Survival in the U.S. petroleum refining industry

Of the 324 petroleum refineries operating in the U.S. in 1982, only 149 were still in the hands of their original owners in 2007. Using duration analysis, this paper explores why refineries change ownership or shut down. Plants are more likely to ‘survive’ with their original owners if they are older or larger, but less likely if the owner is a major integrated firm, or the refinery is a more technologically complex one. This latter result differs from existing research on the issue. This paper also presents a split population model to relax the general assumption of the duration model that all refiners will eventually close down; the empirical results show that the split population model converges on a standard hazard model; the log-logistic version fits best. Finally, a multinomial logit model is estimated to analyze the factors that influence the refinery plant's choices of staying open, closing, or changing ownership. Plant size, age and technology usage have positive impacts on the likelihood that a refinery will stay open, or change ownership (rather than close down).     

房屋拆迁中的国有土地使用权补偿司法实证研究

房屋拆迁中的国有土地使用权补偿是我国城镇房屋拆迁中的主要矛盾点之一。通过对司法判例进行实证研究发现，法院判决多数认为原告诉请国有土地使用权补偿于法无据，抑或认为对于国有土地使用权的补偿已随房屋评估作价。房屋拆迁的重点在于“地”，若仅对房屋所有权人进行补偿，而忽视国有土地使用权人，无疑会引发诸多诉讼，乃至于阻碍城镇化进程。因此，在渐进式改革的背景之下，可以开展国有土地使用权补偿的试点，同时应当完善《国有土地上房屋征收与补偿条例》，并将合理补偿原则作为补偿的基本原则，以此为基础建立一套独立于房屋拆迁补偿的国有土地使用权补偿体系。     

An M/G/1 clearing queueing system with setup time and multiple vacations for an unreliable server

This paper studies an M/G/1 clearing queueing system with setup time and multiple vacations, in which all present customers in the system are served simultaneously and breakdowns may occur in busy or setup period. We investigate the stationary distribution of system size and the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of sojourn time. In addition, various performance measures are discussed, such as the mean system size at arbitrary time and the mean length of a vacation circle. Moreover, a cost analysis is carried out for this queueing system. Numerical results are presented to study the sensitivity of the system parameters on the expected cost function and system performances.     

Substance use disorders and referral to treatment in substantiated cases of child maltreatment

Parents with substance use disorders (SUD) require treatment and support in order to provide children with appropriate care and protection. Using the 2012 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), this paper analysed 464 313 substantiated child maltreatment reports to determine (i) the proportion and characteristics of reports involving substance abuse; and (ii) the child and caregiver/perpetrator (C/P) characteristics that predicted referral to treatment as recorded in service plans. Findings indicate that 12% (N = 53 234) of maltreatment reports involved C/P SUD. Yet, of those reports, only (19%) (N = 10 088) were referred to substance abuse treatment as part of their service plan, indicating a large gap between those who need treatment and those who receive it. This finding is important given that parental SUD is consistently linked to poorer child outcomes. Amongst other variables, reports indicate that C/P with co‐occurring emotional disturbance were three times more likely to be referred to treatment for SUD as part of service plans. Additional research is needed regarding the characteristics that distinguish C/P who receive referrals for SUD treatment in substantiated cases of child maltreatment.     

Grandparental childcare in Australia: gender differences in the correlates of providing regular grandparental care while parents work

Grandparents’ regular care for children while parents work has been mostly studied from the parental perspective. This paper focuses on the grandparents. Using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Time Use Survey 2006 (N = 7672) we investigate regular-caring grandparents’ demographic characteristics, which childcare activities they undertake, and how regular childcare provision relates to their time in other activities, subjective time pressure and satisfaction. Results indicate the correlates and nature of regular care differ by gender. Regular and non-regular-caring grandmothers’ relative time allocation to different childcare tasks barely differs, while regular-caring grandfathers’ care includes a much higher proportion of active care and travel than non-regular-caring grandfathers’. Regular care provision is associated with less leisure than non-regular-caring counterparts for both genders, but with only grandmothers’ housework, personal care and sleep time. Providing regular care doubles the likelihood of grandmothers reporting high subjective time pressure compared to non-regular-caring grandmothers; there is no association between regular care and time pressure for grandfathers. We conclude that in taking on regular care, grandparents echo the gender patterns found among parents, namely that it is women who are disproportionately impacted by meeting family care needs.     

美国中小学服务学习课程模式的理论与实践

服务学习是美国中小学广泛实施的一种优秀的实践教学课程模式。不同于单纯的社会体验或学科教学,服务学习将课程学习、社会服务和体验反思三者有机地结合起来,不仅加强了学生课堂所学知识与现实世界的关联,同时也极大地丰富了中小学生的社会实践活动。其基本理念、特征、实践模式及实施经验对我国当前基础教育课程改革有着很高的借鉴价值。     

Demand for gambling: development and assessment of a gambling purchase task

Self-report purchase tasks are a novel approach examining the reinforcing value of addictive behaviour relative to increasing monetary costs required to access the addictive behaviour (i.e. demand). These measures reveal a positive relationship between the indices of demand and addiction problem severity and can elucidate factors associated with motivation for substance use. Gambling is an addictive behaviour that has not been examined using this paradigm. This study seeks to adapt and examine the purchase task for gambling behaviour. A gambling purchase task was devised that asked individuals how often per month they would gamble at various cover charges. Participants were 73 adults from the community with either gambling disorder (n = 28) or alcohol use disorder (n = 24) or were a healthy control (n = 21). Both the alcohol and gambling purchase tasks were administered. Results demonstrate discriminant validity of the gambling purchase task, as individuals with gambling disorder have significantly greater demand for accessing gambling than other groups. The alcohol purchase task also evidenced discriminant validity in that individuals with alcohol use disorder have significantly greater demand for alcohol than other groups. These findings support the use of the gambling purchase task to assess the demand for gambling.     

昌北高校图书馆联盟虚拟参考咨询服务现状分析

高校图书馆联合虚拟参考咨询服务是一种全新的信息服务形式,深受广大用户的喜爱和欢迎。该文通过对江西省昌北高校图书馆联盟2011年1至6月份虚拟参考咨询的服务人员、服务形式、服务内容、服务效率及存在问题进行调查分析研究,提出提升该联盟虚拟参考咨询服务质量的积极建议及对策。     

魔幻现实主义在旅游环境设计中的运用

魔幻现实主义设计手法在旅游环境设计中具有广泛的运用空间。文章基于魔幻现实主义概念与特点,多视角地分析了魔幻现实主义作为一种"新现实主义"在旅游环境设计中的独特价值。     

Senior centres in the lives of older Americans: implications for Chinese older adults

As a critical community resource, the senior centre has provided older Americans with a wide array of recreational, nutritional, health, and social service programmes. Funding resources include the Older Americans Act allocations, local organisations and governments, national charities, voluntary associations, and religious associations. The types of programmes offered at a senior centre reflect two models: social agency model or voluntary organisation model. The five most popular programmes are nutrition, health and fitness, recreation, volunteering, and social services. Participation in senior centre activities has positive impacts on the overall well-being of older adult participants. With the rapid growth in the ageing population and improved life expectancy in China, senior centres may serve as a focal point for Chinese older adults by providing a broad spectrum of social services to enhance the well-being of community-dwelling older adults, to support their independence and dignity, and to facilitate ageing in place in later life.