2,976 research outputs found

    Current Practices and Optimal Futures for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Through Client-Treatment Matching: A Delphi Study

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    While over 4 million people in the United States aged 12 and over are engaged in treatment for substance use disorders each year, much remains unknown about how clients can be optimally referred to available treatment services, settings, providers, and interventions. Historically, clients received treatment in uniform, high intensity settings. Research over recent decades, however, has shown increased cost effectiveness and sustained, if not improved, clinical outcomes associated with efforts to individualize care. This study utilized the Delphi research methodology to examine community experts\u27 (N = 9) perspectives on the real world implementation of client-treatment matching principles within a major metropolitan area in the Midwest. Expert panel members underwent an iterative process of qualitative and quantitative surveys to build consensus and highlight areas of dis-sensus related to: 1) current matching practices in the region of interest, 2) matching practices in an optimal treatment system, 3) barriers to treatment system improvement, 4) consequences of existing systemic shortcomings, and 5) solutions for identified problems in client-treatment matching. Results are compared with both available information about treatment systems in the community of interest and published literature about client-treatment matching to yield recommendations for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of substance use disorder treatment through client-treatment matching. Recommendations suggest specific strategies for improving treatment by: enhancing clients\u27 capacity to make informed treatment choices, expanding the scope of available services and interventions to which clients can be matched, improving screening and comprehensive assessment, and better motivating providers to utilize client treatment-matching strategies

    The economics of cultural diversity: lessons from British cities

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    This thesis examines the economic effects of cultural diversity; it focuses on recent experience in British cities, and on links between migrant and minority communities, diversity and innovation. Like many western societies Britain is becoming more culturally diverse, a largely urban process driven by net immigration and growing minority communities. Despite significant public interest we know little about the economic impacts. This PhD aims to fill these major gaps. First, I explore connections between diversity, immigration and urban outcomes. I ask: does diversity help or hinder urban economic performance? Initial cross-sectional analysis finds positive associations between ‘super-diversity’ and urban wages. Using panel data and instruments to establish causality, I find that net immigration helps raise native productivity, especially for high-skilled workers, but may help exclude lower-skill natives from employment opportunities. De-industrialisation and casualization of entrylevel occupations partly explain the employment results. Next I investigate links between co-ethnic groups, cultural diversity and innovation. I explore effects of co-ethnic and diverse inventor groups on individual members’ patenting rates, using patents microdata and a novel name classification system. Controlling for individuals’ human capital, I find small positive effects of South Asian and Southern European co-ethnic membership. Overall group diversity also helps raise individual inventors’ productivity. I find mixed evidence of effects on majority patenting. I then explore the case of London in detail, using a unique survey of the capital’s firms. I ask: does organisational diversity or migrant/ethnic ownership influence firms’ product and process innovation? Results show small positive effects of diverse managements on ideas generation. Diverse firms are more likely than homogenous firms to sell into London’s large, cosmopolitan home markets as well as into international markets. Migrant entrepreneurship helps explain the main result. Together, these papers make important contributions to a small but growing literature on diversity, innovation and economic developmen

    Pollution Abatement in the Netherlands: A Dynamic Applied General Equilibrium Assessment

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    This paper deals with an assessment of the economic costs of environmental policies in the Netherlands, using a dynamic Applied General Equilibrium model with bottom-up information on abatement techniques. Empirical abatement cost curves are used to determine substitution possibilities between pollution and abatement and the characteristics of abatement goods. The results show that an absolute decoupling of economy and environment is possible. Smog formation is the most costly environmental theme, due to the absence of technical abatement options. For all environmental themes, the least-cost way to reduce emissions is via a combination of technical abatement measures and substantial economic restructuring.Applied general equilibrium, Pollution abatement, Dynamics, Environmental policy, Netherlands

    Coloring in the margins : the impact of racial and ethnocultural identity on the professional lives of social workers of color

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    This exploratory quantitative study examined the impact of racial and ethnocultural identity on the professional lives of social workers of color, focusing on experiences of social workers of color with racism, the influence of racial and ethnocultural identity in cross-cultural clinical work, and the perceived impact of racial and ethnocultural identity on career trajectory and professional experiences. Social workers of color have been and continue to be underrepresented in the population of licensed social workers. In this study, a sample of 86 social workers of color with a Masters in Social Work and two or more years of experience in the field completed an Internet survey. Major findings revealed that racial and ethnocultural identity had significantly influenced the professional work, experiences, and career trajectories of most participants, and the majority had experienced racism in both clinical work and professional interactions. Additionally, a significant number of participants felt that their graduate school curriculum, field supervision, and post-graduate supervision were not responsive to their needs as social workers of color. Study findings suggested that further research regarding the professional experiences of social workers of color is crucial in better understanding how the field of social work can change educational and professional practices to better support the needs of social workers of color

    Geodemographics: creating a classification at the level of the individual

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    This research challenges the existing geodemographics ethos by investigating the benefit to be gained from a move away from conventional areal unit categorisation to systems capable of classifying at the individual level. This research will present a unique framework through which classifications can be developed at this level of resolution. Inherently methodological, a local classification for Leeds (UK) will be presented plus further examples of this applied framework. Issues such as ecological fallacy, Modifiable Areal Unit Problem and generalisation are aspects to be considered when interpreting spatially aggregated data. A move away from such problems is one of the central objectives of this research. Data variables from the UK’s 2001 Small Area Microdata file underpin this research. These variables undergo transformation from categorical states into scale variables based on gross monthly income data present in the British Household Panel Survey therefore enabling effective clustering. Micro-simulation is then employed to create an individual-level population. The framework presented comprises entirely census variables but also demonstrates a linkage capability to other non-census datasets, such as the British Household Panel Survey (now Understanding Society), for deeper profiling, classification validation and enrichment

    Economic Development and Environmental Protection

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    There is a long-standing debate on the relationship between economic development and environmental quality. From a sustainable development viewpoint there has been a growing concern that the economic expansion of the world economy will cause irreparable damage to our planet. In the last few years several studies have appeared dealing with the relationship between the scale of economic activity and the level of pollution. In particular, if we concentrate on local pollutants several empirical studies have identified a bell shaped curve linking pollution to per capita GDP (in the case of global pollutants like CO2 the evidence is less clear-cut). This behaviour implies that, starting from low per capita income levels, per capita emissions or concentrations tend to increase but at a slower pace. After a certain level of income (which typically differs across pollutants) – the “turning point” – pollution starts to decline as income further increases. In analogy with the historic relationship between income distribution and income growth, the inverted-U relationship between per capita income and pollution has been termed “Environmental Kuznets Curve”. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide an overview the literature: there are several survey papers around doing precisely that. We instead reconsider the explanations that have been put forth for its inverted-U pattern. We look at the literature from this perspective. In addition, without resorting to any econometric estimation, we consider whether simple data analysis can help to shed some light on the motives that can rationalize the Environmental Kuznets Curve.Climate Policy, Environmental Modeling, Integrated Assessment, Technical Change

    Social marketing and public health

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    The public health field exists to safeguard the general public from health risks by controlling risk factors, classically through immunization programmes that prevent or control epidemics, or through actions such as monitoring the quality of drinking water. In our post-industrialised society, risk factors other than the environment, such as diet, exercise, tobacco and alcohol use, have grown in importance. The policy response to the growing demand upon healthcare services arising from chronic diseases caused by changing lifestyle factors has taking different forms, and these include targeting vulnerable groups using health promoting campaigns. This thesis addresses some of the challenges and opportunities in public health campaigns and healthcare planning that arise from the growing repositories of data that can be made available for targeting at the individual and small area level in a public health setting. The first part sets the scene by describing the concepts of health, public health and social marketing. The intention is to pave the way for broader discussions – in the progress of the thesis – about healthcare planning, population health, and social processes in the light of targeted public health interventions. Part two addresses the problems and possible solutions to a number issues in healthcare planning, starting with studies at the individual, then moving to organisations and ending with area classifications. The thesis draws on a number of case studies for targeting in a public health context including frequent accident and emergency users, teenage users of abortion services, women’s breast screening uptake, GP registration, and the neighbourhood characteristics of chronic disease patients. Finally, part three provides a synopsis of both context (part one), results (part two) and future perspectives on how routinely collected healthcare data can be used to create evidence for the planning of new cost-effective interventions

    24th International Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases

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    In the last three decades information modelling and knowledge bases have become essentially important subjects not only in academic communities related to information systems and computer science but also in the business area where information technology is applied. The series of European – Japanese Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC) originally started as a co-operation initiative between Japan and Finland in 1982. The practical operations were then organised by professor Ohsuga in Japan and professors Hannu Kangassalo and Hannu Jaakkola in Finland (Nordic countries). Geographical scope has expanded to cover Europe and also other countries. Workshop characteristic - discussion, enough time for presentations and limited number of participants (50) / papers (30) - is typical for the conference. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: 1. Conceptual modelling: Modelling and specification languages; Domain-specific conceptual modelling; Concepts, concept theories and ontologies; Conceptual modelling of large and heterogeneous systems; Conceptual modelling of spatial, temporal and biological data; Methods for developing, validating and communicating conceptual models. 2. Knowledge and information modelling and discovery: Knowledge discovery, knowledge representation and knowledge management; Advanced data mining and analysis methods; Conceptions of knowledge and information; Modelling information requirements; Intelligent information systems; Information recognition and information modelling. 3. Linguistic modelling: Models of HCI; Information delivery to users; Intelligent informal querying; Linguistic foundation of information and knowledge; Fuzzy linguistic models; Philosophical and linguistic foundations of conceptual models. 4. Cross-cultural communication and social computing: Cross-cultural support systems; Integration, evolution and migration of systems; Collaborative societies; Multicultural web-based software systems; Intercultural collaboration and support systems; Social computing, behavioral modeling and prediction. 5. Environmental modelling and engineering: Environmental information systems (architecture); Spatial, temporal and observational information systems; Large-scale environmental systems; Collaborative knowledge base systems; Agent concepts and conceptualisation; Hazard prediction, prevention and steering systems. 6. Multimedia data modelling and systems: Modelling multimedia information and knowledge; Contentbased multimedia data management; Content-based multimedia retrieval; Privacy and context enhancing technologies; Semantics and pragmatics of multimedia data; Metadata for multimedia information systems. Overall we received 56 submissions. After careful evaluation, 16 papers have been selected as long paper, 17 papers as short papers, 5 papers as position papers, and 3 papers for presentation of perspective challenges. We thank all colleagues for their support of this issue of the EJC conference, especially the program committee, the organising committee, and the programme coordination team. The long and the short papers presented in the conference are revised after the conference and published in the Series of “Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence” by IOS Press (Amsterdam). The books “Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases” are edited by the Editing Committee of the conference. We believe that the conference will be productive and fruitful in the advance of research and application of information modelling and knowledge bases. Bernhard Thalheim Hannu Jaakkola Yasushi Kiyok

    Extending Mixed Embeddedness: Entrepreneurial Figurations of Entrepreneurs with Migrant Origins in Germany

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    »Eine Erweiterung des Mixed Embeddedness Ansatzes: Unternehmerische Figurationen von Migrantenunternehmen in Deutschland«. Focusing on entrepreneurs with migrant origins, this contribution introduces the concept of entrepreneurial figurations as a theoretical complement to mixed embeddedness. After introducing Elias’ concept of figuration, I explain how figurations can be used to understand migrant entrepreneurship. Using a dataset of 584 entrepreneurs with migrant origins, I show to what extent entrepreneurs of migrant origin build their businesses on co-ethnic interaction and how coethnic economic relations are combined into different figurations. The analysis shows that a majority of entrepreneurs with migrant origins in Germany do not make use of any co-ethnic resources. The discussion points out crucial differences between branches of economic activity and I propose that figurations, understood as typical interaction patterns, could foster the understanding of different types of migrant entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the figurational approach is a useful complement to mixed embeddedness, which helps to deal with the plethora of phenomena in migrant entrepreneurship

    Extending Mixed Embeddedness: Entrepreneurial Figurations of Entrepreneurs with Migrant Origins in Germany

    Get PDF
    Focusing on entrepreneurs with migrant origins, this contribution introduces the concept of entrepreneurial figurations as a theoretical complement to mixed embeddedness. After introducing Elias’ concept of figuration, I explain how figurations can be used to understand migrant entrepreneurship. Using a dataset of 584 entrepreneurs with migrant origins, I show to what extent entrepreneurs of migrant origin build their businesses on co-ethnic interaction and how coethnic economic relations are combined into different figurations. The analysis shows that a majority of entrepreneurs with migrant origins in Germany do not make use of any co-ethnic resources. The discussion points out crucial differences between branches of economic activity and I propose that figurations, understood as typical interaction patterns, could foster the understanding of different types of migrant entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the figurational approach is a useful complement to mixed embeddedness, which helps to deal with the plethora of phenomena in migrant entrepreneurship
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