Nanotechnology Risk Communication Past and Prologue

Nanotechnologies operate at atomic, molecular, and macromolecular scales, at scales where matter behaves differently than at larger scales and quantum effects can dominate. Nanotechnologies have captured the imagination of science fiction writers as science, engineering, and industry have leapt to the challenge of harnessing them. Applications are proliferating. In contrast, despite recent progress the regulatory landscape is not yet coherent, and public awareness of nanotechnology remains low. This has led risk researchers and critics of current nanotechnology risk communication efforts to call for proactive strategies that do more than address facts, that include and go beyond the public participation stipulated by some government acts. A redoubling of nanotechnology risk communication efforts could enable consumer choice and informed public discourse about regulation and public investments in science and safety.     

The Past and Present Cultural Experiences of Adopted Korean American Adults

This study used a mixed-method approach to examine the past and present cultural life experiences of Korean adult adoptees. Open-ended responses across four developmental periods (childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood) were qualitatively analyzed and categorized into seven categories of cultural activities. We then quantitatively investigated the relationship between these domains and ethnic identity. Ethnic identity was positively correlated with only cultural experiences from young adulthood. The practical relevance of the research findings to adopted adults and adoptive families is discussed.     

Estimation of gaussian mixtures with rotationally invariant covariance matrices

Homoscedastic and heteroscedastic Gaussian mixtures differ in the constraints placed on the covariance matrices of the mixture components. A new mixture, called herein a strophoscedastic mixture, is defined by a new constraint, This constraint requires the matrices to be identical under orthogonal trans¬formations, where different transformations are allowed for different matrices. It is shown that the M-step of the EM method for estimating the parameters of strophoscedastic mixtures from sample data is explicitly solvable using singular value decompositions. Consequently, the EM-based maximum likelihood estimation algorithm is as easily implemented for strophoscedastic mixtures as it is for homoscedastic and heteroscedastic mixtures. An example of a “noisy” Archimedian spiral is presented.     

IMMIGRANTS IN THE NEW SOUTH: AN INTRODUCTION

This study analyzes (1) the effects of affluence perception on anomia and (2) the importance of affluence perception as an intervening variable interpreting the effects of race, education, and income on anomia. The analysis uses survey data from a probability sample of adults in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Ohio. Affluence perception is found to be positively related to anomia and to account for part of the effects of race, education, and income on anomia. The three demographic variables, however, have stronger independent effects on anomia that cannot be accounted for by perception of affluence.     

Misspecifications of the Normal Distribution

Incorrect statements about the normal distribution are discussed and illustrated with counterexamples.     

A study of Bayesian local robustness with applications in actuarial statistics

Local or infinitesimal Bayesian robustness is a powerful tool to study the sensitivity of posterior magnitudes, which cannot be expressed in a simple manner. For these expressions, the global Bayesian robustness methodology does not seem adequate since the practitioner cannot avoid using inappropriate classes of prior distributions in order to make the model mathematically tractable. This situation occurs, for example, when we compute some types of premiums in actuarial statistics in order to fix the premium to be charged to an insurance policy. In this paper, analytical and simple expressions that allow us to study the sensitivity of premiums, which are usually used in automobile insurance are provided by using the local Bayesian robustness methodology. Some examples are examined by using real automobile claim insurance data.     

The Impact of Patronymic Attractiveness on Employability

We link patronymics (first and last names presented together) to success in the job market by investigating the influence of name attractiveness on employability. Using data from a recruitment agency, we tested (binomial regression) for effects associated with age, gender, and name attractiveness on job interview outcomes. We found that candidates with more attractive patronymics were more likely to be retained by employers.     

Exact permutation inference for two sample repeated measures data

Experiments in which very few units are measured many times sometimes present particular difficulties. Interest often centers on simple location shifts between two treatment groups, but appropriate modeling of the error distribution can be challenging. For example, normality may be difficult to verify, or a single transformation stabilizing variance or improving normality for all units and all measurements may not exist. We propose an analysis of two sample repeated measures data based on the permutation distribution of units. This provides a distribution free alternative to standard analyses. The analysis includes testing, estimation and confidence intervals. By assuming a certain structure in the location shift model, the dimension of the problem is reduced by analyzing linear combinations of the marginal statistics. Recently proposed algorithms for computation of two sample permutation distributions, require only a few seconds for experiments having as many as 100 units and any number of repeated measures. The test has high asymptotic efficiency and good power with respect to tests based on the normal distribution. Since the computational burden is minimal, approximation of the permutation distribution is unnecessary.     

Tables of the exact quantiles of the top-down correlation coefficient for n - 3(1)14

Iman and Connver (1985, 1987) have suggested the top-down correlation coefficient as a measure of association when n objects are ranked by two or more independent sources and interest centers primarily on agreement in the top rankings, with disagreements on items at the bottom of the rankings being of little or no importance. The top-down correlation coefficient results from computing the ordinary Pearson correlation coefficient on Savage scores. Quantiles of the exact distribution of the top-down correlation coefficient based on the assumption of independent rankings are provided for n = 3(1)14.