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A wide body of empirical evidence finds that approximately 25 percent of fiscal stimulus payments (e.g., tax rebates) are spent on nondurable household consumption in the quarter that they are received. To interpret this fact, we develop a structural economic model where households can hold two assets: a low-return liquid asset (e.g., cash, checking account) and a high-return illiquid asset that carries a transaction cost (e.g., housing, retirement account). The optimal life-cycle pattern of portfolio choice implies that many households in the model are \"wealthy hand-to-mouth\": they hold little or no liquid wealth despite owning sizable quantities of illiquid assets. Therefore, they display large propensities to consume out of additional transitory income, and small propensities to consume out of news about future income. We document the existence of such households in data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. A version of the model parameterized to the 2001 tax rebate episode yields consumption responses to fiscal stimulus payments that are in line with the evidence, and an order of magnitude larger than in the standard \"one-asset\" framework. The model's nonlinearities with respect to the rebate size and the prevailing aggregate economic conditions have implications for policy design.

Stroke often leads to persistent upper limb dysfunction that impairs activities of daily living, yet objective biomechanical indicators for precise assessment remain limited. This study aimed to characterize phase-specific impairments in energy output, torque stability, and muscle coordination during the hand-to-mouth (HTM) task and to explore their potential for improving rehabilitation evaluation. Motion data from 20 stroke patients and 20 healthy controls were recorded using wearable surface electromyography and inertial measurement unit systems. A musculoskeletal model was applied to calculate joint torque, mechanical work, torque smoothness, and a novel torque-based co-contraction index across four movement subphases. These phase-specific metrics demonstrated significant correlations with clinical motor impairment scores, confirming their clinical validity. Significant dynamic features were then selected to construct machine learning models for group classification. Stroke patients showed reduced output capacity, increased torque fluctuations, and abnormal co-contraction patterns that varied across subphases. Among the classifiers, the quadratic support vector machine achieved the best performance, with an accuracy of 84.6% and an AUC of 0.853, surpassing models based on whole-task features. These findings demonstrate that phase-specific biomechanical features sensitively capture neuromuscular deficits in stroke survivors and highlight the potential of phase-specific biomechanics to inform future individualized rehabilitation assessment and treatment planning.

Wearable motion tracking sensors are now widely used to monitor physical activity, and have recently gained more attention in dietary monitoring research. The aim of this review is to synthesise research to date that utilises upper limb motion tracking sensors, either individually or in combination with other technologies (e.g., cameras, microphones), to objectively assess eating behaviour. Eleven electronic databases were searched in January 2019, and 653 distinct records were obtained. Including 10 studies found in backward and forward searches, a total of 69 studies met the inclusion criteria, with 28 published since 2017. Fifty studies were conducted exclusively in laboratory settings, 13 exclusively in free-living settings, and three in both settings. The most commonly used motion sensor was an accelerometer (64) worn on the wrist (60) or lower arm (5), while in most studies (45), accelerometers were used in combination with gyroscopes. Twenty-six studies used commercial-grade smartwatches or fitness bands, 11 used professional grade devices, and 32 used standalone sensor chipsets. The most used machine learning approaches were Support Vector Machine (SVM, n = 21), Random Forest (n = 19), Decision Tree (n = 16), Hidden Markov Model (HMM, n = 10) algorithms, and from 2017 Deep Learning (n = 5). While comparisons of the detection models are not valid due to the use of different datasets, the models that consider the sequential context of data across time, such as HMM and Deep Learning, show promising results for eating activity detection. We discuss opportunities for future research and emerging applications in the context of dietary assessment and monitoring.

Abstract ObjectivesNabiximols represents an increasingly employed add-on treatment option for spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) who either were unresponsive or reported excessive adverse reactions to other therapies. While several studies performed in the last decade demonstrated its effectiveness, safety, and tolerability, few quantitative data are available on the impact on motor dysfunctions. In this open-label, not concurrently controlled study, we aimed to assess the impact of a 4-week treatment with nabiximols on upper limb functionality.MethodsThirteen PwMS (9 female, 4 male) with moderate-severe spasticity underwent a combination of clinical tests (i.e., Box and Block, BBT and Nine-Hole Peg test, 9HPT) and instrumental kinematic analysis of the “hand to mouth” (HTM) movement by means of optical motion capture system.ResultsAfter the treatment, improvements in gross and fine dexterity were found (BBT + 3 blocks/min, 9HPT − 2.9 s, p < 0.05 for both cases). The kinematic analysis indicated that HTM movement was faster (1.69 vs. 1.83 s, p = 0.05), smoother, and more stable. A significant reduction of the severity of spasticity, as indicated by the 0–10 numerical rating scale (4.2 vs. 6.3, p < 0.001), was also observed.ConclusionThe findings from the present pilot study suggest that a 4-week treatment with nabiximols ameliorates the spasticity symptoms and the overall motor function of upper limb in PwMS with moderate-severe spasticity. The use of quantitative techniques for human movement analysis may provide valuable information about changes originated by the treatment in realistic upper limb motor tasks involved in activities of daily living.

Children (n = 240) between the ages of 2 and 17 years were randomly selected from three cities in China. The total amount of soil and dust (SD) on their hands was measured and ranged from 3.50–187.39 mg (median = 19.49 mg). We screened for seven elements (Ce, V, Y, Al, Ba, Sc, and Mn), and Ce levels were used to calculate hand SD by variability and soil elements. The main factors affecting SD amount were location and age group, as identified using a conditional inference tree. Hand SD and the hand SD intake rate were highest in Gansu Province, followed by Guangdong and Hubei provinces, respectively. Hand SD and the hand SD intake rate were highest among children in primary school, followed by kindergarten and secondary school, respectively. The hand SD intake rate of the three typical areas was 11.9 mg/d, which was about 26.6% of the children’s soil intake rate (44.8 mg/d), indicating that hand-to-mouth contact is not the main route for children’s soil intake in the three areas of China.

We identify the population shares of poor hand-to-mouth households, wealthy hand-to-mouth households and non hand-to-mouth households in Belgium. We apply the methodology proposed by Kaplan & Violante (2014) and Kaplan et al., (2014) to the Belgian component of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey. We find that the fraction of hand-to-mouth households in Belgium is substantial and predominantly consists of wealthy hand-to-mouth households. We also compare the observable characteristics and marginal propensities to consume (MPCs) of the three household types. Belgian wealthy hand-to-mouth households have characteristics that resemble those of the non hand-to-mouth households, while their MPCs are often more similar to those of the poor hand-to-mouth households. This pleads for giving a unique place to each type of household when evaluating the effects of fiscal policy.

This paper aims to theoretically investigate how the presence of heterogeneous consumption behaviors, namely hand-to-mouth (HtM) and habit formation (HF), affects the monetary policy effectiveness and empirically explore the responses of three Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies to external shocks. We employ the Bayesian methodology to undertake the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) estimation using quarterly data. Empirical results indicate a HtM parameter of 22% in Indonesia, 34% in the Philippines, and 27% in Thailand, with the HF parameter estimated at around 50%. Given the estimated parameters, a monetary shock would have standard effects on macroeconomic variables. Besides, incorporating HtM consumers into a standard DSGE model amplifies the adverse effects of monetary shock on aggregate consumption/output growth. Also, a higher ratio of HtM consumers exacerbates the negative effects of monetary shock, but it does not influence much the adverse impacts of demand and supply shocks on macroeconomic variables.

This paper proposes a model to jointly explain two stylized facts observed in the recent empirical literature—the existence of a significant size of wealthy hand-to-mouth consumers and negative marginal propensities to consume associated with housing upgrades. The key ingredients of the model are a realistic set of housing choices, sizable down payment requirements, transaction costs, and endogenous borrowing constraints. Moreover, in the presence of unanticipated income shocks, this richness in marginal propensities to consume has significant implications for aggregate consumption and helps explain the puzzling increase in savings by low net worth households observed during the Great Recession as well as the consumption responses to recent tax rebates.

Previous studies in our lab have described kinematic difference between grasp-to-eat and grasp-to-place movements, whereby participants produce smaller maximum grip apertures (MGAs) when grasping to bring the item to the mouth than when grasping to bring the item to a container near the mouth. This task difference is limited to right-handed movements, regardless of handedness; it has, therefore, been interpreted as evidence of left-hemisphere lateralization of the grasp-to-eat and other hand-to-mouth grasping movements. However, the difference in end-goal aperture may have accounted for both the kinematic signature (smaller MGAs) and their lateralized expression. Specifically, if the right hand is more sensitive to the precision requirements of secondary movements, it may have produced more precise MGAs for actions whose ultimate goal is the small-aperture mouth rather than a comparatively large aperture container. The current study addresses this question by replacing the previously-used bib with a small drinking glass whose aperture more closely resembles that of the mouth. 25 adult participants reached-to-grasp small cereal items to either (a) eat them, or (b) place them into a small-aperture glass hanging beneath their chin. Results once more showed a lateralised kinematic signature in the form of smaller MGAs for the eat action, demonstrating that the signature is not a result of lateralized sensitivity to a movement’s secondary precision requirements. We discuss these results in terms of their impact on predominant theories regarding visual guidance of grasping movements.

A total of 60 children (31 males and 29 females) between the ages of 3 and 12 years were randomly selected from Lanzhou City in Gansu Province, northwest China. Hand (soil/dust) SD samples from these children were collected using hand wipes. We determined the approximate amounts of hand SD and the concentrations of three tracer soil elements (Ce, Y, and V) in these samples. The approximate amounts of hand SD ranged from 42.28 to 173.76 mg, with a median value of 85.42 mg. In addition, the mean amounts of hand SD estimated using the concentrations of Ce, Y, and V in the samples were 4.63, 3.43, and 3.42 mg, respectively. The amount of hand SD varied greatly among the age groups: primary school children had more hand SD than kindergarten children, males had more hand SD than females, and children from rural areas had more hand SD than those from urban areas. The rates of daily ingestion of hand SD for kindergarten and primary school children were estimated to be 7.73 and 6.61 mg/day, respectively.