Being Relaxed and Powerful: Children’s Lived Experiences of Coping with Stress

Our aim was to describe and develop an understanding of children’s lived experiences of coping with stress. Twenty‐three Swedish children, ages 10–12, wrote open letters and were interviewed. The phenomenological analysis resulted in three main themes: (i) depending on oneself, others and the world around, (ii) choosing to be a doer and (iii) being in the here and now. We understood the children’s lived experiences of coping with stress as them being relaxed and powerful. The children chose to be active doers or inactive beings and their relationships, as well as their surroundings, helped or hindered their coping. Possible health promotion work is discussed.     

Letter to the Editor

The aim of this letter to acknowledge of priority on calibration estimation. There are numerous studies on calibration estimation in literature. The studies on calibration estimation are reviewed and it is found out that an existing calibration estimator is reprocessed in the recent paper published by Nidhi et al. (2007 Nidhi, B. V. S. Sisodia, Subedar Singh, and Sanjay K. Singh. 2017. Calibration approach estimation of the mean in stratified sampling and stratified double sampling. Commun.Statist.Theor.Meth. 46 (10):4932–4942.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

A Bayesian Approach for Zero-Inflated Count Regression Models by Using the Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method and an Application

In this study, estimation of the parameters of the zero-inflated count regression models and computations of posterior model probabilities of the log-linear models defined for each zero-inflated count regression models are investigated from the Bayesian point of view. In addition, determinations of the most suitable log-linear and regression models are investigated. It is known that zero-inflated count regression models cover zero-inflated Poisson, zero-inflated negative binomial, and zero-inflated generalized Poisson regression models. The classical approach has some problematic points but the Bayesian approach does not have similar flaws. This work points out the reasons for using the Bayesian approach. It also lists advantages and disadvantages of the classical and Bayesian approaches. As an application, a zoological data set, including structural and sampling zeros, is used in the presence of extra zeros. In this work, it is observed that fitting a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model creates no problems at all, even though it is known that fitting a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model is the most problematic procedure in the classical approach. Additionally, it is found that the best fitting model is the log-linear model under the negative binomial regression model, which does not include three-way interactions of factors.     

Parallel sequential Monte Carlo for stochastic gradient-free nonconvex optimization

Statistics and Computing - We introduce and analyze a parallel sequential Monte Carlo methodology for the numerical solution of optimization problems that involve the minimization of a cost...     

Foreign Employers as Relief Routes: Women,Multinational Corporations and Managerial Careers in Japan

This article argues that multinational corporations may provide critical relief routes for women workers' progress in managerial careers in national contexts where their career paths with domestic employers remain blocked by traditional and institutional practices. It illustrates this possibility through a study of two women managers at the local head office of a foreign‐owned multinational retailer in Japan and their career trajectories. The alternative career paths through foreign employers are not without their contingencies and constraints, and the article identifies the limitations of the transformative potential foreign employers could have in the larger realm of women's managerial employment in a restrictive context such as Japan. Noting that globalization incorporates different groups of workers into the global economy with different costs and rewards, the article concludes by calling for a more nuanced understanding of women's employment with multinationals and for further research that remains cognizant of the multiplicity of experiences in different contexts.     

Description and Propagation of Uncertainty in Input Parameters in Environmental Fate Models

Today, chemical risk and safety assessments rely heavily on the estimation of environmental fate by models. The key compound‐related properties in such models describe partitioning and reactivity. Uncertainty in determining these properties can be separated into random and systematic (incompleteness) components, requiring different types of representation. Here, we evaluate two approaches that are suitable to treat also systematic errors, fuzzy arithmetic, and probability bounds analysis. When a best estimate (mode) and a range can be computed for an input parameter, then it is possible to characterize the uncertainty with a triangular fuzzy number (possibility distribution) or a corresponding probability box bound by two uniform distributions. We use a five‐compartment Level I fugacity model and reported empirical data from the literature for three well‐known environmental pollutants (benzene, pyrene, and DDT) as illustrative cases for this evaluation. Propagation of uncertainty by discrete probability calculus or interval arithmetic can be done at a low computational cost and gives maximum flexibility in applying different approaches. Our evaluation suggests that the difference between fuzzy arithmetic and probability bounds analysis is small, at least for this specific case. The fuzzy arithmetic approach can, however, be regarded as less conservative than probability bounds analysis if the assumption of independence is removed. Both approaches are sensitive to repeated parameters that may inflate the uncertainty estimate. Uncertainty described by probability boxes was therefore also propagated through the model by Monte Carlo simulation to show how this problem can be avoided.     

Computer support for continuous improvements

Abstract. The view of manufacturing has changed in recent years. This is evident from how the focus of management's attention is shifting more and more towards the basics of operating the business. The challenge to manufacturers in the West today is how to introduce leaner practices in their operations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how computer technology and information systems can be applied to support the transition to leaner practices in a complex operation. The problem with the large information systems developed to manage the complex operations of many Western companies is that they were designed to help maintain performance and not to support finding opportunities for new improved practices. Results from the ESPRIT II project, CIM for Multi-supplier Operations (CMSO), show that an existing data infrastructure can be effectively utilized to develop inexpensive, customized tools to support a process of continuous improvements. In this project a set of tools for planning the material flow from supplier to the assembly line was developed for the Saab-Valmet automobile assembly plant in Uusikaupunki, Finland. Hypertext tools were used to quickly develop decision support applications that supported problem solving and finding improvement potentials.     

Walking on a Tightrope: Challenges and Opportunities for Civil Society Organizations Working with Refugees and Migrants in Turkey

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This qualitative study sheds light onto the working structures, make-up, and strengths and weaknesses of civil society...