The performance of the income protection system for older adults in Ecuador and future challenges

The objective of this article is to analyse the performance of Ecuador’s pension system and the challenges it will face in the future. Over the last 13 years, the pension system has made significant advances in terms of coverage and adequacy. However, demographic ageing is straining the financial sustainability of the contributory scheme. In this context, a number of public policy areas are identified, in terms of parameters and structures, which, together with the expansion of non-contributory coverage, could provide a more equitable and sustainable scheme.     

安大简《诗经》“侯六”“魏九”浅析

通过分析《毛诗·魏风》《唐风》诸篇的诗旨和安大简自身的特点,认为安大简《侯》《魏》两部分内并无“误置”现象。又从战国初期的历史背景出发,并结合诗旨、春秋战国时期的“用诗”特点,赞成安大简《魏》之所以抄写《毛诗·唐风》中的诗篇,当与战国时期魏国国力强盛、占有晋国故地相关。由于抄写《唐风》诗篇的部分被称为“魏”,因此,抄写《魏风》的部分就不能再称为“魏”,必须改题。从《毛诗》诸国风的命名逻辑看,“侯”极可能是地名。不过,若考虑到安大简的特点,“侯”为爵位也未尝不可。从安大简《侯》《魏》的特殊安排看,它无疑是一个改编本,其底本与《毛诗》应该非常接近。     

零售4.0时代先行发货问题的大数据分析

在零售4.0时代，渠道的多样化不仅丰富了数据源，还能迅速生成大量数据，需要通过分析大数据，为决策提取有意义的信息，通过分析先行发货的重要性，提出了一种基于遗传算法（GA）的优化模型，预测顾客何时购买，然后在顾客线下单前将产品运送到距顾客最近的配送中心，解决先行发货中存在的问题。研究认为，需要先部署云计算来存储所有渠道生成的大数据，再应用基于集群的关联规则挖掘研究顾客的购买行为，根据“如果-那么”预测规则预测未来的采购情况，最后利用修正的遗传算法生成最优的先行发货计划；这种遗传算法考虑了其在运输成本和运输距离之外，还有预测规则的置信度，利用大量的数值实验权衡了先行发货中的不同因素，验证了模型的最优可靠性     

习近平“不忘初心、牢记使命”重要论述的生成逻辑

习近平“不忘初心、牢记使命”重要论述的生成具有多重逻辑。马克思主义关于无产阶级政党的理论、中国共产党以人民为中心的思想内核是其理论渊源；中国传统民本思想的精髓、以红船精神为源头的革命精神是其文化根基；人民对美好生活的向往、新时代中国特色社会主义任务的严峻性、解决“三个如何”之问的迫切性是其现实要求。     

习近平关于人民健康重要论述的理论内涵与实践价值

促进全民健康，决胜全面小康。习近平总书记关于人民健康的重要论述，充分彰显了以人民为中心的时代要求，蕴含着以推动全面建成小康社会为战略目标，以维护社会公平正义为价值追求，以社会资源共建共享为方法路径，以中国特色社会主义制度的优越性为条件保证的丰富内涵。在新时代，习近平总书记关于人民健康的重要论述对于加快实施健康中国战略、推动构建中国健康工作体系特别是指导此次新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情防控展现出重要的实践价值。     

Navigating the gendered academy: women in social work academia

ABSTRACT

Women fare less well than men across all academic disciplines: they are less likely to be promoted, they earn less, and many more professors are men. There has, however, been little analysis to date of the experience of women in social work education, a discipline that has historically had higher representation of female staff and students. This study set out to explore women in the social work academy through a case-study of social work education in Scotland. A mixed-methods approach was used, including a review of relevant literature; an online survey of women and men academics in social work education; and semi-structured interviews with female social work leaders, past and present. The study found that women in the social work academy faced the same pressures as other women in higher education; some of these pressures were also shared by men. Most significant, however, was the extent to which women in social work academia experienced twin challenges, firstly, as female academics and secondly, as female social work academics in a discipline that struggles for recognition in the academy. We conclude that this makes for a contradictory and, at times, ambiguous experience for women as they navigate the gendered academy.     

‘Seeing through their Eyes’: Towards Understanding Risk and Protection Perspectives of Young Bedouin Children in the Unrecognised Villages of the Naqab

This article is based on a participatory, context-informed study that examined perception of ‘risk’ and ‘protection’ among 30 Bedouin children aged four to five. It was conducted in the Bedouin unrecognised villages — Southern Israel and utilised photography, drawings and verbal explanations. The analysis yielded seven themes representing children’s perceptions of risk and protection. It indicated that children facing extreme adversity were aware of numerous risk conditions, including a lack of infrastructure and the fear of losing their homes, thus adversely affecting their well-being. Children’s insights, and suggested modes of protection, as the study findings reveal, are crucial for promoting children’s welfare.     

Systematization of Kazakh music in Mongolia: activities of theater and radio station during the Soviet era

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the systematization of Kazakh music in Mongolia during the Soviet era in Bayan-Ölgiy Province, focusing on the music collection and preservation activities led by a theater and radio station. Bayan-Ölgiy is located far from Ulaanbaatar; adjacent to Kazakhstan, Xinjiang (China), and Russia. Using three–years participation observation, this study identified three activities in promoting the systematization of Kazakh music in Mongolia: importing musical knowledge and technology from the Soviet Kazakh Republic (1950–1960s); establishing a radio station and audio archive following the Sino-Soviet split (1960s–1980s); collections of Kazakh music in Mongolia (1960s–1980s). These activities were driving forces for Kazakhs to claim their identity in the post-socialist period in Mongolia. Diener found that Kazakh culture in Mongolia was preserved thanks to the geographic isolation of Bayan-Ölgiy. However, this study clearly identifies international relations and Bayan-Ölgiy’s strategic location as drivers of systematization of Kazakh music in Mongolia.     

Towards congruence between teachers’ intentions and practice in intercultural education

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between teacher beliefs pertaining to cultural diversity and their actual teaching activities. Using a model-based approach, this study looks at beliefs regarding diversity issues at both the theoretical and empirical levels. At the theoretical level, we attempt to systematise the many meanings of ‘beliefs’ found in the literature. At the empirical level, we examine the link between theory, beliefs, and teaching activities relating to diversity, using integrated analysis tools. To accomplish this, we used a qualitative methodological approach to examine the relationship between theory and practice in education. The sample consisted of 45 in-service primary teachers. The first results showed a gap between what teachers tend to say and what they actually do. We argue that future research needs to focus on the effects of teacher beliefs on teacher practice, with special attention devoted to the reflective process.