Testing an Augmented Fisher Hypothesis for a Small Open Economy: The Case of Nigeria

This paper investigates the relationship between expected inflation and nominal interest rates in Nigeria and the extent to which the Fisher effect hypothesis holds, for the period 1970-2009. We made attempt to advance the field by testing the traditional closed-economy Fisher hypothesis and an augmented Fisher hypothesis by incorporating the foreign interest rate and nominal effective exchange rate variable in the context of a small open developing economy, such as, Nigeria. The stability of the functions was also tested by CUSUM and CUSUMSQ. Our findings tend to suggest: (i) that the nominal interest rates and expected inflation move together in the long run but not on one-to-one basis. This indicates that full Fisher hypothesis does not hold but there is a strong Fisher effect in the case of Nigeria over the period under study (ii) consistency with the international Fisher hypothesis, these domestic variables have a long run relationship with the international variables (iii) in the closed-economy context,the causality run strictly from expected inflation to nominal interest rates as suggested by the Fisher hypothesis and there is no “reverse causation.” But in the open economy context, the expected inflation and international variables contain the information that predict the nominal interest rate(iv) that only about 29 percent of the disequilibrium between long term and short term interest rate is corrected within the year. (v) finally, CUSUM test stability of the coefficients

Deep convolutional neural networks for segmenting 3D in vivo multiphoton images of vasculature in Alzheimer disease mouse models

The health and function of tissue rely on its vasculature network to provide reliable blood perfusion. Volumetric imaging approaches, such as multiphoton microscopy, are able to generate detailed 3D images of blood vessels that could contribute to our understanding of the role of vascular structure in normal physiology and in disease mechanisms. The segmentation of vessels, a core image analysis problem, is a bottleneck that has prevented the systematic comparison of 3D vascular architecture across experimental populations. We explored the use of convolutional neural networks to segment 3D vessels within volumetric in vivo images acquired by multiphoton microscopy. We evaluated different network architectures and machine learning techniques in the context of this segmentation problem. We show that our optimized convolutional neural network architecture, which we call DeepVess, yielded a segmentation accuracy that was better than both the current state-of-the-art and a trained human annotator, while also being orders of magnitude faster. To explore the effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease on capillaries, we applied DeepVess to 3D images of cortical blood vessels in young and old mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and wild type littermates. We found little difference in the distribution of capillary diameter or tortuosity between these groups, but did note a decrease in the number of longer capillary segments ($>75\mu m$) in aged animals as compared to young, in both wild type and Alzheimer's disease mouse models.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Assessment of Core CBT Skills (ACCS): An Observation Based Tool for Assessing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Competence

This paper outlines the development and psychometric evaluation of the Assessment of Core CBT Skills (ACCS) rating scale. The ACCS aims to provide a novel assessment framework to deliver formative and summative feedback regarding therapists’ performance within observed cognitive-behavioural treatment sessions, and for therapists to rate and reflect on their own performance. Findings from three studies are outlined: 1) a feedback study (N = 66) examining content validity, face validity and usability, 2) a focus group (N = 9) evaluating usability and utility, and 3) an evaluation of the psychometric properties of the ACCS in ‘real world’ CBT training and routine clinical practice contexts. Results suggest that the ACCS has good face validity, content validity, and usability and provides a user-friendly tool that is useful for promoting self-reflection and providing formative feedback. Scores on both the self and assessor-rated versions of the ACCS demonstrate good internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and discriminant validity. In addition, ACCS scores were found to be correlated with, but distinct from the Revised Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS-R) and were comparable to CTS-R scores in terms of internal consistency and discriminant validity. Additionally, the ACCS may have advantages over the CTS-R in terms of inter-rater reliability of scores. The studies also provided insight into areas for refinement and a number of modifications were undertaken to improve the scale. In summary, the ACCS is an appropriate and useful measure of CBT competence that can be used to promote self-reflection and provide therapists with formative and summative feedback

The Effect of Federal Government Size on Economic Growth in Nigeria, 1961-2011

This study investigates whether there is statistical evidence for a causal relationship between federal government expenditures and growth in real per-capita GDP in the Nigeria, using long and up to date available time series data (1961-2011). After studying the time-series properties of these variables for stationarity and cointegration, we adopted Toda and Yamamoto’s (1995) Granger non-causality tests and investigate Granger causality in detail in the context of a Vector Autoregressive Model. The Empirical results from cointegration test indicate that there exists no long-run relationship between government expenditure and economic growth in Nigeria. The Toda and Yamamoto’s causality test results show that Wagner’s Law does not hold over the period being tested. However, using VAR Granger causality test we found a weak empirical support in the proposition by Keynes that public expenditure is an exogenous factor and a policy instrument for increasing national income in the short run. Keywords: Federal government size, Wagner’s Law, Cointegration, Granger causality, Vector Autoregressio

The Effect of Federal Government Size on Economic Growth in Nigeria, 1961-2011

This study investigates whether there is statistical evidence for a causal relationship between federal government expenditures and growth in real per-capita GDP in the Nigeria, using long and up to date available time series data (1961-2011). After studying the time-series properties of these variables for stationarity and cointegration, we adopted Toda and Yamamoto’s (1995) Granger non-causality tests and investigate Granger causality in detail in the context of a Vector Autoregressive Model. The Empirical results from cointegration test indicate that there exists no long-run relationship between government expenditure and economic growth in Nigeria. The Toda and Yamamoto’s causality test results show that Wagner’s Law does not hold over the period being tested. However, using VAR Granger causality test we found a weak empirical support in the proposition by Keynes that public expenditure is an exogenous factor and a policy instrument for increasing national income in the short run. Keywords: Federal government size, Wagner’s Law, Cointegration, Granger causality, Vector Autoregressio

Cutter Assembly for Microscope and Related Method

A low-profile cutter assembly for use on a microscope and related cutting method are provided. The cutter assembly includes a support subassembly having a mounting ring for receiving and engaging the objective of a microscope. A cutter subassembly carried by the support subassembly is displaceable between a home and a forward position in response to actuation. Upon reaching the forward position, additional actuation causes the front end of the cutter subassembly to pivot toward the stage, thereby placing a cutter adjacent to or in contact with the specimen. By selectively actuating the cutter subassembly, multiple cuts may be performed, as necessary or desired for cutting a spore or isolating a particular specimen

An Exploration of Biopsychosocial and Marital Health in Military Couples Using Heart Rate Variability

In the United States there are approximately 3.6 million military personnel, over half of which are married. Few researchers have focused on the biological, psychological, and social health of military couples despite the significant presence of military couples in the U.S., and the unique experiences and stressors that military couples are faced with compared to civilian couples. One way to capture the experience of military couples is to use heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological assessment that measures an individual's stress response and relaxation. Heart rate variability captures the amount of distress experienced by an individual because it is a physiological response to biological, psychological, and social stress. The present study focuses on the experience of male military personnel and their female spouses. This project includes literature and analysis of biological factors (BMI, blood pressure, and medical diagnoses), psychological factors (emotional problems, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and level of global distress), social factors (family and practical problems), marital adjustment, and HRV from each partner in the military couple dyad. The significant contribution of this study is the exploration of the individual biopsychosocial health of "his" (military personnel) and "her" (spouse) relationship using assessment of physiological stress through the inclusion of heart rate variability. This research provides information and analyses on the types of biopsychosocial stressors affecting military couples and how the nature of biopsychosocial health in military couples affects military marriages. Implications from this research provide data and recommendations to help health professionals and researchers better understand and serve military couples.  M.S

A THREE WORLD VIEW META-EVALUATION OF INTEGRATED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE

Integrated behavioral health care (IBHC), the simultaneous interface of medical and behavioral health care, is an emerging solution for the delivery of behavioral health in primary care contexts. While significant scholarship has been devoted to conceptualizing integrated care, little seems to be known about how IBHC is evaluated at the clinical, operational, and financial levels. This dissertation's intent is to evaluate IBHC according to those three levels as conceptualized by Peek's Three World view (2008). The success and sustainability of IBHC depends equally on the clinical, operational, and financial worlds of healthcare. This dissertation includes a systematic review on IBHC evaluation research, and presents the methodology and results from a survey distributed nationwide to 145 medical and behavioral health providers and administrators working in IBHC primary care settings. This dissertation concludes with research, evaluation, policy, and training implications and recommendations for measuring clinical, operational, and financial outcomes of integrated behavioral health care

What Patients Want to Know about Imaging Examinations: A Multiinstitutional U.S. Survey in Adult and Pediatric Teaching Hospitals on Patient Preferences for Receiving Information before Radiologic Examinations

Purpose To identify what information patients and parents or caregivers found useful before an imaging examination, from whom they preferred to receive information, and how those preferences related to patient-specific variables including demographics and prior radiologic examinations. Materials and Methods A 24-item survey was distributed at three pediatric and three adult hospitals between January and May 2015. The χ2 or Fisher exact test (categorical variables) and one-way analysis of variance or two-sample t test (continuous variables) were used for comparisons. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine associations between responses and demographics. Results Of 1742 surveys, 1542 (89%) were returned (381 partial, 1161 completed). Mean respondent age was 46.2 years ± 16.8 (standard deviation), with respondents more frequently female (1025 of 1506, 68%) and Caucasian (1132 of 1504, 75%). Overall, 78% (1117 of 1438) reported receiving information about their examination most commonly from the ordering provider (824 of 1292, 64%), who was also the most preferred source (1005 of 1388, 72%). Scheduled magnetic resonance (MR) imaging or nuclear medicine examinations (P < .001 vs other examination types) and increasing education (P = .008) were associated with higher rates of receiving information. Half of respondents (757 of 1452, 52%) sought information themselves. The highest importance scores for pre-examination information (Likert scale ≥4) was most frequently assigned to information on examination preparation and least frequently assigned to whether an alternative radiation-free examination could be used (74% vs 54%; P < .001). Conclusion Delivery of pre-examination information for radiologic examinations is suboptimal, with half of all patients and caregivers seeking information on their own. Ordering providers are the predominant and preferred source of examination-related information, with respondents placing highest importance on information related to examination preparation