Adventures in policy modeling! Operations research in the community and beyond

The literature describing operations research in the community is somewhat of a puzzle. On the one hand, several authors have denigrated the use of traditional operations approaches in addressing community problems, yet several studies document successful applications. Arguing that the operations research mindset is itself a great strength, we will review several examples where operations research methods have been employed creatively to the benefit of the community and beyond.     

小康社会目标与我国供求走势分析

党的十六大的正确引导将促进小康社会目标的实现 ,同时小康社会目标的实现又将推动我国社会总需求和总供给的稳定增长     

美洲斑潜蝇在绍兴市的危害规律调查

调查观察表明美洲斑潜蝇在绍兴主要为害豆科的菜豆类和葫芦科的蒲瓜等 ,以幼虫钻蛀叶表下 ,形成蛇形斑 .年可发生 10～ 12代 ,4～ 11月均有发生 ,以蛹在土下越冬 .世代历期 14 4～ 32日 ,世代重叠 .其为害程度同寄主种类、温度密切相关     

Lindelof空间与(d-)仿紧(亚紧)空间的乘积

证明了可展的Ｌｉｎｄｅｌｏｆ空间与ｄ－仿紧的Ｐ空间的积是ｄ－仿紧的，Ｌｉｎｄｅｌｏｆ空间与仿紧（亚紧）的Ｐ空间之积是仿紧（亚紧）的，改进了Ｔａｍａｎｏ定理和已有文献的结果     

突发事件对可持续发展的影响以及应对之策

可持续发展是我国经济社会发展的目标。非典疫情的蔓延暴露了我国对突发事件的应急体制的缺陷 ,推动了中国各界对建立应急体制的关注和研究。从系统论的角度来研究可持续发展有利于从整体的角度来考虑问题。本文利用系统的稳态和冲击模型以及热力学中熵的概念 ,来研究系统的外部冲击、如何建立紧急状态的应急体制以及建立应急体制对国家可持续发展的作用。     

北京地区物流发展的基础、特色和优劣势分析

本文针对现阶段北京地区物流发展的基础、物流服务特色及其优劣势进行分析.认为北京地区物流服务需求量大、服务对象集中、发展基础扎实、提升空间广阔,将对缓解北京地区道路交通运输、环境保护与降低社会总成本等方面起到越来越重要的作用.本文提出为实施特色物流服务,有必要解决物流管理体制和从业人员素质等问题的建议.     

INDEPENDENCE DISTRIBUTION-PRESERVING NONNEGATIVE-DEFINITE COVARIANCE STRUCTURES FOR THE SAMPLE VARIANCE

This paper explicitly characterizes the general nonnegative-definite covariance structure for a multivariate normal random vector such that the univariate sample variance is distributed exactly as if the sample observations are normal independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). This work extends the results of Baldessari (1965) and Stadje (1984) who have characterized the general positive-definite covariance matrix such that the univariate sample variance is distributed exactly as if the sample observations are normal i.i.d.     

Comments on “Unbiased estimates for moments and cumulants in linear regression”

In a recent number of the Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, a short communication by Withers and Nadarajah (2011) on the unbiased estimation of the moments and cumulants for linear regression models was published. However, some of the results presented in this paper, as well as those closely related, were partially obtained in other works, which were not referenced or were referenced in other contexts. In addition, the consistency of the derived estimates was not studied. The aim of these short comments is to briefly present these results, as well as some omitted works, in order to give larger representation of the state of art in this field.     

Community Radio and the Tōhoku Earthquake

This article illustrates issues that community radio stations in the stricken area of Northern Japan have faced, and discusses the necessity of social collaboration for supporting these radio stations. As of 1 December 2011, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications had granted permission to operate special emergency‐broadcast FM stations, providing earthquake‐related information, to residents of 27 communities in the Tōhoku and North Kanto regions. Ten such community stations have used existing FM radio frequencies in their community for emergency broadcasting while 15 local governments set up newly established community‐based radio stations by themselves, relying on: conventional community radio stations nationwide; national and international non‐profit organizations; and voluntarily organized civic groups. Despite playing such an important role, community radio stations themselves have struggled to survive, not because of damage caused by the disaster, but as a result of the current social system based upon economic stability. Many of these stations have faced financial problems, such as losing advertising revenue and funding needed for equipment damaged by the disaster. It has become more difficult, particularly for the stations newly set up, to produce a variety of programs when the operation becomes prolonged. As the community radio plays a vital role as a lifeline to provide disaster‐related information to residents, we need to establish a supportive system in society that allows community radio to function as intended.     

Reconsideration of the Problem of Complicity between Volunteering Activities and Neo‐liberalism

There are two opposite opinions on volunteer activities. The advocates applaud them because they could solve problems caused by the nation and the market. The critics of neo‐liberalism, on the other hand, are apprehensive that they would promote social change in line with neo‐liberalism. The aim of this paper is to reconsider the discussions comprehensively and to show theoretical points that avoid complicity with neo‐liberalism. The problems of complicity could be classified into two types. One is at the level of condition, and the other is at the level of consequence. At the level of condition, complicity would occur when volunteer activities function as a replacement for institutions of welfare states, and when volunteers become moralistic and easy to be governed. On the other hand, at the level of consequence, complicity would happen when social disparity that exists among participants in volunteers is mobilized to protect themselves by excluding others. It is then shown that this complicity doesn't always happen and there are ways to avoid it. Such methods are found by considering the “other” who has difficulty in gaining people's sympathy and is neglected in most discussions of volunteers.