Is the Easy Life Always the Happiest? Examining the Association of Convenience and Well-Being in Taiwan

Social scientists have under-examined neighborhood stores and other “resources” and their relationships to community welfare and personal happiness. Because the presence of neighborhood conveniences may signify that a neighborhood caters to residents’ needs and smoothes out the hassles of their daily lives, it could be hypothesized that commercial amenities and services enhance individuals’ satisfaction with their neighborhoods, with their health, and even with their lives as a whole. This study used a national probability sample from Taiwan, a densely populated society in East Asia, to test if service-oriented commercial and religious enterprises in neighborhoods are associated with positive estimations of well-being by those who occupy these spaces. We empirically examine whether proximity to main roads, night markets and temples or proximity to smoky food stands and other shops that produce pungent products affects well-being. Our findings from multivariate analyses suggest that if nearby conveniences are conceived as annoyances, they tend to lower satisfaction with neighborhood, but they do not lower life satisfaction in general. In contrast, air quality, along with “peace and quietness” is reported by respondents to be key in enhancing general well-being. We discuss the policy implications in the concluding session.     

A Deprivation Analysis for Andalusia (Spain): An Approach Based on Structural Equations

The study of deprivation, as a social indicator, is basic in the design and development of public policies because it allows decision makers to identify and analyse needy areas in order to improve their citizens’ well-being. The methodological approach proposed for the development of a new deprivation index is based on the Causal Theory whose conceptual model is analysed using Structural Equations. The domains selected for the deprivation index are: education, employment, income, housing, infrastructures and health. A structural equation model based on variance is the exploratory method used to obtain the indices pertaining to the above mentioned areas; the results obtained are seen to be quite reliable. There is a positive connection between the areas of education, employment and income while the relations between infrastructures and health are found to be negative. The results can be projected at a local level and show basic territorial deficiencies. The spatial units studied are the Andalusian (south of Spain) municipalities (770). The spatial projection of the indices obtained for the domains of deprivation highlights the existence of geographical areas which could be a potential target for public action.     

Bayesian Classifiers Applied to the Tennessee Eastman Process

Fault diagnosis includes the main task of classification. Bayesian networks (BNs) present several advantages in the classification task, and previous works have suggested their use as classifiers. Because a classifier is often only one part of a larger decision process, this article proposes, for industrial process diagnosis, the use of a Bayesian method called dynamic Markov blanket classifier that has as its main goal the induction of accurate Bayesian classifiers having dependable probability estimates and revealing actual relationships among the most relevant variables. In addition, a new method, named variable ordering multiple offspring sampling capable of inducing a BN to be used as a classifier, is presented. The performance of these methods is assessed on the data of a benchmark problem known as the Tennessee Eastman process. The obtained results are compared with naive Bayes and tree augmented network classifiers, and confirm that both proposed algorithms can provide good classification accuracies as well as knowledge about relevant variables.     

Bayesian Treatment of Model Uncertainty for Partially Applicable Models

This article discusses how analyst's or expert's beliefs on the credibility and quality of models can be assessed and incorporated into the uncertainty assessment of an unknown of interest. The proposed methodology is a specialization of the Bayesian framework for the assessment of model uncertainty presented in an earlier paper. This formalism treats models as sources of information in assessing the uncertainty of an unknown, and it allows the use of predictions from multiple models as well as experimental validation data about the models’ performances. In this article, the methodology is extended to incorporate additional types of information about the model, namely, subjective information in terms of credibility of the model and its applicability when it is used outside its intended domain of application. An example in the context of fire risk modeling is also provided.     

指类句的修辞性嬗变

指类句可加以改造而获得特定修辞效果,"全都……,只有……"这一句式就是一例。此类修辞效果是通过"全都……"增强语句的语义信息到极致获得反衬,继而通过"只有……"突显例外现象实现的。指类句是对一类事物属性的隐性全称量化,同时又容忍例外现象。对指类句的元语用分析表明,在元语用层次,理解指类句的认知机制、指类句理解的心理逻辑和语言使用的会话修辞逻辑使得这种改造成为可能。     

分位数单位根检验的拓展及其应用研究

在不同的分位下对时间序列数据是否含有结构性变化进行甄别,对于准确识别数据的动态变化及其分布特征具有重要的意义.本文首次在Koenker和Xiao(2004)研究的基础上提出傅立叶分位数单位根检验模型,并以此捕捉时间序列中存在的结构突变点,进而刻画数据在不同分位下的动态变化特征.本文通过构建傅立叶QKS统计量并采用蒙特卡罗方法对傅立叶分位数模型的临界值、样本容量和检验“势”进行模拟,发现含有傅立叶级数的分位数单位根检验对刻画“尖峰厚尾”特征数据的非线性偏离动态调节特征具有更高的检验“势”.最后,本文利用拓展后的模型对我国通货膨胀的持久性和失业的回滞效应进行再检验,结果发现我国通货膨胀具有平稳的特征,而失业率却包含单位根过程.本研究为分位数单位根检验的拓展及其应用提供了一定的启示.     

Observed and parent‐reported conscience in childhood: Relations with bullying involvement in early primary school

This exploratory study aimed to examine which components of early childhood conscience predicted bullying involvement around school entry. In the population‐based Generation R Study, teacher reports of bullying involvement and parent reports of conscience were available for 3,244 children (M age = 6.7 years). Higher levels of overall conscience predicted lower bullying perpetration scores, independently of intelligence quotient, temperamental traits and sociodemographic characteristics. Particularly, the subscales guilt, confession, and internalized conduct, and to a lesser extent empathy, predicted bullying perpetration. Conscience was not related to victimization. Similar results were found using observations during so‐called ‘cheating games’ (subsample N = 450 children). Findings suggest that improving children's understanding of moral standards and norms may be a potential target for bullying intervention programs in early primary school.