Adaptive Gaussian Markov random fields with applications in human brain mapping

Summary.  Functional magnetic resonance imaging has become a standard technology in human brain mapping. Analyses of the massive spatiotemporal functional magnetic resonance imaging data sets often focus on parametric or non-parametric modelling of the temporal component, whereas spatial smoothing is based on Gaussian kernels or random fields. A weakness of Gaussian spatial smoothing is underestimation of activation peaks or blurring of high curvature transitions between activated and non-activated regions of the brain. To improve spatial adaptivity, we introduce a class of inhomogeneous Markov random fields with stochastic interaction weights in a space-varying coefficient model. For given weights, the random field is conditionally Gaussian, but marginally it is non-Gaussian. Fully Bayesian inference, including estimation of weights and variance parameters, can be carried out through efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Although motivated by the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data, the methodological development is general and can also be used for spatial smoothing and regression analysis of areal data on irregular lattices. An application to stylized artificial data and to real functional magnetic resonance imaging data from a visual stimulation experiment demonstrates the performance of our approach in comparison with Gaussian and robustified non-Gaussian Markov random-field models.     

Clinical Challenges Following An Adolescent’s Death By Suicide: Bereavement Issues Faced By Family,Friends, Schools,And Clinicians

Given the increasing prevalence of adolescent deaths by suicide, social workers are increasingly likely to be called upon to respond to traumatically bereaved families, peers, and possibly professional colleagues following an adolescents death by suicide. The authors discuss current trends in adolescent suicide. A stress diathesis model is applied to considering risk factors and their clinical implications following an adolescents death by suicide. Using a case scenario, the authors discuss clinical issues of complex bereavement following suicide, along with some suggestions for effective clinical follow-up with surviving families, peers, and professionals.     

Networking of Intellectual Capital in Southeast Europe: Boosting the Transition to Meritocratic Societies

Being aware that brain drain is perceived as a menace for national economies in the region of Southeast Europe, this paper will closely address the possible beneficial aspects of highly skilled migration and ways to achieve regional sustainability utilising this kind of migratory movement. In this sense, the appearence of a scientific diaspora and other knowledge networks would be stressed not just as a crucial result of their migration but also as a potential method of deriving benefits that can ensure development and consolidation of a meritocratic society. The process would be elaborated in the context of the regional integration with the European Union and accepting inherent standards, but also in the context of the wider social reforms which contain a transition process as whole. The paper will try to argue that civil societies in the region have the capacity to utilise accumulated human capital in the networks to a more significant extent.     

时间知觉的脑机制研究

当前时间知觉的脑机制的研究结果出现了定位论和非定位论的研究趋向。支持定位论的证据主要集中在小脑高级功能区运动计时特异化作用及基底神经节分泌的多巴胺对时间知觉的作用;支持非定位论的证据主要集中在脑损伤、脑成像研究中关于多个脑区整合作用机制以及多种神经递质在计时中的作用。上述两种趋向是基于时距长短不同所致,比如对秒以下计时加工的部位在小脑高级功能区,而加工1秒及以上的时距则涉及多个脑区及神经递质的整合作用。时间知觉之脑机制研究正方兴未艾。     

Family Processes and Children's and Adolescents' Well-Being

The primary purpose of this review was to examine theory and research published during the past decade that focused on family processes and children's and adolescents' well-being. Scholarship focused on family processes and child and adolescent well-being made significant and exciting advances during this decade based on several key advancements. In addition to a brief introduction and a conclusion, this decade in review is organized into four sections. In the first section, advances made in the literature because of increased attention to complexity and specificity are illustrated. The second section describes advances that were made because of increased attention to family processes in diverse families. Diversity in the samples of families studied, extensions in family process models, and the revisioning of grand theories using a diversity lens that were used to conceptualize family processes are detailed. In the third section, the importance of time in the study of family processes and child and adolescent well-being is described. The emphasis on families' daily lives is noted. In addition, prospective considerations and studies of change over time are highlighted. Strengths in family functioning are detailed in the fourth section of this article: positivity, regulatory processes, and family organization. These three areas were selected to elaborate the idea that one of the major advancements in the family process literature during the past decade was an emphasis on family strengths. This review concludes with a commentary regarding how conceptual and methodological advancements during the past decade can guide future scholarship.     

The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse by K-12 School Personnel in Canada, 1997–2017

ABSTRACT

Studies surrounding the sexual abuse of children by school personnel in Canadian contexts are infrequent and often limited in their scope. The present study addresses this drawback with a contribution of data gathered from disciplinary decisions of educator misconduct, media reports, and published case law concerning child/student sexual abuse cases (between 1997 and 2017) that involved any individual employed (or formerly employed) in a Canadian K-12 school. The study revealed a number of interesting points about the larger student victim and offender demographic patterns and characteristics across Canada. The study found 750 cases involving a minimum of 1,272 students and 714 offenders, 87% of which were male. Moreover, 86% of all offenders were certified teachers, and offenders employed grooming as the main tactic in 70% of the cases. Of the child/student victims, 75% were female, 55% were sexually abused on school property, and more than two-thirds of all victims were in high school at the time the offense was committed. The study also found that excluding Ontario and B.C., the media was the sole source of information for 50–86% of all cases depending on the province/territory. Finally, almost three-quarters of offenders from the study were charged with at least one criminal offense, and of the cases that proceeded to trial, 70% resulted in findings of guilt.     

Teen Childbearing and Educational Attainment: A Comparison of Methods

This research examines the impact of teenage childbearing on secondary school completion, while focusing on the problem of causal ambiguity in the relationships among self-determined behaviours. Techniques for dealing with the teenage childbearing problem are discussed, and results from these methods are compared. Data from the High School and Beyond Study on young women (n = 5257) who were enrolled as sophomores in sample schools in February 1980 and who had not given birth before November 1980 are used. Results indicate that teen childbearing reduces the probability of completing high school by 8% to 10%. Some evidence suggests that programs that target reduction of teen childbearing in improving young women's education and subsequent economic and labor force outcomes.     

防止企业人才流失的人力资本产权的制度安排

目前企业人才流失现象使我们重新审视人力资本的激励问题,从而引出人力资本的产权概念,在阐述确立人力资本产权地位对防止企业人才流失的作用基础上,有针对性的提出了确立人力资本产权私有制度、构建人力资本市场化定价制度、完善人力资本投资制度、创建完全的人力资本收益权制度、营造良好的企业文化制度和形成良好的人力资本产权运行的法律制度等人力资本产权制度安排。     

关于随附性问题

当代西方心灵哲学由金在权、戴维森等人提出的随附性范畴虽然规避了强还原论的缺陷,在心物关系的众多理论中貌似一种更为高明的解释,然而不仅其阐述和论证粗糙、模糊,并且也没有真正揭示心灵的本质和实在所指。探索意识的本质首先要符合脑科学研究的经验实证,也要从哲学高度对各种心身关系理论进行整合,统一认知构架。