Constants and variables: Pareto's asymmetric distribution curve

The article sets out the classic Paretian theory of income distribution. As it does so, it seeks to highlight the constant elements in the human faculties represented, at aggregate level, by the invariability and persistence of the asymmetric income curve, and the variable elements connected with the same curve and manifest in upward and downward mobility – what Pareto calls ‘circulation’. The two theorems arising from Pareto's discovery constitute a specific theory of development which has been confirmed from two points of view: in the positive sense of development when – as in the West – the second theorem has been applied (also independently of Pareto) with the connected theory of the entrepreneur and innovation in democratic regimes; but also in the negative sense of underdevelopment, with the destruction of wealth and the consequent general impoverishment, when expropriation policies have been implemented in despotic regimes, or excessive taxation in others.     

在无意义的世界中寻求意义——论《太阳照常升起》的存在主义主题

《太阳照常升起》是享誉世界的美国当代小说家欧内斯特.海明威(Earnest Hemingway)的第一部长篇小说。文章从战后的荒原和寻求精神家园两方面,探讨和研究了该小说中的存在主义思想和人生哲学,强调了海明威为在无意义世界中生活的人寻找了一种新的生存方式,即保持“重压下的优雅。”     

The Pursuit of Continuous Improvement in the Field of Intergenerational Relationships: The Discipline of the Second Curve

This article presents a case for the field of intergenerational relationships to embrace the challenges associated with progressing its reputation, boundaries, and potential in the twenty-first century. The concept of the Sigmoid curve based upon curvilinear logic and the discipline of the second curve is introduced as a means of understanding how individuals, organizations, and institutions need to deal with the challenge of constant renewal as a consequence of rapid social change. The field of intergenerational relationships is challenged to align itself with the discipline of the second curve by (1) improving the impact of research through knowledge-based transfer and (2) exploring new fields of inquiry in the interest of maintaining and advancing relevance and legitimacy.     

Developmental Patterns in Marital Satisfaction: Another Look at Covenant Marriage

This study investigated differences in the trajectory of marital satisfaction in the first 7 years between couples in covenant versus standard marriages. The authors analyzed data on 707 Louisiana marriages from the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples, 1998–2004, using multivariate longitudinal growth modeling. When the sample was restricted to couples who remained married over the duration of the study, a marginal benefit of covenant status was found for husbands. This effect was largely accounted for by covenant husbands' more extensive exposure to premarital counseling. The linear decline in marital satisfaction over time that obtained for both husbands and wives was not, however, any different for covenant marriages versus standard marriages. Couples characterized by more traditional attitudes toward gender roles were significantly less satisfied than others. High premarital risk factors, initial uncertainty about marrying the spouse, and the presence of preschool‐age children in the household were all corrosive of marital satisfaction at any given time.     

Correlates of perceived effectiveness of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

A three-level growth-curve model was applied to estimate perceived impact growth trajectories, using multi-year data from project and school surveys on outcome and program implementation collected from 59 sites and approximately 1165 participating schools in the Safe Schools and Healthy Students Initiative. Primary interest is to determine whether and how project-level and school-level correlates affect schools’ perceptions of the Initiative's effectiveness over time when the effects of the pre-grant environmental conditions, grant operations, and near-term outcomes are considered. Coordination and service integration, comprehensive programs and activities for early childhood development, and change in school involvement were found to be significant predictors of school-perceived overall impact when the effect of poverty was considered. Partnership functioning, perceived importance of school resources, and school involvement were found to be significant predictors of school-perceived impact on substance use prevention when the effect of poverty was considered.     

高校开展港澳区情教育的价值体认及策略

加强内地高校大学生对港澳区情教育消弭两地文化壁垒,舒缓心理认知偏见,促进两地高校交流与合作,理应成为我国国情教育的题中之义。截至目前,内地高校尚未系统将港澳区情教育纳入我国国情教育范畴,这不仅反映出我国国情教育的滞后性,并由此带来一系列问题。该文就此问题对高校开展港澳区情教育的价值体认和策略进行了探讨。     

农民思想的现代性与农村现代化进程

社会上的每一次进步、变革,无不是从思想领域开始。中国的现代化,也应首先从思想领域进行。培养中国最大多数人口———农民思想的现代性就成为农村现代化乃至中国现代化的一个重要前提。农民思想的现代性主要表现为权利意识、法律意识、平等意识和效益意识。只有采取种种措施重视生产力中最活跃、最积极的因素———劳动者的思想建设,才能真正促进农村的现代化。     

Computing Optimal Beams in Two and Three Dimensions

The problem of computing an optimal beam among weighted regions (called the optimal beam problem) arises in several applied areas such as radiation therapy, stereotactic brain surgery, medical surgery, geological exploration, manufacturing, and environmental engineering. In this paper, we present computational geometry techniques that enable us to develop efficient algorithms for solving various optimal beam problems among weighted regions in two and three dimensional spaces. In particular, we consider two types of problems: the covering problems (seeking an optimal beam to contain a specified target region), and the piercing problems (seeking an optimal beam of a fixed shape to pierce the target region). We investigate several versions of these problems, with a variety of beam shapes and target region shapes in 2-D and 3-D. Our algorithms are based on interesting combinations of computational geometry techniques and optimization methods, and transform the optimal beam problems to solving a collection of instances of certain special non-linear optimization problems. Our approach makes use of interesting geometric observations, such as utilizing some new features of Minkowski sums.     

中国股票市场的信息反应曲线和股票价格波动的非对称性

股票价格波动对于市场信息的反应过程具有非对称性。通过利用多种非对称性GARCH 模型,描述和检验了沪市股票日收益率序列的条件波动性,并通过对股票市场信息影响曲线的分析,发现沪市股票价格波动中存在显著的非对称性反应。这说明股市波动对于不同的政策干预和信息冲击具有不同程度的反应,“利好消息”对股市的刺激作用仍然需要其他市场干预的配合才能发挥出来。     

Establishing dominance between strategies with interval judgments of state probabilities

In decision-making under uncertainty, a decision-maker is required to specify, possibly with the help of decision analysts, point estimates of the probabilities of uncertain events. In this setting, it is often difficult to obtain very precise measurements of the decision-maker׳s probabilities on the states of nature particularly when little information is available to evaluate probabilities, available information is not specific enough, or we have to model the conflict case where several information sources are available.In this paper, imprecise probabilities are considered for representing the decision-maker׳s perception or past experience about the states of nature, to be specific, interval probabilities, which can be further categorized as (a) intervals of individual probabilities, (b) intervals of probability differences, and (c) intervals of ratio probabilities. We present a heuristic approach to modeling a wider range of types of probabilities as well as three types of interval probabilities. In particular, the intervals of ratio probabilities, which are widely used in the uncertain AHP context, are analyzed to find extreme points by the use of change of variables, not to mention the first two types of interval probabilities. Finally, we examine how these extreme points can be used to determine an ordering or partial ordering of the expected values of strategies.