Functional assessment and care of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities

Objectives: To determine the relationship between pediatric assessment scores and ratings by parents and teachers regarding the amount of assistance required to complete basic activities of daily living; and to examine the relationship among scores for three commonly used pediatric assessments. Design: Prospective correlational study. 205 children with developmental disabilities. The children ranged in age from 11 to 87 mo and included 72 females and 133 males of diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The children were evaluated by using the Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM(TM) instrument), and the Amount of Assistance Questionnaire, Results: The test-retest reliability coefficients for items on the Amount of Assistance Questionnaire were found to range from 0.82 to 0.97. Correlations among subscale scores and amount of assistance ratings were highest for the WeeFIM instrument and Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test. The highest correlation was between WeeFIM total rating and total amount of assistance rating (r = 0.91). Conclusion: Total WeeFIM instrument ratings and severity of disability were the best predictors of amount of assistance ratings provided by parents and teachers.

Monte Carlo evidence on cointegration and causation

The small sample performance of Granger causality tests under different model dimensions, degree of cointegration, direction of causality, and system stability are presented. Two tests based on maximum likelihood estimation of error-correction models (LR and WALD) are compared to a Wald test based on multivariate least squares estimation of a modified VAR (MWALD). In large samples all test statistics perform well in terms of size and power. For smaller samples, the LR and WALD tests perform better than the MWALD test. Overall, the LR test outperforms the other two in terms of size and power in small samples.

Fertility and female work force participation in Bangladesh: Causality and cointegration

This paper examines the causal links between fertility and female labor force participation in Bangladesh over the period 1974-2000 by specifying a bivariate and several trivariate models in a vector error correction framework. The three trivariate models alternatively include average age at first marriage for females, per capita GDP and infant mortality rate, which control for the effects of other socio-economic factors on fertility and female labor force participation. All the specified models indicate an inverse long-run relationship between fertility and female labor force participation. While the bivariate model also indicates bidirectional causality, the multivariate models confirm only a unidirectional causality – from labor force participation to fertility. Further, per capita GDP and infant mortality rate appear to Granger-cause both fertility and female labor force participation.

Effect of functional gain on satisfaction with medical rehabilitation after stroke

Objective: To examine the association between gain in motor and cognitive functional status with patient satisfaction 3-6 mo after rehabilitation discharge. Design: Patient satisfaction and changes in functional status were examined in 18,375 patients with stroke who received inpatient medical rehabilitation. Information was obtained from 144 hospitals and rehabilitation facilities contributing records to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation and the National Follow-up Services. Results: Data analysis revealed significant (P < 0.05) differences in satisfaction responses based on whether information was collected from patient self-report or from a family member proxy, and the two subsets were analyzed separately. Logistic regression revealed the following significant predictors of satisfaction for data collected from stroke patients: cognitive and motor gain, rehospitalization, who the patient was living with at follow-up, age, and follow-up therapy. In the patient-reported data subset, compared with patients who showed improved cognitive or motor functional status, those with no change, respectively, had a 31% and 33% reduced risk of dissatisfaction. In addition, rehospitalized patients had a higher risk of dissatisfaction. For the proxy reported data subset, significant influences on satisfaction were health maintenance, rehospitalization, stroke type, ethnicity, cognitive FIM(TM) gain, length of stay, and follow-up therapy. Conclusions: Ratings of satisfaction with rehabilitation services were affected by change in functional status and whether the information was collected from patient rating or proxy response.

Outbound Travel Depends on Business Returns: Australian Evidence

In an earlier note, Collins and Tisdell (2002b) explored the possibility of a long-run relationship between Australian business returns and international business travel. Using annual data they found that such a relationship exists. The purpose of this study is to further examine this relationship using quarterly data for the time frame 1974:1 to 1999:4. In addition, previous studies on international business travel have offered some but not strong evidence for the existence of a positive relationship between the level of international business travel and real GDP of the origin country. This study suggests that the aggregate return on business investments is a better predictor of international business travel than GDP. The Engle-Granger and Johansen's maximum-likelihood cointegration procedures are used to show a long-term relationship exists between Australian outbound business travel and Australian business returns, but not with Real Australian GDP. Reasons for this relationship are discussed.

The price elasticity of the Euro to movements in foreign reserves through European Central Bank intevention

The Euro has been used as the largest weighting element in a basket of currencies for forex arrangements adopted by several Central European countries outside the European Union (EU). The paper uses a new time-series approach to examine the relationship between the Euro exchange rate and the level of foreign reserves. It employs Zero-no-zero (ZNZ) patterned vector error-correction (VECM) modelling to investigate Granger causal relations among foreign reserves, the European Monetary Union money supply and the Euro exchange rate. The findings confirm that foreign reserves may influence movements in the Euro's exchange rate. Further, ZNZ patterned VECM modelling with exogenous variables is used to estimate the amount of foreign reserves currently required in order to again achieve a targetted Euro exchange rate

Satisfaction with medical rehabilitation after spinal cord injury

Study Design. Retrospective Objective. To predict satisfaction with medical rehabilitation. Summary of Background Data. While spinal cord injury (SCI) patient satisfaction with life and community services has been investigated, satisfaction with medical rehabilitation has not. Methods. Information submitted to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation ( 1998 - 2001) by 134 hospitals/rehabilitation facilities in the United States (n = 6,205 patients with SCI) was examined. Predictors were sociodemographic variables, Case Mix Groupings (CMG) ( 401 - 505, 5001), length of stay, rehospitalization, followup therapy, and health maintenance. Satisfaction was assessed at a mean of 92.2 days (SD 11.9 days) postdischarge. Data were analyzed according to who reported the outcome ( patient, n = 3,858 or family/other, n = 1,869). Statistical modeling was conducted using logistic regression. Results. High overall satisfaction was reported (94%). Significant predictors for the patient report data were CMG and rehospitalization. Compared with CMG 5001 ( short stay,

The role of the complement system in ischemia-reperfusion injury

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a common clinical event with the potential to seriously affect, and sometimes kill, the patient. Interruption of blood supply causes ischemia, which rapidly damages metabolically active tissues. Paradoxically, restoration of blood flow to the ischemic tissues initiates a cascade of pathology that leads to additional cell or tissue injury. I/R is a potent inducer of complement activation that results in the production of a number of inflammatory mediators. The use of specific inhibitors to block complement activation has been shown to prevent local tissue injury after I/R. Clinical and experimental studies in gut, kidney, limb, and liver have shown that I/R results in local activation of the complement system and leads to the production of the complement factors C3a, C5a, and the membrane attack complex. The novel inhibitors of complement products may find wide clinical application because there are no effective drug therapies currently available to treat I/R injuries.

Zero-non-zero patterned vector error correction modeling for I(2) cointegrated time series with applications in testing PPP and stock market relationships

Vector error-correction models (VECMs) have become increasingly important in their application to financial markets. Standard full-order VECM models assume non-zero entries in all their coefficient matrices. However, applications of VECM models to financial market data have revealed that zero entries are often a necessary part of efficient modelling. In such cases, the use of full-order VECM models may lead to incorrect inferences. Specifically, if indirect causality or Granger non-causality exists among the variables, the use of over-parameterised full-order VECM models may weaken the power of statistical inference. In this paper, it is argued that the zero–non-zero (ZNZ) patterned VECM is a more straightforward and effective means of testing for both indirect causality and Granger non-causality. For a ZNZ patterned VECM framework for time series of integrated order two, we provide a new algorithm to select cointegrating and loading vectors that can contain zero entries. Two case studies are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the algorithm in tests of purchasing power parity and a three-variable system involving the stock market.