Comparison of breastfeeding in rural areas of Sweden and Australia – a cohort study

BackgroundBreastfeeding rates in Sweden and Australia appears to be decreasing in both countries. National statistics shows that 87% of infants in Sweden and 73% in Australia receive any breastfeeding two months of age.AimTo compare women's experiences of breastfeeding in Sweden and Australia and to identify factors associated with breastfeeding two months after birth.MethodsA cohort study in two rural hospitals in mid Sweden (n = 300) and north-eastern Victoria in Australia (n = 91) during 2007–2009. Participants responded to questionnaires in mid pregnancy and two months after birth. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were used to detect differences between women in both cohorts.FindingsWomen in Sweden (88.3%) were more likely to report any breastfeeding of the baby two months after birth (OR 2.41; 95% CI: 1.33–4.38) compared to women in Australia (75.8%) but were less satisfied with breastfeeding support and information. The most important factor associated with breastfeeding at two months postpartum for the Swedish women was to have received sufficient information about breastfeeding on the postnatal ward (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.41–4.76) while for the Australian women receiving the best possible help when breastfeeding for the first time was most important (OR 4.3; 95% CI 1.50–12.46).ConclusionThe results indicate that Swedish women were more likely than their Australian counterparts to breastfeed the baby two months after birth. The findings demonstrated the importance of sufficient information and help when breastfeeding is initiated.     

政府应急信息协调能力的提升：双重障碍与消解路径

政府应急信息协调能力是应急信息真实有效的重要保障.然而,应急信息包含的客观和主观成分却分别面临着信息孤岛和价值干预的双重挑战.信息孤岛现象在政府和社会主体中都有所呈现;价值干预则主要表现为应急信息协调过程中的本位主义和突发公共事件情境定义的泛政治化.为消解这双重障碍,提升政府应急信息协调能力,必须建立标准统一、结构优良的信息共享机制和科学高效的信息分析与多主体决策机制.     

Measuring the benefit of changing the value offering in grocery supply chains

New value-adding solutions are needed for grocery supply chains to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in a market environment characterised by increased competition. This paper discusses two case studies that identify how improvements to the value offering brought about enhancements to the performance of the total supply chain. The concept of ‘time benefit analysis’ is applied to measure the impact of the change. These approaches offer novel and unique techniques for performance measurement and value offering analysis in supply chain management.     

A self-funding reward mechanism for tax compliance

We compare in a laboratory experiment two audit-based tax compliance mechanisms that collect fines from those found non-compliant. The mechanisms differ in the way fines are redistributed to individuals who were either not audited or audited and found to be compliant. The first, as is the case in most extant tax systems, does not discriminate between the un-audited and those found compliant. The second targets the redistribution in favor of those found compliant. We find that targeting increases compliance when paying taxes generates a social return. We do not find any increase in compliance in a control treatment where individuals audited and found compliant receive symbolic rewards. We conclude that existing tax mechanisms have room for improvement by rewarding those audited and found compliant.     

Teaching Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Mand “Why?”

For most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), manding for information is an important skill that must be systematically taught. Although previous studies have evaluated interventions for teaching other mands for information, to date no studies have demonstrated effective procedures for teaching the mand “why?” The purpose of the present study was to teach 3 children with ASD to mand “why?” under relevant establishing operation conditions in 3 distinct scenarios. A trial-unique multiple-exemplar procedure was used to promote generalization and increase the value of information provided across trials. All 3 participants learned to mand “why?” in all 3 scenarios within a mean of 18 sessions (range 14–21 sessions), demonstrated generalization to novel stimuli and settings, and maintained this skill over time. Social validity for the intervention had an overall mean of 5.88 (range 1–7).     

One Person,Many Votes: Divided Majority and Information Aggregation

This paper shows that information imperfections and common values can solve coordination problems in multicandidate elections. We analyze an election in which (i) the majority is divided between two alternatives and (ii) the minority backs a third alternative, which the majority views as strictly inferior. Standard analyses assume voters have a fixed preference ordering over candidates. Coordination problems cannot be overcome in such a case, and it is possible that inferior candidates win. In our setup the majority is also divided as a result of information imperfections. The majority thus faces two problems: aggregating information and coordinating to defeat the minority candidate. We show that when the common value component is strong enough, approval voting produces full information and coordination equivalence: the equilibrium is unique and solves both problems. Thus, the need for information aggregation helps resolve the majority's coordination problem under approval voting. This is not the case under standard electoral systems.     

会计估计的准确性、行业共识信息与个体投资者的决策

会计信息在投资者的投资决策过程中发挥着十分重要的作用,其质量直接影响着投资者的判断和决策.会计估计在提高会计信息相关性的同时,也为公司管理层提供了盈余管理的空间.本文实验检验了对会计估计的准确性进行事后披露这一机制是否有助于个体投资者做出正确的判断和决策,以及行业共识信息对这一机制发挥作用的影响.研究发现:(1)事后披露会计估计准确性的信息只有通过行业共识信息的辅助才能有效发挥作用,即只有在两者的共同作用下,个体投资者才能够正确识别会计估计准确的原因,也才能够进行正确的归因,并做出正确的判断和决策;(2)投资者对会计估计的准确性会产生不同的归因,投资者的归因进一步影响了其对管理层评价,而对管理层的评价影响了其对公司市盈率的评价,对公司市盈率的评价进一步影响了投资者对其投资可能性的判断.     

再评邬焜先生关于人类认知的客观对象不是物质而是客观信息(自在信息)问题

"信息哲学"以"水中月"为案例,对"存在领域"进行重新"分割",认为列宁关于物质的定义"是未经严格的科学或逻辑论证的、难以成立的先验性观念";能够被"我们的感觉所复写、摄影、反映"的客观对象不是"客观实在(如月亮)"的物质,而是"客观不实在(如水中月)"的"客观信息(自在信息)"。"客观信息(自在信息)"不仅自宇宙开端(宇宙时为零)就存在,而且能够"以其纯自然的方式""自身演化自身"。所谓"人类感知能力发展阶段的讨论",再次重申"人类感知"或"主观信息(精神)",必须以"客观信息(自在信息)"为"把握或创造"的对象;"客观第二性(不实在、间接存在)"亦"客观第一性(实在、直接存在)"。通过评析邬焜先生所作的种种辩解,都是无法接受逻辑与实践检验的。"客观信息(自在信息)"使物质在哲学上的地位名存实亡、鹊巢鸠占了。     

组织环境与结构形态的多样性——对上海浦东梅园街道"阳光驿站"的实地考察

组织与自身所处的环境之间的关系是复杂的,这体现在组织结构方面便是其形态的多样性.上海浦东梅园街道"阳光驿站"身处社会转型前沿,在环境压力下其结构形态表现出了一种多样性.研究发现,组织既可能通过理性设计积极探索适应环境的途径,也可能因受制于环境因素而忽略时绩效的追求.     

经济发展的中国方式:问题、原因与对策

转变经济发展方式是中国实践提出的新问题,涉及制度和生产关系,这正是政治经济学研究的范围,需要从政治经济学上进行理论总结.改革开放以来,中国经济发展呈现快速发展与结构失衡双重特征,为此付出了资源、环境、安全和生命、社会发展方面的巨大代价.这对我国经济发展方式提出了严峻的挑战,使我国发展方式呈现出不可持续性.政府主导经济活动是我国经济发展呈现双重性特征的根源,规范政府行为是转变经济发展方式的必然要求.规范政府行为需要对政府在市场中的作用范围进行科学定位,并使政府行使权力自觉接受人民的监督.