scholarly journals Biased politicians and independent agencies

2021 ◽  
pp. 095162982110031
Author(s):  
Amy Pond
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
Legislative Procedures ◽  
Self Interest

Some agencies derive legitimacy from their political independence: for example, political meddling in monetary policy is problematic, as politicians favor short-term electoral goals over long-term economic stability. Nevertheless, the process of agency reform, even for agencies that are thought to be independent, is seldom onerous and often follows standard legislative procedures. Furthermore, citizens frequently lack expertise to hold policymakers accountable for new bureaucratic policies. Why then do politicians abstain from exercising influence through agency reform? This article delineates an informational cost to agency reform. In issue areas where politicians are frequently biased and citizens cannot perfectly observe the quality of agency reforms, citizens assume that reforms serve the politicians’ self-interest and punish politicians for any reform at all. Agency independence then comes more from informational challenges than from institutional design. This article develops a formal model to explain when agencies are reformed and when they retain their independence.

scholarly journals The Function of Casual Sex Action and Inaction Regret: A Longitudinal Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470492199833
Author(s):  
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair ◽  
Trond Viggo Grøntvedt ◽  
Mons Bendixen
Keyword(s):  
Casual Sex ◽  
Adaptive Function ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Behavioral Choices ◽  
Sexual Disgust ◽  
Sexual Regret ◽  
Adaptive Shifts ◽  
Sexual Strategies Theory

In several recent papers the sex difference in regret predicted by sexual strategies theory has been supported: men more than women report regret passing up short-term sexual opportunities (inaction regret), while women regret having had sexual encounters (action regret). However, the adaptive function of regret, to improve future behavioral choices, has not been tested. In this first longitudinal test of behavioral change following regret, we consider whether regret actually results in adaptive shifts of behavior: will men who regret passing up sex engage in more short-term sex following regret? Will women who regret short-term encounters either choose better quality partners, reduce number of one-night stands or shift their strategy to long-term relationships? Across two waves (NT1 = 399, 65.4% women and NT2 = 222, 66.2% women) students responded to questions about casual sex action regret and inaction regret, along with possible outcomes, intrapersonal traits, and concurrent contextual predictors. There was no clear evidence for the proposed functional shifts in sexual behavior. Casual sex regret was associated with respondent sex and stable individual differences, such as sociosexual attitudes, regret processing and metacognitions, but the effect of these predictors were not consistent across the two waves. Among the tested concurrent contextual predictors, sexual disgust was the most consistent across waves. Regret is considered a gauge of the value and quality of the short-term sexual encounter. However, tentatively we conclude that after this first test of function using longitudinal data, we find no evidence of a mating strategy shifting effect following sexual regret.

scholarly journals ImmunoCAP® ISAC and Microtest for multiplex allergen testing in people with difficult to manage allergic disease: a systematic review and cost analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (67) ◽  
pp. 1-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Westwood ◽  
Bram Ramaekers ◽  
Shona Lang ◽  
Nigel Armstrong ◽  
Caro Noake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Conference Proceedings ◽  
Citation Index ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cost Analyses ◽  
Immunocap Isac

BackgroundAllergy is a form of immune-mediated exaggerated sensitivity (hypersensitivity) to a substance that is either inhaled, swallowed, injected or comes into contact with the skin. Foreign substances that provoke allergies are called allergens. It has been claimed that multiplex allergen testing may help in diagnosing the cause of symptoms in patients with an unclear cause of allergy or who are allergic to more than one substance.ObjectivesTo evaluate multiplex allergen testing [devices that can measure the presence of multiple immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in a patient’s blood at the same time], by assessing (1) clinical effectiveness (allergy symptoms, incidence of acute exacerbations, mortality, adverse events of testing and treatment, health-care presentations or admissions, health-related quality of life); (2) effects on treatment (diet, immunotherapy medications, other potential testing); (3) any additional diagnostic information provided by multiplex allergen testing; and (4) cost-effectiveness (cost of different assessment strategies).MethodsFifteen databases were searched from 2005 to April 2015, including MEDLINE (via OvidSp), MEDLINE In-Process Citations, MEDLINE Daily Update, PubMed (National Library of Medicine), EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, Science Citation Index (SCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S), BIOSIS Previews, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HTA programme, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); supplementary searches of conference proceedings and trials registries were performed. Review methods followed published guidance from the Cochrane Collaboration and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, UK. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using appropriate published tools or a review-specific tool designed by the project team. Studies were summarised in a narrative synthesis. Owing to a lack of data on the clinical effectiveness of multiplex allergen testing, no long-term cost-effectiveness model was developed. A conceptual model structure was developed and cost analyses were performed to examine the short-term costs of various possible diagnostic pathways.ResultsFifteen studies were included in the review. The very limited available data indicated that the addition of multiplex allergen testing [ImmunoCAP®Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip (ISAC), Thermo Fisher Scientific/Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden] to standard diagnostic work-up can change the clinicians’ views on the diagnosis, management and treatment of patients. There was some indication that the use of ImmunoCAP ISAC testing may be useful to guide decisions on the discontinuation of restrictive diets, the content of allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) prescriptions, and whether or not patients should receive SIT. However, none of the studies that we identified reported any information on clinical outcomes subsequent to changes in treatment or management. There was some evidence that ImmunoCAP ISAC may be useful for discriminating allergens that are structurally similar and are recognised by the same IgE antibody (cross-immunoreactive). No data were available for Microtest (Microtest Matrices Ltd, London, UK). Detailed cost analyses suggested that multiplex allergen testing would have to result in a substantial reduction of the proportions of patients receiving single IgE testing and oral food challenge tests in order to be cost-saving in the short term.ConclusionsNo recommendations for service provision can be made based on the analyses included in this report. It is suggested that a consensus-based protocol for the use of multiplex allergen testing be developed. The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the proposed protocol should then be assessed by comparing long-term clinical and quality of life outcomes and resource use in patients managed using the protocol with those managed using a standard diagnostic pathway.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42015019739.FundingThis project was a Diagnostic Assessment Report commissioned by the NIHR HTA programme on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Monetary Policy Instruments on Economic Growth in Jordan Using Vector Error Correction Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 194
Author(s):  
Rami Obeid ◽  
Bassam Awad
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Correction Model ◽  
Vector Error Correction ◽  
Real Gdp ◽  
Vector Error ◽  
Effect Of Monetary Policy

The global financial crisis emphasized the important role of the prudent monetary policy in supporting economic growth through maintaining price stability. The monetary policy operational framework that was designed in 2008 was updated to include more instruments for managing monetary policy learning from the crisis lessons. Several studies analyzed various dimensions related to economic growth in Jordan such as Abdul-Khaliq, Soufan, and Abu Shihab (2013) and Assaf (2014), there were no studies that investigated the effect of monetary policy on economic growth in Jordan, at least recently, however. The study aims at measuring the effect of monetary policy instruments on the performance of Jordanian economy. Using quarterly data covering the period (2005-2015), an econometric model was examined using Vector Error Correction Model to assess the impact of monetary policy instruments on economic growth. The foremost advantage of VECM is that it has a nice interpretation of long-term and short-term equations. The results showed the existence of positive long-term and short-term effects of monetary policy instruments on the growth of real GDP. The model included three monetary policy instruments besides money supply. They are required reserve ratio, rediscount rate and overnight interbank loan rates as independent variables, and the real GDP growth as a dependent variable. The stationarity of the model time series was addressed. In addition, the stability of the model was tested using stability diagnostics tools. The results showed also an existence of inverse relationship between rediscount rate and economic growth in Jordan over both long and short terms.

Comparison of Pedestrian Count Expansion Methods: Land Use Groups versus Empirical Clusters

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (43) ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia B. Griswold ◽  
Aditya Medury ◽  
Robert J. Schneider ◽  
Offer Grembek
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Count Data ◽  
Factor Group ◽  
Peak Activity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Estimation Errors ◽  
Classification Approach ◽  
Volume Estimates

Expansion factors based on the trends in long-term count data are useful tools for estimating daily, weekly, or annual volumes from short-term counts, but it is unclear how to differentiate locations by activity pattern. This paper compares two approaches to developing factor groups for hour-to-week pedestrian count expansion factors. The land use (LU) classification approach assumes that surrounding LUs affect the pedestrian activity at a location, and it is easy to apply to short-term count locations based on identifiable attributes of the site. The empirical clustering (EC) approach uses statistical methods to match locations based on the actual counts, which may produce more accurate volume estimates, but presents a challenge for determining which factor group to apply to a location. We found that both the LU and EC approaches provided better weekly pedestrian volume estimates than the single factor approach of taking the average of all locations. Further, the differences between LU and EC estimation errors were modest, so it may be beneficial to use the intuitive and practical LU approach. LU groupings can also be modified with insights from the EC results, thus improving estimates while maintaining the ease of application. Ideal times for short-term counts are during peak activity periods, as they generally produce estimates with fewer errors than off-peak periods. Weekly volume estimated from longer-duration counts (e.g., 12 h) is generally more accurate than estimates from shorter-duration counts (e.g., 2 h). Practitioners can follow this guidance to improve the quality of weekly pedestrian volume estimates.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic. Effects of stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Elena S. Akarachkova ◽  
◽  
Anton A. Beliaev ◽  
Dmitrii V. Blinov ◽  
Evgenii V. Bugorskii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Preventive Health Care ◽  
Preventive Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Health Organization

World Health Organization declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Fear of illness, self-isolation/quarantine, and reduced quality of life dramatically increased the prevalence of stress-related disorders in the population. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the preventive health-care measures aimed at short-term and long-term COVID-19 pandemic consequences reduction and promotion of social stability.

USE OF REGRESSION ANALYSIS IN FORECAST TASKS

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
E.S. Lartseva ◽  
◽  
A.D. Kuznetsova
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Animal Population ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Statistical Estimates ◽  
Term Forecast ◽  
Applied Software ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Russian Federation

Based on official statistics on the number, of representatives of the family of non-ruminant cloven-hoofed animals (Artiodactyl) on the territory of the Russian Federation. Using the example of two species: domestic pigs and wild boars, the dynamics of the indicator for the long term is analyzed. Multidirectional trends were revealed for each species. Mathematical models of the dynamics of the livestock were obtained using the methods of regression analysis and applied software. Statistical estimates of the quality of animal population models were obtained. The short-term forecast for 2020 has been fulfilled.

Fathers' Hospital Visits to Their Preterm Infants as a Predictor of Father-Infant Relationship and Infant Development

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-293
Author(s):  
Rachel Levy-Shiff ◽  
Michael A. Hoffman ◽  
Salli Mogilner ◽  
Susan Levinger ◽  
Mario B. Mogilner
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Preterm Infants ◽  
Infant Development ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Development Data ◽  
Hospital Visits

This short-term longitudinal study assessed the degree to which the frequency of fathers' visits with their preterm infants in the hospital was associated with the quality of ongoing and long-term fathering and infant development. Data on fathering and infant development were collected during the hospital stay, at discharge, at 8 months of age, and at 18 months of age, using both questionnaires and observational schedules. The frequency of visits was significantly correlated with more extensive and positive patterns of fathering at discharge and later periods. It was also associated with more positive perceptions of the infant, as well as with weight gain during hospitalization and psychosocial aspects of later infant development during the first 18 months. The discussion emphasized possible ways in which early paternal contact in the hospital might influence fathers, mothers, and infants. The frequency of paternal visits was highlighted as a variable useful in predicting high-risk parenting.

Effects of treadmill training on the balance, functional capacity and quality of life in Parkinson’s disease: A randomized clinical trial

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paria Arfa-Fatollahkhani ◽  
Afsaneh Safar Cherati ◽  
Seyed Amir Hasan Habibi ◽  
Gholam Ali Shahidi ◽  
Ahmad Sohrabi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Treadmill Training ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
P Value ◽  
Short Term

AbstractBackgroundThere is growing evidence that exercise modalities have considerable effects on Parkinson’s disease (PD). This trial aimed to provide a more detailed viewpoint of short-term and long-term treadmill training (TT) effects on some motor and non-motor features of PD.MethodsIn this prospective, randomized, single-blind clinical trial, 20 mild to moderate PD patients, admitted in Rasoul-e-Akram hospital in Tehran, Iran, were randomly allocated in case (11) and control (9) groups. Treadmill intervention was performed at moderate intensity with 60% of heart rate reserved (HRR) in two 30-min sessions/week for a duration of 10 weeks. Both the groups were evaluated for three times; at the baseline, 2 months later and then 2 months after the second evaluation. We assigned the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), 6-min walk test (6MW), and the SF-8 healthy questionnaire, for assessment of balance, functional capacity, and Quality of life (QoL), respectively.ResultsBalance and functional capacity were significantly improved in the case group after the intervention (TUG p-value: 0.003, 6MW p-value: 0.003). Moreover, the long-term analysis revealed significant results as well (TUG p-value: 0.001, 6MW p-value: 0.004). Mental condition’s scores of SF-8 in cases were not statistically different in short-term follow-up (F/U). However, analysis illustrated p-value: 0.016 for long-term assessment. The intervention induced significant changes in physical condition’s scores in both of the F/Us (PC p-value: 0.013).ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that a TT of mild to moderate intensity has significant and persistent benefits for the balance, functional capacity, and QoL in PD.

scholarly journals Alternatives to groundwater abstraction as a measure to stop land subsidence: a case study of Semarang, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 01003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Beek ◽  
Bart Letitre ◽  
H. Hadiyanto ◽  
S. Sudarno
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Groundwater Abstraction ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Treatment Services

The Water as Leverage project aims to lay a blueprint for urban coastal areas around the world that are facing a variety of water-related issues. The blueprint is based upon three real case studies in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. The case of Indonesia focuses on Semarang, a city that faces issues like flooding, increased water demand, and a lack of wastewater treatment. In this report I summarise the different techniques available to tackling these issues. Along with this I provide a cost-benefit analysis to support decision makers. For a short term it is recommended to produce industrial water from (polluted) surface water as a means to offer an alternative to groundwater abstraction. On a long term it is recommended to install additional wastewater and drinking water treatment services to facilitate better hygiene and a higher quality of life.

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