Libya's ‘Black’ Market Diplomacies: Opacity and Entanglement in the Face of Hope and Horror

In this essay, I explore some of the values, exchanges and economies (moral, political and libidinal) characteristic of everyday life and official diplomacies in Libya. Through a consideration of multiple sites of estrangement and their related mediation practice, the essay engages the moral alibis, entangled yet unacknowledged relations, ontological commitments and duplicitous exchanges that made ‘Gaddafi's Libya’ possible. By patiently engaging the morally ambiguous mediation practices, violence and the bodies in pain that are erased by recognizable diplomatic regimes and discourses, I interrogate both the habitual ways of thinking about and relating to Libya and the uncritical exuberance that marks the celebration of the insurrectional present. Such a diplomatic rendition of the situation in Libya raises the ethical and political stakes of our analyses of the uprising by illustrating that there is more going on in this place than the Pan-African, Orientalist and humanitarian reductionisms tell us.

En este ensayo, yo exploro algunos de los valores, intercambios y economías (morales, políticos y libidinales) característicos de la vida diaria y las diplomacias oficiales en Libia. A través de una consideración de múltiples sitios de distanciamiento y su práctica relacionada de mediación, el ensayo emplea la coartada moral, enredada aún con relaciones no reconocidas, compromisos ontológicos e intercambios engañosos que hicieron posible a la “Libia de Gadafi”. Yo interrogo tanto a las formas habituales de pensar relacionadas con Libia, como a la exuberancia acrítica que marcan la celebración del presente insurreccional, empleando pacientemente las prácticas de mediación moralmente ambiguas, violencia y cuerpos en sufrimiento, que están borrados por regímenes y discusiones diplomáticas. Tal rendición diplomática de la situación en Libia levanta la apuesta ética y política de nuestro análisis de la insurrección mediante la ilustración de que está sucediendo mucho más en este sitio que lo que nos cuenta el reduccionismo panafricano, orientalista y humanitario.

本文作者探索利比亚特有的日常生活和官方外交中的一些价值观念、相互交流和经济情况（包括道德的、政治的和本能的）。通过考察多个地方的疏远失和及与之相关的调解实践,本文引入道德缺位、混杂而未公开承认的关系、本体论义务以及双重交流这些使得“卡扎菲的利比亚”成为可能的要素。通过耐心地介入道德上模糊的调解实践,以及被可识别的外交机构与论说抹去了的暴力和肢体痛苦,作者拷问了思考和联系利比亚的习惯方式,以及标志着庆贺当前反叛的无批判的繁盛。通过详细说明实际正在发生的情况多于泛非、东方主义和人道主义还原论所告诉我们的,证明此种对利比亚局势的外交表演,提高了我们对起义进行分析的道德和政治意义。     

Climate Hazards and Risk Status: Explaining Climate Risk Assessment,Behavior, and Policy Support

Based on a national survey conducted two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, we investigate the ways in which major “risk conditions,” which may subject individuals to climate-related hazards, translate to varying responses to risk: including risk assessment, behavioral modification, and policy support. We present a model that an individual's risk status can be determined by their embeddedness in risk conditions, which include both exposure to risk sources and access to risk information. Our findings suggest that an individual's access to information on climate risks significantly influences their proactive responses to climate hazards, as in, those who have objective knowledge of climate risks and social ties with concerned others are more likely to be proactive toward climate risks. It is also observed that an individual's political views tend to predispose their assessment of climate risks, which further affect their behavioral and policy responses.     

Enhancing Recovery from Trauma: Facilitating a Mindfulness Skills Group on a Department of Veterans Affairs Inpatient PTSD Unit

Mindfulness and acceptance based treatments are being increasingly implemented for a variety of emotional and psychological related problems, including the impact of military and combat related trauma exposure. This article describes a mindfulness skills group as it was implemented on a sub-acute inpatient PTSD Unit at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center, to demonstrate and explore the role of the mindfulness skills development in a group setting, for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other trauma related problems.     

On shrinking minimax convergence in nonparametric statistics

‘?…?if we are prepared to assume that the unknown density has k derivatives, then?…?the optimal mean integrated squared error is of order n^{?2 k/(2 k+1)}?…?’ The citation is from Silverman [(1986), Density Estimation for Statistics and Data Analysis, London: Chapman &; Hall] and its assertion is based on a classical minimax lower bound which is the pillar of the modern nonparametric statistics. This paper proposes a new minimax methodology that implies a faster decreasing minimax lower bound that is attainable by a data-driven estimator, and the same estimator is also minimax under the classical approach. The recommendation is to test performance of estimators via the new and classical minimax approaches.     

Assisting ex-offenders in employment: the experience of Hong Kong

Research indicates that employment is effective in reducing recidivism amongst ex-offenders. However, ex-offenders are also discouraged from obtaining employment as a result of their poor education level, deficits in vocational skills and employer bias and discrimination. In Hong Kong, the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention offers a wide range of services to assist ex-offenders in employment. While a number of ex-offenders have benefited from these services, continuing difficulties are hard to overcome without government support. This paper recommends a multi-disciplinary approach to improve the employment situation of ex-offenders in Hong Kong and advocates for greater government involvement to help facilitate the reintegration of ex-offenders into the community in Hong Kong.     

Inference for Log-Gamma Distribution Based on Progressively Type-II Censored Data

We discuss the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the parameters of the log-gamma distribution based on progressively Type-II censored samples. We use the profile likelihood approach to tackle the problem of the estimation of the shape parameter κ. We derive approximate maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters μ and σ and use them as initial values in the determination of the MLEs through the Newton–Raphson method. Next, we discuss the EM algorithm and propose a modified EM algorithm for the determination of the MLEs. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the bias and mean square error of these estimators and examine their behavior as the progressive censoring scheme and the shape parameter vary. We also discuss the interval estimation of the parameters μ and σ and show that the intervals based on the asymptotic normality of MLEs have very poor probability coverages for small values of m. Finally, we present two examples to illustrate all the methods of inference discussed in this paper.     

Phase II Monitoring of Nonlinear Profiles

In many practical cases, the quality of a product or process is characterized by multiple measurements constituting a line or curve that is referred to as a profile. In this article, we develop two approaches for monitoring process and product nonlinear profiles. The first approach consists of control chart methods to monitor nonlinear profiles using parametric estimates of regression model. In order to avoid the problems arising from complexity of coefficient estimation of nonlinear profiles, the second approach, which consists of using metrics to measure deviation from a reference curve, is proposed. The performance of the methods is evaluated through a numerical example using average run length criterion. The effect of sample size on the performance of both approaches is also investigated in this article.     

Patterns of offending behaviour over time for different groups of children in relation to time spent in and out of care

Children who spend time in care are more likely to have an official record of offending behaviour than the general population. However, there is a lack of longitudinal research on the timing, severity, and volume of offending in relation to time spent in and out of care. Furthermore, differences in patterns of offending by identifiable groups in care are rarely a focus of research. This study is both longitudinal and identifies 8 groups within the care population with different volumes of recorded offending: ranging from a mean of 41.75 (prolific) to 1.60 (low). Substance misuse, gender, and reasons for referral to care were associated with different patterns of offending in and out of care. The study is primarily based on a subsample of 64 children who had offended whilst in care. The subsample represents 38.5% of a cohort of children who had been in care or were taken into care over a particular period (2008–2011) in one local authority. The placements and recorded offences of the 64 children were tracked for a further 2 years (2011–2013). The study highlights future areas of research and the need for more tailored responses to different groups within the care system.