A Hierarchical Model for the Skew-normal Distribution with Application in Developmental Neurotoxicology

The distribution of the mean of a random sample drawn from a skew-normal population was derived by Chen et al. (2004). Here, we consider a hierarchical structure and derive the distribution of the sample mean when the location parameter itself is a random variable with a normal distribution. In neurotoxicological bioassay experiments with laboratory animals, often the response of interest is continuous in nature and the mean of responses is used for inferential purposes (Chen, 2006). However, in developmental neurotoxicity experiments where the neurological effect of a compound on the developing fetus is of interest, because of the intra-litter correlation, the mean of the response distribution may vary from one litter to another. The unconditional distribution of the litter sample mean is derived and its application in the analysis of data from developmental neurotoxicology is described. An example with real experimental data is used to provide further illustration.     

新生代农民工婚恋模式初探

本文通过对比新生代农民工与传统农民工的不同,分析婚恋对新生代农民工的重要性,提出本文的研究问题。从婚恋观念、婚恋行为、以及婚恋影响因素等三个侧面建构新生代农民工的婚恋模式。依据调查数据资料,归纳出新生代农民工的婚恋模式特点。同时把个人背景与流动经历作为解释变量,建立logistic回归模型,探寻新生代农民工婚恋模式的影响因素。最后提出改善新生代农民工婚恋模式的建议。     

Using developmental evaluation as a system of organizational learning: An example from San Francisco

In the last 20 years, developmental evaluation has emerged as a promising approach to support organizational learning in emergent social programs. Through a continuous system of inquiry, reflection, and application of knowledge, developmental evaluation serves as a system of tools, methods, and guiding principles intended to support constructive organizational learning. However, missing from the developmental evaluation literature is a nuanced framework to guide evaluators in how to elevate the organizational practices and concepts most relevant for emergent programs. In this article, we describe and reflect on work we did to develop, pilot, and refine an integrated pilot framework. Drawing on established developmental evaluation inquiry frameworks and incorporating lessons learned from applying the pilot framework, we put forward the Evaluation-led Learning framework to help fill that gap and encourage others to implement and refine it. We posit that without explicitly incorporating the assessments at the foundation of the Evaluation-led Learning framework, developmental evaluation’s ability to affect organizational learning in productive ways will likely be haphazard and limited.     

社会工作教育的发展取向

社会工作教育是社会工作发展的基础。社会工作教育应坚持国际通则与本土经验并重,价值观教育与知识技能教育并重,知识传授与能力培养并重,学历教育与职业培训并重,专业教育与社会教育并重的发展取向。     

试析转型期中国义务教育的免费性

从义务教育的渊源和英德两国义务教育的发展历程入手,深入分析了义务教育的免费性问题,笔者认为,在义务教育的产生初期,强迫性为其主要特点;进入现代社会,主要特点应是免费性。当代中国正处于从传统社会向现代社会的转型时期,经济进一步发展的强烈需求和我国自身的特点决定了当前急待全面扩展义务教育免费的范围,使免费成为义务教育的应有之义。     

实践与马克思主义中国化的与时俱进

党的几代领导集体在实践中把马克思主义基本原理同中国的具体实际相结合形成的毛泽东思想,开启了马克思主义中国化;邓小平理论,“三个代表”重要思想和科学发展观,则坚持、发展和推进了马克思主义中国化。马克思主义中国化的重大理论成果,解决了中国不同发展阶段所面临的重大现实问题,在实践中不断地将马克思主义中国化推进到新的理论境界。这充分证明了,实践是马克思主义中国化的理论成果与时俱进的内在动力。     

Knowledge and beliefs about national development and developmental hierarchies: The viewpoints of ordinary people in thirteen countries

Scholars and policy makers have for centuries constructed and used developmental hierarchies to characterize different countries. The hypotheses motivating this paper are that such social constructions have been circulated internationally, are constructed similarly in various countries, and follow the social constructions of elite international organizations, such as the United Nations. This paper uses data from 15 surveys in 13 diverse countries to study how developmental hierarchies are understood in everyday life. Our research shows that most people have constructions of developmental hierarchies that are similar across countries and are similar to the developmental hierarchies constructed by the United Nations. These findings suggest that developmental hierarchies are widely understood around the world and are widely available to ordinary people as they make decisions about many aspects of life.     

Living with a developmentally disabled child: attitude of family members in India

This study sought to create an in-depth understanding of the experiences of living with a family member suffering from developmental disabilities from the social as well as personal point of view through qualitative research. The study used phenomenological methodology. Sixteen participants were recruited through purposive and snowball method. Data were collected via an open-ended narrative inviting the informants to focus on the experiences of living with a family member suffering from the disorder and analyzed thematically. The issue of personal context emerged as a key theme in understanding perceptions of the respondents. Another important theme was that from the social context. This study explores the emotional sufferings faced by family members of the sufferer. It also provides insights into the Indian social culture and its impact on the family.     

A litter-based approach to risk assessment in developmental toxicity studies via a power family of completely monotone functions

Summary.  A new class of distributions for exchangeable binary data is proposed that originates from modelling the joint success probabilities of all orders by a power family of completely monotone functions. The distribution proposed allows flexible modelling of the dose–response relationship for both the marginal response probability and the pairwise odds ratio and is especially well suited for a litter-based approach to risk assessment. Specifically, the risk of at least one adverse response within a litter takes on a simple form under the distribution proposed and can be reduced further to a generalized linear model if a complementary log–log-link function is used. Existing distributions such as the beta–binomial or folded logistic functions have a tendency to assign too much probability to zero, leading to an underestimation of the risk that at least one foetus is affected and an overestimation of the safe dose. The distribution proposed does not suffer from this problem. With the aid of symbolic differentiation, the distribution proposed can be fitted easily and quickly via the method of scoring. The usefulness of the class of distributions proposed and its superiority over existing distributions are demonstrated in a series of examples involving developmental toxicology and teratology data.