On the Effect of Probability Distributions of Input Variables in Public Health Risk Assessment

A central part of probabilistic public health risk assessment is the selection of probability distributions for the uncertain input variables. In this paper, we apply the first-order reliability method (FORM)^(1–3) as a probabilistic tool to assess the effect of probability distributions of the input random variables on the probability that risk exceeds a threshold level (termed the probability of failure) and on the relevant probabilistic sensitivities. The analysis was applied to a case study given by Thompson et al. ⁽⁴⁾ on cancer risk caused by the ingestion of benzene contaminated soil. Normal, lognormal, and uniform distributions were used in the analysis. The results show that the selection of a probability distribution function for the uncertain variables in this case study had a moderate impact on the probability that values would fall above a given threshold risk when the threshold risk is at the 50th percentile of the original distribution given by Thompson et al. ⁽⁴⁾ The impact was much greater when the threshold risk level was at the 95th percentile. The impact on uncertainty sensitivity, however, showed a reversed trend, where the impact was more appreciable for the 50th percentile of the original distribution of risk given by Thompson et al. ⁴ than for the 95th percentile. Nevertheless, the choice of distribution shape did not alter the order of probabilistic sensitivity of the basic uncertain variables.     

冲突视角下运输订单商业竞争战略研究

运用图模型理论研究冲突视角下中欧班列运营过程中运输订单商业竞争战略,构建“渝新欧”班列运营商、“苏满欧”班列运营商和昆山IT企业之间的商业竞争冲突模型。利用TOPSIS法评估班列的运输效率,确定决策者偏好,通过计算均衡解获得符合各决策者利益的理性对策。借助灵敏度分析研究决策者偏好改变对模型冲突结果的影响。研究表明:在竞争中,运输效率较低的一方可以通过降低价格弥补自身劣势而获得订单;运输效率较高的一方只有通过降价才能获得订单。该研究为班列运营商提供利益冲突中的商业竞争战略,能为顾客企业选择高效合理的运输线路提供有效的战略决策,同时亦能为宏观调控者规范市场、提高市场运输效率提供有效的政策启示。     

Gender‐Sensitive Research in a Chinese Community

The aim of this article is to foster an awareness of the need for gender‐sensitive research in the context of the methodological and ethical challenges posed by such research. We trace the development of gender sensitivity and masculinity in social work practice and research and connect this to an overview of the issues posed by research on sensitive topics. Reflecting on a research project involving Chinese male sexual abuse survivors, we draw conclusions illustrating and proposing a range of methodological practices and ethical safeguards. We underscore the importance of gender‐sensitivity in performing research on sensitive topics with men in a Chinese community.     

Moment‐Independent Sensitivity Analysis Using Copula

In risk assessment, the moment‐independent sensitivity analysis (SA) technique for reducing the model uncertainty has attracted a great deal of attention from analysts and practitioners. It aims at measuring the relative importance of an individual input, or a set of inputs, in determining the uncertainty of model output by looking at the entire distribution range of model output. In this article, along the lines of Plischke et al., we point out that the original moment‐independent SA index (also called delta index) can also be interpreted as the dependence measure between model output and input variables, and introduce another moment‐independent SA index (called extended delta index) based on copula. Then, nonparametric methods for estimating the delta and extended delta indices are proposed. Both methods need only a set of samples to compute all the indices; thus, they conquer the problem of the “curse of dimensionality.” At last, an analytical test example, a risk assessment model, and the levelE model are employed for comparing the delta and the extended delta indices and testing the two calculation methods. Results show that the delta and the extended delta indices produce the same importance ranking in these three test examples. It is also shown that these two proposed calculation methods dramatically reduce the computational burden.     

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.     

Discovering hidden statistical issues through individual-level models in ecological studies

ABSTRACT

In ecological studies, individual inference is made based on results from ecological models. Interpretation of the results requires caution since ecological analysis on group level may not hold in the individual level within the groups, leading to ecological fallacy. Using an ecological regression example for analyzing voting behaviors, we highlight that the explicit use of individual-level models is crucial in understanding the results of ecological studies. In particular, we clarify three relevant statistical issues for each individual-level models: assessment of the uncertainty of parameter estimates obtained from a wrong model, the use of shrinkage estimation method for simultaneous estimation of many parameters, and the necessity of sensitivity analysis rather than adhering to one seemingly most compelling assumption.     

Effects of critical incident tasks on the intercultural competence of English non-majors

ABSTRACT

In this internationalised world, graduate employability in terms of intercultural communication skills needs to be taken into account in higher education. The present study aims to explore the effects of critical incident task instruction on English non-majored undergraduates’ intercultural competence. One group of students received ten weeks of instruction with one critical incident task per week and another group received standard English classes. Data were collected from the students’ pre- and post-test. The results showed a significant and strong effect of the intervention with critical incident tasks. Implications for educational practice are presented for further teaching with critical incident tasks.     

Deep Uncertainties in Sea-Level Rise and Storm Surge Projections: Implications for Coastal Flood Risk Management

Sea levels are rising in many areas around the world, posing risks to coastal communities and infrastructures. Strategies for managing these flood risks present decision challenges that require a combination of geophysical, economic, and infrastructure models. Previous studies have broken important new ground on the considerable tensions between the costs of upgrading infrastructure and the damages that could result from extreme flood events. However, many risk-based adaptation strategies remain silent on certain potentially important uncertainties, as well as the tradeoffs between competing objectives. Here, we implement and improve on a classic decision-analytical model (Van Dantzig 1956) to: (i) capture tradeoffs across conflicting stakeholder objectives, (ii) demonstrate the consequences of structural uncertainties in the sea-level rise and storm surge models, and (iii) identify the parametric uncertainties that most strongly influence each objective using global sensitivity analysis. We find that the flood adaptation model produces potentially myopic solutions when formulated using traditional mean-centric decision theory. Moving from a single-objective problem formulation to one with multiobjective tradeoffs dramatically expands the decision space, and highlights the need for compromise solutions to address stakeholder preferences. We find deep structural uncertainties that have large effects on the model outcome, with the storm surge parameters accounting for the greatest impacts. Global sensitivity analysis effectively identifies important parameter interactions that local methods overlook, and that could have critical implications for flood adaptation strategies.     

Influential observations in GARCH models

This paper examines local influence assessment in generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscesdasticity models with Gaussian and Student-t errors, where influence is examined via the likelihood displacement. The analysis of local influence is discussed under three perturbation schemes: data perturbation, innovative model perturbation and additive model perturbation. For each case, expressions for slope and curvature diagnostics are derived. Monte Carlo experiments are presented to determine the threshold values for locating influential observations. The empirical study of daily returns of the New York Stock Exchange composite index shows that local influence analysis is a useful technique for detecting influential observations; most of the observations detected as influential are associated with historical shocks in the market. Finally, based on this empirical study and the analysis of simulated data, some advice is given on how to use the discussed methodology.     

基于思维法则学的跨文化信任框架——综合中国本土化思想与西方理论的尝试

以"承诺式信任"和"说服式信任"作为2个极端点,以"调节式信任"作为连续体的中间状态,提出了"信任的连续统一体"模型。该模型解释了中国情境下基于"关系"和"面子"的信任,以及西方基于认知、基于情感的信任;从调节式信任的角度,提出了跨文化信任的框架,分析了跨文化信任构建过程的一些阶段及调节策略;给出了关于发展中国管理理论、促进管理科学中国学派走向世界的思考。