Full agreement and the provision of threshold public goods

We report threshold public good experiments in which group members not only need to be individually willing to contribute enough to provide the public good but also have to agree with each other on what every group members should contribute. We find strong support to the hypothesis that full agreement increases successful provision, although it takes a few repetitions before group members can successfully coordinate. This is consistent with our theoretical results that full agreement works because it increases criticality of each individual decision. The existence of a focal point makes it possible for the group members to successfully coordinate.Public good, threshold, full agreement, focal point, experiment, coordination

Threshold public good games and impulse balance theory

We propose and develop a model of behavior in threshold public good games. The model draws on learning direction theory and impulse balance theory. We find good support for the model and demonstrate that it can explain the success rates observed in threshold public good experiments. The model is applied in a variety of dierent settings : we compare games with a full refund to those with no refund, consider changes in relative endowment, and consider changes in the step return and net reward.Public good, threshold, learning direction theory, impulse balance theory, counterfactual thinking

Examining the relationship between pubertal stage, adolescent health behaviours and stress

Background. This paper examines the associations between puberty and three important health behavlours (smoking, food intake and exercise) and explores whether these associations are mediated by puberty's relationship to stress and psychological difficulties.Method. Data were taken from the first year of the ongoing, 5-year, Health and Behaviours in Teenagers Study (HABITS). This is a school-based study set in 36 schools in London. In the first year of the study, 4320 students (2578 boys, 1742 girls) in their first year of secondary education took part.Results. Among girls, being more pubertally advanced was associated with a greater likelihood of having tried smoking. Among boys, being more pubertally advanced was associated with a greater likelihood of having tried smoking, a higher intake of high-fat food and higher levels of exercise. More pubertally advanced girls experienced more stress but not more psychological difficulties. There were no associations between puberty and either stress or psychological difficulties in boys. Stress and psychological difficulties were associated with health behaviours in girls and boys, but neither of these factors mediated the relationship between pubertal stage and health behaviours found in girls.Conclusions. These results suggest that the onset of puberty has a marked effect on the development of health behaviours. Puberty was related to an acceleration of the development of unhealthy behaviours, except for exercise behaviour in boys, where advanced puberty was associated with more exercise. These changes were unrelated to adolescent issues of stress and a causal explanation for these associations must be sought elsewhere

An economic analysis of ransomware and its welfare consequences

We present in this work an economic analysis of ransomware, a relatively new form of cyber-enabled extortion. We look at how the illegal gains of the criminals will depend on the strategies they use, examining uniform pricing and price discrimination. We also explore the welfare costs to society of such strategies. In addition, we present the results of a pilot survey which demonstrate proof of concept in evaluating the costs of ransomware attacks. We discuss at each stage whether the different strategies we analyse have been encountered already in existing malware, and the likelihood of them being implemented in the future. We hope this work will provide some useful insights for predicting how ransomware may evolve in the future

Three-frequency resonances in dynamical systems

We investigate numerically and experimentally dynamical systems having three interacting frequencies: a discrete mapping (a circle map), an exactly solvable model (a system of coupled ordinary differential equations), and an experimental device (an electronic oscillator). We compare the hierarchies of three-frequency resonances we find in each of these systems. All three show similar qualitative behaviour, suggesting the existence of generic features in the parameter-space organization of three-frequency resonances.Comment: See home page http://lec.ugr.es/~julya

Representations of illness: patient satisfaction, adherence and coping

Chapter I evaluates the self-regulatory model and other theoretical frameworks which have informed the six empirical studies described in this thesis. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on patients' satisfaction with care, adherence to treatment recommendations and coping with chronic illness. It highlights omissions in the literature which are addressed by the current research. Chapter 3 provides a systematic description of people's representations of 37 different illnesses and examines the basis on which these illnesses are categorized. It was found that beliefs about symptoms, typical sufferer, and treatment were particularly important in discriminating between different illnesses. Using data from interviews with patients visiting their GP (pre- and post-consultation), chapter 4 explores the relationship between patients' representations of their illness, and satisfaction and intentions to follow treatment recommendations. It was found that doctor-patient discrepancies about diagnosis and treatment were the sole predictors of satisfaction, but were not related to intentions. In a follow-up study, chapter 5 investigates the predictors of satisfaction and adherence two weeks after the consultation. Several factors were found to predict satisfaction at time 2, but doctorpatient discrepancies were no longer related to ratings of satisfaction. Belief in the benefits of treatment was the principal predictor of adherence. The primary aim of the two studies described in chapter 6 was to produce a shorter version of the 60-item COPE suitable for assessing coping in patients. The 32-item measure demonstrated construct validity with the longer version and acceptable internal reliability. Chapter 7 explores the relationship between the different stages of the self-regulatory model in diabetic and hypertensive patients. It was found that beliefs about the costs and benefits of treatment were the principal predictors of dietary and exercise adherence. As predicted, strong relationships were found between patients' illness representations, coping strategies and appraisal of functioning. The final chapter surnmarises the findings of the research and concludes that the self-regulatory model is a useful too] for understanding people's responses to illness and adaptation to chronic illness. SuggestionsN verem ade regarding ways in which the self-regulatory model might be extended to incorporate other conceptually compatible models. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications are discussed

SEARCHING FOR EFFICIENCIES THROUGH THE CONSOLIDATION OF NON-INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES IN MICHIGAN K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS

One important source of creating school efficiencies has been the consolidation of non-instructional support services with another educational entity. In Michigan, as state financial resources have dwindled, so has fiscal support of schools. This has forced districts to examine alternative ways to educate students and provide services. In K-12 districts, the search for financial efficiencies often begins with examining the costs of district-level support services, including administration, business office, and custodial services. Staffing creates the largest expense for educational institutions, yet there has been limited investigation into the size and cost of staffing for the non-instructional services subject to possible service consolidation. Using data available from Michigan databases, the study analyzed relationships between staffing levels and common district characteristics of enrollment, foundation allowance, per pupil expenditures by function, per pupil wages by function, and per pupil benefits by function. The study used a combination of descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, cross-sectional regression analysis, and fixed effects regression analysis to determine which model variables had influence on staffing, along with whether staffing levels could be estimated. This study also examined the impact consolidation of support services had on these same variables and the models’ estimation ability. The study found that several of the model variables had influence on staffing in both consolidated service and non-consolidated service arrangements. The models’ estimation abilities appeared successful in non-consolidated service arrangements, but the results were less dependable when only examining districts with consolidated service arrangements.Ed.D.Educational AdministrationUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162567/1/Cartwright2020.pdfDescription of Cartwright2020.pdf : thesi

A Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Teletechnet Distance Education with Traditional Classroom Education Among Old Dominion University Industrial Technology Graduates 1998-2000

The following hypothesis guided this research: 1. Among Old Dominion University Industrial Technology majors, there was no significant difference in academic achievement between those students who had been taught by conventional means and those that had used Teletechnet distance education