Disabled people,choices and collective organisation: examining the potential of cooperatives in future social support

Major shifts in funding, demography, personal expectations and the rise of a global disabled people’s movement require new and creative solutions to the choices and rights agenda into the twenty-first century. Direct payments and the individual employment of personal assistants is one clear and recognised path to independent living. However, there have been some reservations about the nature, process and impact of the broader personalisation agenda more generally within which direct payments and personal budgets are located. Some commentators point to the loss of the collective impulse in personalised approaches – ideas that were central to the development of the independent living movement and its founding principles. Some countries have seen the rise of collective responses to direct payment developments. This is explicable in terms of a suspicion of individualist underpinnings of personalisation coupled with a collective vision of social life. This article is based on an exploratory study of collective approaches in the field of direct payments where choice and social solidarity are being combined. Drawing on developments in Sweden, England and Wales, the article aims to inform possible future debates about direct payments and cooperative approaches and argues that greater user-control is not inimical to enhanced collective action.     

Profit-oriented productivity change

This study develops an applicable profit-oriented productivity indicator when producers pursue profit maximization and can recognize input and output prices. We define the indicator, inspired by the Luenberger indicator and the Nerlovian efficiency measurement, in terms of both quantity distance functions and profit. Hence, the study׳s first stage decomposes the profit-oriented productivity change into two terms: profit efficiency change and profit technology change. Second, we decompose profit efficiency change into the changes in technical efficiency and allocative efficiency. Finally, profit technology change is separated into two components for capturing the shifts of technology and relative output/input prices. These decompositions provide a more complete picture of the sources of productivity change. We illustrate them with a sample of Taiwanese banks and compute the results using the models of directional distance functions.     

明代漕抚创制史迹考略——以王竑为中心

以王竑为中心的明代漕抚创制过程,实际包含两条线索轨迹:一是由永乐以来的单一武职总漕,演变为文武双轨制;二是由宣德以来对南直隶江北派设的巡抚,演变为由文官总漕的兼职.明清以来史家多关注前者(漕)而忽略后者(抚),导致一方面混淆了二者的概念和时间次序,另一方面则忽视了王竑之前南直隶江北地区行政管理体制不断调整并日趋稳定的史实.漕抚定制的真正意义在于使永乐北迁后明廷必须解决的南漕北运和加强对南直隶行政管理得以有效兼顾.此外,王竑两任总漕之间的七年间,文官漕抚的职位虽无人填补,但其权力却有所分散、转移,其中监督各府州仓粮和卫所屯粮之权由"总督南京粮储"都御史接收,而管理河道和镇守淮安之权,则重新归属于漕运武臣之手.     

走不出命运怪圈

张恨水小说《夜深沉》中的杨月容是典型的女伶悲剧形象.残酷的生存环境在把她推向人生炼狱的同时,铸就了她抗争的秉性.但抗争结果却没有摆脱沦为有闲阶级享乐工具的命运.从卖唱维生的大杂院大众情人到供有闲阶级享用的剧院明星,再到觉醒后毅然逃出堕落围城回到民间重操旧业以糊口,她像在沉沉黑夜里走了一个"鬼打墙"的怪圈.这是一个不以抗争者意志为转移的命运怪圈.杨月容最终没有走出这个怪圈,却以抗争失败后的反思与觉醒实证了女伶悲剧人生的社会必然性.     

鼻内窥镜下等离子低温射频治疗老年人鼻出血的护理

目的总结等离子低温射频治疗老年人鼻出血的护理要点。方法总结80例用等离子低温射频治疗仪治疗老年人鼻出血病例资料,总结护理体会。结果配合整体护理,明显提高了治疗疗效,减轻了患者痛苦。结论等离子低温射频治疗老年人鼻出血疗效显著,患者痛苦小。整体护理是治疗成功的的重要环节。     

血沉、白细胞计数和C反应蛋白在糖尿病足评估中的作用

目的本文旨在评估炎性因子而对不同程度的糖尿病足病患者作出早期判断的策略。方法对68例不同程度的糖尿病足病患者入院分别进行血沉、白细胞计数和C反应蛋白的测定并作比较。结果 C反应蛋白在2级~4级的糖尿病足病患者中是最有价值的标记物,而血沉、白细胞计数无法预示其程度。结论在不同程度的糖尿病足病患者中C反应蛋白是一个有价值的预测因子。     

基于物联网的在线、智能调度方法的相关思考

物联网的飞速发展给生产调度系统带来了前所未有的机遇和挑战,数据的多源异构和连续涌入性、信息的透明性以及人、物料、设备、生产过程、产品等众多对象呈现出的连续动态存在性,这些新特征导致传统的调度优化方法难以适用。在已有研究的基础上,总结了物联网、调度优化方法以及基于情景的建模方法的研究现状和存在的问题,分析基于物联网的在线智能调度涉及到的问题及其特征,并提出其中的关键科学问题是基于情景的在线建模方法;提出该问题未来的研究目标为:针对物联网环境下调度对象状态的动态连续变化性,提供一种在线实时的智能优化调度方法,以最终实现调度优化过程的连续性以及调度优化决策的科学性、有效性和实用性;并详细阐述了未来关于基于情景的建模方法、基于情景的模型实时求解方法和基于情景的在线调度决策支持方法三方面的研究内容,为后续的深入研究做前期的思考和探索。     

An online copy number variant detection method for short sequencing reads

The availability of the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology in today's biomedical research has provided new opportunities in scientific discovery of genetic information. The high-throughput NGS technology, especially DNA-seq, is particularly useful in profiling a genome for the analysis of DNA copy number variants (CNVs). The read count (RC) data resulting from NGS technology are massive and information rich. How to exploit the RC data for accurate CNV detection has become a computational and statistical challenge. We provide a statistical online change point method to help detect CNVs in the sequencing RC data in this paper. This method uses the idea of online searching for change point (or breakpoint) with a Markov chain assumption on the breakpoints loci and an iterative computing process via a Bayesian framework. We illustrate that an online change-point detection method is particularly suitable for identifying CNVs in the RC data. The algorithm is applied to the publicly available NCI-H2347 lung cancer cell line sequencing reads data for locating the breakpoints. Extensive simulation studies have been carried out and results show the good behavior of the proposed algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in R and the codes are available upon request.     

Measures of Association and Visualization of Log Odds Ratio Structure for a Two Way Contingency Table

The odds ratio (OR) is a measure of association used for analysing an I × J contingency table. The total number of ORs to check grows with I and J. Several statistical methods have been developed for summarising them. These methods begin from two different starting points, the I × J contingency table and the two‐way table composed by the ORs. In this paper we focus our attention on the relationship between these methods and point out that, for an exhaustive analysis of association through log ORs, it is necessary to consider all the outcomes of these methods. We also introduce some new methodological and graphical features. In order to illustrate previously used methodologies, we consider a data table of the cross‐classification of the colour of eyes and hair of 5387 children from Scotland. We point out how, through the log OR analysis, it is possible to extract useful information about the association between variables.     

Older Lesbians and Work in the Australian Health and Aged Care Sector

While research has identified challenges lesbians face in the workplace, there is limited understanding of the particular experiences of older lesbians, especially those working in the health and aged care sector. This article draws on the stories of four women who participated in a narrative research project on lesbian and gay people's experiences of health and aged care. It highlights the need for future research to examine the complexity of identity expression and community affiliation, how people negotiate “coming out” in the workplace, the impact of discrimination, and the resources (such as friends) available to lesbians in the workplace.