On Locating and Characterizing Parameter Variation by the Mosumsq Test Statistic

In modelling a system structure it is often important to test the constancy of the structural parameters. If the hypothesis of constant parameters is rejected we wish to characterize the parameter variation. In this paper we examine the usefulness of the MOSUMSQ test statistics for locating and characterizing the parameter variation in linear regression models. The means and the variances of the test statistics are given for non-random parameter variation. The observed path of the MOSUMSQ test statistics provides valuable knowledge about the time of the onset of the parameter change and whether it is instantaneous or gradual.     

从身心关系看“虚构的悖论”

“虚构的悖论”是当代美学争论的焦点之一.为了解决审美经验中真实情感与艺术虚构之间的不协调性,一些美学家主张审美经验中的情感反应是假装的,另一些美学家则主张艺术虚构具有想象性的真实.本文试图用身心关系理论来解决“虚构的悖论”,并在此基础上提出艺术功能的猜想,即艺术的目的就是维持身心之间的协调与合作关系.     

TMR: An Automated System for Managing Revenue

Abstract

The Total Medical Record (TMR) system used by the Division of University Health Services at Duke University is an integrated medical and management information system. One module supports the financial needs of the division. To facilitate managerial performance, TMR automatically prints insurance claims, refund statements, revenue summary data, service utilization, itemized visit statements, monthly patient bills, dunning letters, and has a host of unique features that aid management with controlling the private fees generated by the University Health Services. In addition, the servicing of prepaid programs is accommodated, and the splitting of charges between prepaid and fee-for-service programs occurs automatically.     

Classroom Approach for Managing Dietary Restraint,Negative Eating Styles,and Body Image Concerns Among College Women

Objective: In this exploratory study, the authors evaluated the impact of an elective college course on dieting levels, eating styles, and body image among college women. Participants: Participants were a convenience sample of 29 self-selected female students at a western university who were mostly white, normal-weight seniors with significant dieting experience. Methods: The authors used valid and reliable instruments to collect data both before and after testing. An instructor conducted the program in an undergraduate course that met twice weekly for 15 weeks. Theory-based lessons focused on resisting media pressure, modifying dietary restraint, eating in response to hunger (intrinsic eating), and achieving healthy body image. Dependent variables included intrinsic eating, dieting involvement, emotional eating, body image, and self-esteem. Results: A comparison of pretest and posttest scores identified significant improvements for most measures. Conclusions: A theory-driven elective course implemented within a college setting may improve women's eating styles and body image.     

“渡船”与“商船”——论《边城》牧歌形象的裂隙

"渡船"与"商船"是《边城》中多重意义的交汇点,它们是湘西社会不可或缺的交通工具,是翠翠、天保或是傩送的欲望对象的替代物,也是这些主人公各自所处社会地位的象征物,同时还是小说文本内部的结构性因素。论文以文化研究的方式,通过对这两个意象的分析,试图揭示《边城》中"牧歌形象"的裂隙。文章最后认为,这两个意象构成了小说内部幻景与小说外部社会现实之间的一条隐秘通道。     

生活方式的变迁与道德文化的调整

社会的转型使得传统社会人们生活方式的封闭、僵化和保守逐渐向现代社会的开放、变革型的生活方式过渡。这种过渡引起了人们道德文化变革的需求。然而道德文化理念在许多方面还停留在与一元社会相契合的水平,并没有从总体上应答现代社会转型所提出的新要求。因此,人们生活方式由传统到现代的变化,必然会在一定程度上促使道德文化的调整。     

Stages of Change and Possible Selves: 2 Tools for Promoting College Health

When considering health promotion among college students, 2 questions that arise are how to (1) most effectively offer health initiatives and (2) motivate students to participate in these efforts. Objective: In responding to these questions, the author considered 2 health-promotion tools: the transtheoretical model and the concept of possible selves. Participants: There were 304 college students who participated in this study. Methods: To explore how such information can assist health-promotion planning by determining which behaviors to target and how to match interventions to the overall population's stage of change, the author had students report their stage of change for 6 health behaviors. In addition, to explore possible motivations for moving from the precontemplation to the preparation stage of change, the author had students generate future self-concepts regarding their health (health-related possible selves). Results: The number of illness-related possible selves cited was significantly related to stage of change for smoking and stress management. For smoking, precontemplators had the fewest number of illness-related possible selves; however, the author observed the opposite for stress management. Conclusion: The findings have implications for how the transtheoretical model and the concept of possible selves can serve as useful tools in promoting college health.     

A phonological study of the spatial diffusion of urban linguistic forms to the varieties of the Nile Delta1

This paper investigates the possible spatial diffusion of linguistic urban features into the areas traditionally dominated by rural varieties of Egyptian Arabic in the Nile Delta. In the last fifty years, this area has experienced enormous changes in terms of spatial mobility, education levels, patterns of socialization and consumption, and exposure to the media. These modifications have diverse effects on the linguistic varieties of previously more isolated rural speech communities and may promote the diffusion of the urban variety. Focusing on two phonological variables, this study will attempt to outline the dynamics of diffusion and retention in two locations through the analysis of 27 sociolinguistic interviews issued from a larger fieldwork study carried out in the Governorate of al?arqijja in 2007–2008.     

Now What Do People Know About Global Climate Change? Survey Studies of Educated Laypeople

In 1992, a mental‐models‐based survey in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, revealed that educated laypeople often conflated global climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion, and appeared relatively unaware of the role of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions in global warming. This study compares those survey results with 2009 data from a sample of similarly well‐educated laypeople responding to the same survey instrument. Not surprisingly, following a decade of explosive attention to climate change in politics and in the mainstream media, survey respondents in 2009 showed higher awareness and comprehension of some climate change causes. Most notably, unlike those in 1992, 2009 respondents rarely mentioned ozone depletion as a cause of global warming. They were also far more likely to correctly volunteer energy use as a major cause of climate change; many in 2009 also cited natural processes and historical climatic cycles as key causes. When asked how to address the problem of climate change, while respondents in 1992 were unable to differentiate between general “good environmental practices” and actions specific to addressing climate change, respondents in 2009 have begun to appreciate the differences. Despite this, many individuals in 2009 still had incorrect beliefs about climate change, and still did not appear to fully appreciate key facts such as that global warming is primarily due to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the single most important source of this carbon dioxide is the combustion of fossil fuels.     

SOJOURN TIMES IN NON-HOMOGENEOUS QBD PROCESSES WITH PROCESSOR SHARING

We study sojourn times of customers in a processor sharing queue with a service rate that varies over time, depending on the number of customers and on the state of a random environment. An explicit expression is derived for the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the sojourn time conditional on the state upon arrival and the amount of work brought into the system. Particular attention is paid to the conditional mean sojourn time of a customer as a function of his required amount of work, and we establish the existence of an asymptote as the amount of work tends to infinity. The method of random time change is then extended to include the possibility of a varying service rate. By means of this method, we explain the well-established proportionality between the conditional mean sojourn time and required amount of work in processor sharing queues without random environment. Based on numerical experiments, we propose an approximation for the conditional mean sojourn time. Although first presented for exponentially distributed service requirements, the analysis is shown to extend to phase-type services. The service discipline of discriminatory processor sharing is also shown to fall within the framework.