Cosmic acceleration and phantom crossing in f(T)f(T)-gravity

In this paper, we propose two new models in $f(T)$ gravity to realize universe acceleration and phantom crossing due to dark torsion in the formalism. The model parameters are constrained and the observational test are discussed. The best fit results favors an accelerating universe with possible phantom crossing in the near past or future followed respectively by matter and radiation dominated era.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, Will appear in Astrophys Space Sc

Social exclusion and social isolation in later life

Social exclusion and social isolation refer to situations in which people are detached from society. A key distinction between the two terms is that social isolation is conceptualized and operationalized as an individual-level characteristic of being detached from social contacts, whereas social exclusion emphasizes broader and multifaceted or multidimensional societal conditions that produce poverty and inequality which reduce people’s abilities to participate in society. In this chapter, we discuss the origins, core components, and measurement of social exclusion and social isolation. We describe how the two concepts have been measured in empirical research, drawing examples from studies focused on older adults. Empirical studies document that older adults in general are relatively vulnerable to both, although disparities are documented on the basis of gender, socioeconomic status, and other individual-level characteristics. Both social exclusion and social isolation are associated with detrimental effects on health and well-being

Regression-based response probing for assessing the validity of survey questions

We describe a procedure for assessing the validity of survey questions. Response probes are administered which ask respondents to say in their own words what came to mind when answering the question. The verbatim responses are coded to a frame which captures the conceptual content of the responses and are then included as predictors in a regression model, where the question that was used to elicit the verbatim responses is specified as the outcome. Controls are included so that the estimated coefficients of the model can be used to interpret whether and to what extent the different cognitive frames identified in the verbatim data align with responses to the question. The technique can be extended to include split-ballot designs, where variants of the target question are randomised across groups. We illustrate the procedure using two example questions: interpersonal trust and fear of crime