A Tiered Framework for Risk‐Relevant Characterization and Ranking of Chemical Exposures: Applications to the National Children's Study (NCS)

A challenge for large‐scale environmental health investigations such as the National Children's Study (NCS), is characterizing exposures to multiple, co‐occurring chemical agents with varying spatiotemporal concentrations and consequences modulated by biochemical, physiological, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Such investigations can benefit from systematic retrieval, analysis, and integration of diverse extant information on both contaminant patterns and exposure‐relevant factors. This requires development, evaluation, and deployment of informatics methods that support flexible access and analysis of multiattribute data across multiple spatiotemporal scales. A new “Tiered Exposure Ranking” (TiER) framework, developed to support various aspects of risk‐relevant exposure characterization, is described here, with examples demonstrating its application to the NCS. TiER utilizes advances in informatics computational methods, extant database content and availability, and integrative environmental/exposure/biological modeling to support both “discovery‐driven” and “hypothesis‐driven” analyses. “Tier 1” applications focus on “exposomic” pattern recognition for extracting information from multidimensional data sets, whereas second and higher tier applications utilize mechanistic models to develop risk‐relevant exposure metrics for populations and individuals. In this article, “tier 1” applications of TiER explore identification of potentially causative associations among risk factors, for prioritizing further studies, by considering publicly available demographic/socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental data in relation to two health endpoints (preterm birth and low birth weight). A “tier 2” application develops estimates of pollutant mixture inhalation exposure indices for NCS counties, formulated to support risk characterization for these endpoints. Applications of TiER demonstrate the feasibility of developing risk‐relevant exposure characterizations for pollutants using extant environmental and demographic/socioeconomic data.     

Unsettling research versus activism: how might critical disability studies disrupt traditional research boundaries?

Abstract

This article responds to the call for producing activist-oriented scholarship by engaging with theoretical and methodological approaches that explore the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam. We consider possibilities for connecting different forms of knowledge and activism by reflecting on research practices designed to foster social change. Specifically, we ask: how can critical disability studies be more reflexive about knowledge which privileges particular ways of knowing from the Global North? What alternative possibilities can exist to foster more inclusive and transformative knowledge that tackles systemic forms of oppressions in colonial and postcolonial contexts? Reflecting on an ongoing collaborative project in Vietnam, we argue that critical disability studies which engages with different forms of activism through critical reflections on our privileges can tackle exclusion by opening a new platform for debating social justice transnationally.     

高校思想政治理论课“三进”方式方法探析——以《马克思主义基本原理概论》为例

为了让习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想“进教材、进课堂、进头脑”，需要从方式、方法层面进行分析。在深耕教材的基础上，发现2018版《马克思主义基本原理概论》教材在融入习思想时，依据不同内容主要采取了文献参考式、引入说明式、说明原理式、补充创新式、替代更新式等方法。为有效做好教材体系向教学体系转换，针对教材中对习思想融入的不同方式，可以因内容分别或组合选择活动拓展法、课前一语法、习近平话语中心式教学法、问题式教学法、案例教学法等。在转化过程中，在方法论上必须坚持马克思主义辩证法，具体问题具体分析，做到转化有法但无定法；在转化的内容和方法的关系上，必须坚持内容和方法的有机统一，从习思想和教材整体视角审视转化，处理好整体与部分的关系；在思政课的价值引领方面，必须处理好真理与价值的关系，把转化最终落脚于价值转化，使习思想真正入脑、入心。     

The Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale: Individual Differences in (Dis)comfort with Altering the Natural World

People differ in their comfort with tampering with the natural world. Although some see altering nature as a sign of human progress, others see it as dangerous or hubristic. Across four studies, we investigate discomfort with tampering with the natural world. To do so, we develop the Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale, a short scale that is the first to directly measure this discomfort. We identify six activities that people believe tamper with nature (geoengineering, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, cloning, gene therapy, and nanoparticles) and show that ATN scores are associated with opposition to these activities. Furthermore, the ATN Scale predicts actual behavior: donations to an anti-tampering cause. We demonstrate that ATN is related to previously identified constructs including trust in technology, naturalness bias, purity values, disgust sensitivity, aversion to playing God, and environmental beliefs and values. By illuminating who is concerned about tampering with nature and what predicts these beliefs, the ATN Scale provides opportunities to better understand public opposition to technological innovations, consumer preferences for “natural” products, and strategies for science communication.     

残疾人创业的信任环境重构——基于团队特征的视角

推动残疾人成功创业已成为各国促进残疾人就业率提升的一个有效手段,但创业成功并非易事,残疾人创业所面临的信息沟通不畅、信任环境缺失等问题直接影响创业的成功率。本文通过构建相关变量的有调节效应的回归模型,深入探讨了影响残疾人创业的情景因素,研究结果显示,残疾人创业团队的外部信任环境重构和创业团队自信心的建立对创业成功有显著的正向影响。     

比较法视野下我国搜查措施之理论反思

我国有证搜查还处于内部控制、自我约束和事后监督的阶段。被搜查者的合法权利不得不严重依赖于侦查人员搜查的文明程度。而无证搜查立法的拘谨与侦查实践的现实需要之间存在显著的差异。我国搜查措施所存在的问题,显示出搜查措施对侦查机关的规范和约束力度还处于较低的水平,对被搜查者权利的保障仍有所不足。我国不仅需要完善有证搜查制度,而且更需要建立和规范以同意搜查为核心的无证搜查制度,以追随刑事诉讼现代化之步伐,实现法治中国之梦想。     

侵权干涉与效率违约的比较——以引诱违约情形的经济分析为中心

效率违约理论认为在引诱违约的情况下,违约能够导致资源流向更高价值的用途,并且减少了交易成本。研究表明,上述两个假设都不能成立。而且由于补偿不充分,效率违约还导致了过多的违约。相反,侵权干涉规则保证了资源流向更高价值的用途,并降低了交易成本,而且避免了过多的违约。     

孔子传播思想研究

孔子的传播理念是"和而不同",即"仁"与"礼"的统一。就人际传播而言,"仁"这一概念的提出为平等传播关系的建立提出了理论依据。孔子的传播思想博大精深,包罗万象,涉及传播符号、传播目的、受众思想、舆论思想、传播环境等诸多方面。其对传播符号的论述涉及传播符号的划分、语言的遮蔽性、语言的工具性、传播符号的规范、语言表达的有限性和无限性、形式与内容等方面;其传播目的论带有很强的实践理性色彩,认为传播的目的在于由"学"而"习",在于"言"和"行"的统一;风草论是孔子受众思想的重要方面,他一方面认为君子对民众的教化恰如风过草偃,效果明显,另一方面又认为传播威力虽然巨大,但也有一定限度,取得理想的传播效果非一日之功,这比"魔弹论"更加客观;历史传播方面,他认识到"载之空言"和"见之于行事"两种传播方式迥异的传播效果,发明了"托古立言"的传播方式;他还强调在舆论与独立思考之间加以平衡,既重视舆论又不盲从。     

Healthy Barbs: Activism Confronts Mortality

Barbara Brenner, JD, was the Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action (BCA) from 1995–2010. Before that, she was a longtime activist in the anti-war movement and an attorney who, for most of her career, practiced public policy law. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 at the age of 41, she took the helm of BCA. Under her leadership, the organization moved into a position of national advocacy—demanding research on the causes and prevention of breast cancer, including the role of industrial pollutants. Barbara started the “Think Before You Pink” campaign, encouraging people to question whether companies that display pink ribbons actually produce products that harm women's health or generate any funds to fight breast cancer. Her blog, “Healthy Barbs,” challenged readers to critique routine healthcare practices and policies. Barbara received numerous awards, including a Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2007, the Smith College Medal in 2012, and the ACLU-Northern California's Lola Hanzel Courageous Advocacy Award in 2012. Barbara had a recurrence of breast cancer in 1996. She died of complications associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, on May 10, 2013.     

Multiple comparisons of exponential location parameters with a control based on doubly censored sample under heteroscedasticity

In this article, a one-sample procedure for multiple comparisons of exponential location parameters with a control under heteroscedasticity is proposed. The observations are obtained by doubly censored samples. A one-sided and two-sided confidence intervals are used to perform such multiple comparisons. Statistical tables of critical values and an example of comparing four drugs in treating leukemia are provided.