Erratum to “Progressively Type-II right censored order statistics from discrete distributions” [J. Statist. Plann. Inference 138 (2008) 845–856]

In this note, we correct the proof of Representation 1 of Balakrishnan and Dembińska [2008. Progressively Type-II right censored order statistics from discrete distributions. J. Statist. Plann. Inference 138, 845–856] which relates the joint distribution of progressively Type-II right censored order statistics corresponding to an arbitrary population to progressively Type-II right censored order statistics from the standard uniform distribution.     

On the analysis of experiments in affine resolvable designs

The paper gives explicit formulae for analysing an experiment carried out in an affine resolvable proper block design. They follow from a randomization model, decomposed into stratum submodels. Analyses within the four relevant strata, and then the combined analysis, are considered in details. The paper is essentially an extension of some results presented in recent books, by Caliński and Kageyama [2000. Block Designs: A Randomization Approach, Volume I: Analysis. Lecture Notes in Statistics, vol. 150. Springer, New York; 2003. Block Designs: A Randomization Approach, Volume II: Design. Lecture Notes in Statistics, vol. 170. Springer, New York].     

Władysław Konopczyński: a Polish Historian of European Caliber

Władysław Konopczyński, a Polish scholar and an investigator of modern history, certainly deserves to be recalled and to reappear yet again in all-European awareness. It must be done due to the fact that the name of that very outstanding and titled pre-war scholar was forced to disappear completely from the European humanities for fifty years. The decision of expelling Konopczyński from the world of European historians was made by the communist leaders of Poland. However, before that time, Konopczyński had played an important role in Europe. It is just enough to mention that during Poland's twenty years of independence after World War I, in the year 1931, Konopczyński was granted a membership in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Moreover, he was awarded the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star and the French Legion of Honour. Furthermore, the historian participated in many international congresses and his works were printed in many countries of Western Europe. In 1947 in Stockholm the heir to the throne himself attended Konopczyński's lecture. An erratum to this article is available at .     

RNA multiple structural alignment with longest common subsequences

In this paper, we present a new model for RNA multiple sequence structural alignment based on the longest common subsequence. We consider both the off-line and on-line cases. For the off-line case, i.e., when the longest common subsequence is given as a linear graph with n vertices, we first present a polynomial O(n ²) time algorithm to compute its maximum nested loop. We then consider a slightly different problem—the Maximum Loop Chain problem and present an algorithm which runs in O(n ⁵) time. For the on-line case, i.e., given m RNA sequences of lengths n, compute the longest common subsequence of them such that this subsequence either induces a maximum nested loop or the maximum number of matches, we present efficient algorithms using dynamic programming when m is small. This research is partially supported by EPSCOR Visiting Scholar's Program and MSU Short-term Professional Development Program.     

Big fat Assyrian/Syriac weddings: rituals and marriage traditions among Middle Eastern Christians in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Weddings can be seen as ‘rites of passage’ and also as ‘symbolic struggles’ since their glamour appears to be a new indicator of status for many families, especially migrant ones. A mixture of traditional as well as reinvented wedding customs serves a community searching for ethnic identity markers that can help it to embrace all of its descendants. This article presents a case study of how Assyrian/Syriac wedding rituals and marriage traditions that are being performed and transformed in the migratory context of Sweden over the last 50 years. Among the Middle Eastern Christians, who have been emigrating from Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq since the 1960s, and which today numbers 120,000 individuals, marriage is a very serious business – a permanent union between spouses and their respective families. The purpose of the article is to analyse Assyrian/Syriac wedding rituals and to discuss how they have shaped the modern Assyrian/Syriac identity. It also explores how local marriages connect and reconnect migrants of this ethno-religious group(s) and how it differentiates them from their peers in the surrounding Swedish society – religiously, socially and even aesthetically.     

R&D in a post centrally-planned economy: The macroeconomic effects in Poland

Half a century of centrally planned policy in the Central and Eastern European countries resulted in outdated technologies, inefficient allocation of resources and low productivity. Following the end of communism there was a fifteen year process of transition which ended in 2004 with eight post-communist countries joining the European Union (EU) of which Poland was the largest. As part of the EU these countries now face the challenge of the common EU strategy Europe 2020, which has set the target of achieving R&D expenditure to GDP ratio (called the R&D intensity) of 3% by 2020 for the Union as a whole in an effort to increase the competitiveness of the region. Poland, like the other post-communist countries, faces a lower target of R&D intensity, set at 1.7%. Nevertheless, the challenge is immense, since the country is still at only half that level and has little experience in developing policies to help achieve it. In this paper we tested two possible policy options to achieve the target: (1) to increase government expenditures on R&D and; (2) to provide tax relief on R&D to businesses. The method applied to assess the options is a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Poland with an explicit link between productivity and R&D stock. The results show that achieving the R&D intensity target via the use of tax relief is 2.5 times more costly to the government budget, but it has a greater impact on the economy in terms of a higher GDP growth. Tax relief proved efficient in the short run while in the long run the government expenditure policy provides better value for money.     

Negative situation appraisal and mental well-being among refugees in Germany: Serial mediation by religious coping and sense of coherence

It has been widely demonstrated that pre- and post-migration experiences can be highly traumatic for refugees. The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating effects of religious coping and sense of coherence on the association of negative dysfunctional situation appraisal and mental well-being among refugees. Paper surveys were completed by 600 people representing various refugee groups (mostly from Mashreq Countries) in German Bavaria, aged 18–65. Mediation analysis revealed that negative religious coping and sense of coherence singly and serially mediated the relationship between negative dysfunctional situation appraisal and well-being, whereas positive religious coping did not have statistically significant relationships with these variables. The data obtained suggest that the negative religious coping style and sense of coherence are two important targets for future experimental studies, and interventions on them may bring the synergistic effect on improving mental well-being in refugees.     

Transnational families: The experiences of Polish stayers from a lifelong perspective

In migration research, the voice is usually given to those who move, but in this article, those who stay are at the centre of attention. The study aims to present the stayers’ practices of everyday life in transnational families in an attempt to highlight the experience of staying and understand the stayers’ role in the migration project. The study is based on semi-structured life story interviews conducted in 2020 with people who in the 1980s stayed in the northeastern part of Poland when their relatives migrated internationally. In the almost four-decade perspective, staying appears as a powerful condition and an active process, closely interrelated with migration. Also, the migration project does not appear dependent so much on the range and availability of communication technologies – limited in the 1980s – but on transnational families’ engagement in that project and desire to accomplish it.     

Quality Management and Sustainable Development in Local Communes – Evidence from Poland

Public Organization Review - Sustainable development is usually investigated from a global or national rather than a regional or local perspective. However, it is local communes that decide on the...