improving.

Ethane-1,2-diaminium 4,5-dichlorophthalate

In the structure of the title compound, C2H10N22+·C8H2Cl2O42-, the dications and dianions form hydrogen-bonded ribbon substructures which enclose conjoint cyclic R21(7), R12(7) and R42(8) associations and extend down the c-axis direction. These ribbons inter-associate down b, giving a two-dimensional sheet structure. In the dianions, one of the carboxylate groups is essentially coplanar with the benzene ring, while the other is normal to it [C-C-C-O torsion angles = 177.67 (12) and 81.94 (17)°, respectively].

Are there any true adult-onset offenders?

In the extant literature, adult-onset offending has usually been identified using official sources. It is possible, however, that many of the individuals identified would have had unofficial histories of prior offending. To investigate this issue, the men from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) were examined. The CSDD is a prospective longitudinal study of men from inner-city London, followed from age 8 to age 48. Onset of offending was identified using official records and then the self-reported offending of the adult-onset offender group (with a first conviction at age 21 or later) was compared to others. All the adult-onset offenders self-reported some previous offending in childhood and adolescence but most of this offending was not sufficiently frequent or serious to lead to a conviction in practice. About one-third of adult-onset offenders were considered to be self-reported delinquents who were realistically in danger of being convicted because of the frequency of their offending. For some, the adjudication by the criminal justice system was simply the first time that their ongoing pattern of offending had been detected. Their lack of detection was because the types of offences they were committing had lower detection rates.

Mathematical modelling in the early school years

In this article we explore young children's development of mathematical knowledge and reasoning processes as they worked two modelling problems (the Butter Beans Problem and the Airplane Problem). The problems involve authentic situations that need to be interpreted and described in mathematical ways. Both problems include tables of data, together with background information containing specific criteria to be considered in the solution process. Four classes of third-graders (8 years of age) and their teachers participated in the 6-month program, which included preparatory modelling activities along with professional development for the teachers. In discussing our findings we address: (a) Ways in which the children applied their informal, personal knowledge to the problems; (b) How the children interpreted the tables of data, including difficulties they experienced; (c) How the children operated on the data, including aggregating and comparing data, and looking for trends and patterns; (c) How the children developed important mathematical ideas; and (d) Ways in which the children represented their mathematical understandings.

Psychological predictors of young adults' use of social networking sites

Young people are increasingly using social networking sites (SNSs), like Myspace and Facebook, to engage with others. The use of SNSs can have both positive and negative effects on the individual; however, few research studies identify the types of people who frequent these Internet sites. This study sought to predict young adults’ use of SNSs and addictive tendency towards the use of SNSs from their personality characteristics and levels of self-esteem. University students (N = 201), aged 17 to 24 years, reported their use of SNSs and addictive tendencies for SNSs use, and completed the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory 1 and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory.2 Multiple regression analyses revealed that, as a group, the personality and self-esteem factors significantly predicted both level of SNS use and addictive tendency but did not explain a large amount of variance in either outcome measure. The findings indicated that extraverted and unconscientious individuals reported higher levels of both SNS use and addictive tendencies. Future research should attempt to identify which other psychosocial characteristics explain young people’s level of use and propensity for addictive tendencies for these popular Internet sites.

Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) coefficients 2009 revision

Background: Currently used Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) coefficients, which measure probability of survival (Ps), were derived from the Major Trauma Outcome Study (MTOS) in 1995 and are now unlikely to be optimal. This study aims to estimate new TRISS coefficients using a contemporary database of injured patients presenting to emergency departments in the United States; and to compare these against the MTOS coefficients.---------- Methods: Data were obtained from the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) and the NTDB National Sample Project (NSP). TRISS coefficients were estimated using logistic regression. Separate coefficients were derived from complete case and multistage multiple imputation analyses for each NTDB and NSP dataset. Associated Ps over Injury Severity Score values were graphed and compared by age (adult ≥ 15 years; pediatric < 15 years) and injury mechanism (blunt; penetrating) groups. Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves was used to assess coefficients’ predictive performance.---------- Results: Overall 1,072,033 NTDB and 1,278,563 weighted NSP injury events were included, compared with 23,177 used in the original MTOS analyses. Large differences were seen between results from complete case and imputed analyses. For blunt mechanism and adult penetrating mechanism injuries, there were similarities between coefficients estimated on imputed samples, and marked divergences between associated Ps estimated and those from the MTOS. However, negligible differences existed between area under the receiver operating characteristic curves estimates because the overwhelming majority of patients had minor trauma and survived. For pediatric penetrating mechanism injuries, variability in coefficients was large and Ps estimates unreliable.---------- Conclusions: Imputed NTDB coefficients are recommended as the TRISS coefficients 2009 revision for blunt mechanism and adult penetrating mechanism injuries. Coefficients for pediatric penetrating mechanism injuries could not be reliably estimated.

The insured's non-disclosure in the formation of insurance contracts : a comparative perspective

The requirements that an insured disclose all facts material to a transaction as well as not misrepresent material facts in the formation of an insurance contract are universal requirements of insurance law. The nature and extent of these obligations varies from one jurisdiction to the next. Disclosure in the insurance context is distinct from the general approach in commercial contracts, and in others between persons dealing at arm's length. It is the purpose of this article therefore to examine, on a comparative basis, the approaches adopted in the Anglo-Commonwealth context of England, Australia New Zealand and Singapore to the resolution of disclose issues in the formation of insurance contracts. Particular attention is focused on the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Australia) as this statue effects the most significant overhaul of the common law and the National Consumer Council in the United Kingdom has advocated that similar reforms be adopted.

Website physical activity interventions : preferences of potential users

Information and communication technologies (particularly websites and e-mail) have the potential to deliver health behavior change programs to large numbers of adults at low cost. Controlled trials using these new media to promote physical activity have produced mixed results. User-centered development methods can assist in understanding the preferences of potential participants for website functions and content, and may lead to more effective programs. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with 40 adults after they had accessed a previously trialed physical activity website. The discussions were audio taped, transcribed and interpreted using a themed analysis method. Four key themes emerged: structure, interactivity, environmental context and content. Preferences were expressed for websites that include simple interactive features, together with information on local community activity opportunities. Particular suggestions included online community notice boards, personalized progress charts, e-mail access to expert advice and access to information on specific local physical activity facilities and services. Website physical activity interventions could usefully include personally relevant interactive and environmentally focused features and services identified through a user-centered development process.

Modeling multivariate autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity with the double smooth transition conditional correlation GARCH Model

In this paper, we propose a multivariate GARCH model with a time-varying conditional correlation structure. The new double smooth transition conditional correlation (DSTCC) GARCH model extends the smooth transition conditional correlation (STCC) GARCH model of Silvennoinen and Teräsvirta (2005) by including another variable according to which the correlations change smoothly between states of constant correlations. A Lagrange multiplier test is derived to test the constancy of correlations against the DSTCC-GARCH model, and another one to test for another transition in the STCC-GARCH framework. In addition, other specification tests, with the aim of aiding the model building procedure, are considered. Analytical expressions for the test statistics and the required derivatives are provided. Applying the model to the stock and bond futures data, we discover that the correlation pattern between them has dramatically changed around the turn of the century. The model is also applied to a selection of world stock indices, and we find evidence for an increasing degree of integration in the capital markets.

Sex trafficking : the global market in women and children

This book is one of a series on contemporary social issues. It provides a painstakingly researched analysis of the contemporary phenomenon of sex trafficking. As the author Kathryn Farr points out, the phenomenon is not all that contemporary, as women and children have historically been trafficked and enslaved for the purposes of prostitution, particularly during war: in World War II on the southern islands of Okinawa, the Philippines, Hawaii, Liberia, Japan, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, and more recently in Bosnia and Rwanda. Farr links the phenomenon to military socialization, especially to its patriarchal culture which celebrates hyper-masculinity, eroticizes violence, desensitizes soldiers to suffering and brutality and treats women as sex objects.

Masculinity, rurality and violence

The assumption that the size, anonymity and weakened social controls of urban living generates social conflict, disorganization and higher rates of crime and violence has been an article of faith in much criminological and social scientific inquiry since the nineteenth century (i.e. Tönnies 1897; Shaw and McKay 1931; Levin and Lindesmith 1937; Nisbet 1970; Baldwin and Bottoms 1976; Felson 1994). The paper challenges this article of criminological faith and questions the utility of urban centric criminological theorizing about the causes of violence in rural settings. Drawing on descriptive data that show that rural men present a relatively high risk of inflicting harm upon themselves and others, this paper explores the larger socio-criminological question as to why this might be. The question is examined in relation to the processes of community formation that shape the everyday architecture of rural life. We explore how that architecture has historically valorized violent expressions of masculinity grounded in a relationship between men's bodies and the rural landscapes they inhabit - but how the legitimacy of these violent expressions are being challenged by sweeping social, economic and political changes. One psycho-social response to these sweeping social changes to rural life, we conclude, is a resort to violence as a largely strategic practice deployed to recreate an imagined rural gender order.

Identifying aggregate demand and supply shocks in a small open economy

The standard Blanchard-Quah (BQ) decomposition forces aggregate demand and supply shocks to be orthogonal. However, this assumption is problematic for a nation with an inflation target. The very notion of inflation targeting means that monetary policy reacts to changes in aggregate supply. This paper employs a modification of the BQ procedure that allows for correlated shifts in aggregate supply and demand. It is found that shocks to Australian aggregate demand and supply are highly correlated. The estimated shifts in the aggregate demand and supply curves are then used to measure the effects of inflation targeting on the Australian inflation rate and level of GDP.

Are organ donation communication decisions reasoned or reactive? A test of the utility of an augmented Theory of Planned Behaviour with the Prototype/Willingness Model

Objectives: To explore whether people's organ donation consent decisions occur via a reasoned and/or social reaction pathway. --------- Design: We examined prospectively students' and community members' decisions to register consent on a donor register and discuss organ donation wishes with family. --------- Method: Participants completed items assessing theory of planned behaviour (TPB; attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC)), prototype/willingness model (PWM; donor prototype favourability/similarity, past behaviour), and proposed additional influences (moral norm, self-identity, recipient prototypes) for registering (N=339) and discussing (N=315) intentions/willingness. Participants self-reported their registering (N=177) and discussing (N=166) behaviour 1 month later. The utility of the (1) TPB, (2) PWM, (3) augmented TPB with PWM, and (4) augmented TPB with PWM and extensions was tested using structural equation modelling for registering and discussing intentions/willingness, and logistic regression for behaviour. --------- Results: While the TPB proved a more parsimonious model, fit indices suggested that the other proposed models offered viable options, explaining greater variance in communication intentions/willingness. The TPB, augmented TPB with PWM, and extended augmented TPB with PWM best explained registering and discussing decisions. The proposed and revised PWM also proved an adequate fit for discussing decisions. Respondents with stronger intentions (and PBC for registering) had a higher likelihood of registering and discussing. --------- Conclusions: People's decisions to communicate donation wishes may be better explained via a reasoned pathway (especially for registering); however, discussing involves more reactive elements. The role of moral norm, self-identity, and prototypes as influences predicting communication decisions were highlighted also.

Does research into sensitive areas do harm? Experiences of research participation after a child’s diagnosis with Ewing’s Sarcoma

Objective: To investigate family members’ experiences of involvement in a previous study (conducted August 1995 to June 1997) following their child’s diagnosis with Ewing’s sarcoma. Design: Retrospective survey, conducted between 1 November and 30 November 1997, using a postal questionnaire. Participants: Eighty-one of 97 families who had previously completed an in-depth interview as part of a national case–control study of Ewing’s sarcoma. Main outcome measures: Participants’ views on how participation in the previous study had affected them and what motivated them to participate. Results: Most study participants indicated that taking part in the previous study had been a positive experience. Most (n = 79 [97.5%]) believed their involvement would benefit others and were glad to have participated, despite expecting and finding some parts of the interview to be painful. Parents whose child was still alive at the time of the interview recalled participation as more painful than those whose child had died before the interview. Parents who had completed the interview less than a year before our study recalled it as being more painful than those who had completed it more than a year before. Conclusions: That people suffering bereavement are generally eager to participate in research and may indeed find it a positive experience is useful information for members of ethics review boards and other “gatekeepers”, who frequently need to determine whether studies into sensitive areas should be approved. Such information may also help members of the community to make an informed decision regarding participation in such research.

An application of near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy to the study of natural halotrichites : halotrichite, apjohnite and wupatkiite

Near-infrared (NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy have been used to determine the mineralogical character of isomorphic substitutions for Mg2+ by divalent transition metals Fe, Mn, Co and Ni in natural halotrichite series. The minerals are characterised by d-d transitions in NIR region 12000-7500 cm-1. NIR spectrum of halotrichite reveals broad feature from 12000 to 7500 cm-1 with a splitting of two bands resulting from ferrous ion transition 5T2g ® 5Eg. The presence of overtones of OH- fundamentals near 7000 cm-1 confirms molecular water in the mineral structure of the halotrichite series. The appearance of the most intense peak at around 5132 cm-1 is a common feature in the three minerals and is derived from combination of OH- vibrations of water molecules and 2 water bending modes. The influence of cations like Mg2+, Fe2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Ni2+ shows on the spectra of halotrichites. Especially wupatkiite-OH stretching vibrations in which bands are distorted conspicuously to low wave numbers at 3270, 2904 and 2454 cm-1. The observation of high frequency 2 mode in the infrared spectrum at 1640 cm-1 indicates coordination of water molecules is strongly hydrogen bonded in natural halotrichites. The splittings of bands in 3 and 4 (SO4)2- stretching regions may be attributed to the reduction of symmetry from Td to C2v for sulphate ion. This work has shown the usefulness of NIR spectroscopy for the rapid identification and classification of the halotrichite minerals.