A green social work perspective on social work during the time of COVID‐19

COVID‐19 has challenged social workers to engage with health pandemics and provide essential services in conditions of uncertainty and high risk. They have safeguarded children, older adults and diverse adults in ‘at risk’ groups under tough conditions mediated by digital technologies, adhered to government injunctions, maintained social and physical distancing under lockdown and worked from home remotely. Social workers and social care workers have risen to the challenges, providing services with inadequate personal protective equipment and limited supervision and support. This article highlights the degraded physical environments, socio‐economic and political contexts that intensify precariousness and constraints that neoliberalism imposed on professional capacity before and during this health pandemic. It provides guidelines to protect practitioners and service users. It concludes that practitioners ought to understand zoonotic diseases, environmental concerns, acquire disaster expertise and training, widen their practice portfolio and value their contributions to this pandemic. Key Practitioner Message: ? Develop technological skills and innovate to support stressed individuals, safeguard children, adolescents and elders and deal with poverty and unemployment; ? Use digital technologies involving peers to explore tricky situations, examine ethical dilemmas through scenario building exercises, and tips for self‐care; ? Contribute to environmental protections that prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases like COVID‐19; ? Seek supervision and support for disaster‐based training from your line manager.     

沉淀法提取混合稀土的工艺条件试验

本文对草酸—碳铵混合物(H_2C_2O_4·2H_2O—NH_4HCO_3)作沉淀剂处理离子型稀土矿水的工艺条件作了系统的试验,找出了提取稀土的最佳工艺条件,很有希望降低提取成本和提高效益。     

中国重大传染病分级诊疗制度探究

新冠疫情给医疗资源配置工作带来了严峻挑战。分级诊疗制度是重大传染病防控下医疗资源配置的最优机制。在信息不完全的现实条件下,保证一定治愈概率和有效的医疗服务激励相容约束条件,即使不采用行政命令强制干预,分级诊疗制度依然能够保证不同患病情况的患者获得相应的最优医疗服务,同时避免“医疗挤兑”。因此,为保障重大传染病防控下分级诊疗制度的长效运行,应及时建设重大传染病分级诊疗体系、完善行政工作过渡以及精细化医疗服务转移支付激励约束机制。     

网络时代下外来生僻人名的汉译策略——以《公共外交》为例

外来人名的汉译国内虽有《世界人名翻译大辞典》可以参考,但对既定文本中出现的不少人名却依然无能为力。在讨论人名翻译的对等原则和罗曼语系人名汉译的特点基础上,以《公共外交》中繁杂的外来人名汉译为例,提出网络检索、官网核查、邮件交流三种策略来解决文本中生僻人名的翻译问题,认为译者在汉译外来人名时,必须要在参考权威辞典的基础之上,充分利用网络带来的便利条件多方求证,力图做到人名汉译的对等与可信,以期为新时代的外译汉研究提供借鉴和思考。     

Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute for two-stage randomized response model in probability proportional to size sampling using Poisson probability distribution

This paper addresses the estimation of the mean number of individuals in the population who possess a rare sensitive attribute using Poisson distribution for the situations of (i) clustered population and (ii) stratified population with clusters are strata units. Properties of the proposed estimation procedures have been discussed when the proportion of a rare unrelated non-sensitive attribute is assumed to be known as well as unknown. Empirical studies are carried out to support the theoretical results which showed dominance over Lee et al. [Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute in probability proportional to size measures using Poisson distribution. Statistics (Ber). 2014;48(3):685–709] estimation procedures.     

Process evaluation of the ‘Singapore Physical Activity and Nutrition Study’

IntroductionThe Singapore Physical Activity and Nutrition Study (SPANS) aimed to improve the physical activity (PA) and nutrition behaviours of Singaporean women aged 50 years and over. The SPANS program consisted of PA classes, nutrition workshops, telephone dietary counselling, health booklets, a health calendar and program ambassadors. This study aimed to assess and understand the implementation of the program strategies and gain insight into process evaluation components to inform future programs.MethodsThe evaluation was guided by a process evaluation framework and collected data via questionnaires (n = 209), program ambassador documentation and exit interviews with program completers (n = 13) and non-completers (n = 12).ResultsIn total, 295 participants completed the program (response rate = 84 %). Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the overall program (99.5 %) and program activities (96.7 %), and also rated program ambassadors highly. Participation rates were highest for telephone dietary counselling sessions. The main reason for not attending program activities was having a ‘busy schedule’ (n = 158). Participants cited a need for improved recreational centre facilities and increased flexibility around program delivery.ConclusionsThe process evaluation showed that the program strategies were implemented as planned and were deemed suitable for supporting behaviour change among Singaporean women aged 50 years and over. The program reached and involved the majority of participants throughout the six months. The combination of practical educational resources and supportive program ambassadors were key strategies that facilitated positive PA and dietary behaviours. However, there needs to be some flexibility in the delivery of programs. The findings of this research may inform other programs in the region.     

Underprotection of Unpredictable Statistical Lives Compared to Predictable Ones

Existing ethical discussion considers the differences in care for identified versus statistical lives. However, there has been little attention to the different degrees of care that are taken for different kinds of statistical lives. Here we argue that for a given number of statistical lives at stake, there will sometimes be different, and usually greater, care taken to protect predictable statistical lives, in which the number of lives that will be lost can be predicted fairly accurately, than for unpredictable statistical lives, where the lives are at stake because of a low‐probability event, such that most likely no one will be affected by the decision but with low probability some lives will be at stake. One reason for this difference is the statistical challenge of estimating low probabilities, and in particular the tendency of common approaches to underestimate these probabilities. Another is the existence of rational incentives to treat unpredictable risks as if the probabilities were lower than they are. Some of these factors apply outside the pure economic context, to institutions, individuals, and governments. We argue that there is no ethical reason to treat unpredictable statistical lives differently from predictable statistical lives. Moreover, lives that are unpredictable from the perspective of an individual agent may become predictable when aggregated to the level of a societal decision. Underprotection of unpredictable statistical lives is a form of market failure that may need to be corrected by altering regulation, introducing compulsory liability insurance, or other social policies.     

问题与对策:我国劳动者职业健康权保护探讨

职业健康权是劳动者的法定权利,是健康权的重要组成部分。保护劳动者职业健康是坚持以人为本、保障基本人权、实现公平正义、促进社会和谐的重要内容。伴随着工业化进程,职业健康权日益受到关注。尽管我国已付出很大努力,但职业病发病率仍居高不下。保护劳动者职业健康,需付出长期艰苦努力。政府须强化监管职责,用人单位须担负起"第一责任人"责任,劳动者须增强自我保护意识和能力,多管齐下,职业健康权才能得到有效保障。     

南通市部分县级及以下医疗机构患者住院费用的因子分析

目的：研究影响南通市县级及以下医疗机构主要系统疾病住院患者医疗费用构成的主要因素及内在联系，探讨控制住院费用不合理增长的重点并提出建议。方法：对2005年4月南通市海门、海安县二级、一级农村医疗机构的全部出院患者病案首页中关于费用的数据，采用因子分析方法，分析支配医疗费用的公因子。结果：诊察、化验因子，治疗、手术、护理因子，床位、检查因子，其他因子是支配住院患者主要系统疾病费用的公因子。结论：应明确因子内部的相关性联系和因子间的特征．综合措施控制住院费用的不合理增长。     

Prior distributions for variance parameters in a sparse-event meta-analysis of a few small trials

In rare diseases, typically only a small number of patients are available for a randomized clinical trial. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon that more than one study is performed to evaluate a (new) treatment. Scarcity of available evidence makes it particularly valuable to pool the data in a meta-analysis. When the primary outcome is binary, the small sample sizes increase the chance of observing zero events. The frequentist random-effects model is known to induce bias and to result in improper interval estimation of the overall treatment effect in a meta-analysis with zero events. Bayesian hierarchical modeling could be a promising alternative. Bayesian models are known for being sensitive to the choice of prior distributions for between-study variance (heterogeneity) in sparse settings. In a rare disease setting, only limited data will be available to base the prior on, therefore, robustness of estimation is desirable. We performed an extensive and diverse simulation study, aiming to provide practitioners with advice on the choice of a sufficiently robust prior distribution shape for the heterogeneity parameter. Our results show that priors that place some concentrated mass on small τ values but do not restrict the density for example, the Uniform(−10, 10) heterogeneity prior on the log(τ²) scale, show robust 95% coverage combined with less overestimation of the overall treatment effect, across varying degrees of heterogeneity. We illustrate the results with meta-analyzes of a few small trials.