Families,meals and synchronicity: eating together in British dual earner families

Based on a sample of British dual earner families with young children drawn from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, the paper examines their food practices, in particular the conditions under which families are able to eat together or not during the working week. The concept of synchronicity is drawn upon to shed light on whether meals and meal times are coordinated in family life and the facilitators and constraints upon coordination. The paper suggests that whether families eat together is not only influenced by parents' work time schedules but also children's timetables relating to their age and bodily tempos, their childcare regimes, their extra-curricular activities and the problem of coordinating different food preferences and tastes.     

Does Institutional Trust Increase Willingness to Pay More Taxes to Support the Welfare State?

We evaluate the effect of institutional trust on the willingness to pay more taxes to support the welfare state. We found a positive effect of institutional trust on the willingness to pay more taxes to support the welfare state irrespective of the empirical approach used. Our instrumental variable analysis shows that causality run from institutional trust to welfare state support. A one-unit increase in institutional trust leads to a 15 percentage point increase in the willingness to pay more taxes to help the needy. Similarly, a one-unit increase in institutional trust leads to a 16 percentage point increase in the willingness to pay more taxes to support public health care and education. Consequently, institutional trust should be viewed as one of the most important mechanisms that protect the welfare state from dismantling and retrenchment. We also found a stronger effect of support for more universal programs such as public health care and education than for helping the needy.     

Career Adaptability,Self‐Esteem,and Social Support Among Hong Kong University Students

Career adaptability manifests itself through 4 self‐regulated internal resources for coping with occupational challenges and transitions: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. Few studies have examined career adaptability specifically in the Hong Kong context. The Career Adapt‐Abilities Scale–China Form (CAAS‐China; Hou, Leung, Li, Li, & Xu, 2012 ) was administered, along with measures of self‐esteem and social support, to 522 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduate students. Results indicated that the CAAS‐China is a reliable and valid instrument for use with these students. Data also showed that self‐esteem was strongly associated with career adaptability, and this relationship was partially mediated by perceived social support. Implications for careers counseling in universities and colleges are discussed.     

我国新型农村银行业金融机构的脆弱性分析

两年来的实践证明,新型农村银行业金融机构的出现为农民创业、农户增收和农村经济发展提供了必要的金融支持。但是作为银行业金融机构,高负债经营等内在特点决定了其存在脆弱性;外部金融生态环境的恶化等也可能加剧其脆弱性。而银行业金融机构脆弱性的这种一般生成机制在作用于我国新型农村银行业金融机构时,又产生了进一步加剧的诱因。要保证新型农村银行业金融机构的健康发展,这些都是不容忽视的问题。     

试论朱立元的“实践存在论美学”

实践存在论美学是对实践美学的新发展,实践存在论美学提出的三大基本思想是朱立元关于"实践美学"思考中最重要的环节,这三大基本思想由朱立元首次提出并运用到其美学理论中,它们共同构成了实践存在论美学的独特理论内涵.其阐述问题的独特角度,对于实践美学向纵深发展具有极其重要的价值与意义.     

公共艺术对构建和谐社会的理论审思

从多元文化视角及文化与社会的互动关系论述公共艺术对于构建社会主义和谐社会的作用,具有独特意义。公共艺术作为社会公众艺术,对于建设和谐的社会文化生态,塑造和谐的社会生存空间,促进人与人、人与自然、人与社会的整体和谐都具有十分重要的作用。当前,公共艺术与社会发展之间存在着诸多不协调的现象,需要从体制、意识、内涵等方面寻求突破。     

Effects of unmeasured heterogeneity in the linear transformation model for censored data

We investigate the effect of unobserved heterogeneity in the context of the linear transformation model for censored survival data in the clinical trials setting. The unobserved heterogeneity is represented by a frailty term, with unknown distribution, in the linear transformation model. The bias of the estimate under the assumption of no unobserved heterogeneity when it truly is present is obtained. We also derive the asymptotic relative efficiency of the estimate of treatment effect under the incorrect assumption of no unobserved heterogeneity. Additionally we investigate the loss of power for clinical trials that are designed assuming the model without frailty when, in fact, the model with frailty is true. Numerical studies under a proportional odds model show that the loss of efficiency and the loss of power can be substantial when the heterogeneity, as embodied by a frailty, is ignored. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A computationally simple bivariate survival estimator for efficacy and safety

Both treatment efficacy and safety are typically the primary endpoints in Phase II, and even in some Phase III, clinical trials. Efficacy is frequently measured by time to response, death, or some other milestone event and thus is a continuous, possibly censored, outcome. Safety, however, is frequently measured on a discrete scale; in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group clinical trial E2290, it was measured as the number of weekly rounds of chemotherapy that were tolerable to colorectal cancer patients. For the joint analysis of efficacy and safety, we propose a non-parametric, computationally simple estimator for the bivariate survival function when one time-to-event is continuous, one is discrete, and both are subject to right-censoring. The bivariate censoring times may depend on each other, but they are assumed to be independent of both event times. We derive a closed-form covariance estimator for the survivor function which allows for inference to be based on any of several possible statistics of interest. In addition, we derive its covariance with respect to calendar time of analysis, allowing for its use in sequential studies.     

A Preliminary Study on the Effectiveness of the Chinese Career Key Online

The Chinese Career Key (CCK) Online was studied for its effectiveness and user satisfaction. Study participants were 92 students at a public high school in Hong Kong. The research findings provide preliminary evidence of reliability, validity, and user satisfaction for the CCK Online. Limitations and implications for future studies and counseling practice across cultures are discussed.