Welfare Index of Migrant Workers in the Gulf: the Case of Qatar

In December 2010, Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup games. The FIFA announcement came with increasing pressure from international human rights organizations, media and other groups for Qatar to reform its labour law, which governs the lives and working conditions of foreign workers in the country. Although Qatar continues to develop and implement major reforms to its labour laws, until now there was no one unique tool based on survey data to evaluate the impact of the government’s policies on guest workers. The objective of this article is to present the Qatar Guest Workers’ Welfare Index (GWWI),¹ a multi-dimensional comprehensive tool based on survey data of migrant workers developed by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI). In addition to assessing and tracking the welfare of this population, the objective of the index is to identify areas of improvement to guide policy formulation.     

两岸青年学生对社会文化集群认知研究

青年学生是两岸文化迈向深度交流的生力军。针对两岸青年学生群体设计的"两岸青年学生对当代社会文化的看法"调查问卷结果发现,两岸青年学生对当代社会文化问题既有趋同认知,也存在着明显的集群差异。以调查问卷和深度访谈为样本,采用统计学、社会学、文化研究等方法,可以发现这种差异的形成既受到两岸经济社会发展差距的影响,也受到两岸文化观念等群体意识差异的影响,其根本原因在于两岸是两个不同的文化意义系统,彼此内部具有不同的集群认知和群体记忆。在全球化语境下,两岸民众应共享中华文化的多元性,在宏观层面实现两岸文化的包容性融合,在微观层面结合青年人的心理和社会状态,在秉承传统文化、正视认知差异、增进两岸交流、加强理论研究、推动协议商签等方面建构起共同文化认知体系的路径。     

An analytical management framework for new product development processes featuring uncertain iterations

This paper presents an analytical framework for effective management of projects with uncertain iterations. The framework is based upon: (1) the combination of two complementary techniques, one focused on improving iterative process architectures, the Design Structure Matrix, and one focused on predicting project performance, the Graphical Evaluation Review Technique; and (2) the introduction of an activity set-based criticality measure. The intent of the framework is to help project managers and researchers identify and evaluate alternative process architectures, in order to help them determine the alternative which best balances risk and other project performance parameters, as illustrated through an example application.     

大学物理实验课程考试改革的探索

论述了在大学物理实验课程的教学过程中把教学效果进行科学量化（考试）的重要性。针对大学物理实验课程考试中存在的问题，根据教育测量的理论，结合大学物理实验课程的教学实际，提出了大学物理实验课程考试改革的具体措施。     

Linear rank tests for censored survival data

We describe a class of rank test procedures for the two-sample problem with right censored survival data. The class of tests is directly generalized from the linear rank tests by assigning each observation a rank according to its corresponding Wilcoxon scores. It allows a flexible choice of score functions, in particular, those powerful against scale differences between the two survival distributions. Monte Carlo simulations have shown that some members of this class have great power in detecting crossing-curve alternatives (alternatives where underlying survival curves cross over). The class also contains tests essentially equivalent to the Gehan-Wilcoxon and the logrank tests.     

Performance and burnout in intensive care units

Abstract

The relationship between three different performance measures and burnout was explored in 20 Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) proved to be significantly related to nurses' perceptions of performance as well as to objectively assessed unit performance. Subjective performance measures relate negatively to burnout levels of nurses, whereas an objective performance measure relates positively to burnout. Furthermore, subjectively assessed personal performance (i.e. personal accomplishment) is more strongly related to burnout than subjectively assessed unit performance. A model test of the relationship between both types of subjective performance and burnout reveals that nurses' perception of unit performance is indirectly related to burnout through perception of personal performance. This model holds similarly for objectively well- and poor-performing ICUs.     

Multicultural education: A new approach for a new South African dispensation

In a new South African dispensation, the reconstruction of a national education system necessitates fundamental change to existing educational policies and practices. Seen as a cultural kaleidoscope or ethnic mosaic of peoples, modern South African society can be characterised as being multicultural. It stands to reason, therefore, that multicultural education for a new multicultural South Africa has become a logical, outcomes-based necessity. The extent to which multicultural education will succeed depends largely on the knowledge, attitudes, views and conduct of the teacher as initiator, facilitator and manager of the educational and learning practice. Most teachers in this country have been trained in a monocultural context and are therefore not adequately prepared for implementing multicultural education. All educators in South Africa who are seriously concerned with the formal education of children will have to become equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to initiate and facilitate optimal learning in a multicultural context. What is needed is an innovative and studious predisposition, cultural reappraisal, and the acceptance of co-ownership in building a new democratic dispensation for South Africa. Teachers within multicultural school contexts need to bring about this conceptual paradigm shift in the hearts and minds of young people.     

A Combined D.C. Optimization—Ellipsoidal Branch-and-Bound Algorithm for Solving Nonconvex Quadratic Programming Problems

In this paper we propose a new branch-and-bound algorithm by using an ellipsoidal partition for minimizing an indefinite quadratic function over a bounded polyhedral convex set which is not necessarily given explicitly by a system of linear inequalities and/or equalities. It is required that for this set there exists an efficient algorithm to verify whether a point is feasible, and to find a violated constraint if this point is not feasible. The algorithm is based upon the fact that the problem of minimizing an indefinite quadratic form over an ellipsoid can be efficiently solved by some available (polynomial and nonpolynomial time) algorithms. In particular, the d.c. (difference of convex functions) algorithm (DCA) with restarting procedure recently introduced by Pham Dinh Tao and L.T. Hoai An is applied to globally solving this problem. DCA is also used for locally solving the nonconvex quadratic program. It is restarted with current best feasible points in the branch-and-bound scheme, and improved them in its turn. The combined DCA-ellipsoidal branch-and-bound algorithm then enhances the convergence: it reduces considerably the upper bound and thereby a lot of ellipsoids can be eliminated from further consideration. Several numerical experiments are given.     

高校文学课程立体化教学改革探索

近年来我国高校文学课程教学改革一直呼声不断，但效果甚微。其主要原因是理念谈得多，而把理论转化为实践，摸索出的可操作性内容较少。据此，笔者提出文学教学改革具体实施方略。呼吁突破传统教学方法，摆脱教材束缚，增加课堂灵活度；提倡课堂教学回归文学性，重视学生实践能力培养，将教学内容划分板块，使其层次化；着力延伸课外教学，加强学生自主学习性，使课外教学丰富化、多样化；完善考核评价机制，提高教学实施效果，最终实现立体化教学新模式。     

新中国少数民族题材美术的话语实践

新中国少数民族题材美术创作的产生和发展与中国近现代文化转型时期的文化内部需求密切相关,作为新中国文化史上重要的视觉文本,其创作成果形象地见证了中国近现代文化向多元一体文化格局转化的过程,而其创作历程则是中国美术家立足于本土文化资源,传承与重构中华民族文化脉络,致力于实现文化自主价值,对抗文化"同质化"趋势的话语实践。