Job stress in managers, professionals, and clerical workers

The intensity and frequency of occurrence of 30 job stressors as measured by the job stress survey (JSS) were examined in white-collar employees of a large manufacturing firm, consisting of 68 managers, 171 professional (mostly engineers), and 69 clerical personnel. The highest levels of stress intensity were attributed to 'lack of opportunity for advancement' and 'poor or inadequate supervision'. Individual stressors rated as occurring most often during the past six months were 'frequent interruptions', 'meeting deadlines', and 'dealing with crisis situations'. Factor analyses of the ratings of individual job stressors identified two job-stress factors, job pressure and lack of support, which were differentially related to age, gender, occupational level, locus of control, and job tenure and satisfaction. All three occupational groups attributed greater intensity to stressors that reflected lack of organizational support than to job pressures. Managers reported experiencing job pressures more often than professionals/engineers, but attributed less stress intensity to these pressures. 'Lack of opportunity for advancement' and 'inadequate salary' were the most salient stressors for the clerical workers. Implications of the findings for the design of stress management and organizational change programmes were discussed.     

英语学习习惯的差异分析

学习习惯的研究是人类情意研究的重要因素之一。通过对部分大学英语专业低年级学生的学习习惯的调查表明：女生比男生有着更好的学习习惯，她们的英语学习成绩普遍都比男生好，由此可见，良好的学习习惯是外语学习者成功的重要保证。     

Price controls, trade protectionism and political business cycles in the U.S. steel industry

The U.S. steel industry is subject to a microeconomic political business cycle resulting from U.S. Presidents designing protectionist policies on behalf of the steel industry; experiencing complaints from consumers and foreign producers as a result of the policy; modifying the policy which results in complaints from the steel industry; and finally, maneuvering policy back in favor of the industry to achieve re-election. Using a cointegrating vector error correction framework, this paper tests the hypothesized political business cycle for its effect on steel prices. We find that trade protectionism does not seem to have succeeded in its primary objective of supporting prices. By expending so much political capital on ineffective trade protection, the steel industry may have lost the opportunity to focus on more substantive issues that might have restrained factor cost and enhanced its competitive ability. The devolution of the steel industry, ironically, may have resulted from it's persistent pleas for protection. Political business cycles in the steel industry, with all its attendant negative consequences, would not occur if the steel industry did not continually lobby for protection.     

Biomass and biodiversity of nocturnal aerial insects in an Adelaide City park and implications for bats (Microchiroptera)

Temporal variation of insect communities in urban environments is poorly known and mechanisms driving these changes are unclear, as are the implications for insectivorous predators. We examined the relationships between season and nocturnal aerial insect biomass and biodiversity, and between temperature and insect biomass in the Adelaide zoological gardens from December 2005 to September 2006. We also compared the effectiveness of two insect trap types and used a bat detector to assess bat activity in relation to insect biomass. During the study, 9,939 insects from 13 orders were collected at the Adelaide zoo with a Malaise trap and a light trap. Mass and diversity of insects were highest during warm months, as was bat activity, and bat activity was positively correlated with insect biomass. Winter-active insects consisted predominantly of Diptera and Lepidoptera, which may provide an important winter food resource for insectivorous bats. The Malaise trap attracted fewer insect orders and biomass than did the light trap, and insects congregated within 6 m of artificial lights, so bats that forage at lights may have an advantage in urban areas. A strong need for the inclusion of urban insects to biodiversity inventories exists in the context of bat conservation.     

A NEW APPROACH TO DISCRIMINATION AND CLASSIFICATION USING A HAUSDORFF TYPE DISTANCE

A new method of discrimination and classification based on a Hausdorff type distance is proposed. In two groups, the Hausdorff distance is defined as the sum of the furthest distance of the nearest elements of one set to another. This distance has some useful properties and is exploited in developing a discriminant criterion between individual objects belonging to two groups based on a finite number of classification variables. The discrimination criterion is generalized to more than two groups in a couple of ways. Several data sets are analysed and their classification accuracy is compared to that obtained from linear discriminant function and the results are encouraging. The method in simple, lends itself to parallel computation and imposes less stringent conditions on the data.     

Imputation using response probability

The authors propose a new ratio imputation method using response probability. Their estimator can be justified either under the response model or under the imputation model; it is thus doubly protected against the failure of either of these models. The authors also propose a variance estimator that can be justified under the two models. Their methodology is applicable whether the response probabilities are estimated or known. A small simulation study illustrates their technique.     

语篇理解模型综述

近年来 ,对语篇的研究显著增加 ,并出现了各种语篇理解模型。文章概括介绍了西方重要的语篇理解模型 ,包括心理模型、故事语法、策略模型、构建与结合模型 ,以及连接主义模型等 ,并指出了各种模型所存在的不足     

Testing a Moderated Model of Satisfaction with Urban Living using Data for Brisbane-South East Queensland,Australia

Using survey data collected from households living in the Brisbane-South East Queensland region, a rapidly growing metropolis in Australia, path analysis is used to test links between urban residents’ assessment of various urban attributes and their level of satisfaction in three urban domains-housing, neighbourhood or local area, and the wider metropolitan region – moderated by selected demographic characteristics of respondents. The analysis also shows the relative contribution of those urban domains to overall life satisfaction. Neighbourhood satisfaction is shown to be much less important in predicting overall life satisfaction than is satisfaction with housing and the region. However, neighbourhood satisfaction impacts indirectly on overall life satisfaction, mediated by regional satisfaction and housing satisfaction. In predicting regional satisfaction, the cost of living and government service provision are shown to be most important, with pollution important for younger people and parents, while improvements to transport systems are more important for the baby boomer generation. Neighbourhood satisfaction is best predicted by neighbourhood interaction and perceived crime, with neighbourhood interaction being more important for older people, while perceived crime is more important for younger and single people. Access to facilities is a poor predictor of neighbourhood satisfaction, except for parents. Satisfaction with housing is shown to be best predicted by housing age, temperature and home ownership. However, larger homes are important for parents, while young people prefer smaller homes. The importance of various urban attributes does not vary between genders. While material concerns like the cost of living and the provision of services are shown to be primary factors underlying overall satisfaction with urban living, the importance of environmental issues and demand for smaller homes might be expected to increase over time.     

跟踪误差下积极资产组合投资的风险约束机制

TEV(Tracking Error Volatility)优化是积极资产管理的流行方法,但因其存在的固有缺陷,会导致基金管理人员的行为使得投资者的资产承受更大的风险,进而引发委托代理问题.Jorion(2003)认为利用固定TEV(Con-stan-TEV)优化可以对TEV优化加以改进.本文通过对TEV优化和固定TEV优化的研究,发现Jorion(2003)的判断不完全正确,并基于成本、效率、基准组合的作用、风险偏好等方面,进行深入地分析.而且,设计了一种更为有效的风险约束机制.     

A population size estimate of the finless porpoise,Neophocaena phocaenoides, from aerial sighting surveys in Ariake Sound and Tachibana Bay, Japan

We estimated the population size of the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) in Ariake Sound and Tachibana Bay of western Kyushu, southwestern Japan, from aerial sighting surveys using line transect methods. All 12 surveys were conducted from May 1993 to May 1994 (8 in Ariake Sound and 4 in Tachibana Bay). In addition to these, 14 surveys were also carried out to obtain information on porpoise occurrence in Tachibana Bay (5 surveys) and in neighboring Sumo Nada (5) and Yatsushiro Sound (4). In Ariake Sound, 225 porpoise groups (369 animals) were detected during all flights totalling 1,694.4 km. In Tachibana Bay, a total of 997.8 km was surveyed and 55 groups (290 animals) were sighted. However, no sightings were recorded in Sumo Nada (distance searched = 148.7 km) and Yatsushiro Sound (208.4 km). In Ariake Sound, few sightings were recorded from waters shallower than 5 m in depth. In Tachibana Bay all animals were detected from waters of less than 50 m depth. The population size was estimated as 1,983 animals in Ariake Sound (95% CI = 1,382-2,847), 1,110 in Tachibana Bay (95% CI = 642-1,920), and 3,093 in the 2 waters (1.3 individuals/km², 95% CI = 2,278-4,201).