New compactly supported spatiotemporal covariance functions from SPDEs

Potential theory and Dirichlet’s priciple constitute the basic elements of the well-known classical theory of Markov processes and Dirichlet forms. This paper presents new classes of fractional spatiotemporal covariance models, based on the theory of non-local Dirichlet forms, characterizing the fundamental solution, Green kernel, of Dirichlet boundary value problems for fractional pseudodifferential operators. The elements of the associated Gaussian random field family have compactly supported non-separable spatiotemporal covariance kernels admitting a parametric representation. Indeed, such covariance kernels are not self-similar but can display local self-similarity, interpolating regular and fractal local behavior in space and time. The associated local fractional exponents are estimated from the empirical log-wavelet variogram. Numerical examples are simulated for illustrating the properties of the space–time covariance model class introduced.     

Human Capital Disparities and Earnings Inequality in The Portuguese Private Labour Market

Social Indicators Research - This paper examines human capital inequality and how it relates to earnings inequality in Portugal using data from Quadros de Pessoal for the period 1986–2017....     

Individual Disaster Assistance For Socially Vulnerable People: Lessons Learned From the Pohang Earthquake in the Republic of Korea

The Republic of Korea has been considered to be relatively safe from earthquake hazards because of the geological location of the Korean Peninsula, which has a low level of intraplate seismic activity. However, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 5.4 struck the city of Pohang on November 15, 2017, causing 90 casualties and 52 million USD in property losses. During the recovery process after the earthquake, the Korean government provided individual disaster assistance to victims who reported their damages. However, the government disaster assistance could have been unfairly distributed among the socially vulnerable victims who essentially relied on that assistance. This study identifies whether the government disaster assistance was fairly distributed to socially vulnerable victims using a statistical model based on the data from the Pohang earthquake that occurred in 2017 in Korea. A conceptual model was constructed using a structural equation model (SEM) of three factors—social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and the amount paid out in individual disaster assistance. Furthermore, interviews with and a survey of the victims were conducted to verify the problems identified by the conceptual model. This study found that socially vulnerable victims were less likely to take advantage of the government disaster assistance program.     

Socioemotional characteristics of minors in foster care: A comparison between the estimation of parents,teachers and children

During the child's first few years, it's of fundamental importance the presence of a strong emotional base as long as it creates the possibility to open themselves to physical and social world with confidence, and as it acts as a facilitator of cognitive development. For this reason, if the family cannot ensure such base, social services are forced to resort to foster care, a resource that has a lot of difficulties, leading to different implications in the development of the child and of the foster family. It is therefore important to analyze in depth the socio-emotional variables that characterize children who are in a situation of foster care in order to provide adequate assistance to optimize their development. For this 32 minors in foster care, 31 foster parents and 28 teachers from the city of Valencia, were administered the BASC. The results highlight that parents are evaluating children, in general, worse than tutors. Specifically they consider children more aggressive, they detect more behavioral and attention problems and recognize in them a greater tendency to externalize the problems, while the teachers consider these children as with more social and adaptive skills. There were no significant differences between the scores of parents, teachers and children. High levels of psychopathology (which are clinically significant in various cases) and the fact that host parents evaluate minors as more problematic, are indicators of parents' and minors' need of support from public organizations.     

Factor Structure of the Adolescent Clinical Sexual Behavior Inventory

ABSTRACT

An inability to identify betrayal may increase risk for victimization. Harm perpetrated by close others early in life may impair the ability to identify betrayal and develop trust. Dissociation may facilitate impaired betrayal awareness. The present study examined the impact of high betrayal trauma on state dissociation and betrayal awareness in a college sample (N = 216). Self-report measures were used to assess trauma history and state dissociation. Awareness for betrayal was measured using a drawing depicting an ambiguous interpersonal interaction between an adult and a child. We hypothesized that high betrayal trauma would be associated with both more state dissociation and lower awareness for betrayal. Participants with histories of high betrayal trauma reported high levels of state dissociation. Contrary to our second hypothesis, high betrayal trauma did not directly predict impaired betrayal awareness. State dissociation contributed significantly to betrayal awareness. Implications of findings for theory and practice are discussed.     

Psychologists and psychiatrists who violate the Goldwater Rule are guilty of malpractice

ABSTRACT

A number of psychiatrists and psychologists declared in the past year that the newly elected president was unfit to hold office due to mental illness, or being dangerous. Such declarations were made even though the subject had not been personally interviewed or tested and, consequently, they are guilty of malpractice. This has aggravated the already toxic milieu, wherein various prominent individuals have called for a coup d’etat to take place and families have broken up over election choices. Historical precedents for the current actions of these psychiatrists are presented, both in the United States and overseas. Dissenting psychiatrists brought up the Goldwater Rule that was created after the 1964 presidential election, which states that a psychiatrist may not make pronouncements of mental health on an individual that they have not personally examined. It is urged that the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science adopt the ethical Goldwater Rule.     

Poetry in motion: protest songwriting as strategic resource (Portugal,circa 1974)

In this article, we use protest songs written in Portugal in the periods surrounding the Carnations Revolution to suggest that artists have the capacity to use their artistic discourses as strategic resources, attempting to shape socio‐political reality. We identify three periods in the Portuguese revolution wherein this instrumental use of art becomes patent. We further suggest that organisational managers should take into account the subjective artistic reality, especially in periods when it can affect the organisational context.     

Scottish devolution and the Scottish diaspora

This paper describes the relationship that exists between Scotland and its diaspora and the ways in which this has changed since the advent of devolution. Based on interviews carried out primarily in the United States, it explores how members of the diaspora have adopted a less historical and sentimental approach to their ‘homeland’ and are increasingly knowledgeable about Scottish constitutional change. In part this has resulted from the growth of the internet and the ease of finding out about developments in Scotland itself, as well as the greater ease and affordability of travel back to Scotland. But, most importantly, the existence of a government in Edinburgh has allowed Scottish politicians and organizations to engage with the diaspora in events such as Tartan Day, in a way in which London-based politicians were never likely to do. Tourist developments promoted by the Scottish government, such as the Year of Homecoming in 2009, have also been highly significant. Thus links between Scotland and its diaspora have been changed and strengthened in various ways.