On the lookout for danger: House Sparrow alert distance in three cities

Urban Ecosystems - The House Sparrow Passer domesticus, closely associated with human presence along urban–agricultural landscapes and widely distributed outside its native range, has shown...     

Using walker during walking: a pilot study for health elder

Walker operation completely relies on the walker handle, however most marketed walkers possess two horizontal handles. Several researchers have suggested that horizontal handles might lead to wrist injury. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the relevant design aspects of walker for elderly people. 28 elders participated in this study; when the experiment was started, subject walked on the tile for 3 meter distance twice by using walker. Data for analysis were selected at the corresponding wrist deviation and vertical force. The results showed that during walker using, the mean wrist deviation was greater than zero. The largest vertical force is significantly larger than the smallest one, and different wrist deviation occurred at three phases, the largest wrist deviation while raising walker is larger than the smallest one, however, no significant different was found between the largest and smallest wrist deviation while pressing walker. No significant correlation occurred between weight and wrist deviation. The correlation between weight and vertical force was significantly positive. With wrist deviation walker use may cause injury to upper-limb, however wrists remain in a neutral position during hand movement to prevent damage. The findings of this study should improve the design of walker handles to reduce the wrist deviations of users.     

The weighted general linear model for longitudinal medical cost data – an application in colorectal cancer

Identifying cost-effective decisions that can take into account of medical cost and health outcome is an important issue under very limited resources. Analyzing medical costs has been challenged owing to skewness of cost distributions, heterogeneity across samples and censoring. When censoring is due to administrative reasons, the total cost might be related to the survival time since longer survivals are likely to be censored and the corresponding total cost will be censored as well. This paper uses the general linear model for the longitudinal data to model the repeated medical cost data and the weighted estimating equation is used to find more accurate estimates for the parameter. Furthermore, the asymptotic properties for the proposed model are discussed. Simulations are used to evaluate the performance of estimators under various scenarios. Finally, the proposed model is implemented on the data extracted from National Health Insurance database for patients with the colorectal cancer.     

Worker Satisfaction Following Employment Restructuring: Effects of Nonstandard Workers and Downsizing on Job Satisfaction in Taiwan

Since the 1980s, many employment relationships in Taiwan have evolved from regular and long-term to contingent and short-term, with widespread downsizing adding a considerable amount of instability. Since these changes are part of a global trend, there is a growing literature concerning their influences on worker attitudes and work life quality. Here we analyze the impacts of changing employment practices on the quality of work life among Taiwanese workers, specifically analyzing the effects of nonstandard work arrangements and downsizing on job satisfaction. Data are from the 2005 Taiwan Social Change Survey, First Wave of the Fifth Phase: Work and Life Module. Our two main findings are (a) degree of use of nonstandard workers exerts a range of negative impacts on job satisfaction among regular workers, and (b) degree of downsizing exerts similar negative effects. We also discuss the moderating impacts of using nonstandard workers as part of a downsizing strategy.     

Estimating Transition Probabilities for Ignorable Intermittent Missing Data in a Discrete-Time Markov Chain

This article considers a discrete-time Markov chain for modeling transition probabilities when multiple successive observations are missing at random between two observed outcomes using three methods: a na\"?ve analog of complete-case analysis using the observed one-step transitions alone, a non data-augmentation method (NL) by solving nonlinear equations, and a data-augmentation method, the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. The explicit form of the conditional log-likelihood given the observed information as required by the E step is provided, and the iterative formula in the M step is expressed in a closed form. An empirical study was performed to examine the accuracy and precision of the estimates obtained in the three methods under ignorable missing mechanisms of missing completely at random and missing at random. A dataset from the mental health arena was used for illustration. It was found that both data-augmentation and nonaugmentation methods provide accurate and precise point estimation, and that the na\"?ve method resulted in estimates of the transition probabilities with similar bias but larger MSE. The NL method and the EM algorithm in general provide similar results whereas the latter provides conditional expected row margins leading to smaller standard errors.     

Some Related Minima Stability and Minima Infinite Divisibility of the General Multivariate Pareto Distributions

This article studies the minima stable property of the general multivariate Pareto distributions MP^(k)(I), MP^(k)(II), MP^(k)(III), MP^(k)(IV) which can be applied to characterize the MP^(k) distribution via its weighted ordered coordinates minima and marginal distribution. Also, the multivariate semi-Pareto distribution (denoted by MSP) is discerned in the class of geometric minima infinite divisible and geometric minima stable distributions. If the exponent measure is satisfied by some functional equation, then the geometric minima stable property can be used to characterize the MSP distribution. Finally, the finite sample minima infinite divisible property of the MP^(k)(I), (II), and (IV) distributions is also discussed.     

Protective Properties and the Constrained Equal Awards Rule for Claims Problems: A Note

We investigate the implications of two protective properties, sustainability and exemption, for the resolution of conflicting claims. Under the properties, agents with sufficiently small claims in relation to the other claims and to the amount available are fully reimbursed. Our main results are three characterizations of the constrained equal awards rule. Namely, (1) it is the only rule satisfying sustainability and claims monotonicity, (2) it is the only rule satisfying sustainability and super-modularity, and (3) it is the only rule satisfying exemption, order preservation, and consistency.     

卞之琳：创新的继承

文学影响的课题提出一个互文性的特殊挑战，因为影响的发生倾向于不规则和无意识的过程，很难做出简单的因果判断。而当文学影响涉及跨文化的互动时，就更为困难，因为动机与接受，借用与实践之间的落差以及两个文化传统的介入使得问题变得更加复杂。卞之琳成于1930-1937年的作品，展现了对作家的多元影响之间的必然的有机关联。卞之琳自己及很多批评家都明白指出象征主义与现代主义对其作品的影响，但是他对西方影响的敏感度，很可能源自中国传统的背景，尤其是道佛思想，因为现代主义诗学补充强化了诗人的中国根柢，为其创作提供了具体的表现策略。反之，卞之琳的道佛思想倾向也给予他接受现代主义诗学一个特殊的视野角度，从而构成一个特殊的东西文学交流的例子。