Removing the singularity of a penalty via thresholding function matching

By introducing the idea of thresholding function matching, it is illustrated that both bridge penalty and log penalty can be transformed so as to circumvent certain difficulties in numerical computation and the definition of local minimality. The fact that both bridge penalty and log penalty have derivatives going to infinity at zero. This hinders their applications in statistics although it is reported in the literature that they allow recovery of sparse structure in the data under some conditions. It is illustrated in the simulation studies that in the variable selection problems, penalized likelihood estimation based on the transformed penalty obtained by the proposed thresholding function matching method outperform those based on many other state-of-art penalties, particularly when the covariates are strongly correlated. The one-to-one correspondence between the transformed penalties and their thresholding functions are also established.     

Childhood trauma and problem behavior: Examining the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and mindfulness processes

Objective: Childhood trauma is associated with a variety of risky, unhealthy, or problem behaviors. The current study aimed to explore experiential avoidance and mindfulness processes as mechanisms through which childhood trauma and problem behavior are linked in a college sample. Participants: The sample consisted of college-aged young adults recruited November-December, 2016 (N = 414). Methods: Participants completed self-report measures of childhood trauma, current problem behavior, experiential avoidance, and mindfulness processes. Bootstrapped mediation analyses examined the mechanistic associations of interest. Results: Mediation analyses indicated that experiential avoidance was a significant mediator of the association between childhood trauma and problem behavior. Additionally, multiple mediation analyses indicated that specific mindfulness facets–act with awareness and nonjudgment of inner experience–significantly mediated the same association. Conclusions: Interventions for college students who have experienced childhood trauma might profitably target mechanisms such as avoidance and mindfulness in order to minimize engagement in problem behavior.     

An analysis of media reporting on the closure of freestanding midwifery units in England

ProblemDespite clinical guidelines and policy promoting choice of place of birth, 14 Freestanding Midwifery Units were closed between 2008 and 2015, closures reported in the media as justified by low use and financial constraints.BackgroundThe Birthplace in England Programme found that freestanding midwifery units provided the most cost-effective birthplace for women at low risk of complications. Women planning birth in a freestanding unit were less likely to experience interventions and serious morbidity than those planning obstetric unit birth, with no difference in outcomes for babies.MethodsThis paper uses an interpretative technique developed for policy analysis to explore the representation of these closures in 191 news articles, to explore the public climate in which they occurred.Findings and discussionThe articles focussed on underuse by women and financial constraints on services. Despite the inclusion of service user voices, the power of framing was held by service managers and commissioners. The analysis exposed how neoliberalist and austerity policies have privileged representation of individual consumer choice and market-driven provision as drivers of changes in health services. This normative framing presents the reasons given for closure as hard to refute and cultural norms persist that birth is safest in an obstetric setting, despite evidence to the contrary.ConclusionThe rise of neoliberalism and austerity in contemporary Britain has influenced the reform of maternity services, in particular the closure of midwifery units. Justifications given for closure silence other narratives, predominantly from service users, that attempt to present women’s choice in terms of rights and a social model of care.     

Identification of Protective Actions to Reduce the Vulnerability of Safety-Critical Systems to Malevolent Intentional Acts: An Optimization-Based Decision-Making Approach

An empirical classification model based on the Majority Rule Sorting (MR-Sort) method has been previously proposed by the authors to evaluate the vulnerability of safety-critical systems (in particular, nuclear power plants [NPPs]) with respect to malevolent intentional acts. In this article, the model serves as the basis for an analysis aimed at determining a set of protective actions to be taken (e.g., increasing the number of monitoring devices, reducing the number of accesses to the safety-critical system) in order to effectively reduce the level of vulnerability of the safety-critical systems under consideration. In particular, the problem is here tackled within an optimization framework: the set of protective actions to implement is chosen as the one minimizing the overall level of vulnerability of a group of safety-critical systems. In this context, three different optimization approaches have been explored: (i) one single classification model is built to evaluate and minimize system vulnerability; (ii) an ensemble of compatible classification models, generated by the bootstrap method, is employed to perform a “robust” optimization, taking as reference the “worst-case” scenario over the group of models; (iii) finally, a distribution of classification models, still obtained by bootstrap, is considered to address vulnerability reduction in a “probabilistic” fashion (i.e., by minimizing the “expected” vulnerability of a fleet of systems). The results are presented and compared with reference to a fictitious example considering NPPs as the safety-critical systems of interest.     

Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: Associations with alcohol use,alcohol problems and problem recognition

Objective: This study fills a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between two types of narcissism, vulnerable and grandiose, and five alcohol-related outcomes (ie, alcohol use, alcohol problems, evaluation and expectancies of problems, and readiness to change).

Participants: 345 college students (28% men, 72% women) from a Midwestern university were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses from April 2015 to October 2016.

Methods: Participants completed an online survey with questionnaires measuring the variables of interest. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.

Results: Grandiose narcissism was a positive predictor of alcohol consumption and a positive (ie, good) evaluation of alcohol-related problems. Vulnerable narcissism was a positive predictor of alcohol-related problems, problem recognition (ie, readiness to change), and problem expectancies.

Conclusions: The results speak to the effects that different types of narcissism have on alcohol use, alcohol problems and attitudes towards alcohol problems among young adults.     

高等学校排考染色-匹配算法

将安排考试课程与分配班级考场分别化为图的染色与最大匹配问题，进而将两种算法融合并改进，使之适合于实际应用．最后以染色一匹配算法解决上海理工大学本科教学排考冲突问题为例，实证了算法的有效性．     

上市公司会计信息披露的现状及理性思考

分析了我国上市公司信息披露的现状及存在的主要问题,认为其产生原因在于利益诱惑,低廉违规成本,法规不够健全完善,从业人员素质及道德水平较低。同时,对改善我国上市公司信息披露现状措施的可行性加以探讨。     

Analytic Bayesian Solution of the Two-Stage Poisson-Type Problem in Probabilistic Risk Analysis

The basic purpose of probabilistic risk analysis is to make inferences about the probabilities of various postulated events, with an account of all relevant information such as prior knowledge and operating experience with the specific system under study, as well as experience with other similar systems. Estimation of the failure rate of a Poisson-type system leads to an especially simple Bayesian solution in closed form if the prior probability implied by the invariance properties of the problem is properly taken into account. This basic simplicity persists if a more realistic prior, representing order of magnitude knowledge of the rate parameter, is employed instead. Moreover, the more realistic prior allows direct incorporation of experience gained from other similar systems, without need to postulate a statistical model for an underlying ensemble. The analytic formalism is applied to actual nuclear reactor data.     

1978～2003:中国留学教育的回顾与思考

中国留学教育已经走过了25年的不平凡的历程,经历了一个从小到大、从无序到有序、从不够成熟到逐渐成熟的过程.该文结合作者多年来对中国留学教育研究的体会,对25年来我国留学教育的作用和效益进行了简略的评估,对其发展过程中出现的主要问题进行了分析,并对新形势下我国留学教育的发展思路提出了一些建议.     

大学生问题人群工作的实践与思考

做好大学生工作必须采用抓两头促中间的方法,即一头建设大学生干部队伍,一头重视大学生问题人群工作。前者是战略性工作,后者是战术性工作。要做好大学生问题人群的教育引导工作,就应对大学生问题人群进行必要的分类,并对产生的原因进行分析,以便教育工作者有针对性地开展工作。