The distribution of the ratio of independent central wishart determinants

Ratios of independent central Wishart determinants are useful statistics in multivariate analyses, particularly in the study of multivariate linear models. A method based on the inversion of characteristic functions is outlined for deriving new experessions for the probability distribution functions of the logarithms of these statistics. Accurate tables of the percentiles of these distributions have been obtained covering many bivariate and trivariate cases which have been computed by approximating these expression.     

Bayou Blues: The Social Structure of Hurricane Katrina's Damage

This study assesses the effects of Hurricane Katrina by applying the environmental racism-classism and residential segregation literatures. Disasters offer a new perspective for these literatures in that they provide insight into how individuals are concentrated into areas with pre-existing risk. Nearly all environmental racism-classism and residential segregation research investigates how environmental problems occur in areas already inhabited by vulnerable populations. This study concludes that elevation and the concentration of minorities are significantly associated with hurricane damage, whereas other variables highlighted by the literature are not.     

Core Themes in a Support Group for Spouses of Breast Cancer Patients

Spouses of breast cancer patients suffer from various symptoms related to coping with their partner's illness. They are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety than are spouses of healthy women. The benefits of support groups for spouses of breast cancer patients are significant for spouses, patients, and their families. This article describes two support groups for spouses of cancer patients, the first of their kind in Israel, and discusses various patterns that emerged in the couples' relationships and the manner in which they were dealt with in the group.     

Re-Vision of Older Television Characters: A Stereotype-Awareness Intervention

This study examines whether greater television exposure predicts older individuals' more negative images of aging, and whether an intervention based on maintaining a television diary of viewing impressions will increase their awareness of the stereotypical and infrequent manner in which elders are presented. Seventy-six individuals, aged 60 to 92, participated. As expected, all participants showed a correspondence between greater television exposure and more negative images of aging. Also as expected, the intervention-group participants developed a greater awareness of how elders are presented on television. Further, the intervention-group participants expressed their intention to watch less television in the future. These findings suggest that the promotion of awareness provides a means of helping elders confront ageism .     

The Therapeutic Action of Play in the Psychodynamic Treatment of Children: A Critical Analysis

This paper critically appraises the therapeutic action of play in psychodynamic child therapy and identifies obstacles to utilizing play therapeutically with children. An examination of the functions of action and verbal means of communication as well as their roles in shaping therapeutic relationships in treating children is provided in light of recent theoretical advances. The significance of engaging children directly through play and for redressing the balance between action and verbalization in child therapy is discussed.

盖茨：拒绝涉及低潮期与反垄断

<正>北京时间6月25日,当比尔盖茨即将从微软退休而将精力放在比尔与美琳达盖茨基金会上之际,他接受了Steven Levy的专访,盖茨在采访中回顾了微软一路走过的光辉岁月和风雨征途,他还谈到了今后在基金会上的打算和抱负。Steven Levy:你离开微软的时候,公司是否正面临着一个异乎寻常的困难?盖茨:我们走过的每一年,我们的业务都发生着翻天覆地的变化。我想说的是,我们将变得比以前更强大,因为不但我们的产品和人才都变得更强了,而且我们的研发实力也变得更强了。     

Evaluating estimators using stochastic dominance rules:the variance of a normal distribution

The paper presents an application of stochastic dominance approach to estimator evaluation. This new approach is general and applicable when a monetary loss function is defined over the deviation of a sample estimate from the appropriate parameter. The paper applies this approach to the evaluation of alternative estimators of the normal distribution variance     

Who sees what? Demographics and the visibility of consumer expenditures

A growing body of work on social phenomena (like status, peer effects, social comparisons and fashion) rests on assumptions regarding the social observability of consumption activities. The present paper provides new empirical evidence for assessing such assumptions. We analyze data from a unique visibility survey, designed to quantify the relative “cultural” visibility of different consumer expenditures among US households. We investigate the relationship between respondents’ demographics and the expenditures they perceive as visible. We discuss implications for existing and future work.     

A Moment Preserving Finitization Across the Power Series Family of Probability Distributions

Finitization transforms a discrete distribution into a distribution with smaller support of specified size. In special cases finitization preserves moments (moments of the order n finitization coincide with those of the parent distribution). We create a moment preserving finitization method for power series distributions by introducing an alternative representation and showing how to finitize members of this new class in a manner that preserves moments of the parent distribution. We provide results on convolutions and a reproductive property for power series distributions that have been finitized in this manner, and show how these finitized distributions accelerate variate generation in simulation.