Bank for International Settlements BIS Working Papers by Claudio Borio, Marc Farag and Nikola Tarashev

Central Bank of Chile Working Papers by Tomás Gómez, Alejandro Jara and David Moreno

Washington D.C., May 7, 2020 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- The White House service for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday focused on protection from the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump said Americans will continue to pray for divine assistance as the nation faces “unforeseen and seemingly unbearable hardships.”

Sister Eneyda Martinez of the Poor Sisters of St. Joseph community in Alexandria, Virginia was one of the religious leaders present to lead attendees in prayer.

“Merciful Savior, heal and comfort the sick so that with health restored, they may give you praise. Divine Physician, accompany our caregivers, so that serving you with patience they may heal wisely. And through wisdom, guide our leaders, so that through seeking remedies they may follow your light,” Sister Eneyda Martinez prayed at the service in the White House’s Rose Garden.

The National Day of Prayer was designated by Congress in 1952, and scheduled in 1988 to be observed annually on the first Thursday in the month of May.

In attendance at the White House service were President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence, and Paula White, and other religious leaders from Catholic, Christian, and Mormon churches, and Jewish and Hindu faiths.

The prayer service emphasized prayer for protection from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as prayer for the sick and their families, and health care workers.

“Christ, the Anointed, protect us in body and in spirit, so that free from harm we may be delivered from all affliction,” prayed Sister Eneyda Martinez.

Vice President Pence urged Americans to be “persistent in prayer,” especially for the families of the dead, those sick with the virus, and health care workers, many who have “literally taken the place of loved ones” in being the only close contacts of COVID-19 patients.

On Thursday morning, Trump issued a proclamation, noting the importance of prayer during the pandemic.

“During the past weeks and months, our heads have bowed at places outside of our typical houses of worship, whispering in silent solitude for God to renew our spirit and carry us through unforeseen and seemingly unbearable hardships,” Trump stated.

“Even though we have been unable to gather together in fellowship with our church families, we are still connected through prayer and the calming reassurance that God will lead us through life's many valleys.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control was reportedly drafting guidance for states to reopen public accommodations and religious services, but according to the Associated Press on Thursday, the document was buried by the administration.

That document reportedly advised against churches holding services if they were not in a “community no longer requiring significant mitigation.”

However, if that and other certain conditions were in place, churches should take precautions such as ensuring social distancing, wearing of masks by congregants, and intensifying cleaning of churches, the CDC document reportedly said.

State orders have varied in their restrictions on public gatherings during the pandemic; a Kansas stay-at-home order allowed religious gatherings of 10 or fewer people, while Illinois prohibited all religious gatherings.

After every U.S. diocese stopped public Masses during March, Catholic dioceses have started offering public Masses, beginning with the diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, with several other dioceses following suit in ensuing days.

Officials from the CDC and the White House spoke with four of the bishops on April 28 and 29 about the resumption of public religious services.

German translation of the BIS Press Release on the presentation of the Annual Report (25 June 2017)

We need a political system that mirrors the best in us.

Stephen Brandon takes on the role of national director for OM New Zealand after serving as OM’s International Web Manager for six years.

OM Ireland's community outreach team participates in one of Ireland's biggest events: the 2011 National Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co. Kildare from 20 -22 September.

"The Lord gave me a verse out of Isaiah 50:5...I started to understand that I had a lot to give, and that God’s ways for me might lead me differently than I had thought," said OMer Evelyn.

Mercy Teams International (MTI) strives to see local workers in each ministry field trained and equipped as leaders. MTI Cambodia is one example.

THE teacher had four pupils yesterday. Just four pupils out of a class of 33 took part in virtual online lockdown lessons.

A national union for principals is campaigning to increase its membership, drafting in part off the momentum created by the surge in educator activism over the past two years.

BORIS Johnson has said Britain needs the "same spirit of national endeavour" to defeat the coronavirus as Second World War veterans demonstrated to topple Adolf Hitler.

The EdWeek Research Center is conducting twice-monthly surveys of teachers and district leaders across the country to help the K-12 system navigate these unprecedented times.

A growing number of students—especially girls—are experiencing bullying online, according to the latest federal data on bullying and crime in schools.

The social media giant, which is facing withering scrutiny over its data-collection practices, has announced a partnership with the National Urban League.

The recent wave of teacher strikes reflects a broader phenomenon, blurring the boundaries between national and local school politics, write three education professors.

The National Children's Study, a large-scale, longitudinal, birth cohort study of US children that endeavors to identify preventable and environmental origins of chronic diseases, has begun recruitment.

In a highly diverse, urban setting, pregnant women can be recruited to participate in the National Children's Study at rates similar to those obtained in clinic settings. Refinements to the pregnancy screener and other components are needed to optimize implementation. (Read the full article)

Educators, public health authorities, and law enforcement are confronting an increasing number of cases in which youth made sexual images of themselves and other minors and transmitted them via cell phones and the Internet.

This study provides the first detailed and comprehensive national estimate of the percentage of youth who create and distribute various kinds of sexual images. (Read the full article)

Media reports suggest that adolescents are being charged with sex crimes and even placed on sex offender registries because of participating in the "sexting" of sexual images, but the nature and outcomes of such incidents have not been described empirically.

This is the first study to examine types of sexting cases handled by police. It informs clinicians by identifying characteristics of "aggravated" versus milder incidents and finding that most youth were not arrested. Sex offender registration was rare. (Read the full article)

Although there is some older literature examining how arrest prevalence accumulates through adolescence and adulthood, there is no contemporary research examining the arrest histories of a representative sample of American youth.

Using a contemporary US sample of adolescents and young adults, we estimated the cumulative arrest prevalence through age 23. The results suggest a substantial increase in the cumulative prevalence of arrest since the 1960s. (Read the full article)

Epilepsy/seizure disorder is known to be associated with a range of mental health and neurodevelopmental comorbidities, based on clinical studies, and on population studies largely conducted outside the United States.

In a nationally representative sample of US children, estimated prevalence of reported lifetime epilepsy/seizure disorder was 1%, and of current epilepsy/seizure disorder was 6.3/1000. Developmental, mental health, and physical comorbidities are common, warranting enhanced surveillance, and an integrated service approach. (Read the full article)

Booster seat use improves seat belt fit and reduces risk of injury for children <57 in tall. Booster seat use decreases between ages 4 and 8 years. Children observed riding with other children frequently do not use booster seats.

In this national survey of parents, we found that a majority of parents of 4- to 8-year-old children carpool, and when they carpool booster seat use is inconsistent. Social norms and self-efficacy appear to influence booster seat use when carpooling. (Read the full article)

For children and young people with life-limiting conditions, palliative care services should be available, but few national or local data are available to estimate the burden of these conditions.

The prevalence of life-limiting conditions in children and young people in England was double the previously reported estimates, at 32 per 10 000 population. This identifies a need for specialist pediatric palliative care services. (Read the full article)

Infants born to women who are hepatitis B surface antigen–positive have a 90% risk of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, which may cause premature death from liver failure or cancer. Postexposure prophylaxis in infancy prevents 85% to 95% of perinatal infections.

The Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program was created to identify and manage infants born to women who are hepatitis B surface antigen–positive. We provide, for the first time since 1996, national-level data on the outcomes of the Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program. (Read the full article)

Primary care settings provide an important venue for early detection of substance use and intervention, but adolescent screening rates need improvement. Screening and brief interventions appear effective in reducing adult problem drinking but evidence for effectiveness among adolescents is needed.

A computer-facilitated system for screening, feedback, and provider brief advice for primary care can increase adolescent receipt of substance use screening across a variety of practice settings, and shows promise for reducing adolescents’ use of alcohol and cannabis. (Read the full article)

In 2011, the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education increased restrictions on resident duty-hours. Further changes have been considered, including greater work-hour restrictions and lengthening residency. Residents’ views about these policies are unclear.

This is the first systematic, national inquiry into resident opinions on reduced work-hours and longer residency. More pediatric residents support than oppose reduced hours, and a minority would add a year to residency to achieve them. (Read the full article)

The rapidly rising prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents over the past 4 decades is a significant public health concern. Experts urge pediatric health care providers to provide routine obesity screening and counseling.

We provide the first nationally representative estimates of the rate of screening and counseling for adolescent obesity by pediatric health professionals. We also examine how socioeconomic factors and access to health care affect whether adolescents receive these services. (Read the full article)

Various studies have documented marked racial/ethnic disparities in children’s receipt of dental services at single time points or brief periods.

This study reveals significant improvements in children’s receipt of dental care overall, as well as a dramatic narrowing of African American/white disparities in children’s receipt of dental services over the last 40 years in the United States. (Read the full article)

Physical punishment is associated with aggression, delinquency, and internalizing conditions in childhood, as well as a range of Axis I mental disorders in adulthood. More research is needed on the possible long-term relationship between physical punishment and mental health.

To our knowledge, this is the first nationally representative examination of physical punishment and a range of Axis I and II disorders, gender interactions, and proportion of mental disorders in the general population that may be attributable to physical punishment. (Read the full article)

Adolescent dating violence has been studied from the perpetrators' and survivors' perspectives. The risk and protective factors have been explored, and the strength of the association of these factors with adolescent dating violence has been adequately described.

This study assessed the perceptions and practices of school counselors on adolescent dating violence. Knowing school personnel’s practices and perceptions may help researchers and practitioners gain insights into possible ways to alleviate the problem of dating violence in adolescents. (Read the full article)

Oral health researchers and policy makers primarily use 4 national surveys to examine use of dental services among US children. Estimates from the surveys may vary, posing a challenge to population-based monitoring.

The authors of this study compared estimates of dental service use and delayed dental care obtained from 4 commonly used health surveys to appraise their utility for guiding pediatric oral health research and policy. (Read the full article)

Information is limited on adoption of fully functional electronic health records (EHRs) in office-based pediatric practices, such as rates of adoption, barriers to adoption, and features that pediatricians choose.

A nationwide survey of members of the AAP in 2009 found that pediatric adoption of fully functional EHRs lags general adoption. Barriers include financial and productivity concerns, but pediatricians are also concerned about finding systems that meet their specific needs. (Read the full article)

Care coordination has been proposed as a key mechanism for increasing quality and reducing costs of care. Little is known about the degree to which disparities exist in care coordination or whether having high-quality primary care attenuates disparities.

A considerable proportion of parents reported unmet care coordination needs for their children, especially parents of children with special health care needs. Black and Latino children also may have more unmet needs because they received family-centered care less often. (Read the full article)

Most studies focus on health of foster children or local samples of young children. One previous study examined a national cohort longitudinally but did not address the full age group or range of conditions at the time of initial investigation.

Using 2 approaches to assess children (aged 0–17.5 years) who have chronic health conditions, we found that regardless of placement, investigated children had much higher rates of these conditions than the general population at the time of initial assessment. (Read the full article)

The reasons why teens are not immunized are related to parental lack of knowledge and the need for provider recommendations.

The reasons for vaccine refusal for human papillomavirus vaccine differ from other teen vaccines, and concerns about its safety are increasing over time. (Read the full article)

Asthma is a common medical complication during pregnancy that is associated with an increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes.

This study adds knowledge on potential long-term consequences of maternal asthma during pregnancy for offspring health, demonstrating that maternal asthma during pregnancy is linked to a wide spectrum of offspring diseases during childhood. (Read the full article)

Studies of psychotropic use in very young US children in the last decade have been limited by the regions, insurance types, or medication classes examined. There is a paucity of recent, nationally representative investigations of US preschool psychotropic use.

In a national sample of 2 to 5 year olds, the likelihood of psychotropic prescription peaked in the mid-2000s, then stabilized in the late 2000s. Increased psychotropic use in boys, white children, and those lacking private health insurance was documented. (Read the full article)

Prosmoking messages, delivered through marketing and the media, can reach very young children and influence attitudes and behaviors around smoking.

Marketing of tobacco and cigarette brands has successfully reached young children in low- and middle-income countries. More effective measures are needed to restrict the reach of tobacco marketing. (Read the full article)

Over the past 10 years, children’s hospitals increasingly have established pediatric palliative care programs, but little is known about the prevalence of these programs or their geographic distribution, range of services offered, staff composition, or funding.

Among the 162 hospitals that responded to this survey (71.7% response rate), 69% have a pediatric palliative care program, with substantial variation across programs in terms of how they are staffed and funded and what services they provide. (Read the full article)

Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a rare phenomenon that results in devastating injuries to children. It is necessary to analyze large samples to examine changes in rates over time.

This is the first study to examine rates of AHT at the national, regional, and state level. The results provide a more detailed description of AHT trends than has been previously available. (Read the full article)

Infant postexposure prophylaxis prevents perinatal hepatitis B (HepB) virus transmission and mortality and morbidity caused by chronic HepB virus infection. The US Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program (PHBPP) identifies and manages infants born to HepB surface antigen–positive women.

It presents the first estimates of the long-term costs and outcomes of postexposure prophylaxis with the PHBPP. It analyzes the effects of the PHBPP, and alternative immunization scenarios, on health and economic outcomes for the 2009 US birth cohort. (Read the full article)

Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment of children with end-stage renal disease. The field of pediatric kidney transplantation has changed over time with regard to immunosuppression, surgical technique, organ allocation policy, and rates of living donor transplantation.

Outcomes after pediatric kidney transplantation in the United States have improved over time, independent of changes in recipient, donor, and transplant characteristics. These improvements were most dramatic within the first posttransplant year and among the most highly sensitized patients. (Read the full article)

Owing to genetic variability in its metabolism, codeine can lead to fatal toxicity or inadequate treatment in pediatric subpopulations and several guidelines have recommended against its use in children. Little is known about codeine prescribing for children in the United States.

There has been a small decline in pediatric codeine prescriptions overall in emergency departments, but no change in prescription for children who have cough or upper respiratory infection, despite professional recommendations against this practice. Substantial numbers of children are being prescribed codeine annually. (Read the full article)

Prenatal maternal smoking has been associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children, but the causal nature of this association is unclear. Controlling for the association with paternal smoking has been inconsistent.

Women who used nicotine replacement also had children with a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Mother's smoking behavior appears more important than father's, suggesting a possible causal effect of nicotine exposure or factors related to maternal nicotine dependence. (Read the full article)

Cigarette smoking during adolescence causes significant health problems. Health care providers play an important role in promoting tobacco use abstinence among adolescents, but recent data on the prevalence of provider screening and advice to adolescents are lacking.

This study uses nationally representative surveillance data to provide current estimates of self-reported receipt of health professional screening and advice about tobacco use among US adolescents. Cessation behaviors and correlates of past-year quit attempts among smokers were also explored. (Read the full article)

The American Academy of Pediatrics has identified bedding such as pillows, blankets, and quilts as potentially hazardous for the infant sleep environment. Bedding use is a modifiable risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome and unintentional sleep-related suffocation.

Reported bedding use over or under the infant for infant sleep substantially declined from 1993 to 2010. However, about one-half of US infants are still placed to sleep with potentially hazardous bedding despite recommendations against this practice. (Read the full article)

Tonsillectomy guidelines make evidence-based recommendations for the perioperative use of dexamethasone, no routine use of antibiotics, and discharge education of families and for surgeons to monitor bleeding complication rates. The impact of the guidelines on processes and outcomes is unknown.

The guidelines were associated with improvement in perioperative care processes but no improvement in outcomes. Perioperative dexamethasone use increased slightly, and antibiotic use decreased substantially. Bleeding rates were stable, but revisit rates for complications increased because of revisits for pain. (Read the full article)