Environmental Refugees

There are fast-growing numbers of people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and other environmental problems. In their desperation, these environmental refugees—as they are increasingly coming to be known and as they are termed in this paper—feel they have no alternative but to seek sanctuary elsewhere, however hazardous the attempt. Not all of them have fled their countries, many being internally displaced. But all have abandoned their homelands on a semi-permanent if not permanent basis, having little hope of a foreseeable return.     

Effects of inspection errors on curiailed dorman-type procedures

The effects of inspection error on a two-stage procedure for identification of defective units is studied. The first stage is intended to provide the number of defective units in a group of n units; the second stage consists of individual inspection until the status of all units is (apparently) established     

Constructive Postmodern Agriculture——Values-Based Rural Development and Chinese Process Philosophy

旨在表明中国的发展进程如何支撑中关在价值基础上的发展。本文分为八部分：（1）价值基础上的发展，（2）可持续发展的农村社区，（3）建设性的后现代农业，（4）西方可持续的农业，（5）良性农业的原则，（6）非普遍的发展蓝图，（7）中国的发展进程思想，（8）中国在西部的发展进程思想。     

Bayesian assessment of assumptions of regression analysis

Many statistical procedures are based on the models which specify the conditions under which the data are generated. Many applications of linear regression, for example, assume that:(i) the observations are independent; (ii) the errors in the observations are identically distributed; (iii) each error has a normal distribution with mean zero and unknown variance σ²> 0. Previous works have examined individual departures from these assumptions. Here we examine composite departures. It is assumed that the error distribution in a linear model is power-exponential and that the observations are generated via a first order autoregressive model with the possibility of spurious observations. The consequences are illustrated via an example.     

Further remarks on estimating the parameter of a noncentral chi-square distribution

Perlman and Rasmussen (1975) have found estimators of the non-centrality parameter of a noncentral chi-square distribution which have lower mean square error than the maximum likelihood estimator. This paper studies some extensions of their estimators and some related problems.     

Applied regression analysis bibliography update 1990-91

The 25-page Bibliography in Applied Regression Analysis, 2nd edition, by N.R. Draper and H. Smith, published by Wiley in 1981, was previously extended by a list of selected references available during 1988-89, plus a few older references. See Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 19(4), 1205-1229 (1990). Here is a further update covering the years 1990-91, and following the same format. As before, items were chosen on the basis of their perceived relevance to practical applications (sometimes rather widely interpreted). The classification system used is that of the book.

The references were selected mostly from the issues of these journals: Annals of Statistics; Applied Statistics; Biometrika; Canadian Journal of Statistics; Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute; Journal of the American Statistical Association; Journal of Quality Technology; Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A and B; and Technometrics.     

Gender-Sensitive Social Work Practice: A Model for Education

Many social work educators are in search of ways to integrate course content on women while preserving time-tested models of assessment and intervention. Although women comprise the majority of social work clients, most psychological models of assessment and intervention are based on male psychological development. In contrast, feminist theories and therapies have turned attention to female psychological development and how this differs from male progression. This article describes and discusses a psychotherapeutic model for practice and education that allows for balanced gender sensitivity and that can be readily superimposed on existing models for more effective assessment and intervention.     

Bayesian analysis of reliability in multicomponent stress-strength models

This paper provides a Bayesian treatment of the problem of inference about the reliability of a multicomponent stress-strength system which functions if s or more of k identical components simultaneously operate. All stresses and strengths are assumed to be independent, exponentially distributed random variables. Exact and approximate asymptotic posterior distributions for the reliability are derived, and the results are illustrated by a numerical example.     

Asceticism in mysticism: Transcendental meditation

Max Weber differentiated mysticism from active asceticism and regarded the two as polar orientations to the world. It is the contention here that, although Transcendental Meditation (TM) is based on a traditional Eastern otherworldly mysticism, it nevertheless serves to reinforce an innerworldly ascetic orientation. Evidence is presented that the TM technique is promoted as a means to mundane (worldly) ends and that elements of the belief system—coupled with the physiological correlates of meditation—serve to facilitate and reinforce an attitude of active mastery rather than accommodation and contemplation. This instrumental use of a mystical religious tradition is explained in terms of the process of secularization.