Social Bookmarking–Repository–Networking: Possibilities for Support of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

Social bookmarking, repositories, networking, and other Web 2.0 technologies have the capacity to engage enormous numbers of ordinary people in networking, sharing, and working with digital resources. The Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong has been pioneering new educational applications. Through grants from the University we have developed a social bookmarking and repository system based on Web 2.0 ideas. RISAL—Repository of Interactive Social Assets for Learning has an unrealized potential to support teaching and learning at the University level. It is designed to facilitate and encourage sharing and collaboration of teachers and students with similar interests or learning foci across levels and programs. This form of learning support builds on and encourages the Web 2.0 culture of social networking and contribution of the individual to the community. In addition, the system is designed to incorporate compliance with Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance (Creative Commons). The authors discuss the RISAL and describe its features and benefits that this system can offer to teaching and learning.     

Smoothing Spline Estimation for Partially Linear Single-index Models

In this article, the partially linear single-index models are discussed based on smoothing spline and average derivative estimation method. This proposed technique consists of two stages: one is to estimate the vector parameter in the linear part using the smoothing cubic spline method, simultaneously, obtaining the estimator of unknown single-index function; the other is to estimate the single-index coefficients in the single-index part by the using average derivative estimator procedure. Some simulated and real examples are presented to illustrate the performance of this method.     

An Approximate Bayesian Algorithm for Combining Forecasts*

In this paper we propose a consensus forecasting method based on a convex combination of individual forecast densities. The exact Bayesian updating of the convex combination weights is very complex and practically prohibitive. We propose a simple sequential updating alternative method based on function approximation. Several examples illustrate the method.     

有信息冲击、无信息冲击与波动率非对称性

本文将金融市场的冲击(innovations)分成有信息冲击和无信息冲击,构建了一种新的非对称GARCH类模型,区间均值GARCH模型(sectional mean GARCH,SM-GARCH).在中国股票市场的实证分析中发现:SM-GARCH模型能够更好地捕捉波动率特征和预测波动率;条件均值预测误差用于描述新到来的冲击对条件方差的影响,所提供的信息是有限的,在无信息冲击的情况下可以忽略它在波动率预测中的作用.     

银行贷款、商业信用融资及我国上市公司的公司治理

本文讨论了银行贷款以及商业信用融资对我国上市公司公司治理的影响.通过对1995到2000年间上市公司CEO更换的研究,我们得到两个结论:第一,在经营业绩为负的公司中,银行贷款与强制性CEO更换存在负向关系,而商业信用融资与强制性CEO更换存在正向关系;第二,在盈利能力一般的公司中,商业信用融资与强制性CEO更换仍为正向关系,但银行贷款与强制性CEO更换却不存在明显的关系.以上结果表明,商业信用融资在CEO强制性更换中起到了积极的作用,改善了上市公司的公司治理,而银行贷款却没有起到相应的作用,甚至有负面的作用.     

Relational stability and alliance performance in supply chain

Drawing on the theories of social exchange and goal interdependence, this paper examines the antecedents of relational stability in supply chain alliances and if the stability affects alliance performance in supply chain in the context of manufacturing firms. The results show that both relational commitment and trust of supplier have positive effects on relational stability in supply chain alliance, which in turn positively affects the alliance performance. These results have important implications for researchers investigating the effectiveness of supply chain alliances as well as practitioners seeking to improve alliance performance in supply chain.     

四十年来香港公共运输的发展与挑战

交通对经济发展和社会生活甚为重要.与上海一样香港公共交通也发展了百年之久.香港1880年开始过海渡轮服务,山顶缆车在1888年运营,有轨电车在1904年启用.香港的运输署也已成立40周年.     

Marketing Strategies and Market Prospects for Environmentally-Friendly Consumer Products1

Recent evidence suggests that the extent of consumer adoption of ‘green’ products is much less than would be indicated by the enthusiastic opinion poll evidence concerning public attitudes towards environmentally-friendly consumption. This paper reports on an empirical analysis of firms' marketing strategies and their influence on consumer demand for green products. In twenty 2–3 hour interviews with senior managers, four representative groups of markets were analysed household detergents, paper (recycled), petrol (unleaded) and automobile technology (focusing on catalytic converters). According to managers, firms' marketing strategies influenced consumer demand by making green technologies available in the fwst instance. However, barriers to supplying green products that show panty with, or better performance than, conventional technologies constrain pricing and communication efforts Managers stressed that, in the absence of clarity of green products' environmental benefits, product performance and other attributes, not green benefits, remain the main determinants of product preference and choice. Promotions focused much more on consumers than distribution channels, yet channel acceptance and support of green innovations are paramount in facilitating sales. Firms see the costs of generating and promoting desirable green technologies as barriers to diffusion in the immediate future. Legislation and/or economic incentives may help, but manufacturers are not optimistic that future green consumption rates will accelerate. The results also highlight several propositions concerning the discrepancy between consumer environmental concerns and purchasing actions which warrant further testing: there is mis-specification of green products in relation to consumers'needs; there are barriers to perceptions of green products' environmental impact and consumers' free ride due to individual self-interest.     

Mothers’ Marital Status and Type of Delivery Medical Care in Guatemala

The use of modern medical care for child delivery in rural Guatemala is low relative to other Latin American countries. In the previous literature, factors such as a woman’s age, education, ethnicity, religious affiliation and income are found to be important determinants of the type of delivery medical care she receives. This study hypothesizes that a woman’s marital status influences her decision as well. Using a binomial logit framework, the study finds that unmarried women are more likely to see a modern medical provider in delivery than married women, even after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and husbands’ characteristics. Therefore, unmarried women seem to make more informed decisions in terms of their attitudes in childbearing and maternal health relative to their married counterparts. As a result, both economic as well as social developments seem necessary to induce changes in the high incidence of maternal mortality and morbidity in Guatemala.     

Same-sex domestic partnerships and lower-risk behaviors for STDs, including HIV infection

To determine the association between domestic partnership status and risk behaviors for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection, we analyzed data from a population-based interviewer-administered telephone survey of 2,881 gay men in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago conducted in November 1996 to February 1998. Men in domestic partnerships had a statistically significantly lower prevalence of multiple partnerships, "one-night stands," and unprotected anal intercourse with a non-primary partner than either men with steady partners not identified as domestic partners or men without a steady partner. These findings were independent of age. Men in domestic partnerships had decreased risk behaviors for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection, suggesting but not proving, that conferring legal status to same-sex unions might decrease sexual risk behavior.