A flexible and efficient spatial interpolator for radar rainfall estimation

A key challenge in rainfall estimation is spatio-temporal variablility. Weather radars are used to estimate precipitation with high spatial and temporal resolution. Due to the inherent errors in radar estimates, spatial interpolation has been often employed to calibrate the estimates. Kriging is a simple and popular spatial interpolation method, but the method has several shortcomings. In particular, the prediction is quite unstable and often fails to be performed when sample size is small. In this paper, we proposed a flexible and efficient spatial interpolator for radar rainfall estimation, with several advantages over kriging. The method is illustrated using a real-world data set.     

Trajectories of Community-Based Service Use: The Importance of Poverty and Living Arrangements

ABSTRACT

This study examined how older adults’ living arrangements and poverty status affected their use of in-home health, functional, and out-of-home services over time. Using eight waves of data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study, we employed a logistic mixed-effect model to analyze how poverty and living arrangements affect community-based service use. Living-alone older adults and elder-only couples were more likely than co-residing households to use services. Elder-only couples, when poor, were more likely to use in-home and out-of-home services over time. Understanding predictors of community-based service use over time enables researchers and policymakers to better understand the process of aging-in-place.     

The Influence of Materialistic Inclination on Values,Life Satisfaction and Aspirations: An Empirical Analysis

This article attempts to measure the effect ofmaterialistic inclination on the degree of lifesatisfaction. The study is based on a sample of about1600 respondents randomly selected from differentparts of the city state of Singapore. Theserespondents were divided into two distinct groups withhigh or low materialistic inclination. It wasobserved that when these respondents were asked torate the importance of the nine items from Kahle'sList of Values, the ratings of seven of these itemswere found to be significantly different between thetwo groups. The two groups also indicated differentchoices when asked to rate the things they wanted mostout of life. Finally, it was revealed that they alsoreported different degrees of satisfaction withvarious domains in life in general. However, as withregard to satisfaction with life in Singapore inparticular, there were no significant differencesobserved between the two groups.     

Transnational Corporate Elites in Japan: International Career Mobility in East and South Asia

Although mainstream globalization literature has attempted to provide an empirical proof of the rise of transnational business elites using several indicators, it is still not clear how to pinpoint transnationality and to establish whether globalization has led to the erosion of nation‐state boundaries through worldwide mobility and networks, as globalization theorists argue. Using empirical data on career paths and mobility over three decades in Japan – compared with other East Asia economies and India – we examine the shift in career mobility. First, we maintain that a comprehensive understanding of social, political and cultural dimensions need to be considered in a discussion of transnationality. Second, we suggest that the globalizing economy does not necessarily lead to the weakening of the nation‐state territory and its institutions in all sociocultural and political dimensions. In particular, transnationality in career mobility in Asian economies is not greatly evident. We propose instead that a new career pattern, which we call brain circulation, highlighting the importance of international experience, has emerged.     

Quantity and Quality of Gestural Input: Caregivers’ Sensitivity Predicts Caregiver–Infant Bidirectional Communication Through Gestures

Children's use of pointing and symbolic gestures—early communication skills which predict later language—is influenced by frequency of adults’ gestures. However, we wonder whether, like language, the sensitivity of adult–child interactions is also important for encouraging child gesturing, rather than simply quantity of adult gestural input. Furthermore, children's use of gestures influences qualities of adult–child interaction, eliciting greater responsiveness and richer communication. Thus, we investigated the moderating role of nonparental caregiver sensitivity on the relationship between caregivers’ and infants’ use of pointing and symbolic gestures. We observed 10 infants (ages 6–19 months) over 8 months with a total of 24 student caregivers completing short‐term internships, recording adult and child use of pointing and symbolic gestures. We used longitudinal growth models to examine change in gesturing and moderating roles of caregiver sensitivity in the relations between caregiver and child gesturing behavior. Caregivers’ sensitivity moderated effects of caregivers’ symbolic gestures on infants’ pointing and symbolic gestures, and the effects of infants’ pointing and symbolic gesture frequency on caregivers’ gesture use. Thus, caregivers’ gestures are most effective in supporting child gestures when in the context of sensitive interactions. Sensitivity is central to supporting children's early communicative behaviors, including pointing and symbolic gestures.     

Inference on the ratio of two coefficients of variation of two lognormal distributions

The coefficient of variation (CV) can be used as an index of reliability of measurement. The lognormal distribution has been applied to fit data in many fields. We developed approximate interval estimation of the ratio of two coefficients of variation (CsV) for lognormal distributions by using the Wald-type, Fieller-type, log methods, and method of variance estimates recovery (MOVER). The simulation studies show that empirical coverage rates of the methods are satisfactorily close to a nominal coverage rate for medium sample sizes.     

The sociology of grit: Exploring grit as a sociological variable and its potential role in social stratification

This paper proposes the currently fashionable psychological notion of “grit” as a potentially useful variable in sociological analysis and explores its potential for contributing to addressing sociological concerns. Grit, comprising perseverance and passion toward long‐term goals, has received growing attention within academia and from the general public as a strong predictor of achievement. Grit captures an important, noncognitive, underdeveloped aspect of agency not included in life course or stratification studies. Grit can contribute to our understanding about how the subjective beliefs that are typically treated as agency are actually translated into volitional action that constructs one's life course, a crucial potential life course mechanism. This paper suggests incorporating grit into sociological understanding of individual‐level aspects of stratification, moving beyond its current conception anchored fully in psychology, to further understand what it is, where it comes from, and why it is sociologically useful.     

Theorizing the US Racial State: Sociology Since Racial Formation

This article reviews theoretical developments in the sociology of the US racial state since the publication of Michael Omi and Howard Winant's groundbreaking Racial Formation in the United States. After briefly outlining their theory, it surveys the still diminutive literature and concludes by pointing to promising future directions, drawing on insights from other disciplines and incipient stirrings from within sociology. Destabilizing the unquestioned assumption that the United States is and has been a nation‐state, the article reconceptualizes it as an empire‐state. This turn establishes a firmer footing for the claim that the United States is intrinsically a racial state and yields a generative framework for reconsidering and stimulating scholarship toward more effective analysis and critique.     

Marital Relationships Following the Korean Economic Crisis: Applying the Family Stress Model

In response to the recent economic crisis in Korea and its negative effects on families, the current study examined the interrelationships among economic pressure, emotional distress, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction for 236 Korean couples. The family stress model ( Conger & Elder, 1994 ; Conger, Rueter, & Conger, 2000 ; Conger, Rueter, & Elder, 1999 ) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results generally supported the theoretical model, showing that economic pressure negatively affects marital satisfaction via emotional distress and marital conflict. The results also implied cultural differences in the process of family stress. Korean husbands' emotional distress did not affect marital conflict or marital satisfaction, suggesting that Korean husbands may differ from their wives in their reaction to emotional distress from economic pressure.