Child‐caregiver Attachment Representations in a Non‐Western Context: The Feasibility and Cultural Equivalence of Story Stems in Urban Ghana

Story stem measures are an increasingly popular method for assessing the attachment representations of young children, but little is known of their cross‐cultural applicability. This study aimed to characterise the attachment representations in 73 five‐ to eight‐year‐old children in urban Ghana, West Africa, using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) to test its feasibility, psychometric characteristics and concurrent associations with caregiver‐ and teacher‐rated child behaviour, and to conduct a qualitative thematic analysis of methodological observations. Among the classifiable cases (92 percent), all attachment classifications were observed, yielding a higher rate of secure attachment than in European samples. Inter‐rater reliability, internal consistency, and internal structure were reasonable and largely similar to European studies, although one structural difference was the separation of ‘child assuagement of distress’ from other secure‐related items. MCAST narratives were associated with teacher‐ and caregiver‐rated hyperactivity, but internal consistency was low in most Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scales. Possible culturally‐sensitive explanations for our psychometric and qualitative findings are discussed. Overall, story stems are a promising tool for accessing attachment representations in non‐Western samples, although modifications are likely to improve cross‐cultural equivalence when applied to non‐Western cultures. Further investigation is needed to link MCAST outcomes to parenting and socio‐emotional development.     

Beyond mere information transfer: The importance of a relational approach to market-related internal communication

Despite the significance of relationship management in any information provision or exchange, public relations scholarship has typically focused on examining the underlying internal communication processes from a transactional perspective. These processes are frequently associated with organizational information dissemination, overlooking other critical contents to make strategic decisions. This study draws market information processing into the debate about internal communication, providing a greater understanding of how a relational approach can improve market intelligence dissemination. Results show that an effective management of market knowledge requires the use of such an approach, which in turn, cultivates the shared interpretation of market information and innovation performance. The findings stimulate fresh discussion about the nature and development of internal communication knowledge and practice.     

Whither the Internal Conversation?

The internal conversation has a venerable place in the symbolic interactionist tradition but has been the focus of little empirical research by interactionists. After reviewing selected research on the internal conversation (most by noninteractionist sociologists or nonsociologists), we argue that interactionists ought to conduct research of our own to examine claims we have been making and to better understand social life. We propose some worthy areas and avenues of investigation.     

Sample size re‐estimation incorporating prior information on a nuisance parameter

Prior information is often incorporated informally when planning a clinical trial. Here, we present an approach on how to incorporate prior information, such as data from historical clinical trials, into the nuisance parameter–based sample size re‐estimation in a design with an internal pilot study. We focus on trials with continuous endpoints in which the outcome variance is the nuisance parameter. For planning and analyzing the trial, frequentist methods are considered. Moreover, the external information on the variance is summarized by the Bayesian meta‐analytic‐predictive approach. To incorporate external information into the sample size re‐estimation, we propose to update the meta‐analytic‐predictive prior based on the results of the internal pilot study and to re‐estimate the sample size using an estimator from the posterior. By means of a simulation study, we compare the operating characteristics such as power and sample size distribution of the proposed procedure with the traditional sample size re‐estimation approach that uses the pooled variance estimator. The simulation study shows that, if no prior‐data conflict is present, incorporating external information into the sample size re‐estimation improves the operating characteristics compared to the traditional approach. In the case of a prior‐data conflict, that is, when the variance of the ongoing clinical trial is unequal to the prior location, the performance of the traditional sample size re‐estimation procedure is in general superior, even when the prior information is robustified. When considering to include prior information in sample size re‐estimation, the potential gains should be balanced against the risks.     

超长钢板桩围堰合理内支撑施工方案

钢板桩围堰合理的内支撑施工方案对施工安全、工期长短、成本大小均有一定的影响。以阜阳至六安铁路颍河特大桥深水基础超长钢板桩围堰施工实践为例，通过建立钢板桩、内支撑和土层相互作用的三维整体有限元模型，根据封底混凝土施工时机的不同，选择4种施工方案，对超长钢板桩围堰内支撑施工方案进行了探讨。结果表明：封底混凝土施工越早，对围堰结构的整体安全越有利；实际采用的施工方案要根据桥址处工程地质条件，结合实际工程情况，经方案比选和分析论证以后确定。     

建设工程内部承包合同司法适用问题探究——以审判实践的冲突为样本

建设工程内部承包合同的效力究竟应当如何认定、在内部承包形式下具有怎样的对内对外效力、实际承包人与发包人或者第三方出现的纠纷应当如何进行解决等,在司法领域莫衷一是.内部承包合同,调整的是双方基本劳动报酬外的经营性利益分配关系.规范的内部承包合同并不同于转包合同或挂靠经营.虽然现有法条在某种征表下似乎是对内部承包合同作出了禁止性的规定,但是如果对法条进行体系的理解与整体的解读,内部承包合同并非属于当然禁止的范围     

“内”“外”表达:桂林龙脊梯田景区乡愁意识的建构与重塑

桂林龙脊梯田的农耕文明和乡土文化是自然景观与乡愁旅游资源的综合体,承载着景区的历史记忆,是延续和传承龙脊梯田景区乡愁文化的重要表征。留住乡愁文化对于传承当地的历史文化、重塑乡愁记忆和树立乡土文化自信具有重要作用。村民作为龙脊梯田景区乡愁旅游感知的内部视野,与作为外部视角的政府、游客和媒体有着不一样的建构策略,在深描各行动者如何"留住"与"重塑"乡愁的基础上,提出活化社会记忆、激发集体记忆、凝聚情感记忆和赋能媒介记忆的乡愁旅游发展路径,旨在强化乡愁旅游主体地位、增强乡愁文化认同、搭建乡愁情感纽带和创新乡愁文化感知。     

内控有效性、高管代理成本与多重并购绩效

立足于企业转型升级和跨越式发展的战略诉求,并购成为企业实现迅速扩张和优化资源配置的重要工具.本文选取2009-2014年发生并购重组事件的A股上市公司作为研究对象,以并购交易绩效、并购整合绩效和并购可持续增长绩效多重指标为研究侧重点,结合我国特有的产权制度背景,考察内部控制有效性、高管代理成本对多重并购绩效的影响.研究发现,高质量的内部控制能够有效改善多重并购绩效,高管代理成本会抑制并购后主并公司的多重并购绩效;同时,内部控制能减弱代理成本对并购绩效的损害程度,但这一治理作用在国有企业与非国有企业中表现各异.研究结论为我国进一步加强包括内部控制和公司治理机制在内的制度建设提供决策依据.     

内部控制审计制度的执行增加了审计费用吗

文章检验了内部控制审计制度执行前后内部控制审计对审计市场收费的影响,同时将样本公司按照不同板块及规模进行分类,研究不同公司内部控制审计制度对审计收费影响的差异性.研究结果发现:内部控制审计制度执行后相对于执行前,小型公司的审计费用显著增加;大型公司中,只有披露内部控制审计报告公司的审计费用显著上升,而未披露内部控制审计报告公司的审计费用没有显著变化.内部控制审计制度执行后,中小板和创业板小型公司无论是否披露内部控制审计报告,其审计费用没有显著差异;而大型公司中,披露内部控制审计报告的审计费用显著更高.此外,主板公司无论大型还是小型,披露内部控制审计报告的,其审计费用均显著更高.内部控制审计制度执行后,首次执行内部控制审计的小型和大型公司的审计费用均显著增加.研究结论为规范审计市场的审计收费提供了参考.     

Distribution of the two‐sample t‐test statistic following blinded sample size re‐estimation

We consider the blinded sample size re‐estimation based on the simple one‐sample variance estimator at an interim analysis. We characterize the exact distribution of the standard two‐sample t‐test statistic at the final analysis. We describe a simulation algorithm for the evaluation of the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis at given treatment effect. We compare the blinded sample size re‐estimation method with two unblinded methods with respect to the empirical type I error, the empirical power, and the empirical distribution of the standard deviation estimator and final sample size. We characterize the type I error inflation across the range of standardized non‐inferiority margin for non‐inferiority trials, and derive the adjusted significance level to ensure type I error control for given sample size of the internal pilot study. We show that the adjusted significance level increases as the sample size of the internal pilot study increases. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.