On a class exhibiting trend change in average failure rate

Abstract

Weak convergence and moment convergence issues are investigated for the New Better than Average Failure Rate (NBAFR) family (introduced by Loh (1984 Loh, W. Y. 1984. A new generalization of the class of NBU distributions. IEEE Transactions on Reliability R-33 :97–113[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar])). We explore the validity of these results in the context of a more general ageing class that we introduce. We prove some new properties of this class and derive its interrelationships with other non-monotonic ageing families. Reliability and moment bounds are obtained and an interesting characterization of exponentiality is proved. Special cases of our results lead to new theorems for the NBAFR class. Finally weak convergence and related issues are established for this class.     

Stigma, HIV/AIDS and prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Zambia

This report evaluates the extent of perceived and enacted HIV/AIDS-related stigma in a rural setting in Zambia. Stigmatisation is abundant, ranging from subtle actions to the most extreme degradation, rejection and abandonment. Women with HIV and pregnant women assumed to be HIV positive are repeatedly subjected to extensive forms of stigma, particularly once they become sick or if their child dies. Despite increasing access to prevention of mother to child transmission initiatives, including anti-retroviral drugs, the perceived disincentives of HIV testing, particularly for women, largely outweigh the potential gains from available treatments. HIV/AIDS related stigma drives the epidemic underground and is one of the main reasons that people do not wish to know their HIV status. Unless efforts to reduce stigma are, as one peer educator put it, “written in large letters in any HIV/AIDS campaign rather than small”, stigma will remain a major barrier to curbing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.     

英国的刑事上诉制度研究

英国对刑事案件基本上实行两级上诉制度 :对于刑事法院的一审裁判可以依次向上诉法院和上议院上诉 ;对治安法院的裁判 ,可以分别向刑事法院或者高等法院以及上议院上诉 ,但是 ,二者的程序规则不完全相同。2 0世纪 70年代以来 ,英国上诉制度逐渐向大陆法系靠拢 ,最近英国政府再次提议进一步扩大控诉方的上诉权 ,英国上诉制度可能将发生重大变化。     

唐宋变革论体系的演化

自近代以来，由日本学者构筑的唐宋变革论体系，伴随时代的发展与新的知识资源的扩充，呈现出不断发展变化的趋势。本文旨在揭示这一演化的历史过程，尝试着分析这一过程变动发展的原因，并由此作出区别于以往的评价。     

从《朝天录》看朝鲜使节与域外文人的文化交流

李朝时期,朝鲜使臣频繁出使明朝,由于其另一身份为精通汉学的文人,因此与同样深受中国影响的域外文人进行了文学交流:李安讷同孔闻謤的诗歌酬唱,体现了中朝两国的文化认同;金尚宪与吴大斌的惺惺相惜,体现了文人间的友好情谊;李醉光与安南使者冯克宽、琉球使者蔡坚的文学往来,体现了朝鲜文学在安南等国的影响.朝鲜使臣在出使明朝的过程中,以文学为裁体,同域外文人进行了广泛的文化交流.     

从《醒世姻缘传》看汉语句式结构的层面渗透

汉语句式结构框架在其产生之后并非静止不动，除其自身的丰富发展之外，它还向不同的语法结构层面渗透，汉语词、词组、句子在结构关系上所具有的一致性由此产生。明末清初白话小说《醒世姻缘传》中的比拟句、“把”字句等就充分显示了汉语句式结构的这种中间过渡状态。     

Automobile prices and protection: The U.S.-Japan trade restraint

We examine the effects of the U.S.-Japan trade restraint on automobile prices and quality upgrading, for both Japanese imports and American small cars. From April 1981 to April 1984 the suggested retail price of all Japanese models increased by 15.8 percent, or 5.3 percent per year. We find that nearly the entire amount of this rise can be explained by the upgrading of individual models. This upgrading may benefit consumers who would purchase a luxury import in any case, but harms those who desire the basic imports. In addition to upgrading, we conclude that a second cost of the trade restraint has been to prevent the yen depreciation from being passed onto American consumers, in terms of lower imported auto prices. For U.S. small cars we find a 9.1 percent rise in the suggested retail price, or 3 percent per year, with a fraction of this amount due to model upgrading. If the yen depreciation had led to lower import prices without the trade restraint, then we expect that U.S. auto prices would have been lower, too.     

Estimation of noncentrality parameters

We propose some estimators of noncentrality parameters which improve upon usual unbiased estimators under quadratic loss. The distributions we consider are the noncentral chi-square and the noncentral F. However, we give more general results for the family of elliptically contoured distributions and propose a robust dominating estimator.     

改革开放——中华民族的复兴之路

建国以来，中国的发展以1978年为界分为前后两个30年。前30年，中国在计划经济体制下，顺利完成了国民经济的恢复任务、社会主义改造，并建立起比较完善的国民经济体系。后30年，中国通过改革开放，走上了一条中国特色社会主义发展道路，初步实现了国家的繁荣强盛，但是也面临着发展的困境。如果说，正是通过30年的改革开放，使中国真正跻身世界大国行列，那么中国在今后的发展中解决一系列发展难题，也必然要靠继续深化改革扩大开放。因此，认真总结中国改革开放的经验教训，为实现中华民族的伟大复兴就是我们必须要做的重要工作。