Tests for compound periodicities and estimating a non linear function

We propose two tests for testing compound periodicities which are the uniformly most powerful invariant decision procedures against simple periodicities. The second test can provide an excellent estimation of a compound periodic non linear function from observed data. These tests were compared with the tests proposed by Fisher and Siegel by Monte Carlo studies and we found that all the tests showed high power and high probability of a correct decision when all the amplitudes of underlying periods were the same. However, if there are at least several different periods with unequal amplitudes, then the second test proposed always showed high power and high probability of a correct decision, whereas the tests proposed by Fisher and Siegel gave 0 for the power and 0 for the probability of a correct decision, whatever the standard deviation of pseudo normal random numbers. Overall, the second test proposed is the best of all in view of the probability of a correct decision and power.     

A sociocultural analysis of death anxiety among older Japanese urbanites in a citizens' movement

By examining the experiences of death anxiety and attitudes toward personal deaths among members of a citizens' movement, the Grave-Free Promotion Society (GFPS), this study considers the applicability of the view that culture and high self-esteem serve as defenses against death anxiety in Japan's changing society. The GFPS promotes the scattering of ashes over the conventional interment of cremated remains in a family grave. GFPS members often lack descendants to care for a family grave, the neglect of which is thought to endanger the deceased's peaceful rest. By returning the dead to nature through ash scattering, the GFPS provides an alternative strategy of managing its members' posthumous well-being. GFPS members often report that their choice of ash scattering has reduced their anxiety about their personal deaths and improved the quality of their lives. Based upon these findings, this study offers some suggestions for increasing cultural sensitivities of test instruments commonly used to examine death anxiety among older persons for use in a Japanese context.     

Immigrants' welfare use and opportunity for contact with co-ethnics

In this article we examine the relationship between immigrants' welfare use and their social capital, using the 1990 census. We measure community social capital using contact with co-ethnics and co-ethnics' economic inactivity, and examine the use of AFDC and SSI in two subpopulations: single-mother families and elderly units. Major findings are that the effects of social capital differ between immigrant single-mother families and elderly units; the effects of social capital differ between the young-at-arrival elderly and the old-at-arrival elderly; and the process of AFDC use is similar for immigrants and for natives, whereas the process of SSI use is more complicated for immigrants than for natives.     

Recent Immigrant Settlement in the Nonmetropolitan United States: Evidence from Internal Census Data*

Abstract In the 1990s, studies have documented widespread growth of immigrants in U.S. communities not known as common destinations in the past. This trend has fueled population growth in some nonmetropolitan areas and offset population decline in other areas. In this paper, we examine the implications of recent foreign born in-migration for rural America. Our focus is on a collection of 59 nonmetropolitan counties where growth in foreign born stock offset declines in U.S. native population and resulted in increased local population by 2000. To understand these nonmetropolitan offset counties, we use confidential Census Bureau data that offer us the detailed geography and larger sample size needed to closely examine spatial shifts in the foreign born population, especially those recently arrived. Our findings illustrate dramatic compositional shifts in the populations of these areas, and suggest new demographic complexity in nonmetropolitan areas in the 21^st century.     

Formalization of Urban Poor Vendors and their Contribution to Tourism Development in Manila,Philippines

The growth of tourism and tourism development affects the urban poor both positively and negatively. Positively, they have more opportunities to find jobs in the tourism sector or increase their income when their jobs are related to tourism. They can also be the beneficiaries of pro-poor tourism projects. Negatively, they are viewed as an obstacle to tourism development where clean and modern images are sought. This study looks at park vendors (a type of urban poor) in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines. This group is unique because it is not treated as a hindrance to tourism development and the vendors are considered as the beneficiaries of pro-poor tourism projects. They are active contributors to tourism development. When a government agency formalized their businesses, vendors' safety and pride increased. This study provides a case in which a shift from the informal sector to the formal sector contributed to the increased welfare of the urban poor. The shift was possible because of a national tourism drive generating favorable conditions, and the vendors' struggle to obtain the right to work in the park. In this paper, I discuss how the vendors achieved a legal status and show current conditions of their work and their relationship with a government agency after obtaining the right. Data for this study were collected between 2005 and 2008.     

东亚近代史中的中日甲午战争

甲午战争虽然已逾百年,但我们从东亚近代史的历史研究视野看,甲午战争的意义不仅仅限于中国和日本两国之间.甲午战争不仅改变了东亚世界的国际秩序,也改变了日本人对国家、天皇的认识,影响了日本整个近代社会.同时,甲午战争不仅是中日五十年战争的开始,也是"大日本帝国体制"从开始到发展、到崩溃的起点.     

Selection of tuning parameters in bridge regression models via Bayesian information criterion

We consider bridge regression models, which can produce a sparse or non-sparse model by controlling a tuning parameter in the penalty term. A crucial part of a model building strategy is the selection of the values for adjusted parameters, such as regularization and tuning parameters. Indeed, this can be viewed as a problem in selecting and evaluating the model. We propose a Bayesian selection criterion for evaluating bridge regression models. This criterion enables us to objectively select the values of the adjusted parameters. We investigate the effectiveness of our proposed modeling strategy with some numerical examples.     

Semi-Supervised Logistic Discrimination via Regularized Gaussian Basis Expansions

The problem of constructing classification methods based on both labeled and unlabeled data sets is considered for analyzing data with complex structures. We introduce a semi-supervised logistic discriminant model with Gaussian basis expansions. Unknown parameters included in the logistic model are estimated by regularization method along with the technique of EM algorithm. For selection of adjusted parameters, we derive a model selection criterion from Bayesian viewpoints. Numerical studies are conducted to investigate the effectiveness of our proposed modeling procedures.