Squashed dreams and rare breeds: ableism and the arbiters of life and death

The week beginning 29 June 2015 is not just historic for the closure of the Independent Living Fund in the United Kingdom, but for me was the week they decided that my life is not worth investing in; they being NHS England, NICE and, with them, the Department of Health. They chose not to support the enzyme replacement therapy that has been not only keeping me alive, but giving me a quality of life – enabling me to return to finish my Disability Studies PhD exploring how Christian leaders explain disability, where ethics have become the main topic, and to rebuild my career – or so I thought.     

试述马克思主义大众化传播应坚持的四个基本原则

马克思主义大众化传播是一个极其复杂、艰巨的社会系统工程。学术界对于马克思主义大众化传播应该坚持什么样的原则和方法也是众说纷纭。从当代世界和中国现实情况、信息传播技术飞速发展的时代背景,以及马克思主义理论创新发展的内在规律出发,马克思主义大众化传播应坚持指导思想一元和文化价值多元的统一、理论逻辑和生活逻辑的统一、科学性与通俗性的统一、传承性和开放性的统一等四个基本原则。     

A new financial stress index model based on support vector regression and control chart

Financial stress index (FSI) is considered to be an important risk management tool to quantify financial vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a new framework based on a hybrid classifier model that integrates rough set theory (RST), FSI, support vector regression (SVR) and a control chart to identify stressed periods. First, the RST method is applied to select variables. The outputs are used as input data for FSI–SVR computation. Empirical analysis is conducted based on monthly FSI of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis from January 1992 to June 2011. A comparison study is performed between FSI based on the principal component analysis and FSI–SVR. A control chart based on FSI–SVR and extreme value theory is proposed to identify the extremely stressed periods. Our approach identified different stressed periods including internet bubble, subprime crisis and actual financial stress episodes, along with the calmest periods, agreeing with those given by Federal Reserve System reports.     

Field of study variation throughout the college pipeline and its effect on the earnings gap: Differences between ethnic and immigrant groups in Israel

This study demonstrates the analytical leverage gained from considering the entire college pipeline—including the application, admission and graduation stages—in examining the economic position of various groups upon labor market entry. The findings, based on data from three elite universities in Israel, reveal that the process that shapes economic inequality between different ethnic and immigrant groups is not necessarily cumulative. Field of study stratification does not expand systematically from stage to stage and the position of groups on the field of study hierarchy at each stage is not entirely explained by academic preparation. Differential selection and attrition processes, as well as ambition and aspirations, also shape the position of ethnic groups in the earnings hierarchy and generate a non-cumulative pattern. These findings suggest that a cross-sectional assessment of field of study inequality at the graduation stage can generate misleading conclusions about group-based economic inequality among workers with a bachelor’s degree.     

历史变局、国家兴衰与发展之路——三次千年变局叠加下的中国特色社会主义发展道路

每当先进的发展制度开始取代落后的发展制度时，整个世界格局就会进入重大的转换阶段。在中国五千年的发展历史中，有两次重大的历史变局完全改变了中国历史发展轨迹并深远地影响了当前中国的发展模式。新时代下的中国作为前两次历史变局影响的客体，曾经既是先进发展制度取代落后发展制度的受益者，也经历过作为落后发展制度主体而被先进发展制度冲击的过程。目前世界正处于第三次先进发展制度与落后发展制度交替的历史变局阶段，作为第三次重大历史变局的主体，在三次千年历史变局叠加的背景下，能否有效地认识、适应并改造利用前两次历史变局的经验与教训，构建系统性、科学性、可行性、领先性的中国特色社会主义制度，将决定中国在本次历史变局中能否顺利成为先进发展制度的主体从而实现民族复兴。     

论民族自治地方政府机构改革的深化——基于新中国成立初期探索的思考

民族自治地方政府在新一轮机构改革中进行了历史性变革和系统性重塑，然而顶层设计与分层对接机制优化、机构设置细化与整合、运转协同和效能提升仍未完全到位。回溯机构改革史，中华人民共和国成立初期作为政府顶层设计和系统性构建阶段，是民族自治地方政府机构建设最富成效的历史时期之一。这一时期的民族自治地方政府机构建设强调权能配置和人员构成的民族性，逐步差异化设置机构、探索单一制下政府机构平衡设置等历史经验，可以为进一步深化政府机构改革提供有益借鉴。在新的历史起点上深化民族自治地方政府机构改革应以新时代中国特色社会主义思想为引领，合理汲取历史养分，进一步深化理论研究，完善法制体系，明晰特殊性职权和民族性职能，健全顶层设计与分层对接机制，创新改革模式，强化地方参与性，切实破解改革难题，推动政府自身建设持续走向深入。     

浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言的声母比较

卫所制度是明清时期重要的军政制度。以浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言为考察对象，从北到南选取了最有代表性的16个方言点，通过共时和历时的比较，分析和总结浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言声母在数量和古今分合上的特点。     

疲劳裂纹扩展试验裂纹图像采集系统

针对目前金属疲劳裂纹扩展检测方法存在效率低、操作繁琐、精度不高，不能实现实时性等缺点，文章提出了基 于机器视觉的裂纹检测方法。根据金属疲劳裂纹扩展试验过程中裂纹图像的采集要求，设计了摄像头位置可自动调整 的疲劳裂纹图像采集系统，包括摄像头安装运动装置，裂纹图像采集装置以及摄像头运动控制系统。图像采集装置由高 分辨率黑白面阵CCD摄像头、光学镜头，光源照明装置和图像采集卡组成，前3者安装在摄像头支架上，与摄像头运动 装置相连。摄像头运动装置中的X，Y，，Z轴运动机构由步进电机带动滚珠导轨机构。在基于ARM技术的运动控制系统 的控制下摄像头可沿X，Y，，Z轴作高精度直线运动，实现和试件之间精确位置的调整。实验结果表明，所设计的系统可 采集到疲劳裂纹扩展试验过程中高清晰度、高分辨率的试件裂纹图像，满足下一步裂绞尺寸计算的要求；摄像头运动定 位精度可达到0. 02 mm，满足精确的系统聚焦、位置调整、跟踪采集的要求。     

Scientific consensus,the law,and same sex parenting outcomes

While the US Supreme Court was considering two related cases involving the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, one major question informing that decision was whether scientific research had achieved consensus regarding how children of same-sex couples fare. Determining the extent of consensus has become a key aspect of how social science evidence and testimony is accepted by the courts. Here, we show how a method of analyzing temporal patterns in citation networks can be used to assess the state of social scientific literature as a means to inform just such a question. Patterns of clustering within these citation networks reveal whether and when consensus arises within a scientific field. We find that the literature on outcomes for children of same-sex parents is marked by scientific consensus that they experience “no differences” compared to children from other parental configurations.     

Interval estimation for conformance proportions of multiple quality characteristics

A conformance proportion is an important and useful index to assess industrial quality improvement. Statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion are usually required not only to perform statistical significance tests, but also to provide useful information for determining practical significance. In this article, we propose approaches for constructing statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion of multiple quality characteristics. Under the assumption that the variables of interest are distributed with a multivariate normal distribution, we develop an approach based on the concept of a fiducial generalized pivotal quantity (FGPQ). Without any distribution assumption on the variables, we apply some confidence interval construction methods for the conformance proportion by treating it as the probability of a success in a binomial distribution. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated through detailed simulation studies. The results reveal that the simulated coverage probability (cp) for the FGPQ-based method is generally larger than the claimed value. On the other hand, one of the binomial distribution-based methods, that is, the standard method suggested in classical textbooks, appears to have smaller simulated cps than the nominal level. Two alternatives to the standard method are found to maintain their simulated cps sufficiently close to the claimed level, and hence their performances are judged to be satisfactory. In addition, three examples are given to illustrate the application of the proposed methods.