Muir,Roosevelt, and Yosemite National Park as an Emergent Sacred Symbol: An Interaction Ritual Analysis of a Camping Trip

We argue that interaction ritual (IR) theory provides a temporal and interactional point of origin from which to trace an influential IR chain that became a deciding factor in the unification of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove under federal control within present‐day Yosemite National Park. The emotions generated by the rituals of Roosevelt's and Muir's camping trip in May, 1903 in the short term, however, failed to result in a lasting consensus on ideology. This is a point that Roosevelt's lack of support for Muir in the subsequent controversy over the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley clearly documents. A video abstract is available at http://tinyurl.com/myv74yd     

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF THE MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP ON SEX WORKERS’ DECISION TO ENTER AND LEAVE THE STREETS – LESSONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

This paper focuses on ‘streetwalkers’ and ‘street sex workers’ who are unlicensed sex workers not belonging to a brothel and subject to criminalization. They often face great stigmatization and are usually considered victims by service providers. Five Singaporean ex-streetwalkers (n = 5), who had left the streets for at least six months and were currently receiving or had previously received skills training at a social service agency, participated in this study. Using an agentic framework and social relational theory principles, this qualitative study explored the impact of streetwalkers’ relationship with their children on their decision to enter and leave the streets and reasons for their successful help-seeking experiences. Findings revealed them to be agents who actively used strategies to meet their goals and to sustain close relationships with their children. The mother–child relationship context was a key influence on their decision to enter and/or leave the streets. Social work practice implications include tailoring service delivery to tap into their agentic capacities and identity as mothers; research and training in provision of proactive social services in a non-judgmental manner to preserve the dignity of these women while meeting both their own and their children’s needs.     

On Reproducing Linear Estimators within the Gauss–Markov Model with Stochastic Constraints

In a Gauss–Markov Model (GMM) with fixed constraints, all the relevant estimators perfectly satisfy these constraints. As soon as they become stochastic, most estimators are allowed to satisfy them only approximately, thereby leaving room for nonvanishing residuals to describe the deviation from the prior information.

Sometimes, however, linear estimators may be preferred that are able to perfectly reproduce the prior information in form of stochastic constraints, including their variances and covariances. As typical example may be considered the case where a geodetic network ought to be densified without changing the higher-order point coordinates that are usually introduced together with their variances and (some) covariances. Traditional estimators are based on the “Helmert” or “S-transformation,” respectively an adaptation of the fixed-constraints Least-Squares estimator.

Here we show that neither approach generates the optimal reproducing estimator, which will be presented in detail and compared with the other reproducing estimators in terms of their MSE-risks.     

Environment

Abstract

This study surveys the development of collections of foreign-language ethnic newspapers in American libraries and archives since the 1960s. Relying on a review of historical and media studies scholarship as well as library and archival science literature, the article aims to identify the main sources of non-English ethnic newspapers available in the United States and to examine the difficulties such newspapers present for libraries, from older print publications to today’s born-digital media, regarding collection development, bibliographic control, and preservation. After a brief historical survey of the foreign-language ethnic press in the United States, the article analyzes the development of library collections since the 1960s as well as libraries’ efforts to preserve them and improve access to them. It then evaluates the state of digitization and online availability of foreign-language ethnic newspapers and initiates a reflection on the need to collect current print and digital ethnic newspapers.     

Biochemical assessment and differentiation of mental and physical effort

Abstract

Evaluation of mental effort under industrial conditions encounters both methodological and practical problems mainly because of lack of appropriate indices and difficulties in differentiation between body responses to physical and mental effort.

This paper presents a review of laboratory and field research from our laboratories aimed at finding objective indices for discrimination between body responses to mental and physical effort. The laboratory data show that urinary noradrenaline/adrenaline (NA/A) ratio decreases in response to mental tasks and increases in response to physical tasks. Under industrial conditions the predominating component of effort (mental or physical) evokes body response similar to that found during laboratory experiments. Re-analysis of data published in various other papers shows the same pattern of body response.

Another possible index for assessment of effort seems to be salivary cortisol which increases in response to both mental and physical tasks. Its deviations from the circadian pattern of excretion may represent a potential criterion for assessment of the emotional component of mental effort.     

Manufacturing feature-based cost management system: a case study in Brazil

Feature costing is a topic of recent discussion related to cost management systems (CMSs) aimed at understanding how product features influence production process costs. It raises as a key issue in mass customisation environments where a single product model can present hundreds of menu options. In this study, we explore the concept of feature costing beyond the use of activity-based costing (ABC). We propose a CMS based on features and common elements as costing objects instead of products. In our model, we use the unit of production effort method to organise the direct manufacturing costs, ABC method to address the indirect cost and the standard methods to compute raw materials costs. We illustrate the method in the production of bus seats in a Brazilian manufacturing company. This study gives different perspectives to the international academic community on the use of a different CMS used by many Brazilian companies.     

基于战略风险投资的融资契约设计及融资决策

初创企业融资过程中, 融资的对象以及合同的设计会对初创企业的经营状态以及社会福利水平产生重要影响.本文将融资的对象分为仅仅追求货币收益的风险投资家和同时追求货币收益及战略目标的战略投资者, 并基于此在阶段性融资背景下考察了单个投资者、多个独立投资者以及辛迪加组织这三类融资方式中融资对象的选择和融资契约的设计, 最后以社会福利水平最优为首要目标、企业预期收益最大为次要目标为企业家提供最优的融资决策.通过分析表明一个最优的融资决策应当包含最优的融资方式和最优的融资对象.关于融资方式, 辛迪加组织提供融资可行时, 企业家应寻求辛迪加组织融资且这种融资方式总是社会有效率的;辛迪加组织提供融资不可行时, 企业家应寻求多个独立的投资者融资, 但这种融资方式无法实现最优的社会福利水平.关于融资对象, 企业家应选择努力水平与一阶最优努力水平最为接近的投资者.     

公司治理强度、审计力度与审计质量

自安然事件以来,公司治理和外部审计的重要性得到了前所未有的重视.本文构建了一个公司所有者与外部审计师之间的博弈理论模型,以分析均衡状态下公司治理强度、审计力度与审计质量之间的关系,并讨论所有者和审计师赔偿责任对博弈均衡的影响.我们特别引入了公司治理成本函数和审计成本函数,并同时考虑了公司所有者和审计师的赔偿责任.在本模型中,公司所有者对公司治理强度的决策和外部审计师对审计力度的决策共同影响审计报告对外部投资者的信息有用性(即审计质量),并最终影响了公司的成交价格.研究得到的主要结论是:(1)均衡状态下公司治理强度的增加有助于提升审计力度和审计质量;(2)所有者赔偿责任的增加只会提高公司成交价格,但不会影响博弈均衡和均衡状态下的审计质量;(3)审计师赔偿责任的增加并不一定导致所有者降低公司治理强度,且只有在特定情况下才能提升审计力度和审计质量.     

我国文献保护研究中新成果探析

近10年来，我国文献保护研究取得了一系列新成果，其主要表现在纸质文献的纸张和字迹保护、文献有害生物的防治、建筑设计规范的制定、声像和数字化文献的保护诸方面，今后发展的总趋势和重点是数字化、网络化文献的保护。     

‘I Just Don't Agree’: A Voice-Oriented Analysis of An IFPS Case of Alleged Child Maltreatment

In contrast to the many outcome studies of Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS), little is known about the underlying personal and relational dynamics of family crisis interventions. This article focuses on the core evolving dynamics of the changing self-presentations of a parent involved in an intensive home-based family preservation case of alleged child maltreatment. Three key family intervention sessions were videotaped and transcribed including both verbal and nonverbal behavior. The Listening Guide Method – a theoretically flexible, qualitative, relationally oriented method of in-depth interpretative analysis – served as our guide for this case analysis. In the processes of change toward a jointly constructed meaningful narrative on responsibility and self-care, two key elements emerged as playing a pivotal role: (1) the momentum of a potential referral of children to out-of-home care that precedes the start of an IFPS intervention and (2) the rhizomatic or root-like intertwinement of the voices of both parent and therapist with respect to the rationale for any involvement of society in the family. We argue that discourses on imminent placement in the context of family preservation deserve a genuine and valuable position in the initial discourse of a family therapist when entering a family in the context of crisis intervention. Both in understanding and driving any processes of change, we may need to reconsider our own willingness to step into the blending interplay of discourse and counter-discourse with our clients on the subject of our often drastic intervention. Consequently, we may read this narrative analysis as an invitation to reflect on the conceptualization of ‘client readiness’ in psychotherapy and to shift our thinking on preconditions for therapy from a client's readiness toward a therapist's attentiveness to listen.