Family Relationships,Social Connections,and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Older Adults in International Migrant Families

This study explored whether and how family relationships and social connections influence depressive symptoms of older migrants and older adults in transnational families using the data gathered from a cross-sectional survey in Los Angeles, California, United States, and Beijing, China. Regression results showed that the older migrants reported significantly higher levels of depression than the elders in transnational families. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining close family relations and having large friendship networks for older adults in international migrant families.     

Bootstrap-calibrated empirical likelihood confidence intervals for the difference between two Gini indexes

Measuring the difference between two Gini indexes is important in comparing the inequality between two groups. This paper systematically provides confidence intervals for this difference. First, normal approximation- and bootstrap-based confidence intervals are provided for the difference. Second, empirical likelihood (EL)-based confidence intervals are proposed according to a ratio statistic that is proven to have a weighted Chi-squared distribution with one degree of freedom. Third, two calibration approaches are established to improve the undercoverage issue of the EL method; these two approaches are augmented EL and bootstrap-calibrated EL. Monte Carlo simulations show that bootstrap-calibrated EL generally outperforms other methods in constructing confidence intervals. In the simulations, these methods are compared with the permutation method to test the equality of two Gini indexes. Lastly, these methods are applied to real data.     

Statistical measurement of the inventory shortage cost

In searching for the optimal inventory control policy, the objective is to minimize the expected total costs related, of which the shortage cost is an important element. Due to the difficulty in calculating the indirect cost of the loss of goodwill resulted from the shortage, practitioners and researchers often simply assume a fixed penalty cost on the inventory shortage or switch to the alternative method by assigning a specific customer service level. The development of an appropriate tool for measuring the shortage cost can help a business control the total costs and improve the productivity more effectively. This paper proposes probabilistic measurements of the shortage cost, based on mathematical relationship between the cost and the shortage amount. The derived closed-form estimates of the expected shortage cost value can then be applied to support the determination of the optimal inventory control policy.     

Parametric bootstrap inferences for the growth curve models with intraclass correlation structure

This paper presents parametric bootstrap (PB) approaches for hypothesis testing and interval estimation of the fixed effects and the variance component in the growth curve models with intraclass correlation structure. The PB pivot variables are proposed based on the sufficient statistics of the parameters. Some simulation results are presented to compare the performance of the proposed approaches with the generalized inferences. Our studies show that the PB approaches perform satisfactorily for various cell sizes and parameter configurations, and tends to outperform the generalized inferences with respect to the coverage probabilities and powers. The PB approaches not only have almost exact coverage probabilities and Type I error rates, but also have the shorter expected lengths and the higher powers. Furthermore, the PB procedure can be simply carried out by a few simulation steps. Finally, the proposed approaches are illustrated by using a real data example.     

Government Capital,Intimate and Community Social Capital,and Food Security Status in Older Adults with Different Income Levels

Whether government‐based forms of food assistance such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), communal efforts including food pantries, aid from friends and family, or alternative means such as gardening are the appropriate means to reduce the prevalence of household food insecurity is a continuous source of policy contention. To inform this debate, we examine the relative importance of these forms of food assistance and acquisition to a sample of U.S. older adults from the 2010 Brazos Valley Health Assessment of central Texas households that have been stratified by income eligibility for SNAP, low‐income SNAP ineligibility, and above low income status. To identify how membership in these socioeconomic groups constrains household capacity to acquire sufficient food to maintain an adequate and healthy diet, we explore the varied associations of assets received from government; communal and intimate social networks; and alternative food sources such as gardening, hunting, and fishing with household food security across socioeconomic status, while examining the importance of place of residence on the use of capital assets. SNAP participation was the only specific capital asset associated with all levels of food insecurity for both SNAP‐eligible and ineligible low‐income groups, thus emphasizing the continued importance of food assistance among poverty‐level older adults.     

社会性别视域下高校美女文化现象解析

高校美女文化面临着泛化的倾向。造成这种现象的深层次原因与市场经济中女性地位的衰落直接相关。而高校社会性别教育的缺失削弱了女性的独立意识,大众文化的勃兴则强化着社会性别的刻板印象。高校美女文化的泛滥弱化了女大学生独立意识的形成,造成社会资源的浪费．也加剧了社会文化中男女不平等的局面,促使女性向传统价值观回归。为了重塑高校社会性别平等文化,应该使社会性别意识纳入政府决策主流,推动社会性别平等教育进入高等教学体系并实现学科建设主流化,培养大众传媒的社会性别意识。     

地震致残者生存状态与需求分析——来自四川省汶川地震灾区的调查

文章通过对汶川地震灾区调查所获数据,介绍震区致残者的基本情况,对其生存状态和需求进行分析。调查显示,地震致残者的生存状态不容乐观,其住房状况较差,婚姻问题多样,就业率和就业层次较低,社会保障力度相对薄弱,其中农村地震致残者的问题尤为突出。整体而言,由于特惠政策不到位等原因导致其核心需求满足低,长远需求与供给存在一定程度错位。另外,心理康复工作不完善使其全面康复得不到保障。针对地震致残者面临的现实问题,作者提出了一些相应的对策建议。     

创新、升级与培育——2013上海文化消费报告

在全国文化消费方兴未艾的背景下,上海文化消费尤为繁盛。在载体方面,创新与多元化趋势增强。由政府主导的基础型公共文化服务体系进一步完善,消费产品更加多样化,但仍存在公共文化机构数量不足、消费理念薄弱等问题。电影节、书展、动漫节、艺术节、艺博会五大节庆类公共文化平台在消费产品多元化、亲民化、国际化方面的趋势更加明显。新媒体作为市场主导的自主型文化消费载体,发展迅猛。网购、APP、微博经济、网络文学消费稳步增长。在客体方面,假日旅游和出境游消费火爆,私人影院等体验式消费备受青睐,演艺、奢侈品消费呈爆发式增长。在主体方面,上海已形成高、中、低3类消费主体并存的文化消费格局,阶层化倾向日趋明显。     

论留日“浙江潮”对中国新文学的催生意义

在中国新文学发生前后,曾涌动一股声势颇壮的留日"浙江潮",其间走出一大批对中国新文学作出重大建树的作家。这些作家从日本汲取异域新风,在新文学"前夜"已向"现代"方向发起有力的冲击,在新文学诞生阶段期其主导文学新潮的实质性意义更充分凸显,从中显示出他们对中国新文学的一种催生意义。