Rumour of angels and heavenly midwives: anthropology of transpersonal events and childbirth

Some contemporary women can experience non-ordinary states of consciousness when childbearing. The purpose of this paper is to bring a ‘transpersonal’ frame to these non-ordinary states of consciousness (hereafter: NOSC). Transpersonal psychology is an interdisciplinary movement in Western science that studies ‘religious’, ‘peak’ or ‘healing’ experiences in different cultures and social contexts. Between 2001 and 2006 in Auckland, New Zealand, while engaged in anthropological fieldwork, I collected stories from mothers, fathers, and midwives who had participated in transpersonal events during childbirth.I will compare the local women's NOSC with ethnographic accounts of spirit-possession and its relationship to indigenous midwifery then revisit and reconstruct the witch-hunts of Medieval Europe from this perspective. Midwives are encouraged to learn to identify and support women's NOSC during labour and birth as many women find strength and wisdom by passing through these states in labour. The subject is also critical to men, whether they are present with women and birth as fathers or health professionals. The hoped for result of this inquiry is to revalorise NOSC among birth-giving mothers, and to educate birth attendants in this field.     

A longitudinal study of depressiveness in children in public care

Rajhvajn Bulat L. A longitudinal study of depressiveness in children in public care Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 412–423 © 2009 The Author, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. The aim of this article is to analyse the challenges involved when making longitudinal observations of depressiveness in children raised in public care. The first measurement comprised 375 children from children's homes and foster families; however, most of the results are based on an analysis of the 139 children who participated in both parts of the research. We used the Child Depression Inventory and the anxiety/depression subscales of Youth Self Report and Child Behaviour Checklist as measures of depressiveness. The comparison of results from the first and second measurements showed that depressiveness in children in public care decreased over time. Children who grew up in children homes were, in the first measurement, more depressed than those living in foster families, but after five years that difference had disappeared. Furthermore, decrease in depressiveness is predominantly associated with less frequent delinquent, aggressive or hyperactive behaviour, less withdrawal and better control over uncomfortable emotions.     

《唐方镇文职僚佐考》增补

文职僚佐是唐代藩镇的重要组成人员,随着考古资料的增进,有关唐代藩镇文职僚佐的史料不断增加,将这些资料加以整理对研究唐朝历史将提供便利条件。     

读朱新天著《印度教万神殿艺术——印度王后井探秘》

朱新天博士的新著《印度教万神殿艺术——印度王后井探秘》,是她近20年来苦心研究印度艺术的结晶。该书已分别以中、英、法三种文字同时出版,在国际印度艺术研究领域产生了重要影响。     

金融危机下中国创业投资“囚徒困境”演化研究

创业投资家和创业企业家的＂囚徒困境＂是制约中国创业投资进一步发展的主要障碍之一。对短期利益的追求和缺乏信任是造成中国创业投资＂囚徒困境＂的两个重要原因。在金融危机背景下,＂囚徒困境＂的演化将朝着有利于创业投资家的方向发展。金融危机虽然能改变博弈的结果,却未能改变＂囚徒困境＂的成因。     

简论语料库与教师角色之转变

现代电子语料库已有了近50年的发展,但语料库应用于课堂教学才刚刚起步。通过近年语料库辅助课堂教学诸多实践研究,教师们不仅可以获得教学中的例句,还可引导学生们学习更地道、更准确的表达方式。     

启蒙者的非启蒙心态——五四新文化运动的历史性局限

新文化运动的最大不足在于启蒙不够充分.由于历史性的诸多原因,新文化提倡者带有浓厚的科举心态,缺乏对文化启蒙及其功能的深刻理解,将启蒙当做一种政治手段,让启蒙承担起其力不能及的过分沉重的民族国家的现代性使命.这种非启蒙心态在启蒙内部构成了一种颠覆,使启蒙丧失了其本身所具有的基本价值及功能.     

对高校学生公共体育兴趣的心理初探

本文从心理学的角度出发,对高校学生体育兴趣的产生、特点及变化原因作了初步探究,并提出了情感教学对体育兴趣形成的重要作用。     

Measuring non-linear dependence for two random variables distributed along a curve

We propose new dependence measures for two real random variables not necessarily linearly related. Covariance and linear correlation are expressed in terms of principal components and are generalized for variables distributed along a curve. Properties of these measures are discussed. The new measures are estimated using principal curves and are computed for simulated and real data sets. Finally, we present several statistical applications for the new dependence measures.     

Regularization through variable selection and conditional MLE with application to classification in high dimensions

It is often the case that high-dimensional data consist of only a few informative components. Standard statistical modeling and estimation in such a situation is prone to inaccuracies due to overfitting, unless regularization methods are practiced. In the context of classification, we propose a class of regularization methods through shrinkage estimators. The shrinkage is based on variable selection coupled with conditional maximum likelihood. Using Stein's unbiased estimator of the risk, we derive an estimator for the optimal shrinkage method within a certain class. A comparison of the optimal shrinkage methods in a classification context, with the optimal shrinkage method when estimating a mean vector under a squared loss, is given. The latter problem is extensively studied, but it seems that the results of those studies are not completely relevant for classification. We demonstrate and examine our method on simulated data and compare it to feature annealed independence rule and Fisher's rule.