The effect of increased part-charges on the health-seeking behaviours of Group 3 workers and their families : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Arts (social policy) at Massey University

This thesis is about health, change and user charges. In 1991 New Zealand embarked in a new direction for the funding of health services, including extensive use of a targeting regime in which 'those that can afford' social services were paying more so that those who could not were paying less. For the 'high-income' families classified as Group 3, this meant that part charges at point of service were increased at all levels of health services. Concerns immediately arose that the income levels had been set too low and would create financial barriers for some 'high-income' families, particularly those on the margin. This thesis explores the demand response of 129 families in Group 3 to the new charges imposed by the Interim Targeting Regime. The survey population is characterised by high incomes and insurance coverage across income levels. Through a nonrandom survey methodology based on the opinions and perceptions of the user community (Group 3 workers and their families), over one-quarter of the survey families reported health services demand being diverted from allopathic medical services. However, even though 25% reported demand diversion, only 11% of families reporting lowered health status. The study also looked at diversion from conventional medicine to alternatives including self-treatment, seeking advice from a chemist, complementary therapies or changing lifestyle habits. The data did not suggest diversion to alternatives equal to the reduction of conventional medical services. Through the use of nonparametric statistical techniques, characteristics of the survey population were analysed in an attempt to begin untangling a complex web of factors affecting the survey population's health services demand when faced with increases in price. Factors included in this study were income level, insurance coverage, health status, gender, family size and composition . Various subsamples of the survey population reported different effects and different magnitudes of demand diversion. The differences between insured and uninsured families were particularly marked. Evidence provided by the user community implicates a high degree of moral hazard within the insured subsample. The study suggests further research on the influence on moral hazard in meeting the stated goals of the reforms. Because the study is nonrandom and exploratory, any claim of representativeness would be unwarranted. However, the study suggests that the attributes of high incomes and insurance coverage may be inherent to Group 3. To more accurately assess the representativeness of any research on the effects of the increase in part charges on Group 3, the study proposes a further clarification of the specific attributes of the families belonging in the Group 3 category is necessary. Finally, the study questions the adequacy of the targeting regime and the increase in part charges for meeting the objectives set out by the health reformers, particularly in respect to the objectives of cost containment and individuals becoming more responsible for their own health

A multistream model for quantum plasmas

The dynamics of a quantum plasma can be described self-consistently by the nonlinear Schroedinger-Poisson system. Here, we consider a multistream model representing a statistical mixture of N pure states, each described by a wavefunction. The one-stream and two-stream cases are investigated. We derive the dispersion relation for the two-stream instability and show that a new, purely quantum, branch appears. Numerical simulations of the complete Schroedinger-Poisson system confirm the linear analysis, and provide further results in the strongly nonlinear regime. The stationary states of the Schroedinger-Poisson system are also investigated. These can be viewed as the quantum mechanical counterpart of the classical Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal modes, and are described by a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations for the electrostatic potential and the stream amplitudes.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

The influence of lifelong learning on mood

Mood state was assessed both before and after four different two-hour classes in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Santa Clara University with the self-report Profile of Mood States-Brief Form (POMS-BF) developed by McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman (1992). Sixty-eight students (60% women), ages 49 to 92, filled in the 5-point mood assessment survey rating how they felt at that moment prior to the start of class and again two hours later, at the end of class. At the start of class these students reported very low levels of negative affect (tension, anger, depression, confusion, fatigue). Following the two-hour Osher class students felt even less angry, less tense, and less depressed than they were before the class. These results are discussed in relation to mood regulation and the detrimental impact of negative affect on cognition (e.g., Wilson, Mendes de Leon, Bennett, Bienias, Evans, 2004)

Hitler’s musical 'Tabula Rasa' - Restitution - Restoration

The works that constitute the submission of this PhD are broken down into the recording series for London/Decca: “Entartete Musik” and the book FORBIDDEN MUSIC – THE JEWISH COMPOSERS BANNED BY THE NAZIS (henceforth: Forbidden Music). Adjacent and central as a means of research was a period of eight years spent as Music Curator at Vienna’s Jewish Museum from 2002–10. This essay begins with an introduction in which I lay out the unique ground covered by both the recording series and Forbidden Music. This is followed by Part I: an exposition of the methodology behind both the recording series and the book. Part II of the thesis offers subjective reflections on the historic and cultural environment that motivated both the book and the recordings, while Part III constitutes a series of reflections on my recovery of music lost or suppressed after 1933; a recovery that started over a quarter of a century ago and continues to raise issues that demand attention. All three sections address the means by which restitution of the musical legacy lost after 1933 may be conceived, mapped out and implemented by musicians and scholars; they may hopefully provide a reference for the restitution of interrupted and truncated cultural narratives in the future

Gluon spectral functions and transport coefficients in Yang--Mills theory

We compute non-perturbative gluon spectral functions at finite temperature in quenched QCD with the maximum entropy method. We also provide a closed loop equation for the spectral function of the energy-momentum tensor in terms of the gluon spectral function. This setup is then used for computing the shear viscosity over entropy ratio $\eta/s$ in a temperature range from about $0.4\, T_c$ to $4.5\, T_c$. The ratio $\eta /s$ has a minimum at about $1.25\, T_c$ with the value of about 0.115. We also discuss extensions of the present results to QCD.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure