Putting 'M' back in Monetary Policy

Money demand and the stock of money have all but disappeared from monetary policy analyses. This paper is an empirical contribution to the debate over the role of money in monetary policy analysis. The paper models supply and demand interactions in the money market and finds evidence of an essential role for money in the transmission of policy. Across sub-samples, it finds evidence consistent with the following inferences: (1) the money stock and the interest rate jointly transmit monetary policy; (2) for a given exogenous change in the nominal interest rate, the estimated impact of policy on economic activity increases monotonically with the response of the money supply; (3) the path of the real rate is not sufficient for determining policy impacts.

Commentary: Considering Educational Perspectives and their Relevance to Allied Health Professional Education: Using Physical Therapy as an Example

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to three educational perspectives: progressive, critical, and professional, and explain their relevance to allied health professional education. Faculty in allied health professional education are often solely educated as clinicians and not as teachers, entering academia with limited background in educational theory. Professional organizations and accrediting bodies, however, are highlighting the need for evidence and theory-based pedagogy and practice in educational settings. Method: An overview of three educational perspectives is provided, as is a discussion of their relevance to allied health professional education, using physical therapist education as an example. Conclusion: The three perspectives presented provide diverse, yet complimentary, ways of thinking about enhancing teaching and learning, program development, faculty development, and the overall student experience. Consideration of key educational theoretical perspectives can inform program development and enhance teaching and learning. These theoretical perspectives are presented to inform rather than advocate for any one theoretical frame

Treating Adults with Chronic Pain: Exploring the Contemporary Trends of Occupational Therapy

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore occupational therapy’s approach in treating individuals with chronic pain. More specifically, to evaluate occupational therapy’s role in current practices including assessments, models of practice, modalities, and competencies. Methodology: Following IRB approval, a purposive sampling method was used to gain a sufficient number of participants to complete an online survey. Inclusion criteria for participants in this study included occupational therapists currently working in an outpatient setting, current members of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and practicing within the states of Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, and Nebraska. Subjects were requested through a postcard notice to complete an online survey regarding the treatment of individuals with chronic pain. Survey questions pertained to 1) types of evaluations, 2) models of practice, 3) effectiveness of modalities, 4) collaboration approaches with other professionals, 5) primary sources of accessing information, and 6) number of workshops/continuing education sessions regarding chronic pain taken within the past three years. Results: Thirty-five surveys were completed and submitted for an 8.8% rate of response. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample demographics which included years of practice and average number of clients with chronic pain treated per week. A majority of the overall sample (54.28%) report having been in practice for 1-10 years. Twenty-three participants (65.71%) treat an average of 1-2 clients per week with a primary diagnosis of chronic pain. A tabulated proportion was used to correlate “competent” practitioners with the following variables: 83.3% use subjective client reports for primary methods of client evaluation; 76.67% use the Rehabilitative model; 60% rate massage as the most effective modality to treat chronic pain; 66.67% work collaboratively with other professionals more than 50% of the time; 73.33% do not refer clients to other pain specialists; 73.33% use research journals or medical websites as primary sources of education; and 53.33% have not attended any continuing education workshops regarding chronic pain within the past three years. Summary: A low rate of response limited the researchers’ ability to indicate significant findings associated with the study’s variables. However, the results from this study indicated the need for more critical analysis of its contents. Results suggested that occupational therapists in outpatient settings are not largely utilizing occupation-based evaluations and models of practice when treating individuals with chronic pain. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a reliance on collaboration with other peers, research journals, and medical websites versus formal education sessions when attaining chronic pain knowledge. Implications of this approach may negatively influence occupational therapy’s ability to maintain true to the foundational perspectives unique to the profession. Results of this study demonstrate the need for future research to deeply investigate the factors associated with effective occupational therapy treatments for clients with chronic pain

The case for TIPS: an examination of the costs and benefits

Slightly more than a decade has passed since the introduction of the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) program, through which the U.S. Treasury Department issues inflation-indexed debt. Several studies have suggested that the program has been a financial disappointment for the Treasury and by extension U.S. taxpayers. Relying on ex post analysis, the studies argue that a more cost-effective strategy remains the issuance of nominal Treasury securities. This article proposes that evaluations of the TIPS program be more comprehensive, and instead focus on the ex ante costs of TIPS issuance compared with nominal Treasury issuance. The authors contend that ex ante analysis is a more effective way to assess the costs of TIPS over the long run. Furthermore, relative cost calculations--whether ex post or ex ante--are just one aspect of a comprehensive analysis of the costs and benefits of the TIPS program. TIPS issuance provides other benefits that should be taken into account when evaluating the program, especially when TIPS are only marginally more expensive or about as expensive to issue as nominal Treasury securities.Treasury bonds ; Debt

Considering Educational Perspectives and Their Relevance to Allied Health Professional Education: Using Physical Therapy as an Example

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to three educational perspectives and explain their relevance to allied health professional education. Faculty in allied health professional education are often solely educated as clinicians and not as teachers, entering academia with limited background in educational theory. Professional organizations and accrediting bodies are highlighting the need for evidence and theory-based pedagogy and practice in educational settings. Method: An overview of three educational perspectives and to discuss their relevance to allied health professional education, using physical therapist education as an example. Conclusion: The three perspectives presented; progressive, critical and professional, are foundational. They provide diverse, yet complimentary ways of thinking about enhancing teaching and learning, program development, faculty development and the overall student experience. Consideration of key educational theoretical perspectives can inform program development and enhance teaching and learning. These theoretical perspectives are presented to inform rather than advocate for any one theoretical frame

Educational Perspectives and Teaching Styles of Faculty Who Lead International Service-Learning Experiences

Background and Purpose: Many physical therapy educational programs are adding international service-learning (ISL) opportunities to their curricula as a way to address the increasingly global nature of the profession. There is a paucity of physical therapy literature addressing ISL, with a particular deficiency related to ISL faculty. The purpose of this study was to describe faculty demographics, teaching styles, and educational perspectives, and to compare faculty who did and did not lead ISL experiences with physical therapy students. Subjects: Two hundred five physical therapy faculty; 23% of whom led ISL. Methods: Subjects were recruited through two professional listservs and data were gathered via a commercial web-based service. Faculty with and without ISL experience were compared on demographic variables, Teaching Style, and Educational Perspective. Measurement tools included standard demographic inquires, the Grasha and Riechmann-Hruska Teaching Style Survey, and a researcher-developed Educational Perspective questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to explore characteristics predictive of participation in ISL. Results: Subjects’ most common teaching style was Personal Model / Formal Authority / Delegator and a Professional focus was the most commonly identified educational perspective. Familiarity with key educational authors was limited. There was no relationship between ISL involvement and teaching style, but a relationship was identified between ISL involvement and the Critical perspective. The factors in this study were not predictive of ISL participation. Discussion and Conclusion: In general, ISL faculty did not differ from their colleagues who did not have ISL experience. Study findings, however, can inform, and provide rationale and support for existing and future ISL programs. This study also provides a context for encouraging the discussion and exploration of faculty teaching styles and educational perspectives

Real-Time Science Operations to Support a Lunar Polar Volatiles Rover Mission

Future human exploration of the Moon will likely rely on in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to enable long duration lunar missions. Prior to utilizing ISRU on the Moon, the natural resources (in this case lunar volatiles) must be identified and characterized, and ISRU demonstrated on the lunar surface. To enable future uses of ISRU, NASA and the CSA are developing a lunar rover payload that can (1) locate near subsurface volatiles, (2) excavate and analyze samples of the volatile-bearing regolith, and (3) demonstrate the form, extractability and usefulness of the materials. Such investigations are important both for ISRU purposes and for understanding the scientific nature of these intriguing lunar volatile deposits. Temperature models and orbital data suggest near surface volatile concentrations may exist at briefly lit lunar polar locations outside persistently shadowed regions. A lunar rover could be remotely operated at some of these locations for the approx. 2-14 days of expected sunlight at relatively low cost. Due to the limited operational time available, both science and rover operations decisions must be made in real time, requiring immediate situational awareness, data analysis, and decision support tools. Given these constraints, such a mission requires a new concept of operations. In this paper we outline the results and lessons learned from an analog field campaign in July 2012 which tested operations for a lunar polar rover concept. A rover was operated in the analog environment of Hawaii by an off-site Flight Control Center, a rover navigation center in Canada, a Science Backroom at NASA Ames Research Center in California, and support teams at NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas and NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We find that this type of mission requires highly efficient, real time, remotely operated rover operations to enable low cost, scientifically relevant exploration of the distribution and nature of lunar polar volatiles. The field demonstration illustrated the need for science operations personnel in constant communications with the flight mission operators and the Science Backroom to provide immediate and continual science support and validation throughout the mission. Specific data analysis tools are also required to enable immediate data monitoring, visualization, and decision making. The field campaign demonstrated that this novel methodology of real-time science operations is possible and applicable to providing important new insights regarding lunar polar volatiles for both science and exploration

Acoustically Evoked Auditory Change Complex in Children With Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder: A Potential Objective Tool for Identifying Cochlear Implant Candidates

The overall aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of using electrophysiological measures of the auditory change complex (ACC) to identify candidates for cochlear implantation in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). In order to achieve this overall aim, this study 1) assessed the feasibility of measuring the ACC evoked by temporal gaps in a group of children with ANSD across a wide age range; and 2) investigated the association between gap detection thresholds (GDTs) measured by the ACC recordings and open-set speech-perception performance in these subjects

Cost-effectiveness of telecare for people with social care needs: the Whole Systems Demonstrator cluster randomised trial

Purpose of the study: to examine the costs and cost-effectiveness of ‘second-generation’ telecare, in addition to standard support and care that could include ‘first-generation’ forms of telecare, compared with standard support and care that could include ‘first-generation’ forms of telecare. Design and methods: a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial with nested economic evaluation. A total of 2,600 people with social care needs participated in a trial of community-based telecare in three English local authority areas. In the Whole Systems Demonstrator Telecare Questionnaire Study, 550 participants were randomised to intervention and 639 to control. Participants who were offered the telecare intervention received a package of equipment and monitoring services for 12 months, additional to their standard health and social care services. The control group received usual health and social care. Primary outcome measure: incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. The analyses took a health and social care perspective. Results: cost per additional QALY was £297,000. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves indicated that the probability of costeffectiveness at a willingness-to-pay of £30,000 per QALY gained was only 16%. Sensitivity analyses combining variations in equipment price and support cost parameters yielded a cost-effectiveness ratio of £161,000 per QALY. Implications: while QALY gain in the intervention group was similar to that for controls, social and health services costs were higher. Second-generation telecare did not appear to be a cost-effective addition to usual care, assuming a commonly accepted willingness to pay for QALYs