陌生的叙述者——残雪的叙述法和时空结构

残雪的小说几乎没有例外地使人困惑,而且从头到尾使人怀有不可思议的感觉。为何如此?文学研究家无法避免的这个问题,至今尚未说清楚。本文通过对她的处女作《黄泥街》序文第一人称叙述的分析,试图回答这一问题。残雪的小说时常引起不可思议感的根本原因就在她的独特的叙述法上。她的叙述者总是一个完全缺少历史性和个性的、无私无情的、纯粹的、内部世界观察者。这种观察者和被观察的自我对象正像我们做梦时那样,是彻底分开的。残雪通过创造这种观察者和观察对象之间的惊人的距离,在给读者留下做梦似的不可思议感的同时留下了第一级的对自我的观察记录,这就是文学。     

Repeated sampling of spatial point distributions

A simple modification of a T-square sampling procedure for studying unmapped spatial distributions allows for the collection of several distance measurements at each randomly selected sampling location. A test of the null hypothesis of a completely random distribution of point items using these data is found to have power comparable to a related test based on T-square sampling if the number of items of data is held fixed, and to have greater power if the number of sampling locations is held fixed.     

On our memory of gay Sullivan: a hidden trajectory

This article examines psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan's approach to the issue of homosexuality. Sullivan (1892-1949), well-known for his interpersonal theory of mental illness, is believed to have accomplished a high recovery rate in his treatment of schizophrenia during the 1920s. Most of his patients, as well as Sullivan himself, were concerned about their "homosexual" orientations. He encouraged physical affection between male patients and male attendants, believing that it would free patients from their guilt for their "unconventional" sexuality. But he kept his compelling practice hidden, not bringing it into open discussion to confront the definition of homosexuality as "sickness." This article traces the process in which the omission of the important aspect of Sullivan's practice began during his lifetime and continued in the scholarship since. In so doing, the article suggests a nuanced understanding of this important figure in the U.S. intellectual and cultural history of homosexuality.     

Managing the Dyad Between Independence and Dependence: Case Studies of the American Elderly and Their Lives With Pets

Abstract:  In this article, I research the dyad between independence and dependence in pet companionship for the American elderly, and how elderly pet owners treat pets as a tool to enable them to balance the adherent norms between independence and dependence in order to navigate a successful later life. First, I explore individual life with pets: independent lifestyle with pets, emotional dependence on pets, management of pet loss, and limitation in pet responsibilities. Second, I discuss family and social life with pets: relationships with children, grandchildren and pets; husband–wife interactions and pets; and neighbors and pets. I examine these subjects through in-depth interviews with five middle-class Caucasian and Asian elderly pet owners who live in Los Angeles and San Diego, California, conducted in July 2005. Pets greatly help the elderly pet owners to maintain a balance between independence and dependence. Both an independent lifestyle and emotional dependence on their pets are formed through pet responsibilities. Some of the informants treated their pets as if they were their children. The others appeared emotionally dependent on memories of former pets, which provided the elderly pet owners with a sense of security and calm. The informants managed pet loss effectively by treating their pet as a tool upon which they conferred replaceable meanings or roles depending on their situation. The elderly pet owners also used their pets to facilitate family and social interactions. Having a pet is one important way that American elderly people can achieve subjective manipulation of later life.     

《太平记》与《三国演义》的比较——论张飞的艺术形象

<三国演义>中,有关张飞的人物描写,有一些固定模式的词语.同样的词语也会用在相近人物的身上.日本的军记物语中虽多有人物的衣装描写,却很少有像<三国演义>那样的人物相貌,乃至五官的描写.作为例外,引用中国故事较多的<太平记>在人物描写方法上承接了<三国演义>的影响;而<太平记>中的定型化言语表现又影响到了日本近世翻译成日文的<通俗三国志>.追根溯源,以先行文学中的人物来比喻或说明作品中人物的方法,可以追溯到汉代人物樊哙在<三国演义>中的引用.日中文学之间的承接影响关系研究和比较研究的结合将有助于廓清两国文学之间的交流关系.     

Homogeneity of variances in normal linear regression with a change point

Two methods for testing the equality of variances in straight lines regression with a change point are considered. One is likelihood ratio test and the other is Bayesian confidence interval, based on the highest posterior density for the ratio of variances, using non-informative priors. Methods are applied to the renal transplant data analyzed by Smith and Cook(1980) and Stephens(1994).     

Differences in facilities' acceptance of patients under long-term care insurance in Japan

OBJECTIVES: In April 2000, Japan launched a public, long-term care insurance (LTCI) plan for elderly people who need support. This study describes how medical support for the elderly is delivered at LTCI care facilities in Japan now and gaps between system goals and current activity. Recommendations are made for enhancing the implementation of LTCI. METHODS: We mailed questionnaires to all health service facilities for the elderly (HSF) and special nursing homes for the elderly (SNH) located in the Kyushu area of Japan, asking whether they would accept patients with nine specific conditions. RESULTS: We found that HSFs, which are required to employ a full-time doctor and are reimbursed at a higher rate, accept significantly fewer patients with four conditions that need medical support than are accepted by SNHs, which are not required to employ a full-time doctor. DISCUSSION: In this study, we find discrepancies between system goals and current activities at LTCI care facilities. For the Japanese LTCI system to work well in the limitation of medical resources, we must understand how it really works and to reform the system continuously.     

The impact of biological preferences on parental investments in children and step-children

A remarriage typically involves significant changes in a family’s financial circumstance, and these changes, combined with the relative bargaining relationship between spouses, likely affect the well-being of the children who are part of the family. In this paper, I use the separate-spheres model, a theoretical model that explains the determinants of bargaining power in marriage, to analyze how a remarried couple’s bargaining relationship affects their child investment in stepfamilies. Based on this theoretical model, I build and estimate an empirical model that investigates the determinants of parental investment. As evidence of parental preference for biological children over stepchildren, I find that an increased wage rate of a biological mother significantly improves her child investment when her husband is a stepfather of the child, while there is no such effect for mothers living with the biological father of the child.

Bayes admissible estimation of the means in Poisson decomposable graphical models

We investigate the Bayes estimation of the means in Poisson decomposable graphical models. Some classes of Bayes estimators are provided which improve on the maximum likelihood estimator under the normalized squared error loss. Both proper and improper priors are included in the proposed classes of priors. Concerning the generalized Bayes estimators with respect to the improper priors, we address their admissibility.