When third spaces become therapeutic: The value of complementary therapies and the search for meaning in tertiary care cancer

There is a side to suffering that is surprisingly resilient during times of extreme adversity.Within the context of patient-centred care, “third spaces” are public spaces that exist in-between the home and work environments that allow people to gather informally to offer support, empathy and learn from each other.With the current movement towards whole person care, patients have become increasingly vocal about the need for and the value of physical ‘third spaces” within tertiary clinical settings that provide opportunity to just be, to share, to give or to receive support. Patients who participate in meaning making workshops, yoga, creative arts therapies, or mindfulness sessions have reported the benefits of experiencing a safe place to explore difficult emotions, discover connections, and confront existential questions.  TThe MUHC Cedars CanSupport is a vital non-profit program at the McGill University Health Centre under the Cancer Care Mission’s Supportive and Palliative Care Division. A variety of complementary therapies are offered individually or in groups/workshops to cancer patients and their families as adjuvant therapies to conventional cancer treatments. These therapies aim to increase self-awareness and self-expression, and to reignite agency during times of suffering.This presentation will include testimonials to describe the unique and beneficial  experiences patients have derived from complementary therapies. The perspectives of healthcare providers, who are simultaneously facilitators, participants, and witnesses to the search for meaning, will also be explored. Taken together, these narratives can lead to further insight and innovative practices to facilitate the transformational potential for growth during deep suffering.

Adult Development: Capturing New Ways of Thinking About the Life Course

We outline first a brief overview of a four-fold typology of developmental theory (biological, psychological, sociocultural an integrative models). We then discuss work that illustrates two of these frames: the sociocultural, which includes racial and ethnic, and relational aspects of development; and the integrative, focusing on time, development as narrative, and spiritual development. We close with a commentary on the current developmental literature and how this literature challenges our practice as adult educators

Stable cointegrating regressions: Fully-modified estimates for inflation and employment cost indices

This paper investigates the stability of relationships between inflation and changes in employer cost for labor using tests based on the null hypothesis of no cointegration (Gregory and Hansen (1996a)) as well as tests based on the null hypothesis of cointegration (Hansen (1992)). In addition to specifications which include wages or unit labor cost, employment cost indices for compensation and wages are used to eliminate composition bias over the business cycle. Empirical results support stability and fully-modified estimates are obtained using the semiparametric approach of Phillips (1995). In contrast to studies which have found only one-way causality, this paper presents empirical evidence of feedback between inflation and employer cost for labor, consistent with an expectations-adjusted Phillips's Curve.Stable cointegrating regressions · expectations-adjusted Philips Curve · employment cost indices

Wavelet Transforms and Commodity Prices

Traders in commodity markets may have different time horizons. This paper uses a scale analysis to investigate heterogeneous trading in such markets. Estimates are presented for price correlations by scale and long memory in the volatility of commodity prices. Wavelet variance is estimated using non-decimated wavelet transforms. Wavelets have the potential to be a useful tool for scale analysis in economics.

Are there exploitable inefficiencies in the futures market for oil?”

Abstract If the crude oil futures market is not efficient in the Fama sense, profitable trading opportunities may exist. This paper uses an artificial neural network model with moving average crossover inputs to predict price in the crude oil futures market. The predictions of price are used to construct buy and sell signals for traders. Compared to those of benchmark models, cumulative returns, year-to-year returns, returns over a market cycle, and Sharpe ratios all favor the ANN model by a large factor. The significant profitability of the ANN model casts doubt on the efficiency of the oil futures market.