Is Marriage More Than Cohabitation? Well‐Being Differences in 30 European Countries

The study aims to assess, first, whether there is a gap in well‐being between unmarried cohabitants and the married, second, if selection factors can explain this so‐called cohabitation gap, and third, if the size of the cohabitation gap differs across countries and how this can be explained. We use pooled data from young adults (18–44) in 3 rounds of the European Social Survey (N ? 31, 500). Multilevel regression analyses show that there is a moderate cohabitation gap that can be partly explained with the selection factors material resources and religiosity. Country differences were clear and could partly be explained with the level of institutionalization: In countries where cohabitation is more accepted and more prevalent, the cohabitation gap is smaller.     

Mother‐to‐Child Transmission of HIV in China and the USA: A Comparative Analysis

This paper analyzes and compares the existing policies and programs for the prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission of HIV existing in China and in the USA. The implementation of these is still imperfect and there needs to be improvements in the education (the spreading of information) and in the general health care system of China. Particular attention will be drawn to the existing barriers to the effective implementation of prevention of mother‐to‐child‐transmission. The recommendations aim to solve similar barriers in both countries and some specifically dealing with problems in China. Since HIV infection in children is caused almost entirely by prenatal transmission, it is important that the governments, in partnership with civic society organizations, make all the necessary efforts to save the lives of their newborn citizens.     

汶川震后心理危机的早期干预：文献综述与评价

汶川抗震救灾的经验表明：震后相当比例的人会出现心理应激障碍，对此应进行适当的早期心理干预，并以预防PTSD为主要目标，可采取心理急救、严重事件应激晤谈、认知行为疗法、眼动脱敏再加工技术等方法进行。     

Developments in National Policies for Food and Nutrition Security in Brazil

Brazil is on track to achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals, and this is widely credited to bold and innovative government policies backed by new forms of popular participation in social policy. This article examines evaluation evidence on two of the most important recent initiatives in Brazil's policies for food and nutrition security (conditional cash transfers through Bolsa Família and support for family agriculture through the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos). It also considers advances in older policies (such as the School Meals programme) and the work of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security, which has culminated in national legislation establishing food and nutrition security as a right.     

Smoothing parameter selection methods for nonparametric regression with spatially correlated errors

When spatial data are correlated, currently available data‐driven smoothing parameter selection methods for nonparametric regression will often fail to provide useful results. The authors propose a method that adjusts the generalized cross‐validation criterion for the effect of spatial correlation in the case of bivariate local polynomial regression. Their approach uses a pilot fit to the data and the estimation of a parametric covariance model. The method is easy to implement and leads to improved smoothing parameter selection, even when the covariance model is misspecified. The methodology is illustrated using water chemistry data collected in a survey of lakes in the Northeastern United States.     

基于S-D分配的集中式多传感器不敏滤波算法

研究了非线性环境中的集中式多传感器多目标跟踪问题,提出了一种基于S-D分配的集中式多传感器不敏滤波算法。算法通过广义S-D分配技术实现每个传感器中的量测与目标的数据关联,求得所有可能互联中的最佳划分,然后按照顺序多传感器联合概率数据互联算法,依次处理最佳划分中各传感器源于同一目标的量测,在此基础上通过不敏卡尔曼滤波(UKF)解决非线性系统中的目标跟踪问题。最后给出了该算法与MSJPDA/EKF算法的仿真比较,结果表明该算法具有更高的稳定性和跟踪精度。     

Mobile locations: construction of home in a group of mobile transnational professionals

Abstract How do professionals constitute their homes under conditions of extensive mobility? The study is based on interviews with professionals working for an international organization who are chronically mobile. Despite their high mobility, they describe little difficulty constructing homes. Home can best be understood here not as a fixed location, but as a set of relationships, to both humans and non‐humans. There are elements of spatial proximity, but also of distance, and homes may be defined by both objects present and excluded. They may be a focal point, but at the same time part of a heterogeneous network that spans localities as well as binds past and present. Home is therefore territorially defined, but only as an extended network rather than as a bounded location.     

How a System Backfires: Dynamics of Redundancy Problems in Security

Increasing attention is being paid to reliability, safety, and security issues in social systems. Scott Sagan examined why more security forces (a redundancy solution) may lead to less security.⁽ 1 ⁾ He discussed how such a solution can backfire due to three major issues (i.e., “common‐mode error,”“social shirking,” and “overcompensation”). In this article, using Sagan's hypotheses, we simulate and analyze a simple and generic security system as more guards are added to the system. Simulation results support two of Sagan's hypotheses. More specifically, the results show that “common‐mode error” causes the system to backfire, and “social shirking” leads to an inefficient system while exacerbating the common‐mode error's effect. Simulation results show that “overcompensation” has no effect of backfiring, but it leads the system to a critical state in which it can easily be affected by the common‐mode error. Furthermore, the simulation results make us question the importance of the initial power of adversaries (e.g., terrorists) as the results show that, for any exogenous level of adversary power, the system endogenously overcompensates to a level that makes the system more susceptible to being attacked.     

采用模糊逻辑的移动机器人轨迹跟踪

针对差动轮驱动的移动机器人动力学的高度非线性和运动环境的不确定性,提出了基于模糊逻辑的移动机器人路径跟踪控制方法。该方法通过合理选择模糊控制器的参数和优化规则库,使其输出合适的线速度和角速度,从而控制移动机器人准确地跟踪预规划的路径。提出了两轮差动式移动机器人的动力学模型,使得该模糊控制器对不同几何参数的差动式机器人具有普遍的适应性。在实际场地试验和亚太机器人大赛中验证该方法的有效性。     

Nonbiologic Objects as Actors

We generally understand interactions between human actors and nonbiologic objects (NBOs) as being indirect, with the human actor acting for the NBO and using the NBO as a “thing.” Under certain circumstances, however, human actors enter into direct interaction with NBOs and take on extra work in this process. Actors must “do mind” for the nonbiologic other to perceive “another” with whom it is possible to interact. The fiction that mind can exist where thought cannot be present is counterintuitive, making this process tenuous and heavily dependent upon the circumstances at hand. Four successive contingencies must be present to make possible the perceptual shift from object to actor. First, the actor must perceive the object in question as capable of independent action, whether or not the human actor initiates said action. Second, this separate and active status must become apparent through actions that threaten the human actor's desired goals. Third, these goals must be of sufficient urgency to warrant continuing in direct interaction with the object rather than reverting to nonanthropomorphized normal interaction. Finally, the object at hand must be necessary for completing the desired task.