A Tiered Framework for Risk‐Relevant Characterization and Ranking of Chemical Exposures: Applications to the National Children's Study (NCS)

A challenge for large‐scale environmental health investigations such as the National Children's Study (NCS), is characterizing exposures to multiple, co‐occurring chemical agents with varying spatiotemporal concentrations and consequences modulated by biochemical, physiological, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Such investigations can benefit from systematic retrieval, analysis, and integration of diverse extant information on both contaminant patterns and exposure‐relevant factors. This requires development, evaluation, and deployment of informatics methods that support flexible access and analysis of multiattribute data across multiple spatiotemporal scales. A new “Tiered Exposure Ranking” (TiER) framework, developed to support various aspects of risk‐relevant exposure characterization, is described here, with examples demonstrating its application to the NCS. TiER utilizes advances in informatics computational methods, extant database content and availability, and integrative environmental/exposure/biological modeling to support both “discovery‐driven” and “hypothesis‐driven” analyses. “Tier 1” applications focus on “exposomic” pattern recognition for extracting information from multidimensional data sets, whereas second and higher tier applications utilize mechanistic models to develop risk‐relevant exposure metrics for populations and individuals. In this article, “tier 1” applications of TiER explore identification of potentially causative associations among risk factors, for prioritizing further studies, by considering publicly available demographic/socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental data in relation to two health endpoints (preterm birth and low birth weight). A “tier 2” application develops estimates of pollutant mixture inhalation exposure indices for NCS counties, formulated to support risk characterization for these endpoints. Applications of TiER demonstrate the feasibility of developing risk‐relevant exposure characterizations for pollutants using extant environmental and demographic/socioeconomic data.     

The case of vegetovascular dystonia: inventing the most common Soviet disease

ABSTRACT

The paper considers the case of vegetovascular dystonia, one of the most typical and common “Soviet” diseases. This syndrome emerged in Soviet medicine after World War II, and very quickly become a popular diagnosis among physicians. The author describes how the construct of vegetovascular dystonia was formed and developed, what changes it underwent, and what affected those changes. The concept and history of vegetovascular dystonia can provide an understanding of Soviet medicine and health science in general.     

Portrayals of the internal God among Ashkenazi Jewish Orthodox lesbians in Israel

Abstract

Most of the existing literature on Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish lesbians focuses on sociological aspects, mainly the negative attitudes held by religious communities towards their sexual identity and the various problems that arise from these. Less attention has been paid to lesbians’ psychological coping mechanisms with the tensions between their two central identities: the religious and the sexual. Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians find themselves in a complicated situation where they remain on the margins of both their “natural” communities: the religious one and the homosexual one. As a result, they feel rejected, isolated, and even punished by society. As believers, God is their ultimate refuge. But there are different conceptions of God, ranging from benevolent to persecutory, accepting or highly judgmental and punishing. This variance has not been considered in regard to the dual identity of Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians. This article focuses on this neglected issue, examining Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians’ conception of God and its relation to their managing the conflict between their apparently conflicting identities.     

A qualitative study on participants’ perceptions of child development accounts in Korea

ABSTRACT

In 2007, Korea implemented Child Development Accounts (CDAs) for institutionalised children in child welfare systems. Since then, the target group and a matching cap of CDAs in Korea have evolved. The target group expanded to include poor children receiving welfare, whereas the matching cap increased from KRW 30,000 (US$26.53) to KRW 40,000 (US$35.38), which is matched at a 1:1 rate. Despite the expansion, there is little empirical evidence examining the extent to which CDAs have influenced the life of participants. Using a content analysis method with a sample (N = 22), this study examines how CDAs have changed children’s mindsets, saving habits, education, future planning and sponsorship. The findings suggest that CDAs have multiple positive influences on children. This study concludes with policy implications for the inclusive and progressive development of CDAs in Korea.     

思想自由·独立思考·大胆质疑——“史学现代化”国际学术研讨会概述

学者们在"史学现代化"国际学术研讨会上就会议主题包括历史的规律、属性、功能与原因、史学观念以及主体与客体、史学现代化的内涵与趋向等史学理论和方法诸重要议题进行了热烈而深入的探讨,并且在有关问题上达成了一定的共识。这无疑会有益于丰富、充实史学的内容,从而把史学现代化推向新高度。     

论逻辑思维与创新

逻辑是研究逻辑思维形式及其规律的一门古老的学科，而创新是到现在才提出的一个新名词，两者的结合是对科学的发展起到非常重大的作用。许多的思想家都在将思维的注意力瞄准了人类思维自身．力求揭示思维过程中的固有规律，以约束或规范人类思维交流与创新的过程。创新思维的能力又是逻辑思维的精髓和核心。没有逻辑思维中的创新能力，就没有实践中的创新。人类所创造的一切物质文明和精神文明无不得益于逻辑思维。所以，任何创新都必须遵循客观规律和逻辑法则，违反逻辑不可能有任何真正的创新。     

论思想解放的内在机制

今天的解放思想已经从人类社会特殊历史时刻才出现的重大的思想和理论变革运动转变为社会发展的经常性、普遍化、常规化、常态化的内在要求和有机组成部分。解放思想是人之生存结构中给定性与创造性、自然性与超越性之间的张力和冲突的集中体现，它的动力机制和制约机制具体表现为：创新的与保守的思想观念之间的张力和冲突、开放的与封闭的思维方式之间的张力和冲突、现代的与传统的文化模式之间的张力和冲突。在新的解放思想进程中，我们不仅要积极推动各个领域各个层面的具体的解放思想；而且要高度关注解放思想的机制体制建设，特别是解放思想的文化创新机制的形成：营造尊重不同思想观念的制度文化，确立开放包容和求异创新的思维方式，培育尊重个性和创新的文化模式。     

企业核心人才流出问题浅析

企业核心人才的流出不仅对员工个人、企业 ,而且对社会 ,也会产生一定的影响。因此 ,要解决此问题 ,企业首先要树立良好的企业形象 ;其次要做好服务和引导工作 ,为他们提供一个良好的工作环境 ,而非采取一些逼迫性的强制措施