Why should you write about Eastern Europe,or: Why should you write about “the Other”?

Much recent cultural criticism points out the ways in which “writing about ‘the Other’” perpetuates, justifies and participates in the creation of “real-life” relations of domination and oppression between the “authors” (located in the center(s) of power and knowledge) and their “subject matters.” This paper takes a different approach and explores theliberating potentials of “writing about ‘the Other.’” Completed in the spring of 1991, in the wake of changes in Eastern Europe from the fall of 1989, this paper gives a loose mapping of the nascent Eastern European cultural constellations, as well as an elaboration of the position of a “native” intellectual, in order to circuitously come to the point from which it can articulate the ways in which “Western” writing about “Eastern Europe” can create liberating interventions in the struggles going on in Eastern Europe.     

Strengthening family cohesion through shared participation of family members in religious activities in Croatia

This article presents research results pertaining to an examination of the relation between family members’ participation in shared religious activities, perception of family cohesion, satisfaction with family life, and the level of conflict in the family. The survey of 503 parents of preschool children was conducted in Zagreb, Croatia. The findings demonstrate a significant correlation between shared participation of family members in religious activities, perception of family cohesion and satisfaction with family life, but not with perception of the level of conflict in the family. The results suggest that spiritual and religious matters are an important element necessary for understanding family functioning, and that cultivating shared religious practices in the family can contribute to the strengthening of family cohesion and greater satisfaction with family life.     

Government Governance (GG) and Inter-Ministerial Policy Coordination (IMPC) in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia

This paper focuses on the function of Inter-ministerial Policy Coordination (IMPC) and its critical role in governance. Following a definitional section, the authors give an overview of public sector governance in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia and discuss the application of governance principles to Inter-Ministerial Policy Coordination in these regions. They conclude with specific examples from the Republic of Macedonia and Central Asia.

A Shape-based Glaucoma Index for Tomographic Images

We examine the use of Confocal Laser Tomographic images for detecting glaucoma. From the clinical aspect, the optic nerve head's (ONH) area contains all the relevant information on glaucoma. The shape of ONH is approximately a skewed cup. We summarize its shape by three biological landmarks on the neural-rim and the fourth landmark as the point of the maximum depth, which is approximately the point where the optic nerve enters this eye cup. These four landmarks are extracted from the images related to some Rhesus monkeys before and after inducing glaucoma. Previous analysis on Bookstein shape coordinates of these four landmarks revealed only marginally significant findings. From clinical experience, it is believed that the ratio depth to diameter of the eye cup provides a useful measure of the shape change. We consider the bootstrap distribution of this normalized 'depth' (G) and give evidence that it provides an appropriate measure of the shape change. This measure G is labelled as the glaucoma index. Further experiments are in progress to validate its use for glaucoma in humans.     

Computationally efficient familywise error rate control in genome-wide association studies using score tests for generalized linear models

In genetic association studies, detecting phenotype–genotype association is a primary goal. We assume that the relationship between the data—phenotype, genetic markers and environmental covariates—can be modeled by a generalized linear model. The number of markers is allowed to be far greater than the number of individuals of the study. A multivariate score statistic is used to test each marker for association with a phenotype. We assume that the test statistics asymptotically follow a multivariate normal distribution under the complete null hypothesis of no phenotype–genotype association. We present the familywise error rate order k approximation method to find a local significance level (alternatively, an adjusted p-value) for each test such that the familywise error rate is controlled. The special case k=1 gives the Šidák method. As a by-product, an effective number of independent tests can be defined. Furthermore, if environmental covariates and genetic markers are uncorrelated, or no environmental covariates are present, we show that covariances between score statistics depend on genetic markers alone. This not only leads to more efficient calculations but also to a local significance level that is determined only by the collection of markers used, independent of the phenotypes and environmental covariates of the experiment at hand.     

中黑两国经贸和农业的合作现状与未来展望

黑山共和国和中华人民共和国保持了良好的传统伙伴关系。两国通过在科技、教育、文化、交通基础设施、造船、旅游和农业等领域的大量政治对话和经贸合作进一步巩固了两国的传统友谊。文章重点分析了在中国—中东欧国家"16+1合作机制"背景下黑山与中国在经贸发展、农业与科技等领域的合作框架。黑中两国的产业结构不同,在农业和贸易等领域的互补性很强。未来黑中两国的投资合作将在能源、基础设施以及港口和铁路等交通领域开展;两国农业方面的合作也被列为优先领域,在农业科技、食品安全、农产加工,以及葡萄酒、乳制品、肉制品、蔬菜和水果等农产品贸易方面合作的潜力巨大。两国需要分享彼此的发展经验,共同造福于两国人民。     

Interorganizational relations of nonprofit organizations: An exploratory study

In their several roles as appropriators, redistributors, and providers, nonprofit organizations are involved in complex transactions with organizations in the nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors. The purpose of this exploratory investigation, based on a sample of New York State nonprofits, is to explain variation in the extent of intrasector and intersector transactions. Various kinds of prevailing environmental complexities, coupled with the ways in which organizations are structured to deal with these complexities, help explain variation in the extent of organizational transactions. Another important predictor is directors' perceptions of main problems affecting the activities of their agencies. These findings are consistent with the conclusion that environmental uncertainties and perceptions about them affect the nature and extent of interorganizational contact.     

智能社会的计算信息：决策的信息—计算进路

目前，我们正处于机器智能支持和人类智能提高的阶段，因此，将会越来越多地依靠智能计算技术来增强我们的直觉和理解。在这一过程中，个人身上的信息负载不断增加，社会计算技术正在从简单的社会信息交流走向社会智能发展。“信息哲学与智能社会发展”论坛上的一些关于必要理论和方法发展的想法，为理解智慧社会提供了思想资源。在冠状病毒(COVID-19)大流行的过程中，计算/(数据)信息处理和通信技术在全世界范围内通过智能预测支持人类决策方面，发挥了人类历史上前所未有的核心作用，为决策提供了当代计算模型支持。从这场危机中吸取的关于使用智能决策技术的教训，对于用具体的现实世界内容来填补“智能社会”的概念是有价值的。