Responses to prenatal opioid and alcohol abuse: A review of US and Australian mandatory reporting laws

Prenatal substance use, specifically opioid and excessive alcohol use, can cause significant adverse effects for the unborn foetus in both the short-and long-term. Responses by state social systems occur on a spectrum of prevention and early intervention to support mothers. Some but not all states include reporting duties, so that professionals made aware of the situation may alert agencies that can intervene to provide appropriate support. This article will review legal duties to report maternal substance use during pregnancy in the US and Australia. We identify variations in these laws regarding who is required to report, what circumstances must be reported and what indicates child abuse or neglect. Inconsistencies in laws raise questions about the nature of different approaches, and how reforms might be made to improve provision of support. Informed by the medical literature, the contemporary context and federal policy in the US, we make recommendations for reform, and for the appropriate response to such reports.     

盈余管理对公司投资行为的影响研究——来自中国A股市场的经验证据

盈余管理和公司投资行为问题是资本市场关注的热点内容。以中国A股市场的上市公司为研究对象,探讨了上市公司盈余管理对投资行为的影响。研究发现盈余管理程度与公司投资水平呈负向关系,具有微盈动机和扭亏动机的公司投资水平显著低于非微盈公司和非扭亏公司的对应水平,得出了公司盈余管理降低了公司投资水平、对公司投资行为有显著影响的结论。     

ESTIMATORS BASED ON KENDALL'S TAU IN MULTIVARIATE COPULA MODELS

The estimation of a real‐valued dependence parameter in a multivariate copula model is considered. Rank‐based procedures are often used in this context to guard against possible misspecification of the marginal distributions. A standard approach consists of maximizing the pseudo‐likelihood. Here, we investigate alternative estimators based on the inversion of two multivariate extensions of Kendall's tau developed by Kendall and Babington Smith, and by Joe. The former, which amounts to the average value of tau over all pairs of variables, is often referred to as the coefficient of agreement. Existing results concerning the finite‐ and large‐sample properties of this coefficient are summarized, and new, parallel findings are provided for the multivariate version of tau due to Joe, along with illustrations. The performance of the estimators resulting from the inversion of these two versions of Kendall's tau is compared in the context of copula models through simulations.     

The Changes of Cost of Children for Turkey by Using Income-Dependent Equivalence Scales

This study aims to estimate the cost of children in Turkey by using equivalence scale approach for different income levels and suggests a new commodity composition for Muslim countries. We used 2003, 2007 and 2014 household budget survey micro data set. According to the calculations of Engel equivalence scales, the cost of children decreases from 2003 to 2014 in Turkey. Since the data of 2007 is determined as reasonable consumption behaviours of Turkish households, the inequality and poverty researches can use equivalence scales calculations of 2007. If anyone wants to estimate Rothbarth equivalence scales for a Muslim country, using of “adult goods” which is defined as “expenditures of alcohol, tobacco, adult cloths and adult shoes” in literature would not be suitable. This study suggests “a new commodity group” which is “furnishing and communication”. The Engel model estimations are significant for households who are at the middle and high income level whereas the results of Rothbarth model estimations are found as significant for low and middle income groups. As a result, we recommend to use equivalence scales estimations’ results for middle income groups in the inequality and poverty researches, since this group is free from irregular expenditure behaviors and gives significant estimations for both models.     

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Environmental Action Scale (EAS) / Propiedades psicométricas de la versión española de la Escala de Acción Colectiva Ambiental (EACA)

The Environmental Action Scale (EAS) analyses engagement in civic actions which seek to have an environmental impact. The EAS has shown adequate psychometric properties when used with English-speaking samples, but there are no studies assessing how it works in other linguistic and cultural groups. The aim of the study is to present the Spanish version of the EAS along with evidence that supports the utility of the scale to be used in the Spanish population. The Spanish version obtained after the adaptation process was first administered to 277 participants. The results pointed to items that did not function adequately, so a revised version was created and administered to 286 participants. Validity evidence based on internal structure showed that the EAS consistently evaluates two dimensions of the construct: Participation Activities and Leadership Activities. Evidence based on relationships with other variables indicated that the construct is also related to other variables, such as environmental identity and moral convictions.     

Examining the influence of organizational characteristics on nonprofit commercialization

A growing body of literature discusses the (dis)advantages of nonprofit organizations becoming commercial by engaging in the sale of organizational services and products. However, when explaining this phenomenon, scholars tend to focus on resource uncertainty, thereby disregarding the organizational ability to commercialize. Complementing resource dependency theory with insights from contingency theory, this study presents arguments drawn from a comparative case study of six sociocultural nonprofits in Belgium. We find that, when resource uncertainty is similar, organizational differences in terms of commercial income can be explained by differences in (a) organizational origins, (b) professional capacity, and (c) types of tasks. We conclude that organizational characteristics can either enable or disable the ability of nonprofits to commercialize and consequently their ability to self‐sustain in an increasing challenging resource environment.     

Spatial variability of fish communities in a highly urbanised reef system

Urban Ecosystems - Rapid coastal development has generated interest in the ecology of human-modified marine environments. Coastal defence structures such as breakwaters and seawalls are...     

Working with Signs of Safety: Parents' perception of change

Signs of Safety (SoS) is an approach used to work with families involved with children's services that was developed in Australia during the 1990s. Despite the fact that it has been adopted by countries across the globe, the evidence for its effectiveness in relation to improved outcomes for children has not been established. This study attempted to take an initial step in measuring the impact of SoS on families. In the course of evaluating SoS in 10 areas across England, the authors collected data from social workers using the approach and from families with whom they were working who also gave permission for their case records to be examined. Where social workers were more confident about using SoS and had consistently applied its elements, more families reported improvements in their lives. Families with social workers who had higher confidence in using SoS were also more likely to say that they had achieved more than expected against their earlier stated goals and were more likely to report positively against self‐defined goals.     

数学信息元认知论析

元认知被称为认知的认知。数学信息元认知是数学信息认知的基础。研究数学信息元认知理论 ,对于学生获取数学信息 ,学会学数学 ,利用数学知识解决实际问题都有重大意义。从数学信息元认知的含义和结构 ,数学信息元认知的信息加工过程及功能 ,数学信息元认知在数学学习的作用三个方面对数学信息元认知加以探讨