Mark-resighting analysis of a California gull population

California gulls ( Larus californicus ) of known age and sex were censused on their breeding colony in 1979, 1980 and 1984 through 1993. Ages of 235 males and 196 females ranged from 4 to 27 years. Age classes used in the analysis were limited to 17, 4 through 19, and 20 or more as a final age category because data on gulls over 20 were sparse. Survival declined with age in a way that was parsimoniously modelled with a quadratic function. Other factors, sex and time, did not explain any variation in survival. Resighting depended on age, sex and time. Younger adults skipped breeding more frequently than did older adults, and females skipped breeding more frequently than did males. There was also good evidence for time dependence in resighting probability, but its inclusion in the model occurred at the expense of interpretability and precision. In a data set such as this, resighting probability may assume more importance than a mere 'nuisance parameter'. In this study, resighting history measured attendance at the breeding ground. In turn, attendance rates may be a manifestation of reproductive strategy, which can also have consequences for survival. In this situation, there may be heterogeneity in both survival and resighting probability that is unexplained by the model. While such complexity may well be a nuisance to deal with, it can also point to important biological questions.     

Buddhist commons and the question of a third sector in Asia

Very little attention has been devoted by third sector researchers to the question of comparable or related activities in Asia. This article explores a complex of Asian Buddhist religious beliefs and practices using ‘the commons’ as a comparative concept. Examination of published, English-language sources provides clear evidence of the existence of a variety of third sector-like activity in Asia far in the past. Village codes codifying charitable practices and village associations have been recorded in China, Japan and Korea. In addition, a good deal of charitable and philanthropic activity has been associated with Asian Buddhism: beliefs supporting gift exchange (dharma anddana), veneration of certain leader-philanthropists, a distinctive model of community organisation (sangha), a Japanese model of fund-raising (kanjin) campaigns, and a long tradition of international Buddhist convocations are among the range of indigenous common goods which can be found in the Asian context prior to any discernible western influences.     

ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LABOR FORCE SECTORAL CHANGE IN NON-CORE NATIONS

This study examines two versions of how economic dependency has affected relative gender positioning in non-core nations' labor forces since the 1960s. A "new dependency" version asserts that multinational corporate investment in manufacturing has transformed the labor forces of such nations, permitting women unusual access to relatively high-paying, if ephemeral, light manufacturing positions. A "traditional trade dependency" version suggests that, despite the aforementioned transformation in some non-core nations, the dominant form of dependency in most remains traditional: they export primary goods in return for manufactured imports. This version claims that such structures not only deter women's entry into the formal labor force as a whole, but constrain those who do enter to relatively marginal agricultural positions. Panel analyses of data on non-core nations evaluates these versions and both receive considerable support.     

The knower and the known

In this paper, I address a dilemma in the theory of knowledge and argue that this dilemma can be overcome by invoking the work of two well known social scientists—Marx (here considered as a sociologist) and Piaget (a psychologist). The dilemma considered is that of the relationship between what are here called independent (i.e., non-circular) and relational definitions; each form of definition has been the basis of a particular approach to the knowable (the independent definition being the basis of empiricism and the relational definition being the basis of Hegelianism) and each of these approaches can be shown to be unsatisfactory: empiricism, brilliantly successful in practice, runs itself, at the theoretical level, into the circular and the relational; while Hegelianism, although impregnable in logic, gains such impregnability at the cost of any delimitation and, hence of precision and refutability. It is argued that Marx (a follower of Hegel) as adapted by Piaget, can indeed overcome these difficulties and so present us with a theory of knowledge that makes possible an approach that is both successful in practice and reputable in logic.     

Multiplicity: discussion points from the Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry multiplicity expert group

In May 2012, the Committee of Health and Medicinal Products issued a concept paper on the need to review the points to consider document on multiplicity issues in clinical trials. In preparation for the release of the updated guidance document, Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry held a one‐day expert group meeting in January 2013. Topics debated included multiplicity and the drug development process, the usefulness and limitations of newly developed strategies to deal with multiplicity, multiplicity issues arising from interim decisions and multiregional development, and the need for simultaneous confidence intervals (CIs) corresponding to multiple test procedures. A clear message from the meeting was that multiplicity adjustments need to be considered when the intention is to make a formal statement about efficacy or safety based on hypothesis tests. Statisticians have a key role when designing studies to assess what adjustment really means in the context of the research being conducted. More thought during the planning phase needs to be given to multiplicity adjustments for secondary endpoints given these are increasing in importance in differentiating products in the market place. No consensus was reached on the role of simultaneous CIs in the context of superiority trials. It was argued that unadjusted intervals should be employed as the primary purpose of the intervals is estimation, while the purpose of hypothesis testing is to formally establish an effect. The opposing view was that CIs should correspond to the test decision whenever possible. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychometric Evaluation and Discussions of English Language Learners’ Listening Comprehension

The importance of listening in the context of English language acquisition is gaining acceptance, but its unique attributes in language performance, while substantively and qualitatively justifiable, are generally not psychometrically defined. This article psychometrically supports listening as a distinct domain among the three other domains of language learning—reading, writing, and speaking—through the analysis of listening data from a large-scale K-12 English language proficiency assessment. Student responses in this study were compared on the basis of cognitive, metacognitive, and other learning strategies between high achieving and low achieving listening groups that were formed using a latent mixture distribution model. Latent mixture distribution and differential items functioning analyses together with classical item analysis were used to substantiate or draw attention to literature findings. The article also highlights the importance of social-interactive items that are inadvertently embedded in an assessment that is primarily created to measure academic language.     

Updating Parameters of the Chicken Processing Line Model

A mathematical model of chicken processing that quantitatively describes the transmission of Campylobacter on chicken carcasses from slaughter to chicken meat product has been developed in Nauta et al. (2005). This model was quantified with expert judgment. Recent availability of data allows updating parameters of the model to better describe processes observed in slaughterhouses. We propose Bayesian updating as a suitable technique to update expert judgment with microbiological data. Berrang and Dickens's data are used to demonstrate performance of this method in updating parameters of the chicken processing line model.