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Common Factors (common + factor)
Selected AbstractsBEYOND COMMON FACTORS: MULTILEVEL-PROCESS MODELS OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPYJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2004Thomas L. Sexton A number of scholars have proposed the common factors perspective as the future direction of marriage and family therapy (MFT). Although intuitively appealing, the case for the common factors perspective is not as clear-cut as proponents portray. In its current form, the common factors perspective overlooks the multilevel nature of practice, the diversity of clients and settings, and the complexity of therapeutic change. In contrast, comprehensive process-based change models are analternative to the limitations of common factors. In this article, we consider the limitations of the common factors perspective and propose the necessary and sufficient components and processes that might comprise comprehensive, multilevel, process-based therapeutic change models in MFT. [source] COMMON FACTORS ARE NOT ISLANDS,THEY WORK THROUGH MODELS: A RESPONSE TO SEXTON, RIDLEY, AND KLEINERJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2004Douglas H. Sprenkle In this article, we respond to Sexton, Ridley, and Kleiner (this issue) from three different perspectives. First, we discuss their criticisms as rooted in a portrait of common factors to whichwe do not subscribe. Second, we discuss points of agreement and partial agreement between our twoarticles. Finally, we discuss our areas of clear disagreement with their points of view. In these areas of disagreement we put forth the common factors approach as an empirically supported lens; wediscuss the influence of investigator allegiance on the specficity conclusion; and we challenge the idea that the common factors lens is simple. In conclusion, we illustrate how common factors work through a credible therapy model using functional family therapy as an example. [source] A Coincident Index, Common Factors, and Monthly Real GDP,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 1 2010Roberto S. Mariano Abstract The Stock,Watson coincident index and its subsequent extensions assume a static linear one-factor model for the component indicators. This restrictive assumption is unnecessary if one defines a coincident index as an estimate of monthly real gross domestic products (GDP). This paper estimates Gaussian vector autoregression (VAR) and factor models for latent monthly real GDP and other coincident indicators using the observable mixed-frequency series. For maximum likelihood estimation of a VAR model, the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm helps in finding a good starting value for a quasi-Newton method. The smoothed estimate of latent monthly real GDP is a natural extension of the Stock,Watson coincident index. [source] Cointegration Testing in Panels with Common Factors,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 2006Christian Gengenbach Abstract Panel unit-root and no-cointegration tests that rely on cross-sectional independence of the panel unit experience severe size distortions when this assumption is violated, as has, for example, been shown by Banerjee, Marcellino and Osbat [Econometrics Journal (2004), Vol. 7, pp. 322,340; Empirical Economics (2005), Vol. 30, pp. 77,91] via Monte Carlo simulations. Several studies have recently addressed this issue for panel unit-root tests using a common factor structure to model the cross-sectional dependence, but not much work has been done yet for panel no-cointegration tests. This paper proposes a model for panel no-cointegration using an unobserved common factor structure, following the study by Bai and Ng [Econometrica (2004), Vol. 72, pp. 1127,1177] for panel unit roots. We distinguish two important cases: (i) the case when the non-stationarity in the data is driven by a reduced number of common stochastic trends, and (ii) the case where we have common and idiosyncratic stochastic trends present in the data. We discuss the homogeneity restrictions on the cointegrating vectors resulting from the presence of common factor cointegration. Furthermore, we study the asymptotic behaviour of some existing residual-based panel no-cointegration tests, as suggested by Kao [Journal of Econometrics (1999), Vol. 90, pp. 1,44] and Pedroni [Econometric Theory (2004a), Vol. 20, pp. 597,625]. Under the data-generating processes (DGP) used, the test statistics are no longer asymptotically normal, and convergence occurs at rate T rather than as for independent panels. We then examine the possibilities of testing for various forms of no-cointegration by extracting the common factors and individual components from the observed data directly and then testing for no-cointegration using residual-based panel tests applied to the defactored data. [source] Testing for Multicointegration in Panel Data with Common Factors,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 2006Vanessa Berenguer-Rico Abstract This paper addresses the concept of multicointegration in a panel data framework and builds upon the panel data cointegration procedures developed in Pedroni [Econometric Theory (2004), Vol. 20, pp. 597,625]. When individuals are either cross-section independent, or cross-section dependence can be removed by cross-section demeaning, our approach can be applied to the wider framework of mixed I(2) and I(1) stochastic processes. The paper also deals with the issue of cross-section dependence using approximate common-factor models. Finite sample performance is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we illustrate the use of the procedure investigating an inventories, sales and production relationship for a panel of US industries. [source] Serum metalloproteinase leukolysin (MMP-25/MT-6): a potential metabolic marker for atopy-associated inflammationCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Issue 6 2010M. N. Blumenthal Summary Background Leukolysin is a novel matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-25/MT-6) released mainly by granulocytic cells, primarily neutrophils, which are implicated in chronic airways inflammation. Objective To determine if leukolysin might be a serum marker for atopic asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Three study populations were evaluated: (1) nuclear families with medical history of atopic asthma (N=337), (2) married-in individuals from an independent study of asthma genetics (N=122) and (3) randomly selected males with diagnosis of COPD (N=100). Each person was screened for asthma or COPD symptoms, respiratory function by standardized spirometry and serum total IgE and leukolysin and anti-IL1 levels by immunoassay. Study groups (1 and 2) were also screened by skin prick test using a battery of 14 common aeroallergens. Heritability estimates for leukolysin and total IgE were made by variance components analysis. Results For those without asthma or who had asthma defined as having symptoms, a physician's diagnosis and bronchial hyper-reactivity as demonstrated by reversibility in response to albuteral and/or bronchial reactivity as measured by a methacholine challenge, serum leukolysin levels were found to be higher for those with any positive skin test result. This paralleled trends for serum total IgE. In the nuclear families and COPD patients, serum leukolysin levels were significantly elevated for those who also had elevated total IgE levels (log[IgE]>2.0) compared with those with lower IgE (log[IgE]<2.0). Serum IL-1 levels correlated with the leukolycin levels. In contrast to IgE, leukolysin showed no apparent inherited component. Conclusion Among individuals with history of chronic airways inflammation (asthma and COPD) serum leukolysin may be a metabolic marker associated with chronic atopy-associated respiratory inflammation. Common factors may stimulate increased production or release of both leukolysin from myeloid cells and IgE from lymphoid cells. [source] Response of collembolan communities to land-use change and grassland successionECOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2007Matthieu Chauvat This study focuses on the long-term changes of collembolan communities occurring after the conversion of arable land to managed grassland. We analysed collembolan communities at grassland sites of different age that had been gradually converted over a period of 50 yr. Abundance and biomass responded rapidly and very positively to the conversion of arable land to grassland, while species richness was not affected. Collembolan assemblages changed only little during grassland maturation. The impact of land-use change on community structure was more obvious at the functional level because the colonization processes observed in our study mostly relied on hemiedaphic species. Vegetation and soil parameters were good predictors of collembolan community structure during development of managed grassland. The present study demonstrated that past landscape patterns and processes like land-use conversion and subsequent succession had a considerable impact on the present day pattern of species richness and community composition of Collembola within a landscape. Our results strongly differ from those obtained for other invertebrate groups, highlighting on the one hand the very diverse reactions of invertebrates to a common factor, and on the other hand the need to survey more than one taxa in order to draw conclusions on effects of land-use change on faunistic communities. [source] A Required Yield Theory of Stock Market Valuation and Treasury Yield DeterminationFINANCIAL MARKETS, INSTITUTIONS & INSTRUMENTS, Issue 1 2009Christophe Faugčre Stock market valuation and Treasury yield determination are consistent with the Fisher effect (1896) as generalized by Darby (1975) and Feldstein (1976). The U.S. stock market (S&P 500) is priced to yield ex-ante a real after-tax return directly related to real long-term GDP/capita growth (the required yield). Elements of our theory show that: (1) real after-tax Treasury and S&P 500 forward earnings yields are stationary processes around positive means; (2) the stock market is indeed priced as the present value of expected dividends with the proviso that investors are expecting fast mean reversion of the S&P 500 nominal growth opportunities to zero. Moreover, (3) the equity premium is mostly due to business cycle risk and is a direct function of below trend expected productivity, where productivity is measured by the growth in book value of S&P 500 equity per-share. Inflation and fear-based risk premia only have a secondary impact on the premium. The premium is always positive or zero with respect to long-term Treasuries. It may be negative for short-term Treasuries when short-term productivity outpaces medium and long run trends. Consequently: (4) Treasury yields are mostly determined in reference to the required yield and the business cycle risk premium; (5) the yield spread is largely explained by the differential of long-term book value per share growth vs. near term growth, with possible yield curve inversions. Finally, (6) the Fed model is partially validated since both the S&P 500 forward earnings yield and the ten-year Treasury yield are determined by a common factor: the required yield. [source] A common European foreign policy after Iraq?INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2003Brian Crowe Taking as read the wide range of other instruments that the EU has for international influence (enlargement, aid, trade, association and other arrangements, etc.), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), under pressure from the Kosovo conflict, has been shaped by two important decisions in 1999: the creation of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) to give the EU a military capability when NATO as a whole is not engaged, and the appointment as the new High Representative for the CFSP of a high-profile international statesman rather than a senior civil servant. A major European effort will still be needed if Europe is to be effective militarily, whether in the EU/ESDP or NATO framework. The management of the CFSP has been held back by the doctrine of the equality of all member states regardless of their actual contribution. This in turn leads to a disconnect between theory (policy run by committee in Brussels) and practice (policy run by the High Representative working with particular member states and other actors, notably the US). It has been difficult for Javier Solana to develop the authority to do this, not in competition with the Commission as so widely and mistakenly believed, as with member states themselves, and particularly successive rotating presidencies. It is important that misdiagnosis does not lead to politically correct solutions that end up with the cure worse than the disease. Ways need to be found to assure to the High Representative the authority to work with third countries and with the member states making the real contribution, while retaining the support of all. Then, with its own military capability, the EU can have a CFSP that is the highest common factor rather than the lowest common denominator, with member states ready to attach enough priority to the need for common policies to give Europeans a strong influence in the big foreign policy issues of the day. [source] Differentiation, perceived stress and therapeutic alliance as key factors in the early stage of couple therapyJOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2010Michael Knerr A sample of 168 couples were assessed at intake and over the first six sessions of treatment providing the opportunity to investigate not only the impact of client and common factors on initial levels of satisfaction, but also trajectories of change in satisfaction over time. The study used multi-level modelling to examine changes in relationship satisfaction for both partners, thus enabling the couple to be maintained as the unit of analysis. We first examined changes in satisfaction and, having discovered differences there, we then investigated the impact of client factors of differentiation and stress in explaining these differences in relationship satisfaction. Finally we explored the additional influence of the common factor, therapeutic alliance, while controlling for the client factors, on relationship satisfaction. [source] Opioidergic regulation of astroglial/neuronal proliferation: where are we now?JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2008Tim J. Sargeant Abstract Opiate drugs, such as codeine, morphine, and heroin, are powerful analgesics, but also are used as drugs of abuse because of their psychogenic properties. Many studies have shown that opiates impact on cellular proliferation in the adult and developing brain, although anatomical pathologies are lacking in in utero exposed infants and opioid knockout mice. Recent research has defined a context-dependent role for the opioid system in neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus with exercise. Opioids have been shown to interact with proliferating cells of the postnatal subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles. The subventricular zone is also a region of adult neurogenesis, a fact that was not well established at the time this earlier research was conducted. Although a relationship between opioids and fetal neurogenesis has yet to be firmly established, many studies have implicated the opioid system in this process. One common factor that links neurogenesis in adult, postnatal, and fetal structures is the involvement of neuronal progenitor cells of the astrocytic lineage. It is therefore of interest that opioids have been consistently shown to impact upon astrocytic proliferation. It is the intention of this paper to review the literature that has established a role for the opioid system in neurogenesis in vivo in fetal, postnatal, and adult animals and to examine the links of opioids to modulation of astrocytic proliferation. [source] Emotional intelligence: a vital prerequisite for recruitment in nursingJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2001C. Cadman MED This paper explores Goleman's (1996) concept of ,emotional intelligence' in relation to recruitment to preregistration nurse education programmes. Current studies consistently demonstrate that emotional intelligence is the common factor which marks out individuals as leaders, innovators and effective managers. The role of the qualified nurse is evolving continually and ,portable' skills are the key qualities demanded by a health care system under pressure to compete. These include the ability to work effectively in teams, the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to one's own and others' feelings and the ability to motivate oneself and others. They are collectively termed ,emotional intelligence'. We believe we need selection processes that will determine levels of emotional intelligence in prospective candidates, as they could be a reliable predictor of success in both clinical nursing practice and academic study. Research indicates that emotional intelligence cannot be developed quickly enough through interpersonal skills training and therefore it is essential that nurse educators create assessment strategies that will identify emotional intelligence at recruitment. [source] QSAR analysis of interstudy variable skin permeability based on the "latent membrane permeability" conceptJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 10 2003Shin-Ichi Fujiwara Abstract A number of QSAR models for skin permeability have been proposed, but these models lack consistency due to interspecies and interlaboratory differences. This study was initiated to extract an essential QSAR from the multiplicity of data sets of skin permeability by using a novel statistical approach. Ten data sets were collected from the literature, which include a total of 111 permeability coefficients in human, hairless mouse, or hairless rat skin for 94 structurally diverse compounds. Following a Potts and Guy's approach, the octanol/water partition coefficient and molecular weight were chosen as molecular descriptors. All of the data sets were analyzed simultaneously, assuming that all of the sets share a latent, common factor as far as the structure/permeability relationship is concerned. Despite the fact that the degree-of-freedom for the present analysis was limited compared with that for individual regression analyses, the determination coefficients (R2) were high enough for all the 10 data sets, with an average R2 of 0.815 (average R2,=,0.825 for individual analyses). Thus, skin permeability of compounds can be well explained from the log P and M.W., where the ratio of the contribution to skin permeability was approximately 1:1. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 92:1939,1946, 2003 [source] Rice versus fish revisited: On the integrated management of floodplain resources in BangladeshNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 2 2004Bhavani Shankar Abstract Disproportionately little attention has been paid to the dry season trade-off between rice and (inland capture) fish production on the floodplains of Bangladesh, compared to the same trade-off during the flood season. As the rural economy grows increasingly dominated by dry-season irrigated rice production, and floodplain land and water come under ever-increasing pressure during the dry winter months, there is an urgent need to focus attention on these dry months that are so critical to the survival and propagation of the floodplain resident fish, and to the poor people that depend on these fish for their livelihood. This article examines three important dry-season natural resource constraints to floodplain livelihoods in Bangladesh, and finds a common factor at the heart of all three: rice cultivation on lands at low and very low elevations. The article articulates the system interlinkages that bind these constraints and the long-run trend towards irrigated rice cropping on lower-lying lands, and suggests a management approach based on locally tailored strategies to arrest this trend. Apart from its direct relevance to the floodplains of Bangladesh, which support more than 100 million people, these lessons have relevance for river floodplain systems elsewhere in the developing world, notably the Mekong Delta. [source] The structure of self-reported problem behaviors in Chinese childrenPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 1 2003Tao Xin This study examined the structure of self-reported problem behaviors in Mainland Chinese children. Third grade (n = 3011) and fifth grade (n = 3708) students completed a 20-item Problem Behavior Frequency Checklist (PBFC). Findings suggested that among the four factors studied (physical aggression, substance use, delinquency, and self-centered behaviors), self-centered behaviors and physical aggression were reported most frequently by the Chinese elementary school children. Furthermore, boys had higher prevalence rates of problem behaviors than girls. Developmental differences were also present. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model that included specific factors related to substance use, physical aggression, delinquency, and self-centered behaviors. Therefore, the single factor conceptualization in which different types of problem behaviors are hypothesized to reflect a single underlying common factor may not hold for this population. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 19,33, 2003. [source] Measuring business cycles with a dynamic Markov switching factor model: an assessment using Bayesian simulation methodsTHE ECONOMETRICS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000Sylvia Kaufmann A Markov switching common factor is used to drive a dynamic factor model for important macroeconomic variables in eight countries. Bayesian estimation of the model is based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation methods which yield inferences about the unobservable path of the common factor, the latent variable of the state process and all model parameters. Additionally, simulation based filtering provides us with samples from the prediction density that can be used for model diagnostics and specification tests. The mean posterior state probabilities are used to date business cycle turning points that follow quite closely previous datings reported in the literature. Moreover, we test the Markov switching against a no-switching specification by means of a Bayes factor. The evidence proves to be quite favorable for the Markov switching model. [source] Assessment of child problem behaviors by multiple informants: a longitudinal study from preschool to school entryTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 10 2007David C.R. Kerr Background:, Children's early problem behavior that manifests in multiple contexts is often more serious and stable. The concurrent and predictive validity of ratings of externalizing and internalizing by four informants was examined at preschool and early school age in an at-risk sample. Methods:, Two hundred forty children were assessed by mothers and fathers (Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)), and teachers and laboratory examiners (Teacher Report Form (TRF)) at ages 3 and 5 years. Results:, All informants' ratings of externalizing converged on a common factor at ages 3 and 5 that showed strong stability over time (, = .80). All informants' age 3 externalizing ratings significantly predicted the problem factor at age 5; mothers', fathers', and teachers' ratings were independently predictive. Ratings of internalizing (except by examiners at age 3) also converged at both ages; the problem factor showed medium stability (, = .39) over time. Only fathers' ratings of age 3 internalizing predicted the age 5 problem factor. Conclusions:, Findings support the value of multi-informant assessment, uphold calls to include fathers in childhood research, and suggest that examiners provide valid, though non-unique assessment data. Examiner contributions may prove useful in many research contexts. [source] THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY SET AND ITS PROXY VARIABLESTHE JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2008Tim Adam Abstract We use a real options approach to evaluate the performance of several proxy variables for a firm's investment opportunity set. The results show that, on a relative scale, the market-to-book assets ratio has the highest information content with respect to investment opportunities. Although both the market-to-book equity and the earnings,price ratios are related to investment opportunities, they do not contain information that is not already contained in the market-to-book assets ratio. Consistent with this finding, a common factor constructed from several proxy variables does not improve the performance of the market-to-book assets ratio. [source] Clusters of sirenomelia in South AmericaBIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Iźda M. Orioli Abstract BACKGROUND One hospital in the city of Cali, Colombia, of the ECLAMC (Latin-American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations) network, reported the unusual occurrence of four cases of sirenomelia within a 55-day period. METHODS An ECLAMC routine for cluster evaluation (RUMOR) was followed that included: calculations of observed/expected ratios, site visits, comparison with comprehensively collected local, South American, and worldwide data, cluster analysis, and search for risk factors. RESULTS All four Cali sirenomelia cases were born to mothers living in a 2 km2 area, in neighboring communes, within the municipality of Cali. Considering the total births of the city of Cali as the denominator, and based on ECLAMC baseline birth prevalence rates (per 100,000) for sirenomelia (2.25, 95% CI: 2.66, 3.80), the cluster for this congenital abnormality was unlikely to have occurred by chance (observed/expected ratio = 5.77; 95% CI: 1.57,14.78; p = .002). No consistent common factor was identified, but vicinity to an open landfill as the cause could not be rejected. Another ECLAMC hospital in San Justo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, reported three further cases but these did not seem to constitute a nonrandom cluster. CONCLUSIONS The methodology used to evaluate the two possible clusters of sirenomelia determined that the Cali sirenomelia cluster was unlikely to have occurred by chance whereas the sirenomelia cluster from San Justo seemed to be random. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Reduction in nocturnal functional bladder capacity is a common factor in the pathogenesis of refractory nocturnal enuresisBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2002C.K. Yeung Objective,To evaluate the diurnal and nocturnal bladder reservoir function in patients with refractory primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE). Patients and methods,Ninety-five children (68 boys, 27 girls, mean age 9.3 years) with significant PNE (3 wet nights/week) that was refractory to treatment with desmopressin ± an enuretic alarm were assessed using detailed recording of voiding frequency and urinary volume both day and night, natural filling cystometry during the day and continuous cystometry with simultaneous electroencephalogram monitoring during sleep at night. Results,Patients could be broadly categorized into two groups. Group A comprised those with normal daytime urodynamics and functional bladder capacity (FBC) on detailed frequency-volume recording, but who developed marked detrusor instability associated with a significant reduction in nocturnal FBC and small-volume voiding only after sleep at night (33 patients, 35%); and group B, those with abnormal daytime urodynamics and with reduced FBC and small-volume voiding both day and night, but who somehow managed to mask their bladder symptoms during the day (62 patients, 65%). There was no evidence of nocturnal polyuria in either group and the ratios of day,:,night urinary output volumes for type A and type B patients were 1.48 and 1.99, respectively. Conclusions,A reduction in nocturnal FBC, either occurring only after sleep at night in association with the appearance of detrusor instability in patients with normal daytime urodynamics and FBC, or as a manifestation of occult voiding dysfunction or bladder outlet obstruction that affects the bladder reservoir function both day and night, appears to be a common factor and probably the main cause for a mismatch between nocturnal urine output and bladder storage capacity in patients with severe bed-wetting that was refractory to treatment. [source] Multivariate Markov Switching Common Factor Models for the UKBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003Terence C. Mills We estimate a model that incorporates two key features of business cycles, comovement among economic variables and switching between regimes of boom and slump, to quarterly UK data for the last four decades. A common factor, interpreted as a composite indicator of coincident variables, and estimates of turning points from one regime to the other, are extracted from the data by using the Kalman filter and maximum likelihood estimation. Both comovement and regime switching are found to be important features of the UK business cycle. The composite indicator produces a sensible representation of the cycle and the estimated turning points agree fairly well with independently determined chronologies. These estimates are sharper than those produced by a univariate Markov switching model of GDP alone. A fairly typical stylized fact of business cycles is confirmed by this model , recessions are steeper and shorter than recoveries. [source] Non-atopic intrinsic asthma and the ,family tree' of chronic respiratory disease syndromesCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Issue 6 2009P. G. Holt Summary We present a scheme below in which the most common forms of inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract, notably atopic and non-atopic asthma and COPD, are depicted as separate offshoots from a common ,at-risk' pathway underpinned by genotypes related to aberrations in control of host defence and tissue repair mechanisms. We propose that entrance into this pathway is initially programmed by environmental experience during infancy and early childhood, in particular by severe lower respiratory tract infection, and that further progression towards expression of specific disease phenotype(s) is determined by the nature, timing and frequency of additional environmental insults subsequently encountered. At the one extreme, early sensitization of at-risk subjects to aeroallergens can potentially drive rapid progression towards expression of the atopic asthmatic phenotype under the dual onslaught of inflammatory responses to allergens/pathogens. At the opposite end of the spectrum the drip-feed effects of occasional infections on respiratory function(s) are amplified over a longer time frame by inflammation resulting from exposure to tobacco smoke and/or related chemical pollutants. Non-atopic asthma is envisaged to fit between these two extremes, being driven essentially by the downstream effects of respiratory infections alone in at-risk subjects. An important common factor in all three disease phenotypes is that acute exacerbations are typically driven by infections, the host responses to which display a characteristic T-helper type 2-like footprint, which in our view points to underlying genotype(s) which result in unbalanced host responses to respiratory pathogens. [source] Determinants of coverage in Community-based Therapeutic Care programmes: towards a joint quantitative and qualitative analysisDISASTERS, Issue 2 2010Saśl Guerrero One of the most important elements behind the success of Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC) programmes for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has been their ability to achieve high levels of coverage. In CTC, coverage is measured using the Centric System Area Sampling (CSAS) method, which provides accurate and reliable estimates of programme coverage as well as information on the primary reasons for non-attendance. Another important feature of CTC programmes is their use of socio-cultural assessments to determine potential barriers to access and to develop context-specific responses. By analysing data on non-attendance provided by CSAS surveys, in conjunction with data from socio-cultural assessments, it is possible to identify common factors responsible for failures in programme coverage. This paper focuses on an analysis of data from 12 CTC programmes across five African countries. It pinpoints three common factors (distance to sites, community awareness of the programme, and the way in which rejections are handled at the sites) that, together, account for approximately 75 per cent of non-attendance. [source] Booms and Busts: Consumption, House Prices and ExpectationsECONOMICA, Issue 301 2009ORAZIO P. ATTANASIO Over much of the past 25 years, house price and consumption growth have been closely synchronized. Three main hypotheses for this have been proposed: increases in house prices raise household wealth and so their consumption; house price growth reduces credit constraints by increasing the collateral available to homeowners; and house prices and consumption are together influenced by common factors. Using microeconomic data, we find that the relationship between house prices and consumption is stronger for younger than older households, contradicting the wealth channel. We suggest that common causality has been the most important factor linking house prices and consumption. [source] Association between ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosisINTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, Issue 10 2007C. S. Pokorny Abstract An association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) has been described. The current study was undertaken to explore this association further. Personal records of patients with IBD and MS were reviewed. In addition, a search of medical records at a large tertiary teaching hospital in Sydney was carried out for the years 1996,2006. Four patients (three women and one man) with both ulcerative colitis and MS were identified. MS did not occur in any of our patients with Crohn's disease. The association between ulcerative colitis and MS appears to be real and may help identify common factors involved in the cause of these two diseases. No association was found in this study between MS and Crohn's disease, sparking consideration why such difference should occur. With the increasing use of biological therapies in IBD and their reported propensity to cause demyelination, recognition of an association is all the more important. [source] Breast cancer and microbial cancer incidence in female populations around the world: A surprising hyperbolic associationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 5 2008Anamaria Savu Abstract Current literature on cancer epidemiology typically discusses etiology of cancer by cancer type. Risks of different cancer types are, however, correlated at population level and may provide etiological clues. We showed previously an unexpected very high positive correlation between breast cancer (BC) and young-adult Hodgkin disease incidence rates. In a population-based case,control study of BC, older ages at the first Epstein,Barr virus exposure, indicated by older ages at onset of infectious mononucleosis, were associated with elevated BC risk. Here we examine BC risk in association with microbial cancer (MC) risk in female populations across the world. MC cancers are cervical, liver and stomach cancers with established causal associations with human papillomaviruses, hepatitis viruses, and helicobacter pylori, respectively. We examined age-adjusted BC and MC incidence rates in 74 female populations around the world with cancer registries. Our analysis suggests that BC and MC rates are inversely associated in a special mathematical form such that the product of BC rate and MC rate is approximately constant across world female populations. A differential equation model with solutions consistent to the observed inverse association was derived. BC and MC rates were modeled as functions of an exposure level to unspecified common factors that influence the 2 rates. In conjunction with previously reported evidence, we submit a hypothesis that BC etiology may have an appreciable link with microbial exposures (and/or immunological responses to them), the lack of which, especially in early life, may elevate BC risk. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] What if the UK or Sweden had joined the euro in 1999?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2007An empirical evaluation using a Global VAR Abstract This paper attempts to provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of counterfactual scenarios using macroeconometric models. As an application we consider UK entry to the euro. Entry involves a long-term commitment to restrict UK nominal exchange rates and interest rates to be the same as those of the euro area. We derive conditional probability distributions for the difference between the future realizations of variables of interest (e.g. UK and euro area output and prices) subject to UK entry restrictions being fully met over a given period and the alternative realizations without the restrictions. The robustness of the results can be evaluated by also conditioning on variables deemed to be invariant to UK entry, such as oil or US equity prices. Economic interdependence means that such policy evaluation must take account of international linkages and common factors that drive fluctuations across economies. In this paper this is accomplished using the Global VAR recently developed by Dees et al. (J. Appl. Econometrics, 2007, forthcoming). The paper briefly describes the GVAR which has been estimated for 25 countries and the euro area over the period 1979,2003. It reports probability estimates that output will be higher and prices lower in the UK and the euro area as a result of entry. It examines the sensitivity of these results to a variety of assumptions about when and how the UK entered and the observed global shocks and compares them with the effects of Swedish entry. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Breaking the cycle of marketing disinvestment: using market research to build organisational alliancesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 1 2001John H. Hanson Many marketers find their programmes fall victim to disinvestment, both financial and psychological. While most marketers are avid students of consumer psychology, they tend to overlook the dynamics of organisational psychology, just as the literature on market orientation often fails to emphasise the organisational identity politics and power struggles that frustrate marketing. Discussions of market orientation focus on leadership and team-building issues, favouring highly visible cases of organisational success at the expense of analysing common factors in marketing failure, many of them grounded in organisational psychology. Allied with knowledge of organisational epistemology, market research can be used as a critical resource in marketers' internal marketing programmes to strengthen market orientation. Ongoing collaborative market research can build positive organisational alliances that contribute to the internal support needed to sustain a successful marketing programme. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications [source] Common Risk Factors Versus a Mispricing Factor of Tokyo Stock Exchange Firms: Inquiries into the Fundamental Value Derived from Analyst Earnings Forecasts,INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF FINANCE, Issue 3 2009KEIICHI KUBOTA ABSTRACT We search for common factors and/or a mispricing factor for Tokyo Stock Exchange firms. We utilize the Edwards,Bell,Ohlson model to compute the firms' fundamental value and divide this value by the firms' market price to construct a new variable called a ,value-to-price ratio' (VPR). We find that this VPR variable can generate abnormal returns even after adjusting for the risk factors related to portfolio style differences. To find out whether it is indeed a risk factor or simply a characteristic, we construct return difference portfolios of the high VPR stocks minus the low value-to-price stocks and call this portfolio the upward-forecast minus downward-forecast (UMD) factor. Fama and MacBeth test indicate that the risk premium for this UMD factor is positive. The best model in terms of the adjusted R2 value is the four-factor model in which the UMD factor is added to the Fama and French three factors. GMM Euler condition tests reveal that the UMD factor helps to price assets and that the four-factor model is not rejected. We conclude the VPR variable contains new information content that is not contained in the conventional Fama and French's three factors. [source] Exploratory second-order analyses for components and factorsJAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2002Haruhiko Ogasawara Abstract: Exploratory methods using second-order components and second-order common factors were proposed. The second-order components were obtained from the resolution of the correlation matrix of obliquely rotated first-order principal components. The standard errors of the estimates of the second-order component loadings were derived from an augmented information matrix with restrictions for the loadings and associated parameters. The second-order factor analysis proposed was similar to the classical method in that the factor correlations among the first-order factors were further resolved by the exploratory method of factor analysis. However, in this paper the second-order factor loadings were estimated by the generalized least squares using the asymptotic variance-covariance matrix for the first-order factor correlations. The asymptotic standard errors for the estimates of the second-order factor loadings were also derived. A numerical example was presented with simulated results. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||