Academic economists behaving badly? A survey on three areas of unethical behavior

This article measures the degree to which academic economists have engaged in unethical behavior and the degree to which academic economists believe the profession as a whole engages in unethical behavior. Three main types of unethical behavior are examined: (1) falsification of research; (2) expropriation of graduate student research or including an undeserving co-author on a research paper; and (3) exchange of grades for gifts, money, or sex. Using a unique data set gathered at the 1998 American Economic Association (AEA) meetings, we find that there is a significant amount of misconduct, particularly in the second category.     

Eat, drink, and be healed

Americans are more inclined than ever to treat minor ailments themselves. That opens huge new markets to companies that sell food and supplements with healing properties.     

Developing expert systems for management applications

The Alvey Report has resulted in a growing interest in the UK in ‘expert systems’. It is fairly generally accepted, at least in the UK, that such systems function in a particular type of way, i.e. they arrive at decisions through a process of rule based inference. It is suggested that it may be more fruitful to regard rule based inference as one approach to the construction of expert systems, and that proven techniques of operational research may well be more useful in constructing other types of expert system. Alternative applications of expert systems are derived on the basis of a broader definition of an expert system in terms of what it does rather than how it does it. A parallel is drawn between these applications and some typical concerns of business research. It is suggested that a useful aid in identifying promising business applications of expert systems is to set up four ‘dimensions’ along which different types of system differ. Examples are given of where other techniques might conceivably be useful in applications of expert systems.     

Improving homeless persons' utilisation of primary care: lessons to be learned from an outreach programme in The Netherlands

Elissen AMJ, Van Raak AJA, Derckx EWCC, Vrijhoef HJM. Improving homeless persons' utilisation of primary care: lessons to be learned from an outreach programme in The Netherlands Faced with rising homelessness, countries around the world are in need of innovative approaches to caring for those without shelter, who, more often than not, suffer from severe health problems. We conducted a case study of an innovative Dutch Primary Care for the Homeless (PCH) programme to gain insight into clients' demographic characteristics, health problems and service use, and to develop an explanation for its success in increasing the latter. Our analyses are based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study suggest that the success of the PCH programme can be explained by the providers' pragmatism and will to adapt their mode of care provision to the behavioural patterns and needs of their homeless clients.     

The simulation of industrial robot systems

This paper describes the GRASP computer aided design system for modelling and evaluating industrial robot workplaces. GRASP satisfies a range of simulation needs within the context of designing, implementing and operating industrial robotic systems. The GRASP software may be used to investigate robots operating by themselves or, more likely, as part of an integrated cell. Facilities within GRASP assist workplace layout, position and velocity evaluations, clash detection and co-ordination between items. A robot library exists and is being extended, and an embryo off-line programming facility has been used under restricted conditions. GRASP has been used to help solve a wide range of practical industrial robot problems and has proved itself technically, and also as an educational tool, by showing how a proposed system would operate. The paper describes the facilities within GRASP.     

Getting old and staying fit

The outdoor recreation industry is probably headed for declines in participants, as creaky baby boomers switch to less vigorous sports. But the drop may not be as steep as for previous generations, thanks to boomers' lifelong love of exercise.     

NONPARAMETRIC ESTIMATION OF MULTIVARIATE CONVEX-TRANSFORMED DENSITIES

We study estimation of multivariate densities p of the form p(x) = h(g(x)) for x ∈ ?(d) and for a fixed monotone function h and an unknown convex function g. The canonical example is h(y) = e(-y) for y ∈ ?; in this case, the resulting class of densities [Formula: see text]is well known as the class of log-concave densities. Other functions h allow for classes of densities with heavier tails than the log-concave class.We first investigate when the maximum likelihood estimator p? exists for the class P(h) for various choices of monotone transformations h, including decreasing and increasing functions h. The resulting models for increasing transformations h extend the classes of log-convex densities studied previously in the econometrics literature, corresponding to h(y) = exp(y).We then establish consistency of the maximum likelihood estimator for fairly general functions h, including the log-concave class P(e(-y)) and many others. In a final section, we provide asymptotic minimax lower bounds for the estimation of p and its vector of derivatives at a fixed point x(0) under natural smoothness hypotheses on h and g. The proofs rely heavily on results from convex analysis.     

语篇翻译中的英汉衔接手段对比——布什9．11演讲分析

衔接是为了实现语篇的连贯,是语篇重要的组成部分。英汉两种语言有着不同的衔接手段,文章通过布什9． 11演讲与其中译本的对比研究,揭示出衔接手段在英汉语篇中不同的运用和侧重,明确翻译时应根据语言各自的特点以及语篇体裁的要求,灵活变通或转换衔接手段,从而忠实再现原文。     

试述六世达赖喇嘛仓央嘉措的心传弟子阿旺多尔济的生平事迹

本文对内蒙古西部重要寺院阿拉善南寺的创建者和六世达赖喇嘛 《仓央嘉措（ｔｓｈａｎｇｓ　ｄｂｙａｎｇｓ ｒｇｙａ ｍｔｓｈｏ）传》的作者阿旺多尔济（ｎｇａｇ　ｄｂａｎｇ　ｒｄｏ ｒｊｅ）的生平事迹作了较为系统的叙述。作者从比较多的蒙、藏、汉文献中找出有关阿旺多尔济的零散记载,把它们按年代顺序整理汇编,从而比较完整地描述了 他一生中的重要活动。这对研究六世达赖喇嘛和《仓央嘉措传》一书及其作者,有 一定的参考价值。