Sharing longevity risk: Why governments should issue longevity bonds

Government-issued longevity bonds would allow longevity risk to be shared efficiently and fairly between generations. In exchange for paying a longevity risk premium, the current generation of retirees can look to future generations to hedge their aggregate longevity risk. There are also wider social benefits. Longevity bonds will lead to a more secure pension savings market - both defined contribution and defined benefit - together with a more efficient annuity market resulting in less means-tested benefits and a higher tax take. The emerging capital market in longevity-linked instruments can get help to kick start market participation through the establishment of reliable longevity indices and key price points on the longevity risk term structure and can build on this term structure with liquid longevity derivatives.Longevity Risk; Longevity Bonds; Public Policy; Political Economy

Youth on the move? Student mobility and immobility in Portugal and Northern Ireland

This paper provides insight into the geographical mobility experiences and orientations of youth in Portugal and Northern Ireland, utilising the results of quantitative and qualitative research conducted during 2005-2008. An overview is presented of the past mobility experiences of two academically matched groups of students in Lisbon and Belfast, followed by indications of future mobility intentions, including transnational migration. The main findings are that while a majority of those sampled in Belfast (55%) have intentions to live outside Northern Ireland at some stage in the future, fewer of their counterparts in Lisbon have such a desire (32%). Further logistic regression analysis explores the extent to which social ties impact upon the direction of future migration intentions, while results are less supportive of economic explanations for wanting to move. The results related to economic explanations for the desire to move confirm other research results, while contradicting neo-classical thinking

Synchronization in dynamic neural networks

This thesis is concerned with the function and implementation of synchronization in networks of oscillators. Evidence for the existence of synchronization in cortex is reviewed and a suitable architecture for exhibiting synchronization is defined. A number of factors which affect the performance of synchronization in networks of laterally coupled oscillators are investigated. It is shown that altering the strength of the lateral connections between nodes and altering the connective scope of a network can be used to improve synchronization performance. It is also shown that complete connective scope is not required for global synchrony to occur. The effects of noise on synchronization performance are also investigated and it is shown that where an oscillator network is able to synchronize effectively, it will also be robust to a moderate level of noise in the lateral connections. Where a particular oscillator model shows poor synchronization performance, it is shown that noise in the lateral connections is capable of improving synchronization performance. A number of applications of synchronizing oscillator networks are investigated. The use of synchronized oscillations to encode global binding information is investigated and the relationship between the form of grouping obtained and connective scope is discussed. The potential for using learning in synchronizing oscillator networks is illustrated and an investigation is made into the possibility of maintaining multiple phases in a network of synchronizing oscillators. It is concluded from these investigations that it is difficult to maintain multiple phases in the network architecture used throughout this thesis and a modified architecture capable of producing the required behaviour is demonstrated

Youth, Precarity and the Future: Housing transitions in Portugal during the economic crisis

This working paper examines the housing transitions of young people presently studying at universities in Lisbon, Portugal (n=200). While prior research has established that Portuguese youth tend to stay within the parental home for prolonged periods, this discussion asks if the on-going economic crisis is likely to make a significant impact upon these housing transitions. Other related issues explored include the extent of respondents’ involvement in domestic tasks and the extent of support received from parents, in addition to subjective assessments of the impact of the economic crisis upon their future lives. The results not only confirm that these young people intend to prolong their stays in the parental home due to the crisis, but also that they envisage difficulties in entering an increasingly unstable labour market, which leads to a perception of the future characterised by precarity

Electronic swallowing intervention package to support swallowing function in patients with head and neck cancer: development and feasibility study

Background: Many patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) experience significant swallowing difficulties, and there is some evidence that swallowing exercises may improve outcomes, including quality of life. This feasibility study developed an evidence-based, practical Swallowing Intervention Package (SiP) for patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) for HNC. As part of the study, an electronic version of SiP (e-SiP) was concurrently developed to support patients to self-manage during treatment. This paper reports on the e-SiP component of this work. Objective: To develop and conduct preliminary evaluation of an electronic support system (e-SiP) for patients undergoing CRT for head and neck cancer. Methods: The study involved health professionals and patients who were undergoing CRT for head and neck cancer. The scoping stage of e-SiP development involved investigated the potential usefulness of e-SiP, exploring how e-SiP would look and feel and what content would be appropriate to provide. Patient and carer focus groups and a health professionals’ consensus day were used as a means of data gathering around potential e-SiP content. A repeat focus group looked at an outline version of e-SIP and informed the next stage of its development around requirements for tool. This was followed by further development and a testing stage of e-SiP involved the coding of a prototype which was then evaluated using a series of steering group meetings, semi-structured interviews with both patients and health care professionals, and analysis of e-SiP log data. Results: Feedback from focus groups and health professional interviews was very positive and it was felt e-SiP use would support and encourage patients in conducting their swallowing exercises. However, of the ten patients offered e-SIP, only two opted to use it. For these patients, aspects of the e-SIP application were considered useful, in particular the ease of keeping a diary of exercises performed. Interviews with users and non-users suggested significant barriers to its use. Most significantly the lack of flexibility of platform on which e-SiP could be accessed appeared a dominant factor in deterring e-SiP use. Conclusions: Results suggest a need for further research to be conducted around the implementation of e-SiP. This involves evaluating how e-SiP can be better integrated into usual care, and through patient training and staff engagement, can be seen as a beneficial tool to help support patients in conducting swallowing exercises

Learning Insularity? Social Capital, Social Learning and Staying at Home among European Youth

This paper explores youth mobility in two European regions: Northern Ireland and Portugal. The original research upon which it is based focuses on two specific mobility themes: housing transitions and migration intentions. We have found that almost three quarters of the young people in both samples were living in the parental home, with a significant correlation between living at home and not wanting to migrate in the future. A number of explanations are discussed, including the importance of economic, emotional and social ties in encouraging and inhibiting youth mobility. Our analysis leads us to conclude that many of these young people have learnt to become geographically insular through a social learning process involving strong reliance on the bonding social capital created and embedded in their family relationships

Symphysodontella (Bryophyta: Pterobryaceae) new to the Australian flora

The genus Symphysodontella (Bryophyta: Pterobryaceae) is reported as new to the Australian flora, based on a collection from northern Queensland that we identify as Symphysodontella splendens. This species was previously known from Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. The presence of gemmae is reported for the first time in Symphysodontella