Citizens with learning disabilities and the right to vote

This paper asks, in the context of recent legislative changes, what can be done to support more citizens in England and Wales with learning disabilities to vote in national elections? This issue is addressed through (i) a review of recent disability access campaigns that have reported discrimination against, and the under‐representation of, adults with disabilities in UK elections; (ii) a review of recent research undertaken in the USA into the assessment of competence to vote and research undertaken in England that conclusively documents the under‐representation of voters with learning disabilities in the 2005 general election. It is proposed that a ‘functional approach’ to developing an individual's capacity to vote could help to fulfil Article 29 of the United Nations' Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities that gives all people the same political rights.     

A model for the spread and control of citrus tristeza virus disease

Citrus Tristeza Virus (CTV) causes a most destructive citrus disease in many parts of the world. The strategy for controlling the disease in Israel is based on the eradication of virus-infected trees, detected by an immunological method. A model for the spread and control of CTV is described. The disease spread depends on an infection rate parameter and on a detection coefficient. Both parameters vary with time. Simulation of the model under different conditions assists us to make decisions regarding the control of CTV disease.     

Manager Characteristics and Employee Job Insecurity around a Merger Announcement: The Role of Status and Crossover

Most existing research theorizes individual factors as predictors of perceived job insecurity. Incorporating contextual and organizational factors at an information technology organization where a merger was announced during data collection, we draw on status expectations and crossover theories to investigate whether managers' characteristics and insecurity shape their employees' job insecurity. We find having an Asian as opposed to a White manager is associated with lower job insecurity, whereas managers' own insecurity positively predicts employees' insecurity. Also contingent on the organizational climate, managers' own tenure buffers, and managers' perceived job insecurity magnifies insecurity of employees interviewed after a merger announcement, further specifying status expectations theory by considering context.     

价值形而上学语境中的高等教育

人类目前为止拥有四种大学:教会大学、市民大学、研究型大学和企业型大学。这四种大学体现了四种不同的世界观。从总体上看,这四种大学都不曾在整体上提升过这个世界的价值,而这一点正是以怀特海哲学为基础的建设性后现代大学的宗旨所在     

香港科技發展的經驗及其對澳門的啟示

從97年回歸至今,香港的科技有了很大的發展。香港在發展過程中所制訂的科技發展策略和科技政策都非常值得澳門學習,本文對回歸以來香港的科技政策進行了全面回顧,由此歸納出可资澳門借鑒的科技政策。     

A comparison study of realtime fatality rates: severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Toronto and Beijing, China

Summary.  In an outbreak of a completely new infectious disease like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), estimation of the fatality rate over the course of the epidemic is of clinical and epidemiological importance. In contrast with the constant case fatality rate, a new measure, termed the 'realtime' fatality rate, is proposed for monitoring the new emerging epidemic at a population level. A competing risk model implemented via a counting process is used to estimate the realtime fatality rate in an epidemic of SARS. It can capture and reflect the time-varying nature of the fatality rate over the course of the outbreak in a timely and accurate manner. More importantly, it can provide information on the efficacy of a certain treatment and management policy for the disease. The method has been applied to the SARS data from the regions affected, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Taiwan and Beijing. The magnitudes and patterns of the estimated fatalities are virtually the same except in Beijing, which has a lower rate. It is speculated that the effect is linked to the different treatment protocols that were used. The standard estimate of the case fatality rate that was used by the World Health Organization has been shown to be unable to provide useful information to monitor the time-varying fatalities that are caused by the epidemic.     

On estimating the social costs of national economic policy: A critical examination of the Brenner study

This is a critique of Brenner's attempt to link morbidity and mortality to inflation, per capita income and unemployment. Several specific defects and recommendations are cited.