Exploring alternative pathways out of poverty: making connections between domestic violence and employment practices

In this article we report on the research findings from our exploratory study examining connections between Australian responses to two important social issues: domestic violence and employment. Although international literature particularly from North America, comprehensively addresses the connections between domestic violence and employment, there is a paucity of Australian research on this topic. Intrigued by this as both practitioners and researchers, we sought to discover whether the problems, solutions and conclusions addressed internationally were relevant to an Australian context. The result was a unique contribution to Australian knowledge and practice where we demonstrate the applicability of some aspects of North American approaches to Australia and document innovative local practices in the field. In this article we argue for a more comprehensive approach in responses to the connections between domestic violence and employment as an alternative pathway out of poverty for women affected by domestic violence.     

Perception of family need in pediatric oncology

This paper studies the needs of a family in which a child has been diagnosed with cancer. The tasks of the family include meeting the physical and psychosocial needs of the child while attempting to maintain normal family functioning. Various psychological and social factors affect the outcome of medical treatment and the recovery process. The paper highlights the needs assessment as a tool in a comprehensive approach to service delivery.     

Semi-automated simultaneous predictor selection for regression-SARIMA models

Statistics and Computing - Deciding which predictors to use plays an integral role in deriving statistical models in a wide range of applications. Motivated by the challenges of predicting events...     

Hidden Second‐order Stationary Spatial Point Processes

In the existing statistical literature, the almost default choice for inference on inhomogeneous point processes is the most well‐known model class for inhomogeneous point processes: reweighted second‐order stationary processes. In particular, the K‐function related to this type of inhomogeneity is presented as the inhomogeneous K‐function. In the present paper, we put a number of inhomogeneous model classes (including the class of reweighted second‐order stationary processes) into the common general framework of hidden second‐order stationary processes, allowing for a transfer of statistical inference procedures for second‐order stationary processes based on summary statistics to each of these model classes for inhomogeneous point processes. In particular, a general method to test the hypothesis that a given point pattern can be ascribed to a specific inhomogeneous model class is developed. Using the new theoretical framework, we reanalyse three inhomogeneous point patterns that have earlier been analysed in the statistical literature and show that the conclusions concerning an appropriate model class must be revised for some of the point patterns.     

Exponential Family Techniques for the Lognormal Left Tail

Let X be lognormal(μ,σ²) with density f(x); let θ > 0 and define . We study properties of the exponentially tilted density (Esscher transform) f_θ(x) = e^?θxf(x)/L(θ), in particular its moments, its asymptotic form as θ→∞ and asymptotics for the saddlepoint θ(x) determined by . The asymptotic formulas involve the Lambert W function. The established relations are used to provide two different numerical methods for evaluating the left tail probability of the sum of lognormals S_n=X₁+?+X_n: a saddlepoint approximation and an exponential tilting importance sampling estimator. For the latter, we demonstrate logarithmic efficiency. Numerical examples for the cdf F_n(x) and the pdf f_n(x) of S_n are given in a range of values of σ²,n and x motivated by portfolio value‐at‐risk calculations.     

Adolescent–Parent Relations in Asian Indian and Salvadoran Immigrant Families: A Cultural–Developmental Analysis of Autonomy,Authority, Conflict,and Cohesion

From a cultural perspective, this study addressed the two developmental theories that adolescents want more autonomy and fewer parental rules than parents consider appropriate, and that discrepancy between adolescents and parents on views of autonomy and authority result in decreased cohesion and increased conflict. The study included 100 adolescent–parent dyads who were immigrants to the United States from El Salvador and India. While findings pointed to cross‐cultural commonalities, such as autonomy seeking among adolescents, they also highlighted the importance of culture to different meanings of autonomy and the limits of the discrepancy thesis. The discussion calls for future scholarship to include concepts of salience to diverse groups such as family interdependence and appreciation for the parental immigrant experience.     

世界公共交通简讯

<正>意大利意大利首都罗马十分重视城市的生态环境,尤其是拥有众多历史建筑的市中心。为此制定了一个目标,要求在这个范围内行驶的公共交通车辆都要做到"零排放"。该市的Atac SpA交通公司于1996年开始使用Gulliver U500 ESP小型电动公共汽车,1999年开始增加Iveco 12 m混合动力公共汽车,此后又增加了12 m Mercedes Citaro CRT公共     

Optimal PPS Sampling with Vanishing Auxiliary Variables – with Applications in Microscopy

Recently, non‐uniform sampling has been suggested in microscopy to increase efficiency. More precisely, proportional to size (PPS) sampling has been introduced, where the probability of sampling a unit in the population is proportional to the value of an auxiliary variable. In the microscopy application, the sampling units are fields of view, and the auxiliary variables are easily observed approximations to the variables of interest. Unfortunately, often some auxiliary variables vanish, that is, are zero‐valued. Consequently, part of the population is inaccessible in PPS sampling. We propose a modification of the design based on a stratification idea, for which an optimal solution can be found, using a model‐assisted approach. The new optimal design also applies to the case where ‘vanish’ refers to missing auxiliary variables and has independent interest in sampling theory. We verify robustness of the new approach by numerical results, and we use real data to illustrate the applicability.