Modelling Structural Change in Money Demand Using a Fourier-Series Approximation

The paper develops a simple method that can be used to test for a time-varying intercept and to approximate its form. The test is solidly grounded in asymptotic theory and has good small-sample properties. The methodology is based on the fact that a Fourier approximation can capture the variation in any absolutely integrable function of time. As such, it is possible to use successive applications of the test to "back-out" the form of the time-varying intercept. We illustrate the methodology using an extended example concerning the demand for money.structural break; fourier approximations; money demand

Implementation and Evaluation of a Community-Based Falls Prevention Program

This paper documents the program development and evaluation of a fall prevention series conducted at a local continuing care retirement community (CCRC). Previous literature has illustrated the prevalence of falls in older adults, as well as the significant impacts of fall prevention programs in community-based settings for the well elderly. The methodology that guided this program was based on the Lifestyle Redesign: Well Elderly Study (Mandel et.al, 1999). Coordinators of the CCRC assisted in conducting a needs assessment as well as in selecting well-elderly participants in the independent living community who they felt would be well suited for the program. Once admitted to the program, participants were encouraged to attend a three-week lecture series regarding fall preventions delivered by this author. The sessions were tailored to the specific retirement community and utilized a variety of teaching approaches in order to address their needs. The topics in the sessions included fall prevalence and risk factors, exercise and physical activity, and home modifications as they relate to fall prevention. Information was collected relevant to fall prevention knowledge and current fall prevention practices in the first and last sessions in the form of a pre-test and a post-test. These two tests were independent of one another, however highlighted that individuals in the program gained knowledge relevant to fall prevention and implemented various changes into their daily habits and routines in order to prevent falls. However, as a result of inconsistent attendance and independently developed test measures, no widespread conclusions could be generalized to all of the participants in the program. It is recommended that participants at this CCRC would benefit from long-term fall prevention programming with a more comprehensive approach, as well as a team effort from other staff to ensure that individuals consistently attend sessions

Role of Sensation in Altered Phalanx Grip Force in Persons with Stroke

Many individuals experience hand impairment after stroke leading to decreased ability to perform daily living activities. Previous research studies have investigated how stroke survivors\u27 pinch grip control differs from healthy individuals, even though many individuals can only grasp with power grip after stroke. Furthermore, many stroke survivors experience tactile sensory deficit in their paretic limb in addition to motor deficit. It is currently unknown how stroke induced tactile sensory deficit affects power grip force directional control, which is important in terms of preventing object slippage and power grip normal force generation. Additionally it is unknown if power grip could be improved through tactile sensory enhancement. This dissertation investigated how stroke survivors\u27 power grip force control is different from healthy individuals. Also, the effect of stroke induced tactile sensory deficit on power grip force control and the benefits of a sensory enhancement method using remote subsensory vibrotactile noise on power grip phalanx force deviation was assessed. In addition, the effect of noise on the tactile sensation for stroke survivors with tactile sensory deficit and their performance on two dynamic gripping tasks, the Box and Block Test (`BBT\u27, number of blocks moved in 60 seconds) and the Nine Hole Peg Test (`NHPT\u27, time to pick up, place, and remove 9 pegs from 9 holes), were investigated. The theoretical framework of this dissertation is that tactile sensation is critical for grip control and impairment or enhancement of tactile sensation impacts power grip force control post stroke. Results showed that stroke survivors, especially those with tactile sensory deficit, gripped with increased phalanx force deviation compared to healthy individuals, showing reduced directional force control and increasing their chances of dropping objects. Remote subsensory vibrotactile noise improved fingertip and upper palm tactile sensation for stroke survivors with tactile sensory deficit. The noise also improved phalanx force directional control during power grip (reducing phalanx force deviation) for stroke survivors with and without tactile sensory deficit and age-matched healthy controls and improved the BBT score and time to complete the NHPT for stroke survivors with tactile sensory deficit. Overall, stroke survivors, particularly those with tactile sensory deficit, appear to have reduced phalanx force control during power grip, which may biomechanically result from a muscle activation pattern. Remote subsensory vibrotactile noise may have enhanced tactile sensation and hand motor control via stochastic resonance and interneuronal connections and could have potential as a wearable rehabilitation device for stroke survivors. This dissertation contributes to the long term goal of increasing stroke survivors\u27 independence in completing daily living activities

Resonant tunneling of electromagnetic waves through polariton gaps

We consider resonant tunneling of electromagnetic waves through an optical barrier formed by dielectric layers with the frequency dispersion of their dielectric permiability. The frequency region between lower and upper polariton branches in these materials presents a stop band for electromagnetic waves. We show that resonance tunneling through this kind of barriers is qualitatevely different from tunneling through other kind of optical barriers as well as from quantum mechanic tunneling through a rectangular barrier. We find that the width of the resonance maxima of the transmission coeffcient tends to zero as frequency approach the lower boundary of the stop band in a very sharp non-analytical way. Resonance transmission peaks give rise to new photonic bands inside the stop band if one considers periodical array of the layers.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Government Revenue From Inflation in Open Economies with Fixed Exchange Rates

In a closed and stationary economy, real government revenue from the Issue of fiat money Is maximized when the rate of issue is such that the elasticity of the demand for real money balances with respect to the rate of inflation is unity. However, Friedman [1971] has shown that this result for a stationary economy does not carry over to a growing economy. In the case of a growing economy, the optimum rate of inflation for the maximization of government revenue from the issue of fiat money is lower than for a stationary economy

Multibarrier tunneling

We study the tunneling through an arbitrary number of finite rectangular opaque barriers and generalize earlier results by showing that the total tunneling phase time depends neither on the barrier thickness nor on the inter-barrier separation. We also predict two novel peculiar features of the system considered, namely the independence of the transit time (for non resonant tunneling) and the resonant frequency on the number of barriers crossed, which can be directly tested in photonic experiments. A thorough analysis of the role played by inter-barrier multiple reflections and a physical interpretation of the results obtained is reported, showing that multibarrier tunneling is a highly non-local phenomenon.Comment: RevTex, 7 pages, 1 eps figur