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We provide a new characterization of the equality of two positive-definite matrices A and B, and we use this to propose several new computationally convenient statistical tests for the equality of two unknown positive-definite matrices. Our primary focus is on testing the information matrix equality (e.g. White, 1982, 1994). We characterize the asymptotic behavior of our new trace-determinant information matrix test statistics under the null and the alternative and investigate their finite-sample performance for a variety of models: linear regression, exponential duration, probit, and Tobit. The parametric bootstrap suggested by Horowitz (1994) delivers critical values that provide admirable level behavior, even in samples as small as n = 50. Our new tests often have better power than the parametric-bootstrap version of the traditional IMT; when they do not, they nevertheless perform respectably.

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among UK veterans is higher than in the general population. However, prevalence figures do not reflect the complexity of this phenomenon and ways in which it may be bound up with veterans’ experiences of adjusting to civilian life. The purpose of this study is to explore veterans’ experiences of successfully managing PTSD.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six veterans who had served in the UK armed forces and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Three themes were developed: accepting the problem, taking responsibility and gaining control; talking to the right people; and strategies, antidotes and circling back around. Managing PTSD appeared to be bound up with veterans’ experience of renegotiating their identity, where positive aspects of identity lost on leaving the military were rebuilt and problematic aspects were challenged. Participants sought to speak about their difficulties with others who understood the military context. They felt that their experiences made them a valuable resource to others, and they connected this with a positive sense of identity and value.

The findings suggest the importance of wider provision of peer support and education for civilian health services on veterans’ needs.

This study adds to the understanding of what meaningful recovery from PTSD may involve for veterans, in particular its potential interconnectedness with the process of adjusting to civilian life.

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate an innovative classification system for medieval seals that was created as part of the Seals in Medieval Wales (SiMeW) project, funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The classification system developed in response to the cataloguing challenges associated with rapidly gathering sigillographic information on about 2,500 medieval seals from a number of collections in several UK repositories.

This paper outlines the challenges involved in recording and classifying medieval seals from the British Isles, and describes existing systems for organizing sigillographic information. The SiMeW system is explained as a response to the limitations of existing systems.

Designers of systems for recording seals need to take into account the physical characteristics of seal impressions, matrices, and casts, the strength and limitations of digital media, as well as the need of cataloguers and users.

In recent years scholars have systematically investigated the problems associated with text-based image indexing and retrieval. Nonetheless, medieval seals have been largely overlooked, even though they are common in UK repositories. SiMeW’s system offers cataloguers an example of an approach that they can use in new and existing seal catalogues, to generate metadata that can help make seals, which are a key component of the cultural legacy of the Middle Ages, more accessible to users.

The paper considers the impact of work‐life balance policies on the work and family practices of professional, dual‐earner parents with dependent children, by assessing the extent to which “well‐balanced families” have been resultantly facilitated. It poses two research questions: the first centres on how far work‐life balance policies have better enabled working parents to manage their commitments to employers and children, whilst the second focuses on how far parental and employer responses to work‐life balance policies may be gendered. The ultimate aim is to (re)‐articulate the importance of gender in the work‐life balance agenda.

The paper draws upon historical and conceptual research on work and family practices. It invokes gender as a lens through which notions of the “well‐balanced family” are considered.

It is argued that work‐life balance policies have not led to well‐balanced, or “gender‐neutral”, work and family practices. This is for two reasons, both relating to gender. First, the take up of work‐life balance policies is gendered, with more mothers than fathers working flexibly. This is partly because organizational expectations fail to acknowledge social change around the paternal parenting role. Second, work‐life balance policies focus mainly on the issues of paid work and childcare, failing to take account of domestic labour, the main burden of which continues to be carried by mothers.

Deeply ingrained social assumptions about the gendered division of labour within heterosexual couples limit the impact of work‐life balance policies on work family practices.

The paper moves forward the debate on work‐life balance through taking an interdisciplinary approach to an issue which has often been addressed previously from discipline‐specific approaches such as health, psychology or policy.

It is usually unnecessary to define the output of an industry, but this is not the case with mental health services. Following Grossman's conception of health capital, the outputs of mental health care enter a household production function as a commodity vector. Considering the multiple and heterogeneous nature of the services of this industry, preferences exist in multi‐dimensional space. An application of the characteristics theory of consumer demand associated with Ironmonger and Lancaster illustrates the outputs in terms of two characteristics, viz. symptom alleviation and disability reduction. Representing preferences by indifference curves, in the usual way, clarifies the relationship between mental health care inputs and the outputs of mental health care. The theoretical problem in the economics of mental health care of whether, or how, individual preferences can count is also addressed. It is shown on an indifference map what it means when society institutionalises some individuals. This approach also enables the deinstitutionalisation movement to be placed into an economic context. It is noted that empirical work on goods and services that have multiple characteristics involves the application of hedonic price analysis, a technique already applied in the economic literature on mental health.

Lancaster University was a pioneer in library automation in the early 1970s. The last ten years have seen a consolidation of these early systems, a change to a more effective circulation system, and gradual enhancements. Lack of funding has impeded further developments, but has now led to the development of a strategy which it is hoped will lead to the creation of a ‘future‐proof’ environment based on in‐house developed software using the Pick operating system.

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY LIBRARY In order to fulfil the original aims of MINICS to provide a record structure hospitable to data describing all types of media — monographs, series, serials, etc. — the data fields are being redefined and a new feature incorporated to encode the significance of the contents of fields. The three levels of record — serial/series, monograph or individual item, and analytical are being retained and tags are still two digits. The MINICS record, based on MARC, is made up of a fixed length leader, a variable length directory and variable length data fields. The data fields fall into four categories: control elements, such as accession number, ISSN, ISBN, physical medium code; cataloguing data; linking elements, such as former and later title; and stock maintenance elements, such as frequency of publication, supplier, binding details. A range of field indicators has been defined which, when applied after a tag, show the significance of the data, e.g. whether a main or added heading is required, or distinguish data of a subsidiary nature. These indicators also act as dividers between repeated uses of a field.

The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, to develop a framework for estimating the attractiveness of spas in Japan. Second, based on the results of the estimation, to consider how to attract more tourists.

Attractiveness is defined by the results of questionnaires, composed of a spa's characteristics, cost and accessibility. Using these aspects of the destination as measures of its attractiveness, the paper estimates attractiveness conducted with a destination choice model.

The results of the estimation provide some findings. First, consumers may value the quality of hot springs, with atmosphere as one of the most important elements. Second, the attractiveness varies because of accessibility or cost depending on the origin of each consumer. The management of each spa should consider where their customers are from; they also need to recognize which spas are their competitors.

There are many previous studies dealing with the estimation of attractiveness. However, most of these attractiveness studies do not include cost and accessibility. The attractiveness measures of this study include cost and accessibility, and provide examples of varying degrees of cost and accessibility. In this sense, it can be said that this study has originality.

Data are presented on the benefits and costs that accrue to big game hunters living in the whaling community of Lamalera, Indonesia. Results indicate that big game hunting provides males a strong selective advantage. Harpooners, and to a lesser degree hunters in general, reap substantial fitness benefits from their activities. Hunters, especially harpooners, have significantly more offspring than other men after controlling for age. Hazard analysis shows that harpooners marry significantly earlier and start reproducing at an earlier age. This is not case for other hunt group members or non-hunting participants – the technicians and the boat managers. These results are consistent with data from other hunting societies that show significant reproductive benefits for good hunters. Harpooners experience other costs and benefits. Harpooners receive significantly more meat even after controlling for the effort they expend hunting, while at the same time suffer an increased risk of mortality. The results are discussed in the context of the hunting hypothesis and the current debate within human behavioral ecology concerning the role of hunting as a human male reproductive strategy.

This conceptual piece presents a framework to aid libraries in gaining a more thorough and holistic understanding of their users and services. Through a presentation of the history of library evaluation, a multidimensional matrix of measures is developed that demonstrates the relationship between the topics and perspectives of measurement. These measurements are then combined through evaluation criteria, and then different participants in the library system view those criteria for decision making. By implementing this framework for holistic measurement and cumulative evaluation, library evaluators can gain a more holistic knowledge of the library system and library administrators can be better informed for their decision‐making processes.