Newsvendor Problems with Demand Shocks and Unknown Demand Distributions

In today's competitive market, demand volume and even the underlying demand distribution can change quickly for a newsvendor seller. We refer to sudden changes in demand distribution as demand shocks. When a newsvendor seller has limited demand distribution information and also experiences underlying demand shocks, the majority of existing methods for newsvendor problems may not work well since they either require demand distribution information or assume stationary demand distribution. We present a new, robust, and effective machine learning algorithm for newsvendor problems with demand shocks but without any demand distribution information. The algorithm needs only an approximate estimate of the lower and upper bounds of demand range; no other knowledge such as demand mean, variance, or distribution type is necessary. We establish the theoretical bounds that determine this machine learning algorithm's performance in handling demand shocks. Computational experiments show that this algorithm outperforms the traditional approaches in a variety of situations including large and frequent shocks of the demand mean. The method can also be used as a meta‐algorithm by incorporating other traditional approaches as experts. Working together, the original algorithm and the extended meta‐algorithm can help manufacturers and retailers better adapt their production and inventory control decisions in dynamic environments where demand information is limited and demand shocks are frequent      

大学生创业问题及对策分析

当前,自主创业成为越来越多大学生的选择。但是在研究中发现,我国大学生创业动机高,行动少;创业教育成果少,问题多;创业机会多,创业环境差。这些问题的解决需要根据成就动机来激发创业动机;通过改善创业教育来培养创业技能;通过营造良好创业环境来支持大学生创业。     

Risk Assessment as a Paradox: When Actions of an IRB Become Incompatible with Ethical Principles

As anecdotal evidence mounts up of Institutional Review Boards becoming an impediment to research, I share a personal experience in this article to argue how the conduct of an Institutional Review Board was incompatible with a number of ethical principles such as Respect for Persons, Deception, Informed Consent, and Justice. I conclude by promoting Evidence-Based Ethical Problem Solving to facilitate and enhance risk assessments through empirical evidence.     

Problem Gambling and the Circumstances Facing Older People

Local gambling venues are an important contemporary context for older people's gambling in many parts of the world typically being more accessible to this segment of the population than traditional, centralised gambling venues, such as casinos. This study, undertaken in South East Queensland, analyses older people's electronic gaming machine (EGM) behaviour and motivations, specifically in the context of licensed social and recreational clubs-a popular local gambling venue in many parts of Australia. The study gathered data via a postal survey of 80 managers of licensed clubs, interviews with Gambling Help services and a survey of 414 people aged 60+ who regularly play EGMs, self-administered on site at local clubs. The analysis undertaken suggests that certain age-related circumstances of older people-such as being without a partner, having a disability that impacts on everyday activities, having a low annual income, and no longer participating in the workforce-are associated with higher overall levels of motivation for playing EGMs and greater reliance on EGMs to meet social, recreational and mental health needs. Over a quarter of the older people surveyed (27%) reported drawing on their savings to fund their EGM gambling. Certain categories of older people, including those who were without a partner and those with a disability, were more likely to report drawing on their savings to fund EGM play and betting more than they could afford to lose, pointing to age-related vulnerabilities older people may experience to the negative impacts of gambling given the greater likelihood of their dependency on smaller, fixed incomes. The explanatory contribution of a range of demographic and motivational variables on problem/moderate risk gambling status was computed via a logistic regression model. Younger age (60-69), male gender, single marital status and being motivated to play EGMs to experience excitement and to win money all emerged as significant predictors in the model.     

Equalizing population denominators for australian metropolitan areas

Most population data are collected and tabulated in an aggregate form by censuses around the world in which political and economic considerations determine the geographic unit of the aggregation. Large spatial variation in population size among, units can limit comparative analysis among different subregions. Census population counts are often used as the denominator in rate calculations. This paper proposes the design of new districts for Australian metropolitan areas that will decrease the absolute range in population among districts. The transport algorithm is used for aggregation of Collection Districts in order to achieve this goal. The transport algorithm proved efficient in assigning CDs to a more equitable alignment of population in the selected Statistical Divisions. This method affords the spatial comparison of city settlement and socio-economic variables as well as deriving a stable denominator for these comparisons. The results demonstrate the advantages of equalized population denominators over those associated with the current statistical districts.     

贫困大学生心理问题及对策探析

作为高校中的弱势群体,贫困大学生不仅承受着经济压力,也更容易产生心理问题。因此,分析贫困大学生心理问题的表现,关注贫困大学生的心理问题,探索相应的对策,从多方面促进贫困大学生心理健康发展,引导学生健康成长,是高校学生思想教育面临的重要课题。     

AI对未来会计变革研究——基于技术视角

人工智能目前是全社会关注的热点,人工智能技术丰富多样,发展迅速,有必要结合会计领域自身的特点,对影响会计发展的人工智能关键基础技术进行梳理,从技术角度探讨AI对未来会计的影响。介绍了OCR、NLP和大数据等人工智能基础技术,探讨这些技术对未来会计发展的影响路径,最后系统分析了变革中可能遇到的瓶颈问题和解决方案。     

人工智能科学在十七、十八世纪欧洲哲学中的观念起源

尽管人工智能科学是在二战后才在西方科技界涌现的,但其思想根苗至少可以上溯到十七、十八世纪的欧洲哲学。具体而言,人工智能的哲学基础问题可被一分为二:第一,建立一个能够展现真正人类智能的纯机械模型,在观念上是否可能?第二,若前述问题的答案是肯定的,怎样的人类心智模型才能够为这种模型的建立提供最佳的参照?本文将论证,笛卡尔和莱布尼茨对上述第一个问题都给出了否定的回答,而霍布斯则给出了肯定的回答。至于第二个问题,休谟关于心智构架的重构工作,就可以被视为当代AI科学中的联结主义进路的先驱,而康德在调和直观和思维时所付出的努力,则为当代AI专家整合自下而上进路和从上至下进路的种种方案所应和。一言以蔽之,十七、十八世纪的欧洲哲学实乃AI科学的一个潜在的智库,尽管AI界的主流对此并无清楚之意识。     

现行生育保险制度亟待解决的问题及改进对策

目前我国的生育保险制度存在发展不平衡,覆盖面不广,基金筹集渠道窄,待遇标准不统一,管理手段落后等问题,对此,建议采取加大宣传力度,强化生育保险意识,实行社会统筹制度,加快法制建设等有效措施,完善我国的生育保险制度。     

CAI——信息时代的教育手段

计算机辅助教学是信息时代的教育手段之一。本文介绍了CAI系统及其应用,并探讨了目前CAI在学校应用中存在的问题、发展策略,说明CAI在学校教育中的重要性和作用。