School vision screening, ages 5-16 years:The evidence-base for content, provision and efficacy

The optometric profession in the UK has a major role in the detection, assessment and management of ocular anomalies in children between 5 and 16 years of age. The role complements a variety of associated screening services provided across several health care sectors. The review examines the evidence-base for the content, provision and efficacy of these screening services in terms of the prevalence of anomalies such as refractive error, amblyopia, binocular vision and colour vision and considers the consequences of their curtailment. Vision screening must focus on pre-school children if the aim of the screening is to detect and treat conditions that may lead to amblyopia, whereas if the aim is to detect and correct significant refractive errors (not likely to lead to amblyopia) then it would be expedient for the optometric profession to act as the major provider of refractive (and colour vision) screening at 5-6 years of age. Myopia is the refractive error most likely to develop during primary school presenting typically between 8 and 12 years of age, thus screening at entry to secondary school is warranted. Given the inevitable restriction on resources for health care, establishing screening at 5 and 11 years of age, with exclusion of any subsequent screening, is the preferred option. © 2004 The College of Optometrists.

Megtakarítások és külső finanszírozás az amerikai gazdaságban. A hitelpiaci válság háttere (1997-2007) (Savings and external financing in the American economy. The background to the credit-market crisis (1997–2007))

A tanulmány nem az aktuális hitelpiaci válság enyhítésének kérdésével foglalkozik, hanem az amerikai gazdaság elmúlt négy évtizedének általános és az utolsó tíz évének konkrét beruházási-megtakarítási és növekedési tendenciáit igyekszik feltárni. Azt vizsgálja, hogy milyen mélyebb, belföldi eredetű szerkezeti okai vannak a nemzetközivé dagadt jelzáloghitel-válságnak. A cikk a nyitott gazdaság külső finanszírozással összefüggő mérlegazonosságainak alapján arra a következtetésre jut, hogy az ingatlanpiaci visszaesés és a kibocsátás zsugorodása az Egyesült Államok gazdaságában már több mint másfél évtizede kialakult kedvezőtlen, de még tovább romló belföldi megtakarítási folyamatok következménye. A jelzálogpiac krízise és a lakásépítés drámai visszaesése a túlfogyasztásra és túlhitelezésre ösztönző pénzügyi környezet eredménye. A lakáspiaci és a hitelezési ciklusok pénzügyi innovációkkal történő megnyújtása inkább növelte, mint csökkentette a kibocsátásingadozás érzékenységét. A legfőbb hitelezők Kína, Japán, Németország inkább dolláralapú amerikai vállalati felvásárlásokkal ellensúlyozták a dollárgyengülésből elszenvedett veszteségeiket. 1997-2007 között az Amerikából külföldön befektetett dolláraktívák - javarészt a valuta leértékelődése nyomán - jelentős hozamemelkedést élveztek, és számottevően tompították a belföldön képződött jövedelmek csökkenését. A dollárleértékelődés az eszköz- (és nemcsak az áruexport) oldalon is előnyöket hozott számos nagyvállalatnak. / === / Rather than dealing with the immediate policy steps to dampen the crisis, this paper attempts to reveal the worsening savings/consumption pattern of the US economy over the last ten years. Based on the closed logic of open-economy GDP-accounting, it argues that the current crisis is deeply rooted in shrinking public and private savings trends discernible as early as 1997. The current mortgage-market crisis and deep fall in new residential housing are products of a distorted financial environment that encourages over-borrowing and over-consumption. Expansion of the credit cycle through successive financial innovations has increased, not decreased output volatility. But the main foreign lenders to the US—Japan, China and Germany—have managed to offset their losses on US securities by buying into US companies. Large US firms have also benefited from rapid dollar depreciation as USD-denominated yields on their foreign assets experienced strong run-ups. The weak dollar has also helped American firms with large assets on foreign markets. So there were strong benefits for the US, not just on the goods-export side, but on the asset side, an aspect rarely emphasized.

A fogyasztói hitelszerződések új szabályai (New regulations the credit agreements for consumers)

A fogyasztói hitelszerződések jogát az Európai Unión belül a 2008/48/EK irányelv szabályozta újra, amely a magyar jogalkotó számára is a belső jogba történő átültetés kötelezettségét írta elő. Ennek az implementációnak az eredményeként született meg a fogyasztónak nyújtott hitelről szóló 2009. évi CLXII. törvény. Jelen cikk a jelzáloghitelek szabályozására vonatkozó elképzeléseket, majd a hiteltermékek reklámozására – kereskedelmi kommunikációjára – irányadó szabályokat vizsgálja meg részletesebben. Ennek során bemutatja a hiteltermékek reklámozásáról szóló, hatályos jogszabályokban fellelhető ellentmondásokat is. Ezt követően a szerződéskötést megelőző tájékoztatási kötelezettséget, valamint az előtörlesztés intézménye körüli kérdéseket elemzi. Végül alátámasztani kívánja azt az álláspontot, hogy a fogyasztói kezességi szerződésekre is indokolt lett volna kiterjeszteni az új irányelvben foglalt védelmi szintet, a jelzáloggal fedezett hitelekre azonban nem, hiszen ezekre vonatkozóan további uniós jogalkotási lépések várhatóak. / === / The consumer protection law is governed by Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and was implemented to the Hungarian legal system through the Act on Credit Provided for Consumers (162/2009). This article aims at observing the relevant provisions on mortgage as well as the commercials and advertisements of mortgages. This article will show that there are many confl icts within the relevant legal provisions and will further examine the obligation to information and the institution of early repayment. The author of this article believes that the protection created by the new directive should have been extended to guarantee contracts as well, but not to hypothec contracts as the latter are expected to be governed through future EU legislation.

Anatomy and lessons of the global financial crisis. Is US consumption financed by Chinese savings?

Savings and investments in the American money market by emerging countries, primarily China, financed the excessive consumption of the United States in the early 2000s, which indirectly led to a global financial crisis. The crisis started from the real estate mortgage market. Such balance disrupting processes began on the American financial market which contradicted all previously known equilibrium theories of every school of economics. Economics has yet to come up with models or empirical theories for this new disequilibrium. This is why the outbreak of the crisis could not be prevented or at least predicted. The question is, to what extent can existing market theories, calculation methods and the latest financial products be held responsible for the new situation. This paper studies the influence of the efficient market and modern portfolio theory, as well as Li’s copula function on the American investment market. Naturally, the issues of moral risks and greed, credit ratings and shareholder control, limited liability and market regulations are aspects, which cannot be ignored. In summary, the author outlines the potential alternative measures that could be applied to prevent a new crisis, defines the new directions of economic research and draws the conclusion for the Hungarian economic policy.

The effect of focusing on loan decisions

In this paper we investigate some implications of recent results about salience on loan decisions. Using the framework of focus-weighted utility we show that consumers might take out loans even when that yield them negative utility. We claim however, that consumers are more prudent in their decisions and might be less likely to take out such loans when the usual fixed- and increasing-installment plans are coupled with a decreasing-installment option. We argue that harmful loan consumption, especially in the case of loans with increasing-installments (e.g. alternative mortgage loans), could be decreased if a policy would prescribe presentation of loan repayment schedules in a way that employs this effect. Moreover, using the model of focus-weighted utility we give a possible explanation for the unpopularity of decreasing-installment plans, the success of increasing-installment plans and their higher default rate during the financial crisis.

The effect of focusing on loan decisions

In this paper we investigate some implications of recent results about salience on loan decisions. Using the framework of focus-weighted utility we show that consumers might take out loans even when that yield them negative utility. We claim however, that consumers are more prudent in their decisions and might be less likely to take out such loans when the usual fixed- and increasing-installment plans are coupled with a decreasing-installment option. We argue that harmful loan consumption, especially in the case of loans with increasing-installments (e.g. alternative mortgage loans), could be decreased if a policy would prescribe presentation of loan repayment schedules in a way that employs this effect. Moreover, using the model of focus-weighted utility we give a possible explanation for the unpopularity of decreasing-installment plans, the success of increasing-installment plans and their higher default rate during the financial crisis.

An after tax economic analysis of home equity conversion for the elderly

The FHA program to insure reverse mortgages has brought additional attention to the use of home equity conversion to increase income to the elderly. Using simulation, this study compares the economic consequences of the FHA reverse mortgage with two alternative conversion vehicles: sale of a remainder interest and sale-leaseback. An FHA insured plan is devised for each vehicle, structured to represent fair substitutes for the FHA mortgage. In addition, the FHA mortgage is adjusted to allow for a 4 percent annual increase in distributions to the homeowner. The viability of each plan for the homeowner, the financial institution and the FHA is investigated using different assumptions for house appreciation, tax rates, and homeowners' initial ages. For the homeowner, the return of each vehicle is compared with the choice of not employing home equity conversion. The study examines the impact of tax and accounting rules on the selection of alternatives. The study investigates the sensitivity of the FHA model to some of its assumptions.^ Although none of the vehicles is Pareato optimal, the study shows that neither the sale of a remainder interest nor the sale-leaseback is a viable alternative vehicle to the homeowner. While each of these vehicles is profitable to the financial institution, the profits are not high enough to transfer benefits to the homeowner and still be workable. The effects of tax rate, house appreciation rate, and homeowner's initial age are surprisingly small. As a general rule, none of these factors materially impact the decision of either the homeowner or the financial institution. Tax and accounting rules were found to have minimal impact on the selection of vehicles. The sensitivity analysis indicates that none of the variables studied alone is likely to materially affect the FHA's profitability. ^

Lodging Real Estate Finance: Securitization

Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBSs) introduced to the U.S. lodging industry in the early 1990’s were a panacea during a period of severe shortage of debt capital. These instruments changed commercial real estate capital markets by providing flexibility and liquidity to an otherwise illiquid investment As a relatively new form of financing to the lodging industry, the mechanics of securitization, the types of CMBS investments, and their structure are not well understood. The article illustrates the process of securitization and its importance as a significant source of debt financing to the lodging industry

Securitization of Lodging Real Estate Finance

In the early 1990s, the U.S. lodging industry witnessed a severe shortage of debt capital as traditional lenders exited the market. During this period hotel lending was revolutionized by the emergence of real estate debt securities. The author discusses key factors which have affected the growth and development of commercial mortgage backed securities and their changing role as a significant source of debt capital to the lodging industry.

System operational costs reduction with non-conventional reactive power sources

Wind energy installations are increasing in power systems worldwide and wind generation capacity tends to be located some distance from load centers. A conflict may arise at times of high wind generation when it becomes necessary to curtail wind energy in order to maintain conventional generators on-line for the provision of voltage control support at load centers. Using the island of Ireland as a case study and presenting commercially available reactive power support devices as possible solutions to the voltage control problems in urban areas, this paper explores the reduction in total generation costs resulting from the relaxation of the operational constraints requiring conventional generators to be kept on-line near load centers for reactive power support. The paper shows that by 2020 there will be possible savings of 87€m per annum and a reduction in wind curtailment of more than a percentage point if measures are taken to relax these constraints.

Investigation of factors driving the costs of operating the 2020 Irish power system with large-scale wind generation

The main goal of this work is to determine the true cost incurred by the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in order to meet their EU renewable electricity targets. The primary all-island of Ireland policy goal is that 40% of electricity will come from renewable sources in 2020. From this it is expected that wind generation on the Irish electricity system will be in the region of 32-37% of total generation. This leads to issues resulting from wind energy being a non-synchronous, unpredictable and variable source of energy use on a scale never seen before for a single synchronous system. If changes are not made to traditional operational practices, the efficient running of the electricity system will be directly affected by these issues in the coming years. Using models of the electricity system for the all-island grid of Ireland, the effects of high wind energy penetration expected to be present in 2020 are examined. These models were developed using a unit commitment, economic dispatch tool called PLEXOS which allows for a detailed representation of the electricity system to be achieved down to individual generator level. These models replicate the true running of the electricity system through use of day-ahead scheduling and semi-relaxed use of these schedules that reflects the Transmission System Operator's of real time decision making on dispatch. In addition, it carefully considers other non-wind priority dispatch generation technologies that have an effect on the overall system. In the models developed, three main issues associated with wind energy integration were selected to be examined in detail to determine the sensitivity of assumptions presented in other studies. These three issues include wind energy's non-synchronous nature, its variability and spatial correlation, and its unpredictability. This leads to an examination of the effects in three areas: the need for system operation constraints required for system security; different onshore to offshore ratios of installed wind energy; and the degrees of accuracy in wind energy forecasting. Each of these areas directly impact the way in which the electricity system is run as they address each of the three issues associated with wind energy stated above, respectively. It is shown that assumptions in these three areas have a large effect on the results in terms of total generation costs, wind curtailment and generator technology type dispatch. In particular accounting for these issues has resulted in wind curtailment being predicted in much larger quantities than had been previously reported. This would have a large effect on wind energy companies because it is already a very low profit margin industry. Results from this work have shown that the relaxation of system operation constraints is crucial to the economic running of the electricity system with large improvements shown in the reduction of wind curtailment and system generation costs. There are clear benefits in having a proportion of the wind installed offshore in Ireland which would help to reduce variability of wind energy generation on the system and therefore reduce wind curtailment. With envisaged future improvements in day-ahead wind forecasting from 8% to 4% mean absolute error, there are potential reductions in wind curtailment system costs and open cycle gas turbine usage. This work illustrates the consequences of assumptions in the areas of system operation constraints, onshore/offshore installed wind capacities and accuracy in wind forecasting to better inform the true costs associated with running Ireland's changing electricity system as it continues to decarbonise into the near future. This work also proposes to illustrate, through the use of Ireland as a case study, the effects that will become ever more prevalent in other synchronous systems as they pursue a path of increasing renewable energy generation.

Planktic foraminifera isotopes, temperature and d18O of seawater at the central Walvis Ridge for Termination II (MIS 6 to 5), sediment core 64PE-174P13

Salty and warm Indian Ocean waters enter the South Atlantic via the Agulhas leakage, south of Africa. Model simulations and proxy evidence of Agulhas leakage strengthening during glacial terminations led to the hypothesis that it was an important modulator of the Atlantic Ocean circulation. Yet, the fate of the leakage salinity and temperature anomalies remains undocumented beyond the southern tip of Africa. Downstream of the leakage, new paleoceanographic evidence from the central Walvis Ridge (southeast Atlantic) shows that salinity increased at the thermocline, and less so at the surface, during glacial termination II. Thermocline salinity change coincided with higher frequency of Agulhas rings passage at the core location and with salinity maxima in the Agulhas leakage area, suggesting that leakage waters were incorporated in the Atlantic circulation through the thermocline. Hydrographic changes at the Walvis Ridge and in the leakage area display a distinct two-step structure, with a reversal at ca. 134 ka. This matched a wet interlude within the East Asia weak monsoon interval of termination II, and a short-lived North Atlantic warming. Such concurrence points to a Bølling-Allerød-like recovery of the Atlantic circulation amidst termination II, with a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and Southern Hemisphere westerlies, and attendant curtailment of the interocean connection south of Africa.

Estrategias resilientes ante la situación adversa de los desahucios

Los desahucios en España se han convertido en los últimos años en un fenómeno social emergente, de interés tanto para la investigación como para la intervención de los profesionales de la acción social. Aun así, no existen estudios suficientes relacionados con esta situación adversa, y menos aún centrados en las respuestas resilientes que las personas son capaces de ofrecer ante ella. Con el objetivo de identificar los factores internos y externos que se presentan en la experiencia de las familias que viven procesos de desahucios y que les están permitiendo desarrollar estrategias resilientes ante dicha adversidad, se lleva a cabo la presente investigación en la que participan 20 sujetos, pertenecientes a familias que acuden a la Plataforma de Afectados por las Hipotecas (PAH) de Málaga. A los participantes se les realiza una entrevista semi-estructurada y a través de ellas se han podido definir las características socio-familiares de las personas afectadas, las diferentes estrategias de afrontamiento desarrolladas, las principales fuentes de apoyo con las que han contado, así como las preocupaciones que les han acompañado. Los resultados muestran los principales factores internos y externos que están presenten en las estrategias resilientes que han desarrollado las familias afectadas por los desahucios durante el proceso vivido y destacan como fuente de apoyo informacional a la PAH. Se concluye con la necesidad de continuar con esta línea de investigación para tratar de diseñar intervenciones que refuercen y fomenten las estrategias de afrontamiento ante la situación adversa del desahucio.

Optimal generation scheduling of interconnected wind-coal intensive power systems

Large scale wind power generation complicated with restrictions on the tie line plans may lead to significant wind power curtailment and deep cycling of coal units during the valley load periods. This study proposes a dispatch strategy for interconnected wind-coal intensive power systems (WCISs). Wind power curtailment and cycling of coal units are included in the economic dispatch analysis of regional systems. Based on the day-ahead dispatch results, a tie line power plan adjustment strategy is implemented in the event of wind power curtailment or deep cycling occurring in the economic dispatch model, with the objective of reducing such effects. The dispatch strategy is designed based on the distinctive operation characteristics of interconnected WCISs, and dispatch results for regional systems in China show that the proposed strategy is feasible and can improve the overall system operation performance.

A Lender's Vorpal Sword: Expungement Affidavits & Their Power to Void Sheriff's Sales & Revert Mortgages Back to the Homeowner

Like many Americans across the country, Michigan residents have faced a staggering number of foreclosures in the last few years.2 In 2009, Laura Buttazzoni was one of the many Michigan homeowners facing the dire reality that she was going to lose her home.3 After Buttazzoni’s failed attempt to sell her home, her bank initiated a sheriff’s sale in late 2009.4 After the statutory redemption period expired,5 Fannie Mae evicted Buttazzoni and relisted the home in 2011.6 Even though Buttazzoni’s home was foreclosed, sold at a sale, and relisted on the market—she was not done with the property. In June 2012, nearly three years after Buttazzoni’s eviction, Fannie Mae executed an “expungement affidavit,” which voided the 2009 sheriff’s sale and reverted the mortgage back to Buttazzoni’s name.