Multiphase experiments in practice: A look back

Multiphase experiments are introduced and an overview of their design and analysis as it is currently practised is given via an account of their development since 1955 and a literature survey. Methods that are available for designing and analysing them are outlined, with an emphasis on making explicit the role of the model in their design. The availability of software and its use is described in detail. Overall, while multiphase designs have been applied in areas such as plant breeding, plant pathology, greenhouse experimentation, product storage, gene expression studies, and sensory evaluation, their deployment has been limited.     

A powerful and efficient algorithm for breaking the links between aliased effects in asymmetric designs

Fractional factorial (FF) designs are no doubt the most widely used designs in experimental investigations due to their efficient use of experimental runs. One price we pay for using FF designs is, clearly, our inability to obtain estimates of some important effects (main effects or second order interactions) that are separate from estimates of other effects (usually higher order interactions). When the estimate of an effect also includes the influence of one or more other effects the effects are said to be aliased. Folding over an FF design is a method for breaking the links between aliased effects in a design. The question is, how do we define the foldover structure for asymmetric FF designs, whether regular or nonregular? How do we choose the optimal foldover plan? How do we use optimal foldover plans to construct combined designs which have better capability of estimating lower order effects? The main objective of the present paper is to provide answers to these questions. Using the new results in this paper as benchmarks, we can implement a powerful and efficient algorithm for finding optimal foldover plans which can be used to break links between aliased effects.     

Endless Pressure: Life on a Low Income in Austere Times

Much has been written that details the decline in living standards following the ‘credit crunch’ in the UK. It remains that we understand to a lesser degree the lived reality of poverty through the Great Recession and into the era of austerity. This article draws on testimonies of 62 participants from low income households conducted in three different areas of the UK during 2012–13 to document the pressures that this period brought to bear on these households. According to these testimonies, the experience of poverty intensified in key respects: first, participants reported feeling, more than ever before, that they were ‘existing, rather than living’ due to the meagre budgets they were forced to live on; second, the precarious nature of work and social security contributed to a sense of insecurity that was all pervasive in our participants' lives; third, due to the pejorative political rhetoric and media coverage of poverty, our participants felt that their lives were placed under increased scrutiny which deleteriously impacted their wider relationships and sense of belonging. Our analysis demonstrates the profound consequences for those living on low incomes of the continued shift to residual forms of state welfare and the increased reliance on the ‘Big Society’ as a means to deal with the pressures identified in this article.     

建国初期云南的禁毒斗争及其成功经验

由于建国以前云南所在的西南地区是我国烟毒泛滥最为严重的地区,到建国初期云南烟毒泛滥的情况仍然十分严重,种植、制造、贩运、吸食烟毒活动仍有蔓延之势,严重影响着人民的健康、国民经济的恢复、政权的巩固和社会的安定。新中国成立后,中共云南省委和省人民政府按照中共中央、政务院和中共中央西南局、西南军政委员会的统一部署,积极投入禁毒斗争,最终从源头上堵住了烟毒的泛滥,基本上解决了建国以前云南历届政府均无法解决的烟毒问题,有力地促进了云南的经济发展和社会进步,并积累了丰富的成功经验。     

执政党建设理论的创立与发展

内容提要改革开放以来,党的执政党理论逐步完善,包括邓小平党建理论、江泽民建党思想以及党的十六大以来党的建设理论三个重要部分。这一理论紧密结合中国特色社会主义实践,借鉴世界其他国家执政党建设经验。以改革创新精神不断推进执政党建设理论的进一步发展。     

宁夏新农村信息化建设的基本经验与存在的问题

2007年9月,国家信息化工作办公室将宁夏正式列为全国第一个国家级社会主义新农村信息化工作省域试点,宁夏的农村信息化建设也被列为自治区的”民生工程”;2008年9月,宁夏又被列为全国第一个社会主义新农村信息化省域示范点。但是,宁夏的农村信息化同时也存在着一些问题。本文从研究宁夏新农村信息化的经验入手,深入系统地分析农村信息化发展中存在的问题,对于不断完善宁夏农村信息化工作、推进宁夏新农村建设具有重要现实意义。     

农村女性流动打工经历对其家庭经济地位的影响

本文利用调查数据,对是否外出打工及不同类型打工地的农村女性家庭经济地位差异进行对比,考查在资源因素与文化规范变迁的多重影响下,不同的打工经历对农村女性家庭经济地位的影响及其发展变化。     

在校工作经验对教育投资回报的影响——以哈尔滨市劳动力市场问卷调查为例

传统明瑟收入函数中收入取决于个人受教育程度、潜在市场工作经验和潜在市场工作经验平方项,其中受教育程度由受教育年限代表,不包含在校读书期间工作经验,然而,学生在毕业前往往能积累一定工作经验.因此,教育收益估计值包含了在校工作经验收益,导致教育收益估计值存在偏差.为了消除教育收益率估计偏差,使用哈尔滨市就业市场问卷调查数据,估算了两个收入方程——含在校工作经验变量的收入方程和不含有在校工作经验变量的收入方程.估算结果显示,后者较前者在教育投资回报系数上高出28%-44%(取决于对能力偏差的控制程度),这些结果表明传统明瑟收入函数过分夸大了个人受教育程度对收入的影响.     

Emerging adult identity following adolescent experiences with psychotropic medications: A retrospective study

This study examines the perceptions of mental illness identity among a group of emerging adults based on their retrospective experiences with diagnoses and psychotropic medication use during their earlier formative adolescent years. A short questionnaire was administered via online social media platforms to volunteers between the ages of 19 and 30 and who self-identified as having taken psychotropic medication between the ages of 12 and 18 (N = 46). Correlation analysis revealed that several variables were associated with a stronger illness identity, including participant’s happiness with their medication experiences, the belief that medication made them more like their “true” selves, and the belief that their diagnosis was accurate. Content analysis of participant narratives suggested themes related to discontinuation and barriers to adherence. These results contribute to the growing knowledge base around lived experiences of psychiatric medication use and suggest further study on how to advance more informed and compassionate mental health care.     

A closer look at de-aliasing effects using an efficient foldover technique

Foldover techniques are used to reduce the confounding when some important effects (usually lower order effects) cannot be estimated independently. This article develops an efficient foldover mechanism for symmetric or asymmetric designs, whether regular or nonregular. In this paper, we take the uniformity criteria (UC) as the optimality measures to construct the optimal combined designs (initial design plus its corresponding foldover design) which have better capability of estimating lower order effects. The relationship between any initial design and its combined design is studied. A comparison study between the combined designs via different UC is provided. Equivalence between any combined design and its complementary combined design is investigated, which is a very useful constraint that reduce the search space. Using our results as benchmarks, we can implement a powerful algorithm for constructing optimal combined designs. Our work covers as well as gives results better than recent works of about 20 articles in the last few years as special cases. So this article is a good reference for constructing effective designs.