Broadband Internet and the Stock Market Investments of Individual Investors

Peer reviewe

Primrose Moore's legacy

The Exegesis "Walking Long Enough" discusses the influences having an impact on my thesis, the novel, Primrose Moore’s Legacy, submitted for the degree of Master of Creative Writing. Primrose Moore’s Legacy is a young adult novel, aimed at the emerging adult. I discuss the genre of Young Adult Fiction and its limitations regarding the interests and psychosocial challenges of emerging adults, today’s Generation Y. The exegesis describes the relationship of these elements to the text. A theme in the novel is the pursuit of happiness, and its relationship to external tangible possessions and internal elements of well-being. The exegesis examines how the study of happiness and positive psychology provide a theoretical background for the novel. My background in psychiatry influenced the creation of the characters in the novel. I discuss the various models I considered, and how I used these in the text. Finally, I examine how the characters are revealed in the text of the novel and the literary principles used in the writing of the novel

Physical and Psychosocial Health in Older Women with Chronic Pain: Comparing Clusters of Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

This investigation examined why some elderly women with severe pain symptoms and impairment in health status were not seen in a tertiary care pain center.Three groups of older (≥60 years) women were included in the study: women seeking chronic pain treatment at a multidisciplinary pain center (N = 49), and research volunteers from the same institution with (N = 28) and without (N = 27) chronic pain. A clustering classification technique was used to identify clusters of older women with similar physical and mental health status.We found three clusters: 1) a healthy cluster (cluster 1: mostly nonclinical women); 2) a cluster with very poor physical and mental health status (cluster 3); and 3) a cluster with low physical health but average mental health (cluster 2). Although only cluster 1 had significantly higher physical health ( P  < 0.001), all three clusters had different mental health ( P  < 0.001). Within cluster 2, clinical women had more pain than nonclinical women, but within cluster 3, this was not so, indicating that mental health issues may create an obstacle to women having their pain appropriately assessed and treated.Our findings support that while disability and pain severity contribute to specialized pain services usage among older women, there is a subgroup of people not receiving pain care for whom these pain symptoms are similar. Further studies are needed to assess the role of health-seeking behavior, coping preferences, referral patterns, and patient–physician communication on access to tertiary pain care for older women.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79094/1/j.1526-4637.2010.00803.x.pd

Intrarace Differences Among Black and White Americans Presenting for Chronic Pain Management: The Influence of Age, Physical Health, and Psychosocial Factors

Objective.  Emerging comparative literature documents significant racial differences in the chronic pain experience in terms of physical, psychological, and social well-being. However, the intrarace differences of chronic pain among black Americans and white Americans has not been extensively investigated. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential within-race-group differential effects and the psychosocial aspects of chronic pain in black and white Americans across age groups. Design.  A retrospective study of patients presenting for chronic pain management. Setting.  A tertiary care multidisciplinary pain center. Patients.  Patients were younger (<50 years) (mean ± SD: 36.7 ± 8.4) and older (≥50 years) (60 ± 9.3) black Americans (N = 525), and younger (36.6 ± 8.1) and older (63 ± 9.8) white Americans (N = 5,298). Outcome Measures.  Participant s were measured on depressive symptoms, social functioning, pain intensity, pain-related disability, and physical comorbidities. Results.  Younger black Americans reported more depressive symptoms, pain intensity, and were less successful at coping with pain when compared to older black Americans. Similar within-group differences were also observed for reports of depressive symptoms, pain intensity, and coping abilities among white Americans. Results further showed that younger white Americans also experienced more symptoms related to post-traumatic distress than older white Americans. Conclusion.  Examining within-race-group variability suggests that chronic pain differentially affects the quality of life and health status of black Americans and white Americans across age groups. This study emphasizes the need for further chronic pain studies examining pain indicators within defined racial and ethnic groups.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73557/1/j.1526-4637.2005.05014.x.pd

Decentralisation and the Centre Right in the UK and Spain:Central Power and Regional Responsibility

The British Conservative Party and the Spanish Partido Popular have been hostile, at least at times, to devolving greater power to regions. Although both parties might be expected to support decentralisation on economically liberal grounds, in fact both have found it extremely difficult to reconcile their centre-right economic instincts with a deeply ingrained commitment to the integrity of the state. This article explores the tension in conservative and liberal ideology between supporting sub-state political responsibility through decentralisation and supporting strong central government able to take long-term (and potentially unpopular) decisions in times of economic crisis. We examine these two parties in light of Toubeau and Wagner’s (2015) framework, finding that market liberalism can be interpreted differently when it comes to decentralisation: both the Partido Popular and the Conservative Party have both at different times used economic justifications for a strong central state. The Partido Popular continues to hold a conservative view of decentralisation and the Conservatives have only recently started to link their market liberalism to a justification for decentralisation. Thus, whilst it is possible to construct a liberal economic case for devolving power away from the central state, one does not necessarily follow the other

Yes or no, the Scottish independence referendum will have a lasting impact on the coherence of the multi-national state

The future of the Union is in doubt, with a ‘yes’ vote in the Scottish referendum on independence still a possibility. The ramifications for the residual union of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are under-explored, with attention focussing mainly on the implications for Scotland. Here, David Melding, the Conservative Welsh Assembly Member for South Wales Central looks at the possibilities