Understanding the current discourse of rehabilitation: With reference to disability models and rehabilitation policies for evaluation research in the South African setting

Evaluation of rehabilitation programmes is essential in order to monitor its effectiveness and relevance. There is however a need to consider policies when conducting evaluation research in rehabilitation. The aim of this paper is to present the theoretical and legislative underpinnings of rehabilitation in South Africa. A narrative review of national and international disability legislation and empirical research in context of rehabilitation was conducted. The findings of this review reveals that as a fluid construct, the discourse of rehabilitation has been underpinned by the changing theoretical and socio-political understandings of disability. This in turn has influenced various international and national health and disability policies and legislations that oversee the implementation of rehabilitation practice. Despite this, there has been little evaluation of public health rehabilitation services in context of these policies and legislations in South Africa. The fluidity of rehabilitation need to be considered when conducting evaluation research in rehabilitation.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Matrix Exponential Stochastic Volatility with Cross Leverage

A multivariate stochastic volatility model with dynamic correlation and leverage effect is described and estimated. The matrix exponential transformation is used to keep the time-varying covariance matrices positive definite. An efficient Bayesian estimation method using Markov chain Monte Carlo is proposed. Of particular interest is our approach for sampling the latent state variables from the conditional posterior distribution, using a blocked multi-move Metropolis-Hastings sampling, in which the proposal density is derived from an approximating linear Gaussian state space model. The proposed model is applied to the daily stock price index, the Japanese bond price index, and the Yen/USD exchange rate returns data.本文フィルはリンク先を参照のこ

Negatively shaping the asylum agenda? The representational strategy and impact of a tabloid news campaign

This article examines coverage presented in a news campaign (on asylum and immigration) by the UK tabloid newspaper, the Sun, from January to March 2003. The analysis reveals how tabloid news conventions rather than government definitions or viewpoints frame the character and contours of campaign representations, an observation that throws into sharp relief existing explanations of elite influence or authority skew. This campaign includes portrayals of the asylum seeker as ‘the other’ or ‘folk devil’, a moral framework explaining their deviant intentions and actions, as well as expressions of irreverence at elite decision-making and government UK asylum policy. Yet it is striking how accompanying tabloid representations of public opinion, featuring consistently through the coverage, offer additional hostility to asylum policy and government officials. The article outlines how such representations and appeals garner the attention of the political elite and elite media on this occasion and develop new concerns over the newspaper’s role in negatively shaping the asylum agenda