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Given the complex association between substance use disorders (SUD), comorbid mental health problems and criminal recidivism in forensic patients, homogenous patient classes can contribute to a refined treatment. This paper aims to construct those classes in forensic patients (N = 286) diagnosed with SUD, unconditionally released between 2004 and 2013 of one of ten Dutch forensic psychiatric centers.

Retrospective data were derived from electronic patient files. Classes were based on the Dutch risk assessment tool, the Historisch Klinisch Toekomst-Revisie (Historical Clinical Future–Revised [HKT-R]) and identified by means of explorative Latent Class Analysis in Latent Gold version 5.1. In a three-step approach, posterior class memberships were related to external variables (i.e. diagnoses, type of drug and type of offence).

Four classes were identified that differ in the risk of recidivism, as well as Axis I and II diagnoses and type of drug consumption.

This study informed on the heterogeneity of forensic patients with SUD and identified four homogenous classes that differ in important variables for the treatment approach. Based on these classes, a more refined treatment approach can be developed. Possible treatment approaches are discussed, but future research is needed to provide evidence.

This study is the first to identify classes within forensic patients with SUD and, therefore, sets the first step to develop a tailored treatment approach based on characteristics informative for treatment.

A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness.

Treatment satisfaction of different mental disorders is still poorly understood, but of high clinical interest. Inpatients of a general psychiatric care hospital were asked to fill out questionnaires on satisfaction and clinical variables at admission and discharge. On the basis of an exploratory approach, differences in treatment satisfaction among diagnostic groups were examined by means of one-way analysis of variance. Potential associated clinical and socio-demographic variables were studied using multi/univariate tests. Patients with personality disorders (n=18) showed a significantly lower treatment satisfaction (ZUF-8, Zurich Satisfaction Questionnaire) and a slightly lower improvement of symptoms (CGI, Clinical Global Impression) and global functioning (GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning scale) than that of other diagnostic groups (n=95). Satisfaction in patients with personality disorders correlated much stronger with the symptom improvement and slightly with the functioning level than in patients without personality disorders. Interestingly, in patients with personality disorders psychopharmacological treatment in general (present versus not present) was independent from satisfaction. This exploratory investigation suggests that a lower satisfaction of patients with personality disorders in a general psychiatric hospital is mainly based on a reduced improvement of the symptoms and of the global functioning level.

The case presents a financing dilemma at a fast growing, Brazilian construction company. The growing demand for residential and commercial real estate in Brazil, coupled with the capital intensive nature of the industry generates the need for a considerable external financing. The students are invited to take the perspective of the financial manager and evaluate three financing alternatives – an issue of debentures, a seasoned equity offering, and a capital-raising ADR offering. In their evaluation and final recommendation students need to consider the implications of each of the financing alternatives on firm value, equity risk, cost of capital, financial leverage, issuance costs, and ownership structure. The case also presents a valuable opportunity to discuss the interdependence between the institutional development of an economy and the development of its capital markets.

The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of the variation of microstructural features on macroscopic and microscopic fields. The application of multi-scale methods in the context of constitutive modeling of microheterogeneous materials requires the choice of a representative volume element (RVE) of the considered microstructure, which may be based on some idealized assumptions and/or on experimental observations. In any case, a realistic microstructure within the RVE is either computationally too expensive or not fully accessible by experimental measurement techniques, which introduces some uncertainty regarding the microstructural features.

In this paper, a systematical variation of microstructural parameters controlling the morphology of an RVE with an idealized microstructure is conducted and the impact on macroscopic quantities of interest as well as microstructural fields and their statistics is investigated. The study is carried out under macroscopically homogeneous deformation states using the direct micro-macro scale transition approach.

The variation of microstructural parameters, such as inclusion volume fraction, aspect ratio and orientation of the inclusion with respect to the overall loading, influences the macroscopic behavior, especially the micromechanical fields significantly.

The systematic assessment of the impact of microstructural parameters on both macroscopic quantities and statistics of the micromechanical fields allows for a quantitative comparison of different microstructure morphologies and a reliable identification of microstructural parameters that promote failure initialization in microheterogeneous materials.

We examine the mode of international expansion as an equilibrium governance contract between home country and host country factor owner. The focus is on agency costs, a form of transactions costs. Two phenomena are shown to be related to the agency costs imposed by factor owners: (i) the choice of different modes of international expansion by one firm in different locations, and (ii) the simultaneous occurrence of several forms of foreign involvement in the same location. We attempt to characterize the dynamic relationship between the mode of an offshore operation and changes in factor market conditions that affect agency costs.

This paper aims to provide a reliable statistical model for time-series prices of short-stay accommodation and overnight stays in a eurozone country.

Exploiting the unit root feature, the cointegrated vector autoregressive model solves the problem of misspecification. Subsequently, variables are modelled for a long-run equilibrium with included deterministic variables.

The empirical results confirmed that overnight stays for foreign tourists were positively associated with the prices of short-stay accommodation.

The major limitation lies in the data vector and its time horizon; its extension could provide a more specific view.

Findings can assist practitioners and hotel executives by providing the information and rationale for adopting seasonal volatility pricing. Structural breaks in price time-series have practical implications for setting seasonal-pricing schemes. Tourists could benefit either from greater price stability or from differentiated seasonal prices, which are important in the promotion of the price attractiveness of the tourist destination.

The originality of the paper lies in the applied unit root econometrics for tourism price time-series modelling and the prediction of short-stay accommodation prices.

Low cost financing in establishing economical development is very important. At this point, financial intermediaries provide great contributions to economic development by eliminating asymetrical information problem between lender and borrower. It is possible to see capital market in anglo‐saxon countries and banking system in Europe and Japan mostly from historical dimension. However, long term financing is done through capital market in most developed countries at present. It is a common characteristic in countries such as Turkey, Chile and Mexico whose economies are financed by banking system. Singh and Weisse (1998), suggests that it is because of late industrialisation 1. Developing countries are generally those where there is less capital. Therefore attracting both internal and external savings into the banking system (for these countries) is very important from economical development point. At this point, powerful banks are preferred by the investors. Because the possibilty of failure is low (for these banks) 2. The most important factor that effects banks risk structure is public’s role. Because public can effect banks risk structure both at macro and micro level. Public’s influence on bank’s risk structure at macro economic level is due to general economical structure. If the general economic structure has high volatility and is away from consistency, this situation will increase the risk for banking sector. On the other hand, fiscal dominance is one of the main problems especially in developing countries. Fiscal dominance caused by lack of enough public revenue affects banking sector negatively. Thus, a goverment which can not prepare the macro economic environment where banks can function at high productivity will increase banks’ risks. In addition, banks require strict regulations and controlling as its structure is open to fraud. That these regulations are ignored or not prepared will lead to risk accumulation in the sector. It becomes a social responsibility of the state to take necessary cautions as these kinds of issues change a large cost on the society. Within this framework, the aim of our study is to examine public’s role on fragilities in banking sector. These examinations will be conducted for Turkey which experienced a collapse in banking sector in the recent period. In the first and second part of our study, public’s influence on the sector at macro and micro level will be examined. Experiences gained through Turkey example will be presented in the conclusion.

An Assessment of the Temperature Environment likely to be Experienced by Hypersonic Aircraft, Type of Structure Suitable for Use in this Environment and a Detailed Review of the Properties of Nickel Base Alloys, Including their Manufacture and Fabrication, for Structural Use. THE demand for faster and yet faster air‐craft has continued unabated since the Wright Brothers made their first tentative flights some sixty years ago. In 1947 the sound barrier was broken for the first time by the Bell XI. and with the design and development of the Concorde and the American S.S.T. the first stages of breaking the heat barrier have been taken. The next generation of aircraft will be required to fly even faster, and it has been suggested that flight at hypersonic speeds, i.e. Mach 5 and above, will be the next step.