社科理论创新与信息保障服务

理论创新是社会科学研究的重要任务。社会科学理论创新需要信息保障服务的支撑。在新世纪社会信息化条件下社科信息服务只有在内容、形式、方式、方法和手段等方面探索新路子才能适应形势获得较快发展     

谈校园网的建设与使用

本文论述了网络硬件建设、资源库的建设、教师培训及信息管理平台的开发等问题,并阐述了校园网资源库建设的意义,在校园网建网思想及使用方法等问题上提出了自己的建议。     

行政过程中的信息公开:美国的实践

美国行政过程中的信息公开内容十分丰富,如在行政决策领域,"通知和评论"式规则制定、规则草案免于公开的特定情形、完善的意见征询系统都很有特色,在行政处罚、行政许可等其他行政领域也都有可资借鉴的实践经验。     

信息技术与东亚国家的教育改革

21世纪信息技术将使世界经济、社会发生彻底变化并给以巨大推动。一场真正的知识革命正在开始。今天的经济、社会和技术变化的步伐已经使东亚的教育体制面临落后的危险,信息经济要求东亚国家提高教育水平、改革教育体制,培养富有创造性的人才。在东亚教育改革中应侧重在职教育。     

Measuring success: Explications and measurement scales of instructing information and adjusting information

Substantial research exists to study reputation management messages but far less research exists to consider instructing information and adjusting information during and after a crisis. This research seeks to build tools that assist in the study of base crisis responses. Using a literature review, 18 interviews with people with expertise in public relations, and an experiment with 286 participants recruited from mTurk, this research builds scales that assess the quality of instructing information and adjusting information given during a crisis. The resulting scales are found to be reliable and predict significant change in post-crisis reputation in an initial test. Potential uses of these scales for crisis communication scholars and public relations practitioners are discussed.     

Travail et normes comptables internationales: une question de justice sociale

En tant que garante internationale de la justice sociale, l'OIT se trouve confrontée à une révolution comptable mondiale, parachevée par les normes comptables internationales (IAS-IFRS). La comptabilité mesurait autrefois l'économie en rapport avec les capacités et les responsabilités des travailleurs et de ceux qui en disposent. C'est aujourd'hui l'exact opposé: les normes IAS-IFRS ont perdu le sens de la mesure du travail et de l'entreprise en se référant au concept abstrait d'une entité cybernétique capable d'incessantes réorganisations, au prix d'inégalités sans limites. L'auteur en dénonce les incohérences et démontre la nécessité de redonner au travail toute sa valeur comptable.     

Conditional covariance penalties for mixed models

The prediction error for mixed models can have a conditional or a marginal perspective depending on the research focus. We introduce a novel conditional version of the optimism theorem for mixed models linking the conditional prediction error to covariance penalties for mixed models. Different possibilities for estimating these conditional covariance penalties are introduced. These are bootstrap methods, cross-validation, and a direct approach called Steinian. The behavior of the different estimation techniques is assessed in a simulation study for the binomial-, the t-, and the gamma distribution and for different kinds of prediction error. Furthermore, the impact of the estimation techniques on the prediction error is discussed based on an application to undernutrition in Zambia.     

Water cycle algorithm for solving the reliability-redundancy allocation problem with a choice of redundancy strategies

Abstract

This paper proposes a new mathematical model for the reliability-redundancy allocation problem (RRAP) with a choice of redundancy strategies. To maximize the reliability of a system, this model chooses the best redundancy strategy from among both active and standby ones for each subsystem. For those with a standby strategy, a continuous time Markov chain model is used to calculate the exact reliability values. In order to solve the proposed mixed-integer non-linear programing model, a powerful evolutionary algorithm, called water cycle algorithm (WCA), is developed and implemented on three famous benchmark problems. Finally, the results of different benchmark problems are compared with those previously reported to show the superiority of the proposed model and the efficiency of WCA.     

Afghan families and health professionals’ access to health information during and after pregnancy

BackgroundHaving a baby in a new country can be challenging, especially if unable to communicate in a preferred language. The aim of this paper is to explore the provision of health information for Afghan women and men during pregnancy, childbirth and the first year after birth in Melbourne, Australia.MethodsCommunity engagement underpinned the study design. Qualitative study with bicultural researchers conducting semi-structured interviews. Interviews and focus groups were also conducted with health professionals.ResultsSixteen Afghan women and 14 Afghan men with a baby aged 4–12 months participated. Thirty four health professionals also participated. Verbal information provided by a health professional with an interpreter was the most common way in which information was exchanged, and was generally viewed favourably by Afghan women and men. Families had limited access to an interpreter during labour and some families reported difficulty accessing an interpreter fluent in their dialect. Availability of translated information was inconsistent and health professionals occasionally used pictures to support explanations. Women and men were unsure of the role of health professionals in providing information about issues other than pregnancy and infant wellbeing.ConclusionBoth individual and health system issues hinder and enable the availability and use of information. Consistent, understandable and ‘actionable’ information is required to meet the needs of diverse families. Health professionals need to be supported with adequate alternatives to written information and access to appropriate interpreters. Inconsistent provision of information is likely to contribute to low health literacy and poor maternal and child health outcomes.