Consumer credit and payment cards

We consider debit and credit card networks. Our contribution is to introduce the role of consumer credit into these payment networks, and to assess the way this affects competition and equilibrium fees. We analyze a situation in which overdrafts are associated with current accounts and debit cards, and larger credit lines with ‘grace’ periods are associated with credit cards. If we just introduce credit cards, we find their merchant fees depend not only on the networks’ cost of funds and the probability of default, but also on the interest rates of overdrafts. Whilst debit card merchant fees do not depend on funding costs or default risk in a debit-card only world, this changes when they start to compete with credit cards. First, debit merchant acceptance increases with the default probability, even though merchant fees increase. Second, an increase in funding costs causes a surprising increase in debit merchant fees. Effectively, the bank offering the debit card benefits from consumers maintaining a positive current account balance, when they use their credit instead of their debit card. As a result, this complementarity may lead to relatively high debit card merchant fees as the bank discourages debit card acceptance at the margin. JEL Classification: L11, G21, D53card competition, complementarity, consumer credit, Payment pricing

The Need for Visits to Social and Vocational Programs for the Mentally Ill as Part of General Psychiatry Residency Training

Background. Comprehensive treatment planning for psychiatric illnesses should be based on a biopsychosocial model of treatment to address the acuity and chronicity of these disorders. To achieve this goal, knowledge about pharmacological, psychological, and social aspects of the treatment plan should be presented as an integral part of general psychiatry residency training. This survey study was conducted to examine how many programs provide training where residents have scheduled visits to social and vocational mental health service organizations in the community and to identify potential obstacles to including this rotation in general psychiatry residency training. Methods. A voluntary, anonymous survey was sent via SurveyMonkey® to the program directors of all general psychiatry residency programs in the United States. The survey consisted of five questions designed to assess if their programs had a rotation where residents visit social and vocational programs in the community designed for mentally ill patients to provide knowledge of the community mental health resources to their residents. Results. Of the 168 survey invitations issued, 73 (44%) responded. Fifty-six responders acknowledged that their residents were required to visit a community mental health organization, but their programs did not offer visits to community social and vocational programs. Seventeen program directors reported that their program did not provide this experience to their residents and indicated a desire to include such a rotation. Conclusions. Community mental health service organization visits should enhance knowledge of psychiatry residents about community mental health resources and indirectly promote better patient care. Information obtained from this survey should create discussion to work toward better psychiatric resident training

Community Pediatrics and Growing Kids South Burlington An assessment of collaboration between area pediatricians and integrated services for families of young children in South Burlington, VT

Background: It is widely accepted for pediatric and family medicine practitioners to use developmental screening tools for effective identification of children who require additional support. A recent study in Pediatrics reported that between 2002 and 2009, the percentage of pediatricians using standardized screening tools for developmental delay increased from 23.0% to 47.7%. While improvement was found, less than half of pediatricians used these tools. In addition, it is known that early intervention for children requiring extra support is essential for preventing further delay in reaching milestones. Practitioners’ use of screening tools and their collaboration with their community resources can contribute to better delivery of these services and aid in children meeting developmental milestones.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1070/thumbnail.jp

Essays in financial intermediation and banking

Banks' role as intermediaries between short term investors and long term borrow- ers has dominated the literature. Whilst this is an important feature, there are many other characteristics of banks. Each chapter in this PhD explores a different aspect of banking, from other forms of lending to banks' role in payment services. The first, and principal, chapter considers credit lines: `commitments' to lend if required. These remain off the bank's balance sheet until drawn upon. As off-balance sheet items, unused commitments face low capital charges under existing capital regulation. I ex- plore how this regulatory feature incentivises banks to build up exposure to these lines. This may lead to a suboptimal allocation of credit, ex post, following a market shock, as high drawdowns cause the balance sheet to balloon and the capital requirement to bind. In the second chapter, I consider banks as agents in large-value payment systems. In choosing the optimal time to settle a payment, banks trade off delay costs against the risk of having insuffcient liquidity to make future payments. With banks participating in multiple systems, I show how default in one system may spill over into another, through the strategic behaviour of multi-system participants. I explore how this risk varies with the degree of information asymmetry between agents in different systems. The third chapter focuses on retail banking. In joint work, we examine how the provision of consumer credit, either through current account overdrafts, or through credit card credit lines, affects the way in which debit and credit card networks com- pete. We find that, even when debit and credit cards compete, there are elements of complementarity between them. Banks providing debit cards and current accounts benefit when the consumer delays withdrawal of funds from her current account by using a credit card. This leads to surprisingly high debit merchant fees

Multidimensional analysis of the frequencies and rates of cytokine secretion from single cells by quantitative microengraving

The large diversity of cells that comprise the human immune system requires methods that can resolve the individual contributions of specific subsets to an immunological response. Microengraving is process that uses a dense, elastomeric array of microwells to generate microarrays of proteins secreted from large numbers of individual live cells ([similar]10⁴–10⁵ cells/assay). In this paper, we describe an approach based on this technology to quantify the rates of secretion from single immune cells. Numerical simulations of the microengraving process indicated an operating regime between 30 min–4 h that permits quantitative analysis of the rates of secretion. Through experimental validation, we demonstrate that microengraving can provide quantitative measurements of both the frequencies and the distribution in rates of secretion for up to four cytokines simultaneously released from individual viable primary immune cells. The experimental limits of detection ranged from 0.5 to 4 molecules/s for IL-6, IL-17, IFNγ, IL-2, and TNFα. These multidimensional measures resolve the number and intensities of responses by cells exposed to stimuli with greater sensitivity than single-parameter assays for cytokine release. We show that cells from different donors exhibit distinct responses based on both the frequency and magnitude of cytokine secretion when stimulated under different activating conditions. Primary T cells with specific profiles of secretion can also be recovered after microengraving for subsequent expansion in vitro. These examples demonstrate the utility of quantitative, multidimensional profiles of single cells for analyzing the diversity and dynamics of immune responses in vitro and for identifying rare cells from clinical samples.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Award no. 5U19AI050864-07)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Award no. F32AI651003)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Award no. U19AI070352)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Award no. U19AI046130)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Award no. P01AI045757)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U.S.) (Jacob Javits Merit Award (NS2427))Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Texaco- Mangelsdorf Career Development Professor

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Not your private tête-à-tête: leveraging the power of higher-order networks to study animal communication

Animal communication is frequently studied with conventional network representations that link pairs of individuals who interact, for example, through vocalization. However, acoustic signals often have multiple simultaneous receivers, or receivers integrate information from multiple signallers, meaning these interactions are not dyadic. Additionally, non-dyadic social structures often shape an individual’s behavioural response to vocal communication. Recently, major advances have been made in the study of these non-dyadic, higher-order networks (e.g. hypergraphs and simplicial complexes). Here, we show how these approaches can provide new insights into vocal communication through three case studies that illustrate how higher-order network models can: (i)alter predictions made about the outcome of vocally coordinated group departures; (ii) generate different patterns of song synchronization from models that only include dyadic interactions; and (iii) inform models of cultural evolution of vocal communication. Together, our examples highlight the potential power of higher-order networks to study animal vocal communication. We then build on our case studies to identify key challenges in applying higher-order network approaches in this context and outline important research questions that these techniques could help answer. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics’

Early career elementary teachers’ practices & perceptions related to language & language learners

There has been limited attention to early career teachers’ (ECTs) understandings and practices related to language in teaching and learning mathematics. In this qualitative case study, we drew upon frameworks for teacher noticing to study the language practices of six early career elementary and middle school mathematics teachers. We describe multiple themes that cut across teachers’ noticing related to language and language learners, and discuss one theme (i.e., Perspectives on multiple languages) in more detail, including evidence of specific forms of noticing. Implications for teacher education and professional development are discussed

Analysis of the F2LR3 (PAR4) single nucleotide polymorphism (rs773902) in an Indigenous Australian population

The F2RL3 gene encoding protease activated receptor 4 (PAR4) contains a single nucleotide variant, rs773902, that is functional. The resulting PAR4 variants, Thr120, and Ala120, are known to differently affect platelet reactivity to thrombin. Significant population differences in the frequency of the allele indicate it may be an important determinant in the ethnic differences that exist in thrombosis and hemostasis, and for patient outcomes to PAR antagonist anti-platelet therapies. Here we determined the frequency of rs773902 in an Indigenous Australian group comprising 467 individuals from the Tiwi Islands. These people experience high rates of renal disease that may be related to platelet and PAR4 function and are potential recipients of PAR-antagonist treatments. The rs773902 minor allele frequency (Thr120) in the Tiwi Islanders was 0.32, which is similar to European and Asian groups and substantially lower than Melanesians and some African groups. Logistic regression and allele distortion testing revealed no significant associations between the variant and several markers of renal function, as well as blood glucose and blood pressure. These findings suggest that rs773902 is not an important determinant for renal disease in this Indigenous Australian group. However, the relationships between rs773902 genotype and platelet and drug responsiveness in the Tiwi, and the allele frequency in other Indigenous Australian groups should be evaluated

Evaluation of the telehealth making sense of brain tumor psychological support intervention for people with primary brain tumor and their caregivers : A randomized controlled trial

Objective This pragmatic randomized control trial aimed to evaluate clinical efficacy of the Making Sense of Brain Tumour program delivered via videoconferencing (Tele-MAST) for improving mental health and quality of life (QoL) relative to standard care in individuals with primary brain tumor (PBT). Method Adults with PBT experiencing at least mild distress (Distress Thermometer ≥4) and caregivers were randomly allocated to the 10-session Tele-MAST program or standard care. Mental health and QoL were assessed pre-intervention, post-intervention (primary endpoint), and 6-weeks and 6-months follow-up. The primary outcome was clinician-rated depressive symptoms on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Results 82 participants with PBT (34% benign, 20% lower-grade glioma, 46% high-grade glioma) and 36 caregivers were recruited (2018–2021). Controlling for baseline functioning, Tele-MAST participants with PBT had lower depressive symptoms at post-intervention (95% CI: 10.2–14.6, vs. 15.2–19.6, p = 0.002) and 6-weeks post-intervention (95% CI: 11.5–15.8 vs. 15.6–19.9, p = 0.010) than standard care, and were almost 4 times more likely to experience clinically reduced depression (OR, 3.89; 95% CI: 1.5–9.9). Tele-MAST participants with PBT also reported significantly better global QoL, emotional QoL and lower anxiety at post-intervention and 6-weeks post-intervention than standard care. There were no significant intervention effects for caregivers. At 6-months follow-up participants with PBT who received Tele-MAST reported significantly better mental health and QoL relative to pre-intervention. Conclusions Tele-MAST was found to be more effective for reducing depressive symptoms at post-intervention than standard care for people with PBT but not caregivers. Tailored and extended psychological support may be beneficial for people with PBT