Dynamics of contraceptive use and breastfeeding during the post-partum period in Peru and Indonesia

This paper examines the interaction between contraceptive use and breastfeeding in relation to resumption of intercourse and duration of amenorrhea post-partum. We used data from the month-by-month calendar of reproductive events from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in Peru and Indonesia. The analyses show that breastfeeding women were less likely than non-breastfeeding women to have resumed sexual intercourse in the early months post-partum in both countries. In Peru, but not in Indonesia, breastfeeding women had a significantly lower odds than non-breastfeeding women of adopting contraception. Although the likelihood of contraceptive adoption was highest in the month women resumed menstruation in both countries, about ten per cent of subsequent pregnancies occurred to women before they resumed menses. These results emphasize the importance of integrating breastfeeding counselling and family planning services in programmes serving post-partum women, as a means of enabling those who wish to space their next birth to avoid exposure to the risk of a pregnancy that may precede the return of menses.     

Domestic Violence in Nusa Tenggara Barat,Indonesia: Married Women's Definitions and Experiences of Violence in the Home

This article contributes to cross-cultural understandings of gender-based violence by examining women's definitions and experiences of domestic violence in Eastern Indonesia. The research was part of a larger study of human rights in maternal and neonatal health and involved a survey that integrated common anthropological practices in its development and delivery. This survey measured the prevalence of emotional and physical abuse, violence during pregnancy, unwanted sex and fear of violence among a sub-sample of 504 married Muslim women. Standard human rights definitions of violence were adapted to create locally appropriate definitions of economic violence, husband infidelity and unwanted sex within marriage. Survey responses indicated that the majority of women believed verbal abuse, threats of harm, economic violence, physical violence, control of women's mobility and a husband's public infidelity to constitute domestic violence. Our exploration of how Indonesian women understand domestic violence reinforces the salience of cultural specificity for different women's definitions of violence, as well as the applicability of internationally recognised definitions of gender-based violence.     

“光学工艺”课程改革初探

高职高专教育改革关键是课程改革和教材建设。高职高专教材建设是人材培养目标的关键之一,特别是光电应用专业,目前本课程还没有适用于高职高专的教材。因此,针对光学行业对人材的需求与高职高专特点,对于在原有教材进行改造的基础上编写出适应当前光学行业发展、又有利于学生掌握有用的知识的教材及如何加强实践课程提出了初步构想。     

从“感觉的真实”到“现实的真实”——论余华的创作转型

作家余华在上世纪90年代的那次创作转型获得了极大的成功。这种创作转型,从读者阅读感知的层面可以总结为:从"感觉的真实"到"现实的真实"。它具体表现在:创作题材上的从描绘绝望的魔窟到生存的咏叹;创作方法上的"非理性"成分的不同处理以及从强调技法到不露匠意等方面。     

电子技术基础教学方法新思路

电子技术基础是工科电类专业的一门重要的专业基础课,为了与二十一世纪高等教育制度接轨,实现真正的素质教育,必须对原来的教学方法进行改革,探索新的教学思路。根据电子技术基础教学实践,提出了其教学的新方法。     

美国城市扩张中的农地保护方法及其启示

城市扩张曾使美国农业土地以惊人比率减少，50余年来，美国不断地进行农地保护方法创新并积累了一些经验。从最早实行的使用价值评估到最近的唐提式基金等在内，美国农地保护方法约有28种，可分为调控型、激励型、参与型和混合型等四种类型，其综合了政府政策调控型和经济激励型的组合政策更加有效。我国的农地保护在目标设计、实施体系和方法上，都可对之进行借鉴。     

INTEGRATING EMPIRICAL RESEARCH INTO THE PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS: AN ILLUSTRATION

A number of critical questions have arisen surrounding the value of using empirical data and analytical procedures in the formulation of social and/or public policy. This exploratory study illustrates how multivariate analyses can contribute to an objective formulation of compromise positions on a complex public policy issue. Both multidimensional scaling and analysis of variance were used to study how the perceptions of three divergent key influential groups could be integrated into a final legislative package. This researchbased methodology provides a more logical approach to public policy formulation than that typically offered by political compromise.     

The Interpretation of Coefficients in Models with Qualitative Dependent Variables*

A substantial body of empirical accounting, finance, management, and marketing research utilizes single equation models with discrete dependent variables. Generally, the interpretation of the coefficients of the exogenous variables is limited to the sign and relative magnitude. This paper presents three methods of interpreting the coefficients in these models. The first method interprets the coefficients as marginal probabilities and the second method interprets the coefficients as elasticities of probability. The third method utilizes sensitivity analysis and examines the effect of hypothetical changes in exogenous variables on the probability of choice. This paper applies these methods to a published research study.     

A Simple Minimum-Bias Percentile Estimator of the Location Parameter for the Gamma,Weibull, and Log-Normal Distributions

Estimating the unknown minimum (location) of a random variable has received some attention in the statistical literature, but not enough in the area of decision sciences. This is surprising, given that such estimation needs exist often in simulation and global optimization. This study explores the characteristics of two previously used simple percentile estimators of location. The study also identifies a new percentile estimator of the location parameter for the gamma, Weibull, and log-normal distributions with a smaller bias than the other two estimators. The performance of the new estimator, the minimum-bias percentile (MBP) estimator, and the other two percentile estimators are compared using Monte-Carlo simulation. The results indicate that, of the three estimators, the MBP estimator developed in this study provides, in most cases, the estimate with the lowest bias and smallest mean square error of the location for populations drawn from log-normal and gamma or Weibull (but not exponential) distributions. A decision diagram is provided for location estimator selection, based on the value of the coefficient of variation, when the statistical distribution is known or unknown.     

A Study of the Impact of an Integrated Information Technology on the Time Utilization of Information Workers

This paper examines the impact of the implementation of an integrated information technology (IIT) on the time utilization of information workers as mediated by the content of the information work performed. The IIT in this study is a system of personal computers linked together in a network for sharing computing, data, and communication resources. The subjects of the study were two groups of information workers in an academic field setting. One group consisted of knowledge workers whose chief activity was to advise and counsel students. The other group represented lower level information workers who provided support service to an academic department. A two-dimensional framework was used to classify each of the activities an information worker performs relative to its importance and programmability within the context of the information work. Using work sampling methodology, it was determined that the IIT was associated with the knowledge workers' reallocation of work time to important yet relatively unstructured tasks. The lower level information workers became more efficient in performing highly structured skill-based activities. However, there was no statistically significant improvement in the effectiveness of the work completed as perceived by the clients of both groups of information workers. The results suggest that when an IIT is implemented, the manner in which newly available time is utilized depends on the nature of the information work performed by the users.