Dose‐Response Models Incorporating Aerosol Size Dependency for Francisella tularensis

The effect of bioaerosol size was incorporated into predictive dose‐response models for the effects of inhaled aerosols of Francisella tularensis (the causative agent of tularemia) on rhesus monkeys and guinea pigs with bioaerosol diameters ranging between 1.0 and 24 μm. Aerosol‐size‐dependent models were formulated as modification of the exponential and β‐Poisson dose‐response models and model parameters were estimated using maximum likelihood methods and multiple data sets of quantal dose‐response data for which aerosol sizes of inhaled doses were known. Analysis of F. tularensis dose‐response data was best fit by an exponential dose‐response model with a power function including the particle diameter size substituting for the rate parameter k scaling the applied dose. There were differences in the pathogen's aerosol‐size‐dependence equation and models that better represent the observed dose‐response results than the estimate derived from applying the model developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP, 1994) that relies on differential regional lung deposition for human particle exposure.     

The exponential distribution analog of the Grubbs–Weaver method

Abstract

Grubbs and Weaver (1947 Grubbs, F. E., and C. L. Weaver. 1947. The best unbiased estimate of population standard deviation based on group ranges. Journal of the American Statistical Association 42 (238):224–41. doi: 10.2307/2280652.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) suggest a minimum-variance unbiased estimator for the population standard deviation of a normal random variable, where a random sample is drawn and a weighted sum of the ranges of subsamples is calculated. The optimal choice involves using as many subsamples of size eight as possible. They verified their results numerically for samples of size up to 100, and conjectured that their “rule of eights” is valid for all sample sizes. Here we examine the analogous problem where the underlying distribution is exponential and find that a “rule of fours” yields optimality and prove the result rigorously.     

In the shadow of fortress Europe? Impacts of European migration governance on Slovenia,Croatia and Macedonia

ABSTRACT

This article analyses European integration's effects on migration and border security governance in Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia in the context of ‘governed interdependence’. We show how transgovernmental networks comprising national and EU actors, plus a range of other participants, blur the distinction between the domestic and international to enable interactions between domestic and international policy elites that transmit EU priorities into national policy. Governments are shown to be ‘willing pupils’ and ‘policy takers’, adapting to EU policy as a pre-condition for membership. This strengthened rather than weakened central state actors, particularly interior ministries. Thus, in a quintessentially ‘national’ policy area, there has been a re-scaling and re-constitution of migration and border security policy. To support this analysis, social network analysis is used to outline the composition of governance networks and analyse interactions and power relations therein.     

西北贫困民族聚居区学校体育特征研究

在层层比较中作者们认为西北贫困民族聚居区学校体育具有总体比较落后、地域特征明显;观念比较陈旧、经费严重不足;民族特色突出、发展潜力较大;少数民族青少年为主体,多数以一课两操为支撑四个方面的基本特征。     

西南山区小城市城镇文化建设SWOT分析——以重庆市城口县为例

文化建设带动区域发展对西南山区小城镇具有一定参考,是实现新形势下的特色城镇化发展的有益尝试。文章选择重庆市城口县为研究对象,运用SWOT研究方法,系统分析城口县在建设城镇文化进程中的优势、局限、机遇和挑战,归纳西南山区小城镇发展城镇文化的内外部环境,研究结果显示,城口县发展城镇文化总体上具有资源丰富的优势和空间受限等局限,国内政策、地方发展机遇等略大于区域竞争的挑战,且个别挑战和局限可以转化为发展机遇和优势。因此,以文化建设带动西南山区小城镇新型城镇化发展的思路具有一定可行性,但要结合小城市当地实际,打造有特色的文化空间格局和构建地方文化体系。     

Visualization for Large‐scale Gaussian Updates

In geostatistics and also in other applications in science and engineering, it is now common to perform updates on Gaussian process models with many thousands or even millions of components. These large‐scale inferences involve modelling, representational and computational challenges. We describe a visualization tool for large‐scale Gaussian updates, the ‘medal plot’. The medal plot shows the updated uncertainty at each observation location and also summarizes the sharing of information across observations, as a proxy for the sharing of information across the state vector (or latent process). As such, it reflects characteristics of both the observations and the statistical model. We illustrate with an application to assess mass trends in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, for which there are strong constraints from the observations and the physics.     

Gambling Behavior of Student-Athletes and a Student Cohort: What are the Odds?

This study investigated the prevalence of gambling, gambling related NCAA violations, and disordered gambling in student-athletes (n = 736) with a comparison cohort of students (n = 1,071) at four universities. Student-athletes reported similar rates of gambling frequency, use of a bookmaker, and disordered gambling as students. After accounting for demographic differences, student-athletes were less likely to engage in sports wagering than students. Several risk factors for disordered gambling were identified, including being male and reporting at least one parent with a history of gambling problems. These findings suggest that problems associated with gambling are a university-wide issue with student-athletes meriting additional attention because of implications for the integrity of intercollegiate sports. Improved prevention and intervention efforts for collegiate gambling are recommended.     

长途乘客出行行为分析——以天津为例

随着城市社会经济的快速发展,公路主枢纽规划所面临的形势发生了重要变化,规划的理念也需要更新,因此许多主枢纽城市已经完成或正在进行公路主枢纽规划修编工作.     

'The grit in the oyster': Community development workers in a modernizing local authority

This article offers a brief overview of the challenges facingUK local authorities, including the need to enhance public participationin decision making and service delivery, improve service performanceand increase partnership working. It explores the potentialcontribution of community development work to meeting thesechallenges, drawing on a case study of one UK county council.The essential tensions and conflicts in the role of communitydevelopment workers in a local authority are highlighted, showinghow the modernization process introduced by the New Labour governmentis adding further layers of complexity and ambiguity.