绿色新政：欧洲走出危机的长期性、可持续计划

欧洲绿党所倡导的“绿色新政”,其目的在于实现在地球自然限制内带来经济繁荣、社会正义和生活幸福的经济社会的全面转型,而实现路径则依赖于对基础设施、工业产业、教育创新、社会聚合与自然环境等进行投资。由欧洲议会绿党党团委托支持、绿色智库“重构”完成的这一研究报告,试图构建一个相对不利环境下如何达到改变欧洲经济与社会状况的投资水平的金融体制。它认为,欧盟每年需将GDP的2%投资到2020年时实现CO2排放减少30%目标的工作中,并建议财源的主体应是私人投资,同时国家创造必需的激励和支持以吸引这些私人投资。     

Application of the characterization theory to the mixture model

This paper indicates the potential application of the characterization theory to the mixture model. It discusses a particular example of a mixture model and concludes that successful application of this theory can be made in order to choose the appropriate mixture model and the mixing parameter.     

The psychosocial consequences of an environmental disaster: Selected case studies of the Bhopal gas tragedy

The present study deals with the psychosocial problems which the Bhopal gas victims are facing. These problems were examined through selected case studies, which reveal that there have been changes in the intrafamilial relationships in the area. There are households where the social status of the women has gone up as they have become the earning members of the family, while on the other hand some women are being ill treated as they are unable to conceive and bear children.     

Social innovations for social cohesion in Western Europe: success dimensions for lifelong learning and education

In addressing the EU2020 goals, skills shortage combined with increasing unemployment rates is to be primarily tackled in Western Europe; the common factor here is education. Education and lifelong learning (LL) are the key strands governing employability in the European labour market. Overarching concepts capable of addressing social challenges within education and LL that contribute towards better practices are seen as social innovations (SI). While SI in education is well founded in the developing countries, Europe is still in the process of gaining progressive momentum in this direction. In addressing various societal challenges, this study looks at observable trends in SI for education across Western Europe. About 30 innovations have been recorded across 11 countries that are essentially focussed on: social integration, alternative/new forms of education, digital learning, new learning arrangements, new LL strategies, early career planning, youth employment, quality improvements and new education standards, transition management, and entrepreneurial education.     

Rethinking empirical approaches to racial segregation

Within empirical approaches to racial residential segregation, there has been a tendency to draw on the work of or influenced by Robert E. Park and his ecological hypothesis to explore social and spatial relations between members of different ethnic and racial groups, thus framing research within a race relations paradigm. This has promoted an analysis which naturalizes racial differences but which also sidelines structural considerations. In turn this approach has also fed into political discourses on segregation, at times supporting more reactionary positions. This paper seeks to address this debate by considering whether emphasis on minority ethnic concentration sidelines the more pertinent issue of concentration in deprived areas, suggesting that neighbourhood deprivation as a measure can be more easily aligned with structural conditions which have influenced the settlement and historical experience of many ethnic minority communities. Specifically, I consider the extent to which a measure of neighbourhood deprivation is more important than the ethnic composition of an area for thinking about the distribution of inequalities in unemployment (as one example of socio‐economic inequality). Using multilevel logistic regression I find neighbourhood income deprivation to be more important than levels of co‐ethnic concentration for explaining ethnic differences in unemployment. The findings imply that neighbourhood deprivation is significantly more important for considering inequalities in unemployment for ethnic minorities than the ethnic composition of an area.     

Anti‐foreigner Sentiment: State of the Art

This review presents the contributions of anti‐foreigner sentiment research, its theoretical and methodological limitations, and potential solutions for its further development. Six different explanations are proposed to account for the distribution of anti‐foreigner sentiment within and across countries: economic competition, human capital, cultural affinity, social capital, political values, and the institutional environment. In this review, we argue that much of the extant literature heavily emphasizes variables, rather than causal mechanisms, and exhibits three main methodological limitations: (a) variable selection bias; (b) determining causality; and (c) endogeneity. We propose synthesizing prevailing theoretical perspectives around causal mechanisms and reformulating predictive models to strengthen a promising research program.     

Test for comparing complete expectations of life of two groups

Abstract

Complete expectation of life of an individual gives an intuitive and interesting perspective on the ageing process and is an important concept in the insurance sector for determination of premium. We propose a new test for testing equality of complete expectations of life of two groups/populations. Power of the new test is calculated through simulations and compared with the power of the tests given by Berger, Boos, and Guess (1988 Berger, R. L., D. D. Boos, and F. M. Guess. 1988. Tests and confidence sets for comparing two mean residual life functions. Biometrics 44 (1):103–15.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Aly (1997 Aly, E. E. A. A. 1997. Nonparametric tests for comparing two mean residual life functions. Lifetime Data Analysis 3 (4):353–66.[Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]). It is observed that the proposed test statistic is more powerful than the competing tests for the cases considered in this paper. A real life illustration is included.     

Assessment of hospital services and patient reactions

This paper deals with the study of assessment of hospital services and patient reactions carried out amongst 473 respondents, both in-door (3 wards) and out-door patients in M.L.B. Medical College Hospital, Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh). The patients were from three wards medical, surgical and gynaecological wards and consisted of 373 discharged and 100 out-door patients.     

An assessment of the use of the continuity correction for sparse data in meta-analysis

A problem which occurs in the practice of meta-analysis is that one or more component studies may have sparse data, such as zero events in the treatment and control groups. Two possible approaches were explored using simulations. The corrected method, in which one half was added to each cell was compared to the uncorrected method. These methods were compared over a range of sparse data situations in terms of coverage rates using three summary statistics:the Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio and the dersimonian and Laird odds ratio and rate difference. The uncorrected method performed better only when using the Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio with very little heterogeneity present. For all other sparse data applications, the continuity correction performed better and is recommended for use in meta-analyses of similar scope     

Integration of leprosy control work with general health services as planned in Maharashtra

The current literature on integration of Leprosy Control work with General Health Services has been reviewed. In view of the introduction of Multipurpose Workers' Scheme and an experience in a pilot project, the authors feel that the time of integration of leprosy is ripe. The process of involvement of Multipurpose Workers in the Leprosy Control Programme is being introduced in a manner that ensures adequate supervision by the present Leprosy Control staff during the training period and also subsequently for one year so that the transition from unipurpose to integrated service, is a smooth one. After the successful integration of leprosy, the leprosy staff, after adequate training, can be used as Multipurpose Supervisors.