Mental health program evaluation: Where you start?

Seduced by the elegance, sophistication and jargon characteristic of new developments in applied research, practicing evaluators are in danger of becoming distracted from achievement of their evaluative goal: that of providing timely, reliable and useful data to program management to facilitate rational data-based decision-making. To avoid such seduction, the author advocates adaptation of simple, inexpensive and efficient evaluative methods tailored to organizational needs and presentation of findings in language readily understood by constituent groups. Likewise, insistance by evaluators upon maintenance of a strict role boundary — that is, limiting role functioning exclusively to those tasks considered evaluation — may be dysfunctional. Rather than detract from accomplishment of his goals, the author maintains that such participation allows development of skills, insights and staff relationships which enhance the evaluator's effective functioning within the organizational context and contribute to organizational acceptance and use of his evaluative results.     

The validity of indices for rural health manpower needs assessment

Population-to-practitioner ratios have long been the primary index in the designation of health manpower shortage areas. This paper documents that application of the widely used population-to-dentist index results in understatement of the need for dental health manpower in rural areas. Through the analysis of utilization data collected from a statewide health screening program in Colorado, the practice of sole reliance on the population-to-dentist indices as an indicator of need was tested. Another measure, the area-(square miles) to-dentist ratio was formulated, examined, and found to be a more useful referent of the need for additional health manpower in rural areas. Utilization of dental services in sparsely settled rural counties of Colorado was unrelated to population-to-dentist ratios. A strong, statistically significant association of utilization with land area-to-dentist ratios was found. The findings of this analysis suggest a need for reevaluation of needs assessment methodologies used in the designation of health manpower shortage areas. Indices more sensitive to consumer circumstance than to the number of health care providers available must be considered.     

On the limiting properties of social indicators

Characteristics of the population and economic measures that constitute traditional social indicators are compared with more recent “quality of life” measures to demonstrate that social indicators are always value statements at the policy level. The possibility of alternative perspectives is illustrated. It is suggested that an awareness of the assumptions implicit in any given indicator is as important as the data they provide.     

金融工程中资产收益的连续时间模型评述

总结了在过去30年中金融资产收益连续时间模型的发展及主要成果,讨论了迄今连续时间模型参数估计的主要方法,其中特别讨论了MCMC方法;最后指出了现在和未来该领域研究所面临的主要课题。     

私募股权投资参与、企业社会责任与盈利能力研究——基于新三板的数据

本文以251家新三板私募股权投资基金支持企业为样本,研究了企业社会责任履行与盈利能力之间的关系.研究发现:企业对政府、股东、债权人、管理层、员工、客户、社会大众负责与企业盈利能力存在显著的正相关关系.投资企业的PE个数与企业盈利能力显著负相关.企业对供应商负责、PE总投资额与盈利能力没有显著相关性.     

安徽省学前教育资源地区间配置差异分析

笔者采用锡尔指数及其一阶模型,对安徽省学前教育中的经费投入、师资力量、办学规模等教育资源配置的差异进行了测度,并将教育资源配置的差异性分解为皖北、皖中、皖南三个地域间的差异以及三个地域内各地区之间的差异。研究发现：三个地域内各地区差异是造成全省学前教育资源配置差异的主要原因;学前教育经费投入、师资力量和办学规模都存在着不同程度的配置差异,其中财政性教育公用费各地区差异最明显,专任教师的缺乏造成了各地区师资力量资源配置的差异;办学规模已基本能满足全省幼儿入园的需要,但结构性矛盾仍然突出。     

股权众筹是否真的那么美--基于美国制度缺陷的再思考

股权众筹作为初创企业采用的一种利用互联网向大众募集小额资本的融资方式，以“脱媒式”对接投融资双方的优势，利用互联网的人群聚集与信息广泛传播效应，降低投融资方之间沟通成本，有助于投融资意向的快速达成。2012年美国JOBS法案的高调出台，吸引了全球范围内的广泛关注。但股权众筹制度在美国已受到诸多批判，除信息披露要求弱化引发的欺诈风险增加外，在注重前端融资效率的同时却忽略了投资端的设计和保护，尤其是众筹股权的流通和退出问题等。美国立法与实践领域对于这些问题尚未取得彻底的突破。股权众筹以美国模式为样板引入中国，在遭遇中国固有法律体系及制度的困扰后，中国股权众筹实践陷入更多困境。通过对美国相关制度出台的背景及存在的不足进行分析，对照中国实践，锁定实践中产生的新问题，并深入探讨现有解决路径能否真正缓解这些不足，以期对股权众筹制度重新进行明确的定位。     

Early Pregnancy Assessment Services in Australia: What psychosocial support is available? A qualitative study

ProblemWomen commonly experience emotional distress following miscarriage but do not receive the support they need from healthcare providers.BackgroundMiscarriage can result in psychological morbidity; however, appropriate support at the time of a miscarriage can lead to better psychological outcomes. Early Pregnancy Assessment Services (EPASs) are dedicated outpatient services considered the “gold standard” for miscarriage care. Little is known about the psychosocial support EPASs provide in Australia.AimsThe aim of this study was to explore the provision of psychosocial support in Australian EPASs.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 purposively sampled key-informants from 13 EPASs. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed.FindingsConsiderable variation was found in how EPASs functioned and their provision of psychosocial support. Many services were co-located with antenatal services, run by doctors with limited experience and most did not offer any psychosocial training to staff specific to EPAS. Referrals for additional support were generally not offered for first trimester miscarriages, and follow-up typically focused on physical management rather than emotional wellbeing. All EPAS staff demonstrated a strong commitment to providing best possible care to women within their own clinical setting and acknowledged the need for improved psychosocial support.ConclusionThis study provides the first exploration of Australian EPASs’ provision of psychosocial support. It has shown that while health care professionals working in EPASs are dedicated to providing the best possible care to women within their clinical setting, psychosocial support is very limited and could be improved.     

Assessing Risk‐Based Upper Limits of Melamine Migration from Food Containers

Melamine contamination of food has become a major food safety issue because of incidents of infant disease caused by exposure to this chemical. This study was aimed at establishing a safety limit in Taiwan for the degree of melamine migration from food containers. Health risk assessment was performed for three exposure groups (preschool children, individuals who dine out, and elderly residents of nursing homes). Selected values of tolerable daily intake (TDI) for melamine were used to calculate the reference migration concentration limit (RMCL) or reference specific migration limit (RSML) for melamine food containers. The only existing values of these limits for international standards today are 1.2 mg/L (0.2 mg/dm²) in China and 30 mg/L (5 mg/dm²) in the European Union. The factors used in the calculations included the specific surface area of food containers, daily food consumption rate, body weight, TDI, and the percentile of the population protected at a given migration concentration limit (MCL). The results indicate that children are indeed at higher risk of melamine exposure at toxic levels than are other groups and that the 95th percentile of MCL (specific surface area = 5) for children aged 1–6 years should be the RMCL (0.07 mg/dm²) for protecting the sensitive and general population.     

长期股权投资准则修订变化及对企业财务的影响研究

2014年7月1日,新修订的企业会计准则率先在所有执行企业会计准则的企业范围内施行,这意味着企业的财务核算、财务报表等面临新的问题和挑战.长期股权投资是企业会计核算中的重点和难点,其会计核算方法比较复杂,不同的会计核算会对企业的财务产生不同的影响.本次长期股权投资的修订,规范了长期股权投资的会计核算方法,使其持续趋同于国际会计准则,有利于我国对外经济合作,有利于适应社会经济的发展.本文主要剖析了长期股权投资准则修订前后的变化,对其主要会计核算进行举例分析,并分析其对企业财务的影响.