What Have We Learned since October 1979?

My good friend Ben Bernanke is always a hard act to follow. When I drafted these remarks, I was concerned that Ben would take all the best points and cover them extremely well, leaving only some crumbs for Ben McCallum and me to pick up. But his decision to concentrate on one issue central bank credibility leaves me plenty to talk about.

How to spend $3.92 billion: stabilizing neighborhoods by addressing foreclosed and abandoned properties

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), under which states, cities, and counties will receive a total of $3.92 billion to acquire, rehabilitate, demolish, and redevelop foreclosed and abandoned residential properties. These funds can stabilize hard-hit neighborhoods, putting them on the path to market recovery. This will only happen, however, if they are used in ways that are strategically targeted and sensitive to market conditions. This paper outlines 11 key principles that states, counties, and cities should follow as they plan for and use NSP funds.Housing and Economic Recovery Act; Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP); Foreclosure

A hard Act to follow? The evolution and performance of UK climate governance

This article provides an analysis of the origins and effects of UK climate governance. It is centrally concerned with the relationships between politics and climate institutions, both in how political conditions have shaped the emergence of climate governance, and in how the resulting institutions subsequently structure climate politics. The analysis brings out three key themes. First, a focus on the CCA can overlook the enduring importance of the parallel climate governance architecture provided by the European Union. Second, it is important to see UK climate governance within a wider political and institutional context, as these results of this context, especially tensions between ambition and instability, have influenced its evolution. Third, this design, and other aspects of the evolution of UK climate governance framework, have in turn had implications for the strengths and weaknesses of the framework and how it has met key governance challenges

Uno Mas Restaurant Menus 2020

Etto was always going to be a hard act to follow, but owners Liz Matthews, Simon Barrett and chef Paul McNamara have made it look effortless. This Spanish-inspired restaurant feels more like Barcelona than Aungier Street, and the bar seating is some of the best in the city. The gildas (Spanish lollipops with guindilla peppers, anchovies and olives), chargrilled octopus and flan de queso are unmissable.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/menus21c/1503/thumbnail.jp

Creating and Sustaining a Maintenance Strategy: A Practical Guide

Manufacturing companies should create maintenance strategy and link it to the manufacturing and business goals but recent research in the North East of England suggested that few companies do this. It is unclear why this inertia existed but it could have been due to the complexity and variety of the advice on offer in relation to the formulation and implementation of strategy. The purpose of this paper was to provide a simple generic guide or roadmap for practitioners to follow. It began by highlighting the importance and benefits of a maintenance strategy and then considered literature appropriate to the topic. A key point arising from this review was that the three elements; process, content, context, need to be considered over the lifecycle of a strategy. Moreover, most strategic models converged to simple sequential models affording a generic functional process to be developed. This involved the integration of the “corporate hard systems” model and the “Plan, do, check, act, cycle“, forming a suitable maintenance strategy process. Accordingly, further guidance on policy assured the right “content”. The paper concluded with a short questionnaire used to audit the effect of “contextual factors” on maintenance strategy. The result was a comprehensive guide on how to formulate and implement maintenance strategy

The effectiveness of assertive community treatment for elderly patients with severe mental illness: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Due to fragmented mental, somatic, and social healthcare services, it can be hard to engage into care older patients with severe mental illness (SMI). In adult mental health care, assertive community treatment (ACT) is an organizational model of care for treating patients with SMI who are difficult to engage. So far all outcome studies of assertive community treatment have been conducted in adults.Methods: In a randomized controlled trial design we compared the effectiveness of ACT for elderly patients with that of treatment as usual (TAU). Sixty-two outpatients (60 years and older) with SMI who were difficult to engage in psychiatric treatment were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group (32 to ACT for elderly patients and 30 to TAU). Primary outcomes included number of patients who had a first treatment contact within 3 months, the number of dropouts (i.e. those discharged from care due to refusing care or those who unintentionally lost contact with the service over a period of at least 3 months); and patients' psychosocial functioning (HoNOS65+ scores) during 18 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes included the number of unmet needs and mental health care use. Analyses were based on intention-to-treat.Results: Of the 62 patients who were randomized, 26 were lost to follow-up (10 patients in ACT for elderly patients and 16 in TAU). Relative to patients with TAU, more patients allocated to ACT had a first contact within three months (96.9 versus 66.7%; X2 (df = 1) = 9.68, p = 0.002). ACT for elderly patients also had fewer dropouts from treatment (18.8% of assertive community treatment for elderly patients versus 50% of TAU patients; X2 (df = 1) = 6.75, p = 0.009). There were no differences in the other primary and secondary outcome variables.Conclusions: These findings suggest that ACT for elderly patients with SMI engaged patients in treatment more successfully.Trial registration: NTR1620

Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History.

Through hard work and thorough research, Richard Edwards, Jacob Friefeld, and Rebecca Wingo seek to dispel any false notions and set the record straight on what was one of the most influential events in the history of the United States in their book, Homesteading the Plains. Th roughout the work, the authors are able to correct false historical accounts that cast a poor light on the Homestead Act while they provide a wealth of statistical evidence to move toward a new history, as the book’s subtitle suggests. Th e Homestead Act provided opportunity for many ancestors of current Great Plains residents and helped populate the Great Plains along with making the region a major agricultural producer, cementing our roles in both national and international markets. As land was given out, communities were formed and churches and schools were soon to follow, helping to make the region and its people not only economically viable, but also culturally significant. While nothing is without its flaws, the Homestead Act was successful in its original goals, which is conclusively proven throughout the book

An Avatar-led Intervention Promotes Smoking Cessation in Young Adults: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Smoking remains a global concern, especially for young adults. There is a dearth of smoking cessation programs for this population, who seldom seek help or are motivated to quit. Purpose: This pilot study assessed the effectiveness of a digital avatar-led Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) smoking cessation program (Flexiquit) for young adult smokers at all levels of motivation to quit. Methods: Smokers with no particular interest in quitting smoking (65.45% reported being in pre-contemplation or contemplation stages of change) were recruited from three universities (105 smoking ≥ 1 cigarette per day during the past 30 days, 68 females). Those who completed questionnaires online (N = 84; M = 22.44 years, SD = 2.61, range 18–28 years old) were randomized to either a six-session avatar-led intervention (Flexiquit; N = 49) or a wait-list control (N = 35). Primary outcomes included cessation status (7-day point prevalence) and number of cigarettes smoked per day; secondary outcomes were nicotine dependence, intention-to-quit smoking and self-efficacy, assessed at pre- and post-intervention, and only for Flexiquit at 6-month follow-up. Results: In intention-to-treat analysis more participants (OR = 3.10, 95% CI = 0.92–10.41) in the treatment group (28.57%) versus the control group (11.43%) reported quitting smoking; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p = .067). There were statistically significant decreases in average number of cigarettes, nicotine dependence and increases in self-efficacy, and intention-to-quit smoking compared to controls. Treatment gains in the Flexiquit group were maintained through the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: An avatar-led digitized smoking cessation intervention based on ACT could increase the odds of quitting smoking. Findings suggest that a digitized program designed to engage young adults in smoking cessation may result in quitting smoking and has a high applicability potential especially among the hard-to-reach population of young adults. Question: Can an avatar-led digitized Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) smoking cessation intervention result in quitting smoking and increasing intention to quit among young smokers at various levels of motivation to quit, compared to a wait-list control group? Findings: In this pilot randomized clinical trial that included 84 smokers, 28.57% in the treatment condition versus 11.43% in the wait-list control group were abstinent at post (intention-to-treat [ITT] analysis). An avatar-led digitized ACT smoking cessation intervention results in high quitting smoking rates and has a high applicability potential especially among the hard-to-reach population of young adult smokers