Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine [Book Review]

This article reviews the book “Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine”, by Laura Robson

How integrative modelling can break down disciplinary silos

This paper has been published in a peer-reviewed journal as: Kragt, M.E., Robson, B.J. & Macleod, C.J.A. (2013) Modellers’ roles in structuring integrative research projects. Environmental Modelling & Software, 39(1): 322-330. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.06.015Environmental modelling, Interdisciplinary research, Transdisciplinarity, Integration, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q57, Y80, Z19,

Informationally Robust Equlibria

Informationally Robust Equilibria (IRE) are introduced in Robson (1994) as a refinement of Nash equilibria for e.g. bimatrix games, i.e. mixed extensions of two person finite games.Similar to the concept of perfect equilibria, basically the idea is that an IRE is a limit of some sequence of equilibria of perturbed games.Here, the perturbation has to do with the hypothetical possibility that the action of one the players is revealed to his fellow player before the fellow player has to decide on his own action.Whereas Robson models these perturbations in extensive form and uses subgame perfection to solve these games, we model the perturbations in strategic form, thus remaining in the class of bimatrix games. Moreover, within the perturbations we impose two possible types of tie breaking rules, which leads to the notions optimistic and pessimistic IRE.The paper provides motivation on IRE and its definition.Several properties will be discussed.In particular, we have that IRE is a strict concept, and that IRE components are faces of Nash components.Specific results from potential gamesnash equilibria;game theory;information

Analysis of caesarean sections using Robson 10-group classification system in a university hospital in eastern Ethiopia:a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To analyse caesarean section (CS) using Robson 10-group classification system in an Ethiopian university hospital. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: A university hospital in eastern, Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: 980 women who underwent CS from January 2016 to April 2017. MAIN OUTCOME: Robson groups (1-10-based on gestational age, fetal presentation, number of fetus, onset of labour and history of CS) and indications for CS. RESULTS: Robson group 3 (multiparous women with single cephalic full-term pregnancy in spontaneous labour with no history of CS), group 5 (multiparous women with single cephalic full-term pregnancy with history of CS) and group 1 (single cephalic nulliparous women full-term pregnancy in spontaneous labour) were the major contributors to the overall CS at 21.4%, 21.1% and 19.3%, respectively. The three major indications for CS were fetal compromise (mainly fetal distress), obstructed labour (mainly cephalopelvic disproportion) and previous CS. CONCLUSION: Robson groups 3, 5 and 1 were the major contributors to the overall CS rate. Fetal compromise, obstructed labour and previous CS were the underlying indications for performing CS. Further study is required to assess the appropriateness of the indications and to reduce CS among the low-risk groups (groups 1 and 3)

Six Pillars of Social Policy: The State of Pensions and Health Care in Canada

William B.P. Robson, a co-author with David Slater of a series of papers on pension issues, has written an ambitious survey of the state of Canadian economic policy in the areas of pensions and health care. He argues that it is appropriate to tackle both issues in the same paper because they are both major spending programs strongly related to the life cycle of Canadians, and face challenges arising from the aging of the population. Robson notes that the pension debate uses the metaphor of three pillars to describe a comprehensive pension system: a safety net to guard against destitution in old age; a mandatory employment-related system to provide basic replacement income; and a voluntary system supported by provisions that reduce the double-taxation of saving. The main elements of public policy related to pensions in Canada cover these pillars. He recognizes that all three of the pillars cannot be directly applied to health care, but he argues that the three-pillar metaphor is still a fruitful perspective because it facilitates constructive responses to the pressures confronting Canada’s health system and illuminates interactions between the pension and health systems. Hence his title “six pillars of social policy”. Based on his examination of Canada’s pension and health-care systems, Robson makes a number of recommendations. First, he advocates more prefunding in both the pension and health areas to cover the future cost of the aging baby-boom cohort. Second, he recommends a gradual increase in the normal age of eligibility for pension benefits. Third, he recommends the creation of a second pillar, a mandatory contribution scheme in the health area as a way to avoid the development of a means-tested system that would exacerbate the disincentives to work and save. Fourth, he puts forward the idea of a new type of saving vehicle that provides tax-relief on distributions rather than on contributions so that Canadians can avoid the high marginal effective tax rates associated with means-tested programs.Health, Health Care, Health-care, Healthcare, Canada, Pensions, CPP, Retirement, Mandatory Contribution, Aging, Ageing

Is a reading addition necessary for clinical contrast sensitivity measurements?

Purpose: Clinical tests of contrast sensitivity are performed at near with letters large enough to be above the acuity threshold of presbyopes with normal vision. Is a reading addition necessary to obtain accurate thresholds? Method: Contrast sensitivity was assessed using Pelli-Robson and Mars charts. Participants were presbyopes with normal or corrected-to-normal distance and near acuity. Contrast sensitivity was assessed with participants wearing distance refractive correction, and also wearing an appropriate addition for the working distance (+0.75DS for the Pelli-Robson at 1m; +2.00DS for the Mars at 50cm). Results: The difference between contrast sensitivity measurements made with and without the reading addition was not signifi cant for either chart (repeated measures t-test, p>0.05 for Pelli-Robson and Mars). Conclusion: Contrast sensitivity can be assessed in presbyopic visual normals with patients wearing either distance or near correction without affecting thresholds

Enablingstaff@OU – Supporting Integration In The Workplace

EnablingStaff@OU is a new staff network at the Open University (OU) which was launched in July 2014. The remit of the new network is to improve integration of disabled staff within the institution. This will be achieved by working with all staff to improve knowledge and understanding of disability and reasonable adjustment, alongside promoting recognition of the value of every individual within the workplace. This article aims to guide you through why and how we set up the network, and to help you consider if it is something you might do within your own institution or organisation