Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability to Spatially Localized Failures with Applications to Chinese Railway System

This article studies a general type of initiating events in critical infrastructures, called spatially localized failures (SLFs), which are defined as the failure of a set of infrastructure components distributed in a spatially localized area due to damage sustained, while other components outside the area do not directly fail. These failures can be regarded as a special type of intentional attack, such as bomb or explosive assault, or a generalized modeling of the impact of localized natural hazards on large‐scale systems. This article introduces three SLFs models: node centered SLFs, district‐based SLFs, and circle‐shaped SLFs, and proposes a SLFs‐induced vulnerability analysis method from three aspects: identification of critical locations, comparisons of infrastructure vulnerability to random failures, topologically localized failures and SLFs, and quantification of infrastructure information value. The proposed SLFs‐induced vulnerability analysis method is finally applied to the Chinese railway system and can be also easily adapted to analyze other critical infrastructures for valuable protection suggestions.     

Comfort with discussions about death,religiosity, and attitudes about end‐of‐life care

In end‐of‐life (EOL) care research, death anxiety and religiosity are often overlooked. Terror management theory (TMT) may provide a useful conceptual model with which to examine how comfort discussing death and religiosity influence attitudes related to EOL care. A telephone‐based survey was conducted among community‐dwelling adults in the Unites States. Via random sampling, with over‐sampling of Hispanics/African Americans, 123 completed survey interviews (response rate = 46%) were analyzed. Respondents were more likely to have better attitudes toward EOL care if they were older or white, religiously active, and comfortable with the subject of death. Religiosity and comfort discussing death were correlated with each other and remained significant predictors of attitudes about EOL care even without demographic covariates. Findings suggest that promoting an open dialogue about mortality may improve attitudes about EOL care and utilization of palliative care services. The study also provides evidence about the utility and applicability of TMT for EOL care.     

Comparison on predictors of mental health service use among Asian older adults

Studies have mostly examined mental health service use of older Asian immigrant combining all Asian Americans into one group whereas immigration backgrounds and socioeconomic status of each Asian minority group are different. Therefore, this study aimed to identify predictors of mental health service use within specific ethnic groups among older Asian adults focusing on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese in California. The Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BMVP) is used to guide the secondary data analysis of a sample of 3,453 older Asian immigrants from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Logistic and linear regression analyses are performed to examine predictors of mental health service use and the frequency of mental health service use, respectively. As results, mental health‐seeking patterns differ by ethnicity within the older Asian immigrant sample, not being married (Korean), higher levels of acculturation (Filipino), lower levels of neighborhood cohesion (Korean and Vietnamese), higher levels of perceived safety (Korean) and lower levels of perceived safety (Vietnamese), higher levels of mental distress (Korean and Filipino), and having perceived need (all) were related to more visits for mental health services. The study findings highlight the necessity of cultural competency services and programs for each Asian ethnicity.     

冀南红色革命旧址建筑现状调研

红色革命旧址建筑完整的将那段红色峥嵘岁月呈现于世人眼前,同时也是我们回顾红色革命精神与历史的重要载体。本文以冀南地区红色革命旧址建筑为研究对象,通过实地考察与资料收集两种手段,对其历史背景与现状有了初步认识。将冀南地区红色革命旧址建筑根据当时行政功能划分为四类：党政机构、军事机构、后勤保障机构、宣传教育机构。并对其现有建筑特点进行了初步讨论,为下步探讨其保护与活化打下良好基础。     

从民族志到工商民族志

民族志以参与观察、深入访谈为主体研究方法,强调在自然状态下观察人类行为,分析人类行为与其所处社会环境及文化体系的关系.将民族志的研究方法应用于工商世界便成为工商民族志,而在市场营销中应用民族志的方法,将能够大大地提升企业的业绩,是一种极其有效的增强营销绩效的方法.讨论定性研究方法的价值及理论贡献,重点讨论民族志在工商世界的应用性问题,讨论民族志研究在企业文化或组织行为、消费者行为、民族、地区、国际性差异的应用及意义.     

中古汉地之西域文化

社会文化生成与历史生成相互促生.文化生成主要在于文化接触、交往交融而形成复合文化.社会生成,主要指不同形态社会力量(生产方式、主体等)碰撞交流,形成新的社会特质.历史生成,因历史过程、历史事件尤其朝代更替或政权变更,使主体及其文化迁移或滞留,而产生新的社会主体或结构.即历史生成实质涵括或促动社会文化生成.同时,社会与文化生成积淀或敦促历史生成.族属、信仰之转换、转向通常基于文化、社会和历史的生成.即历史生成往往基于社会文化生成.自古代经中世纪至近代,西域文化不断东渐中土,与南北方汉文化交融生成,逐步成为现今汉文化的重要构成.此亦历史生成之内容.     

Managing dependency in China outsourcing relationships

Abstract

This paper examines manufacturing firms’ use of guanxi and formal control to address dependence on suppliers and achieve desired outsourcing performance in China. Using survey data collected from manufacturing firms operating in China, a structural equation model is used to test the research model. The results suggest that manufacturing firms with high dependence on suppliers build Chinese guanxi with those suppliers to overcome the dependence and enhance outsourcing performance. In addition, Chinese guanxi also appears to facilitate the use of formal control, which was also found to have a positive relationship with outsourcing performance. This paper contributes to the literature by illustrating the importance of guanxi in achieving desired outsourcing performance in the China context, particularly in the case where a manufacturer perceives high dependency on its major supplier.     

An optimal online algorithm for the parallel-batch scheduling with job processing time compatibilities

We consider the online (over time) scheduling on a single unbounded parallel-batch machine with job processing time compatibilities to minimize makespan. In the problem, a constant \(\alpha >0\) is given in advance. Each job \(J_{j}\) has a normal processing time \(p_j\). Two jobs \(J_i\) and \(J_j\) are compatible if \(\max \{p_i, p_j\} \le (1+\alpha )\cdot \min \{p_i, p_j\}\). In the problem, mutually compatible jobs can form a batch being processed on the machine. The processing time of a batch is equal to the maximum normal processing time of the jobs in this batch. For this problem, we provide an optimal online algorithm with a competitive ratio of \(1+\beta _\alpha \), where \(\beta _\alpha \) is the positive root of the equation \((1+\alpha )x^{2}+\alpha x=1+\alpha \).     

与能源消耗等指标发生偏离的GDP是否可信

本文选取了1995-2014年全国30个省市数据,综合使用了向量自回归模型、参数面板模型、非参数面板模型和面板门限模型对GDP增速与电力消费增速、第二产业增速、第三产业增速、财政收入增速、货物流转增速、能源消费增速和固定资产投资增速等物理性指标间的关系进行了建模.实证研究发现,GDP增速、电力消费增速、第三产业增速、能源消费增速之间存在作用机制,但是这种影响模式并非一成不变,在不同时间段内,其模式发生改变,同时,这一影响模式也随着人均GDP的变化而发生阶段性改变.在经济新常态下,不能因为经济转型中的GDP数据与物理指数之间发生偏离,而简单否定GDP的准确性.     

基于全球商品流量表的中国大陆贸易影响力测算

文章利用国际货币基金组织(IMF)公布的各国(地区)进出口数据,编制了2015年全球商品流量表(G-CFM),描绘了国家(地区)间商品贸易网络关系,采用网络分析的方法对全球商品贸易格局进行了分析,发现了在全球商品贸易中以美、中、德为中心,世界各国紧密交织的网络特征,最后用投入产出方法分析了中国大陆的贸易影响力,测算了中国大陆进出口贸易对不同国家(地区)以及对全球的影响.