Women Acting for Women

In the new country of Timor-Leste, women constituted in 2011 32 per cent of the parliament, a relatively high figure in the world and in the region. But to what extent has the presence of women in parliament contributed to progress towards gender equality? In this article we argue that the passage of a parliamentary resolution on gender-responsive budgeting in Timor-Leste was an act of substantive representation, and we draw on a range of data to examine what made it possible. We find that while ‘newness’, international norms, women's movement unity, women's machinery in government and parliament and networks linking them were important, it was the development of a cross-party parliamentary women's caucus that was crucial to success. The role of gender-focused parliamentary institutions in supporting critical actors has rarely been examined in the literature on substantive representation. This is in contrast to the rich literature on institutions such as women's policy agencies. Our study suggests that more focus on parliamentary institutions is needed to discover what enables women parliamentarians to become critical actors.     

Life Expectancy during the Great Depression in Eleven European Countries

The recent global economic recession has renewed interest in knowing whether a declining economy affects population health. Understanding the extreme case of the Great Depression may inform the current debate as well as theory regarding biological and behavioral adaptations to unwanted economic change. We test the hypothesis, recently suggested in the literature, that period life expectancy at birth improved during the Great Depression. We applied time‐series methods to annual period life expectancy data of the civilian population from eleven European countries. Methods control for trends and other forms of autocorrelation in life expectancy that could induce spurious associations. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that period life expectancy at birth during the Great Depression remained within the interval forecasted from historical values. Additional analyses using an automated, rule‐based methodology also cannot reject the null hypothesis. During the most severe phase of the Great Depression, period life expectancy in eleven European countries generally did not rise above expected levels.     

A multicriteria decision analysis model for faculty evaluation

In the context of increasing demands for social and financial accountability of universities, the required implementation of transparent faculty evaluation systems constitutes a challenge and an opportunity for universities strategically aligning the activity of academic staff with the university goals. However, despite growing interest in the performance appraisal of faculty, only a few reported studies propose models that cover the full range of academic activities and the models in use are typically based on ad hoc scoring systems that lack theoretical soundness. This article approaches faculty evaluation from an innovative comprehensive perspective. Based on the concepts and methods of multiple criteria value measurement, it proposes a new faculty evaluation model that addresses the whole range of academic activities and can be applied within and across distinct scientific areas, while respecting their specificities. Constructed through a socio-technical process, the model was designed for and adopted by the Instituto Superior Técnico, the engineering school of the Technical University of Lisbon. The model has a two-level hierarchical additive structure, with top-level evaluation areas specified by second-level evaluation criteria. A bottom non-additive third level accounts for the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of academic activity related to each evaluation criterion. The model allows (a) the comparison of the performance of academic staff with performance targets reflecting the strategic policy concerns of university management; (b) the definition of the multicriteria value profile of each faculty member at the top level of the evaluation areas; (c) the computation of an overall value score for each faculty member, through an optimisation procedure that makes use of a flexible system of weights and (d) the assignment of faculty members to rating categories.     

中国人口现代化水平区域分布差异的主成分聚类分析

本文主要根据2000年全国第五次人口普查资料,首先选用了11个人口、国民经济和社会发展指标组成人口现代化指标体系。然后,通过SPSS统计分析软件进行主成分分析,选取三个主成分,分别用以反映各省市区人口现代化发展水平在人口结构与生活质量、生育模式与人口素质等三个方面的差异,最后通过聚类分析,将全国各省市人口现代化水平分为四种类型,并分析了四个类型各自的特征与差别及在空间上的区域差异。     

绍兴市城市化过程中的“计划生育文明”

改革开放以来,越来越多的外来人口进入到陌生的城市社会,其中外来人口的计划生育管理与服务是改革开放年代人口和计划生育综合改革事业无法回避、十分重要的现实问题.     

Cross cultural comparisons of quality of life of Thais and Americans

Comparisons of quality of life (QOL) measures across cultures of countries in different stages of economic development have been very scarce. This study attempts to fill the void in the literature by investigating the level of overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with various domains of lives of Thais and Americans. Additionally, the relationships between satisfaction with domains of life and overall life satisfaction in each culture have been explored. The results of this study indicate that Thais are less satisfied with their lives in general and most of the domains of their lives than Americans. However, both Thais and Americans tend to be more satisfied with their personal domains of lives than environmental domains of lives. In addition, satisfaction with material possessions is found to contribute significantly to overall life satisfaction of Thais but not Americans. This suggests that material wealth or economic development is still a vital mechanism for enhancing QOL of people in Thailand, but is not important for enhancing QOL of people in the U.S.     

Understanding the twentieth-century decline in chronic conditions among older men

I argue that the shift from manual to white-collar jobs and reduced exposure to infectious disease were important determinants of declines in chronic disease rates among older men from the early 1900s to the 1970s and 1980s. The average decline in chronic respiratory problems, valvular heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and joint and back problems was about 66%. Occupational shifts accounted for 29% of the decline; the decreased prevalence of infectious disease accounted for 18%; the remainder are unexplained. The duration of chronic conditions has remained unchanged since the early 1900s, but when disability is measured by difficulty in walking, men with chronic conditions are less disabled now than they were in the past.     

Explaining the association of race and ethnicity with the HIV/AIDS-related attitudes,behaviors and skills of high school students

This study deals with intervening factors such as family composition, religiosity, and HIV/AIDS knowledge in understanding the association of race and ethnicity with HIV/AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors. Data represent Wave 1 of a five-month panel design involving 10th grade students in eight public high schools in Dade County (greater Miami) Florida. Significant differences in attitudes and behaviors were found among racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Hispanics had more negative attitudes about condom use than blacks or whites. Whites had the most permissive, and blacks the least permissive, sexual attitudes. Hispanics felt least confident and blacks felt most confident about interpersonal sexual skills. Blacks were most likely to have had sexual intercourse, and whites least likely. Religiosity was found to be a significant intervening variable in the less permissive sexual attitudes of both blacks and Hispanics. The most significant implication of this study is that racial/ethnic differences in sexual behavior can be explained more fully by socio-environmental factors such as family structure or religiosity than by knowledge or attitudes. Thus, interventions directed toward minority populations should focus on the development of alternative social environments that would support more positive behaviors. More specifically, extended family, religious youth groups, and other community organizations should be brought into the HIV/AIDS risk-reduction arena.     

知与识：论知识与技术及其关联

技术源于生命,而非基于知识的某种创新或属于知识的分支。物在认识论的层面即理论科学的层面,是经由“起诉”而被纳入“范畴”的存在物。由此,在范畴的序列中只要有物存在,它就是存在物,它不仅符合知识的秩序,而且服从于作为生产的技术将其带向在场的摆置与设定。在技术停摆之处,知识以科学研究的方式为技术打开新的生产视角与进程,而这一生产之完成又伴随着对知识的再创制、再生产。因此,如果将知识理解为存在物层面的知识,即科学知识,那么,技术与知识的关联便凸显为：作为“生产”的技术为存在物层面的理论科学奠基,而对知识的探求,实质上是对技术所擅长的“缘起—招致”的生产方法的探求,即对技术本身之探求。     

高新技术企业隐性知识分享网络结构特征及其影响研究

为了探索高新技术企业中隐性知识分享网络结构特征及其对隐性知识分享的影响,论文基于社会网络的视角,从网络密度、中心性、结构洞等重要的网络结构维度进行探索,并选择高新技术企业的核心知识团队为研究对象,揭示隐性知识分享网络的结构特征及其对知识员工隐性知识分享行为的结构性限制,发现高新技术企业隐性知识分享网络中存在的问题和薄弱环节;为建立有效的知识分享网络,使员工最大限度地贡献其积累的隐性知识,实现运用集体智慧提升高新技术企业的创新能力提供理论参考。