Notes on the applicability of contraction method for stable limit laws

We presented a proof for the classical stable limit laws under use of contraction method in combination with the Zolotarev metric. Furthermore, a stable limit law was proved for scaled sums of growing into sequences. This limit law was alternatively formulated for sequences of random variables defined by a simple degenerate recursion

Unemployment Insurance Application and Receipt: Findings on Demographic Disparities and Suggestions for Change

In this brief, we highlight research published in the October 2012 issue of Monthly Labor Review by Alix Gould-Werth and H. Luke Shaefer of the University of Michigan that examines the extent to which the likelihood of applying for, and of receiving unemployment insurance conditional on application, varies by education level and by racial and ethnic background. Second, we highlight findings showing how perceptions of ineligibility among those who fail to apply may vary by these demographic categories. This research demonstrates that low-educated and racial minority unemployed workers -- those who may need financial support most during periods without work -- are doubly disadvantaged in accessing unemployment insurance: not only do they report lower application rates, but the unemployed who do apply also report lower rates of receipt. Even though the authors' findings leave unanswered questions about the eligibility of non-applicants and the reasons applicants fail to access UI, their evidence suggests that increasing rates of application among disadvantaged populations would narrow the gap in benefit receipt. Thus, after summarizing the relevant findings, we offer recommendations for increasing application rates

Tertiary students with a disability or chronic illness: stigma and study

This paper explores ways to support the learning of students with a disability or chronic illness based on preliminary findings of a University of Southern Queensland study, and supporting secondary literature. It argues that for such students the capacity for greater control and management of their ‘learning journey’ is as important as access to specialised disability support services. This is because reframing support of students with a disability or chronic illness in terms of ‘choice’ and ‘self-management’ allows them to maintain their identity as ‘able, effective students’. This approach is supported by secondary literature, which affirms that for students with an invisible disability or chronic illness there is often a reluctance to be so – labelled because of the associated stigma. Instead, students often manage their illness by making particular choices about their learning, including their mode of study, and which courses to enrol in. This tendency is echoed by preliminary findings from a University of Southern Queensland (USQ) study based on the learning experiences of students with a chronic illness. These and other findings point to the centrality of the student learning experience and have implications for learning and teaching design within both enabling, and broader university curricula. The paper finishes by examining specific curriculum design responses to the issue of student disability, including the development of learning communities and the potential for more inclusive assessment modes and practices

Improved Bounds and Schemes for the Declustering Problem

The declustering problem is to allocate given data on parallel working storage devices in such a manner that typical requests find their data evenly distributed on the devices. Using deep results from discrepancy theory, we improve previous work of several authors concerning range queries to higher-dimensional data. We give a declustering scheme with an additive error of $O_d(\log^{d-1} M)$ independent of the data size, where $d$ is the dimension, $M$ the number of storage devices and $d-1$ does not exceed the smallest prime power in the canonical decomposition of $M$ into prime powers. In particular, our schemes work for arbitrary $M$ in dimensions two and three. For general $d$, they work for all $M\geq d-1$ that are powers of two. Concerning lower bounds, we show that a recent proof of a $\Omega_d(\log^{\frac{d-1}{2}} M)$ bound contains an error. We close the gap in the proof and thus establish the bound.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Catching them is one thing, keeping them is something else: reflections on teaching first year university students

[Abstract]: This paper documents teaching practices that have been identified, by the teaching team, as improving student success rates in a first year tertiary level compulsory subject. Constructivism, scaffolding, social presence and reflective practice are the key concepts which have proved to be successful in transitioning students in this subject to university study. Outcomes have consisted of goal achievement by individual students, increased student retention and success rates

Human resilience to forward falls: adaptation and transfer of stability control

Scoping fall resilience requires knowledge of factors enabling the neuromotor system to transfer stability control between different postural perturbations. This thesis addressed this objective in comprising three different studies on adults across the lifespan. The first study examined the intra- and inter-session reliability of recovery performance across 97 participants at several research centres using two different protocols of a clinical assessment method (lean-and-release task) simulating sudden anterior stability loss, i.e. gradual increase to maximal forward-lean angle vs. predefined lean angle. Independent of the protocol used and participants’ age, reliable assessment of common stability recovery performance parameters using the lean-and-release task could be confirmed. The second study used single exposures to both lean-and-release and a treadmill-based gait trip to investigate the association of recovery performance between unpractised perturbations. We revealed that recovery performance in one task could not significantly explain performance in the other task, indicating limited transfer of fall-resisting skills for anterior perturbations. The third study examined factors (particularly practising stability recovery responses with different perturbation magnitudes) that could elicit or limit transfer to unpractised perturbations. Participants walking on a treadmill were exposed to eight trip perturbations of either low or high magnitude or walked unperturbed (control group). To investigate transfer to unpractised anterior perturbations following walking tasks, all participants underwent a lean-and-release task and an overground trip. Adaptation in stability to repeated gait-perturbations did not lead to enhanced stability recovery in the lean-and-release task but did improve overground trip performance, independent of the practised perturbation magnitude. Lower limb joint angle differences between treadmill- and lean-and-release perturbations for the swing phase of recovery steps were more prolonged and greater as opposed to the comparison of the two gait perturbation tasks. In conclusion, the current work indicates that practising stability control enhances human resilience to unpractised perturbations which is not necessarily dependent on the perturbation magnitude but may partly be subject to similarity in motor response patterns between tasks

Drug-induced dermatomyositis after lacosamide: A case report.

Here we describe a caseof a woman who had DM after treatment withlacosamide. To our knowledge, drug-induced DMfrom lacosamide has not been reported previously