This thesis addresses a long-standing puzzle in empirical econometrics: Does the size distribution of income matter in the aggregate consumption function? Current opinion on whether distribution matters is divided. There is also a lack of consensus (among those who believe distribution effects exist) on the nature of such effects; that is, whether a decrease or an increase in income inequality is needed to stimulate aggregate demand. In this thesis, the previous or existing tests are challenged on the grounds that they do not properly take into account the causal link between the variability of the marginal, not the average, propensity to consume (with respect to the income level) and the existence of distribution effects. This particular link is taken care of, however, if one tests for the linearity (in income) of the micro relation underlying one's aggregate consumption function. The rejection of the linearity hypothesis will establish the existence of distribution effects. Ex post, if the nonlinear relation is such that the marginal propensity to consume declines with income, it also follows that an equalization in the income distribution produces greater aggregate consumption. The theoretical contribution of this thesis lies in the clarification of these issues. On the empirical side, this thesis cautions against the casual use of the term "distribution effects". In the current income-current expenditure framework of the Keynesians, it refers to "the effect of a redistribution of real disposable income" on aggregate real consumers' expenditure. In the Permanent Income Hypothesis framework, however, it could mean either "the effect of a redistribution of real disposable income" or "the effect of a redistribution of real permanent income" on aggregate real consumption. In this thesis, the distributions of real disposable income and real permanent income are alternatively assumed to follow the lognormal density, and two conclusions are empirically determined: I. The distribution of real disposable income matters in the current income-current expenditure framework---this result is statistically significant at a 10% level after the correction for serial correlation and simultaneity bias. In particular, the estimates indicate that the marginal propensity to consume declines with the level of real disposable income and, hence, a decrease in inequality would stimulate aggregate demand. II. The elasticity of consumption out of real permanent income is unity; therefore, the distribution of real permanent income does not matter in the Permanent Income Hypothesis framework---this result is statistically. significant at all conventional levels of significance both before and after the correction for serial correlation. Both findings are based on aggregative time-series data for Canada. The consumer unit in this thesis is an individual income-recipient, and the data period is 1947-1976. Maximum-likelihood procedures have been used in the estimation, with proper allowance for across-parameter constraints. In the event of correction for serial correlation, the autocorrelation coefficient is constrained to the open-interval (+1,-1). The results are also double-checked by examining many avenues that might affect the nature of the outcomes. Another contribution of this study is the compilation of data on the distribution of pre-tax personal income (in current dollars) in Canada under the lognormality hypothesis. The parameters of this distribution are determined using the minimum chi-square method. Estimates of the variance (of logarithms of income) parameter show a slight increase in income inequality over the period 1946 to 1976. The data on this parameter are used to approximate the variance of logarithms for the distribution of real disposable income (while establishing result I) and also the same for the distribution of real permanent income (while establishing the result II). / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) balance impairments may lead to increased falls and mobility loss. In quiet stance, people with MS display greater postural sway than healthy controls. Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art that has decreased the risk of falling in frail elderly individuals (Wolf et al., 1996). The purpose of this study was to determine if a three week Tai Chi intervention would improve postural stability in people with MS. Seven participants (6F/1M, age 48.5 ± 10.8 years, height 1.66 ± 0.08m, mass 68.6 ± 19.8kg) attended nine one hour training sessions to practice two types of Tai Chi: standing meditation and slow walking. Postural stability was assessed before and after training using average center of pressure (CoP) velocity, total excursion and time to contact (TtC) for the static trials, and dual and single limb support times for the walking trials. To measure postural stability trials of quiet stance (QS), Tai Chi standing meditation with (SMA) and without arms (SM), tandem stance (TS), preferred speed walking (PW) and slow speed walking (SW) were assessed. Kinematic data recorded by a 12 camera motion capture system (Qualysis AB), and kinetic data collected from a single forceplate (AMTI) were used to compute net CoP. Because functional parameters can influence stability, strength obtained from a chair rise test and neural drive obtained from a foot tapping test were obtained. All results were assessed with paired t-tests (p.05). For SMA, average CoP velocity (p=.006) and excursions (p=.023) increased, and average TtC (p=.020) was reduced. For TS average CoP velocity (p=.06) and excursions (p=.09) trended towards decreased values, and average TtC (p=.045) increased. With the exception of increased left single limb support time (p=.009) PW and SW were not affected by the intervention. In conclusion, the increased neural drive, muscular strength, and postural stability in TS supports the idea that a three week Tai Chi intervention is effective at improving static balance in people with MS.

Eine Schwäche der Atemmuskulatur tritt als häufige „Klinik“ bei Herz-Lungenerkrankungen, Kritisch-Kranken und Maschinell-Beatmeten auf. Als Hauptatemmuskel ist vornehmlich das Zwerchfell - die Luftpumpe des Lebens – betroffen und Belastungsintoleranz, pulmonale Komplikationen sowie eine verschlechterte Gesamtprognose die mögliche Folgen. Typisches Charakteristikum einer Diaphragmalen Dysfunktion ist die abnorme mikrovaskuläre Blut- und Sauerstoffversorgung. Hier ent- und besteht ein Milieu aus Gewebshypoxie, vermehrten Sauerstoffradikalen, Inflammation (Zytokinerhöhung) und gestörter Proteinhomöostase. Dieses wird verdächtigt, einen Prozess von Atrophie und kontraktiler Dysfunktion in Gang zu setzen. Der Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A spielt als Protein der Gefäßhomöostase eine entscheidende Rolle in der skelettmuskulären Kapillaritätsregulation und ermöglicht den Myofibrillen die Anpassung an (Trainings-)Aktivität oder Inaktivität. Für das Zwerchfell sind Inaktivität unter Beatmung und erhöhte Beanspruchung unter CHI, COPD und bei Kritisch-Kranken bekannt. Einendes Element dieser Krankheitsbilder auf skelettmuskulärer Ebene scheint die abnorme Sauerstoffversorgung. Das Diaphragma wurde bisher wenig untersucht - bekannt ist die hohe Empfindlichkeit des Zwerchfells auf eine veränderte, skelettmuskuläre Homöostase aus Tiermodellen zu CHI, Bluthochdruck, COPD und VIDD. Es ist unklar, ob eine niedrigere VEGF-Expression zur Dysfunktion beiträgt. An gängigen Tiermodellen mit konditioniertem skelettmuskulärem VEGF-Knockout wurde bisher für das Diaphragma weder eine reduzierte kontraktile Funktion in vitro beschrieben noch eine direkte Verbindung zwischen Zwerchfelldysfunktion und reduzierter VEGF-Expression untersucht. In unserer Arbeit gelang es uns nach konditioniertem VEGF-Mangel in diaphragmalen Muskelproben eine reduzierte Kraft (-15%) nachzuweisen. Hinzu kamen spezifische Faserveränderungen der Knockoutgruppe: Ein reduzierter Typ I-Faserquerschnitt und ein reduziertes Kapillar-Faser-Verhältnis. Zudem zeigt die Knockoutgruppe eine reduzierte Expression des kontraktilen Hauptproteins Aktin. Weitere Signaltransduktionsproteine für Muskelatrophie und oxidativen Stress wurden charakterisiert. Letztlich weist diese Arbeit den Kontraktilitätsverlust im Diaphragma bei skelettmuskulärem VEGF-Mangel am Mausmodell nach. Als Ursache dafür sind eingeschränkte Kapillarität, Faseratrophie und sarkolemmales Aktindefizit zu sehen. Vermehrte postulierte Sauerstoffradikale konnten nicht aufgezeigt werden. Möglicherweise aufgrund einer mitochondrialen Kompensation. Der diaphragmale VEGF-Mangel könnte den Schlüsselfaktor für den Beginn der Zwerchfelldysfunktion darstellen und ein möglicher therapeutischer Ansatzpunkt für betroffene Patienten sein.

The LOOK, an iOS app, is a viewing time measure used to assess sexual interest. The measure is based on the assumption that sexual interest can be assessed by the amount of time a participant spends looking at an image. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of the LOOK, a newly developed viewing time instrument, to accurately screen and diagnose individuals with deviant sexual interest. The profiles of known sexual offenders were compared to norm-referenced profiles of an exclusively heterosexual, non-pedophilic, male, college student population. Researchers were not able to find a fair constant multiplier that would allow for a positive screen of our offender sample while not over identifying our non-offender sample. Instead a graph was generated which showed the trends of offenders were closely related to those of non-offenders using Fischer’s Chi-square model. Additionally, when looking at the predictive validity of being able to identify victim demographics of known perpetrators based on Fischer’s Chi Square residuals, only 15.9% were found to have offense histories that were consistent with their profiles on the LOOK. The LOOK, using Fischer’s Chi-square model does not seem to be able to differentiate offenders from non-offenders. Future studies may include looking at the predictive nature of ipsative data.

The LOOK is a viewing time measure that seeks to assess sexual interest patterns and is currently in development at Brigham Young University. This instrument is intended to aid current efforts to prevent child sexual abuse by identifying deviant sexual interests. A recently presented study on a similar viewing time measure has raised concerns regarding individuals' ability to falsify sexual interest patterns on average. This study seeks to extend this falsification research to the LOOK in order to assess if falsification of this measure is possible by means of speed or pretense. Participants were exclusively heterosexual non-pedophilic males and females. Sexual interest patterns for 151 females and 150 males were used. These individuals were distributed into either a control group or one of four possible falsification conditions for each gender. The study used Fischer's Chi-square scoring procedure to examine the significance of differences between the averaged patterns of sexual interest obtained from falsification groups and average expected interest patterns of control groups. Results of this study found that 4 of 8 falsification groups were able to significantly falsify sexual interest patterns on average. It appears that, on average, everyone in the pretense groups were capable of falsifying results. Men and women were able to emulate response patterns of the opposite gender regardless of whether given information about the basic mechanism of visual response time instruments. It is concluded that while the LOOK seems to possess a degree of sensitivity toward falsification efforts, improvements are still needed in order to increase its ability to detect test-taker's efforts to falsify results on average.

The Affinity, an instrument designed to measure sexual interest using viewing time, has recently been upgraded from version 2.0 to version 2.5. The Affinity presents slides depicting non-pornographic images of people varying by age and gender. The expected Chi square weights established for Affinity 2.0 for non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual females may have been impacted by Affinity 2.5's 42.9% increase in the number of slides. There were two purposes to this study. The first was to establish new expected Chi square weights for non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual females using Affinity 2.5. The second purpose was to employ a Chi square procedure (in place of traditional correlational methods) to re-examine the temporal stability of the Affinity 2.0. Data from 63 participants, who were administered the Affinity 2.5, were analyzed. Results of the analyses revealed notable similarity between the expected Chi square weights created for Affinity 2.5 and those for Affinity 2.0. The re-examination of Affinity 2.0 temporal stability using Chi-square procedures suggested that 86% of subjects were consistent in their responses from time 1 to time 2.

Affinity 2.5 is a computer-based instrument designed to assess sexual interest using viewing-time measures. Viewing-time measures of sexual interest have been developed to identify individuals with deviant sexual interest. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of Affinity 2.5 in screening and diagnosing individuals with sexually deviant interests. This study used viewing time profiles of known sexual offenders compared to norm-referenced profiles of an exclusively heterosexual, non-pedophilic college population. Participants were 155 males and 3 females who had sexually offended against children and 63 male and 84 female non-offender college students. Results show that 43.7% of offenders were correctly identified as having significantly deviant sexual interest, compared to the reference group. Further 12.0% of offenders showed statistical significant interest in at least one category of individuals from a protected population and offended against that same category. The results of this study do not provide support for the utility of the Affinity 2.5 as a screening or diagnostic tool.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurological condition that can lead to changes to gait and postural stability of people with this condition. Tai Chi (TC) has been recommended for the management of PD by improving muscle strength, balance, and coordination. However, biomechanics research in TC for PD is lacking. This thesis investigated the effects of a biomechanical-based TC intervention program for people in the early-stage of PD by realizing three specific research objectives: 1) to develop a biomechanical-based TC intervention program for PD; 2) to examine the effects of a 12-week TC intervention on gait and postural stability in people with PD, by pre-test and post-test biomechanical analysis of obstacle crossing; 3) to explore the neuromuscular effects of TC intervention on gait and postural stability by analyzing the electromyography (EMG) activity of the lower limb muscles during obstacle crossing. Seven typical TC movements were selected, including Starting Form, Hero Touch Sky, Push Hand Back, Brush Knee and Twist Step, Repulse Monkey, Wave-hand in Cloud, and Lateral Forward Step to develop the TC intervention program. The joint angles, joint moment, and EMG signals of lower limbs muscles were analyzed during performance of the selected TC movements by an experienced TC master aged 38 years. Results showed that the selected TC movements are characterized by multidirectional movements, greater joint movement angles of the lower limb, and more active muscle activity than walking. The TC intervention program was formed based on the biomechanics analysis of the seven TC movements. The program consisted of 5-10 min warm up, 40 minutes of core activities, and 5 min cool down. To examine the effects of a biomechanical-based TC intervention program on gait and postural stability and to explore the neuromuscular effects of TC intervention on the lower limb muscles in people with PD, fifteen individuals in the early stage of PD (n = 15, Hoehn and Yahr stages 1 to 2; age 72.0 ± 6.9) participated in a 12-week online TC intervention, and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy participants (n = 15) served as control. The 3D motion data of the lower limb and EMG signals from the rectus femoris, adductor longus, tibialis anterior, semitendinosus, gluteus medius, tensor fasciae latae, and medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles were collected during obstacle crossing from both groups using Vicon motion analysis system before intervention in both groups and after TC intervention in the TC group. Obstacle crossing was used to challenge the participants' gait and postural stability. Gait was assessed by measuring the temporospatial parameters such as crossing stride length, crossing step length, and crossing speed. Postural stability was assessed by measuring toe and clearance distance, pre- and post-horizontal distance, displacement and velocity of center of mass (COM), and COM-center of pressure (COP) separation. To examine the neuromuscular activity of the lower limbs following TC training, the ratio of the peak EMG, the integrated EMG (iEMG), and the ratio of the peak EMG and iEMG antagonistic pairs of the leading and trailing limb were examined during obstacle crossing and walking. In addition, the timed up-and-go test (TUG) and single-leg stance with eyes open and closed were tested. VICON Nexus, custom MATLAB scripts, and SPSS software (version 20) were used to analyze the data. Analysis of the PD participants' obstacle crossing performance revealed that they had significantly slower gait speed, smaller hip flexion angles, and larger knee adduction angles of the trailing limb, significantly larger mediolateral (ML) COM displacement and COM-COP separation distance, and significantly higher peak EMG ratios of the adductor longus, gluteus medius, and tensor fasciae latae (p < 0.05) than the healthy participants. Following the 12-week TC intervention, the PD participants had significantly increased crossing stride length, significantly decreased ML COM-COP separation (p < 0.05) and significantly increased AP COM displacement (p < 0.05), and increased EMG activity of the tibialis anterior in the leading and trailing limbs during obstacle crossing, whereas the activity of the gluteus medius and adductor longus in the leading limb decreased (p < 0.05). Moreover, the significant differences in the EMG of the gluteus medius and tensor fasciae latae muscles between PD and healthy participants found in pre-test were no longer present. After the TC intervention, the PD participants significantly improved their performance on the TUG test (p = 0.002). Therefore, people with early-stage PD presented changed gait and postural stability as well as changed neuromuscular activity of the lower limb. The 12-week online biomechanical-based TC intervention improved their gait and postural stability, particularly dynamic postural stability as measured by the COM-COP separation in people with early-stage PD. Compared to walking, performing the TC movements involved larger changes in the lower limb angles, range of motion, and higher muscle activity, particularly in the hip abductors and adductors. These characteristics of the TC movements could provide training to strengthen the muscles and improve the range of motion of the lower limbs. The gait and postural stability improvements following TC intervention are consistent with the neuromuscular activity changes in gluteus medius, tensor fasciae latae, and adductor longus muscles, indicating the mechanisms of TC training. The 12-week online biomechanical-based TC intervention program helped to decrease the ML COM-COP separation distance and could be used for the management of PD in the early stages of this condition.

In the tradition of the Zen school, all of the monks are required to study what are called the "seven books of Zen. These books are chosen from the old Zen masters' collections, but the "seven books" are different according to each of the schools of Zen. Therefore, it is not possible to say which are "the seven books," but Lin-chi Lu is always listed as the first one of them in every school of Zen.

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