Quality of Life Enhancement Research Program: Lessons Learned

The attempted Quality of Life Enhancement program appeared to be a novel method for creating a symbiotic and sustainable relationship between a large Southeastern university and local nursing home and assisted living facilities (ALF), through which ALF residents would attend university arts and sporting events. During implementation, it was discovered that this project was unsustainable, undesired, unneeded by many care centers, difficult to implement, and required a dedicated and specialized staff. After attempting to enroll 14 local care facilities, only 2 were interested in becoming involved and produced 5 eligible participants. During the program itself, coordination with facilities and residents was difficult to maintain and unique transportation and accommodation needs were challenging to overcome. Finally, data collection was time consuming and generally unfruitful. Ultimately the project was discontinued after a year of attempted recruitment and implementation of inclusive changes to protocol. While creating an ongoing relationship with local care facilities and local universities may enhance opportunities for residents and research into important areas, such relationships take time, effort, and specialized staff to maintain.     

基于随机p-鲁棒优化的国家血液战略储备库选址-库存模型

以往的救灾实践对建立国家血液战略储备体系提出了迫切要求。国家血液战略储备库的建设问题亟待解决。由于血液产品特性以及应急血液保障特性的存在,使得国家血液战略储备库的选址决策具有一定的复杂性。本文将问题定位为选址-库存问题。首先,以应急条件下血液保障及时度最高为目标,构建了一个不确定环境下考虑多情景、多血型、多阶段、带提前期、有容量限制、日常随机需求、有预算约束及协同定位的国家血液战略储备库选址-库存模型。同时,为了规避应急条件下的不确定风险,进一步构建了国家血液战略储备库选址-库存问题的随机p-鲁棒优化模型。该模型为离散非线性混合整数规划模型,难以快速精确求解。故基于模型性质,设计了相应的遗传算法。最后,设计了两组算例验证模型与算法的有效性。其中,第1组算例基于我国大陆地区31个省级血液中心与省级行政区的数据,并根据不同预算值给出6个算例,得到了国家血液战略储备库的选址-库存决策方案。第2组算例为6个不同规模的模拟算例,用来测试不同规模下的算法性能。算例结果表明：遗传算法的性能更好;鲁棒解与确定性模型最优值相差不大（最大差距≤1.08%）,可降低不确定性导致的风险。实践中,可对本文所建模型稍作改进,应用于具有类似特征的易腐品（药品、粮食等）应急物资储备库选址-库存决策。     

Enrollment,Educational Expenditures and Work Among One-Parent Children in India

In this study, I examined the effect of single parenthood due to death, separation, divorce, or migration of spouse on educational inputs among school-age children in India. I used the nationally representative India Human Development Survey to study the implications of different types of parenthood on educational expenditure among children ages 6 to 11 and 12 to 18 years and work participation among the older age group. The study finds that the separated or divorced mothers on average spend less on education and older children of widows are more likely to work because of resource constraints associated with single parenthood. The results highlight the need for public policies that would support widows as well as separated or divorced mothers.     

Palestinian-Israeli single mothers accord motherhood a new meaning ‘I would like to teach my children a new way of life … I'm responsible for them now’

Over the last three decades, Palestinian society in Israel has undergone numerous changes, reflected in the rising numbers of families headed by single mothers. This article is based on a study conducted between 2007 and 2011 among 24 divorced, separated, and widowed Palestinian single mothers in Israel. I analyze this emerging family configuration, focusing on these women’s experiences as mothers and on how they accord new meaning to motherhood. My analysis will deal with the diverse ways these women ‘do motherhood’ and negotiate with different familial players. It will extend beyond the discourse on motherhood to shed light on the current changes in power and gender relations taking place in Palestinian-Israeli society.     

The Haunting of Shame: Autoethnography and the Multivalent Stigma of Being Queer,Muslim, and Single

Sociology has neglected the terrain of the gay Muslim single as a sociological phenomenon. Produced and managed via meaningful social conduct, the gay Muslim single often holds negative symbolic and cultural worth, one of lacking identification and presence. The stigma of the gay Muslim single is actively reproduced through social and power relations. I examine multiple stigmas and dichotomies by using autoethnography to illustrate the human lived experience of a gay Muslim single, who is silenced, invisibilized, and embodies a social life of “emptiness.” The gay Muslim single, bringing about a “moral panic,” confronts temporal regulations, norms, and values, notably those of heterosexual ones in everyday social life. He is cast as an “outsider,” which reinforces his stigma in everyday social life.     

震后伤员救援车辆两阶段规划模型及算法研究

不确定情景下的应急物资配送和车辆路径优化问题是目前国内研究的一大热点,其中 震后伤员运送车辆调度及路径优化问题随着近几年地震等自然灾害的频繁发生也逐渐引起人 们的重视． 本文采用聚合优化算法对灾区进行应急救援区域划分,建立了以总救援时间最短和 相对综合救援权重值最大为目标的救援车辆两阶段数学规划模型,设计了带三角函数变异的 离散型萤火虫优化算法进行求解,并与常规算法求解结果做了对比分析． 通过算例进行模拟实 验表明,所提出的模型和算法可以有效解决地震情景下的伤员救援车辆调度问题,且改进算法 的全局搜索性能更优．     

The Intergenerational Continuity of Fathers' Absence in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Sample

Fathers' absence is a pattern that shows intergenerational continuity, most notably within disadvantaged populations. The process whereby this pattern is repeated across generations is not well understood. Using data from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, the authors investigated pathways between fathers' absence in 1 generation and the experience of fathers' absence by their children. The current sample included 386 socioeconomically at‐risk individuals across 2 waves of data collection: (a) when they were children and (b) when they were adults with their own children. Analyses based on structural equation modeling revealed that men whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to become absent fathers, and women whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to have children with absent partners. Indirect pathways between fathers' absence in 2 generations through aggression, education, and substance abuse were illustrated for women. These findings add to the literature suggesting that fathers' absence during childhood has intergenerational effects.     

Family Roles as Moderators of the Relationship Between Schedule Flexibility and Stress

Employer initiatives that address the spillover of work strain onto family life include flexible work schedules. This study explored the mediating role of negative work–family spillover in the relationship between schedule flexibility and employee stress and the moderating roles of gender, family workload, and single‐parent status. Data were drawn from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, a nationally representative sample of working adults (N = 2,769). The results indicated that schedule flexibility was associated with less employee stress and that these associations were mediated by perceptions of negative work–family spillover. This study found the moderating relationships of gender, family workload, and single parenting in the relationships between schedule flexibility and negative work–family spillover and stress. Schedule flexibility had stronger relationships in reducing negative work–family spillover and stress among women, single parents, and employees with heavier family workloads. The findings provide empirical support for intervention efforts involving schedule flexibility to reduce workplace stress among employees with family responsibilities.     

Optimal Dynamic Order Scheduling under Capacity Constraints Given Demand‐Forecast Evolution

We consider a manufacturer without any frozen periods in production schedules so that it can dynamically update the schedules as the demand forecast evolves over time until the realization of actual demand. The manufacturer has a fixed production capacity in each production period, which impacts the time to start production as well as the production schedules. We develop a dynamic optimization model to analyze the optimal production schedules under capacity constraint and demand‐forecast updating. To model the evolution of demand forecasts, we use both additive and multiplicative versions of the martingale model of forecast evolution. We first derive expressions for the optimal base stock levels for a single‐product model. We find that manufacturers located near their market bases can realize most of their potential profits (i.e., profit made when the capacity is unlimited) by building a very limited amount of capacity. For moderate demand uncertainty, we also show that it is almost impossible for manufacturers to compensate for the increase in supply–demand mismatches resulting from long delivery lead times by increasing capacity, making lead‐time reduction a better alternative than capacity expansion. We then extend the model to a multi‐product case and derive expressions for the optimal production quantities for each product given a shared capacity constraint. Using a two‐product model, we show that the manufacturer should utilize its capacity more in earlier periods when the demand for both products is more positively correlated.