Physiologically Based Liver Modeling and Risk Assessment

Because of the inherent complexity of biological systems, there is often a choice between a number of apparently equally applicable physiologically based models to describe uptake and metabolism processes in toxicology or risk assessment. These models may fit the particular data sets of interest equally well, but may give quite different parameter estimates or predictions under different (extrapolated) conditions. Such competing models can be discriminated by a number of methods, including potential refutation by means of strategic experiments, and their ability to suitably incorporate all relevant physiological processes. For illustration, three currently used models for steady-state hepatic elimination--the venous equilibration model, the parallel tube model, and the distributed sinusoidal perfusion model--are reviewed and compared with particular reference to their application in the area of risk assessment. The ability of each of the models to describe and incorporate such physiological processes as protein binding, precursor-metabolite relations and hepatic zones of elimination, capillary recruitment, capillary heterogeneity, and intrahepatic shunting is discussed. Differences between the models in hepatic parameter estimation, extrapolation to different conditions, and interspecies scaling are discussed, and criteria for choosing one model over the others are presented. In this case, the distributed model provides the most general framework for describing physiological processes taking place in the liver, and has so far not been experimentally refuted, as have the other two models. These simpler models may, however, provide useful bounds on parameter estimates and on extrapolations and risk assessments.     

精英化招生:教师培养精英化的关键

在高等教育大众化背景下,精英化教师教育是更具时代特色的教师教育观念和更高层次的教师教育模式,它已经成为当下国际教师教育发展的新趋势和我国教师教育发展的新诉求。精英化招生是实现教师教育精英化的前提条件,是开启提升教师教育质量大门的钥匙,在教师教育中起着基础而关键的作用。教师教育精英化招生主要回答的是"招谁"谁来招"怎么招"这三个问题,也就是要确定招生对象、明确招生主体、完善招生办法。这三个问题的有效解决,为提升教师教育质量、实现教师教育精英化提供了可能与条件。     

The ‘affective security curriculum’: breeding JBs through the marriage of the academic and the jingoistic

How does the US recruit its citizen spies used to maintain and proliferate coercive power? I use an interdisciplinary approach and a framework of affect theory to argue that there is an ‘affective security curriculum’ (ASC) that assists in explaining the tendencies towards jingoism used in the recruitment and indoctrination of students – as future security workers – in certain academic disciplines. The ASC is precisely the phenomenon that works to construct this expert class and is produced by order words, the most crucial of which is ‘terrorism’, as well as larger cultural norms linked to neoliberalism that have achieved near total dominance since the 1980s. The ASC works by intensifying the (in)ability to act for those in its domain. The necessity of linguistically proficient security workers to the US’ hegemonic project makes this a question of considerable political importance. The ASC is a different approach to answering questions of how US hegemony is maintained. Whereas positivist research agendas, such as content analysis, and postpositivist approaches, such as critical discourse analysis, certainly have their uses (and to which my notion of ASC is indebted), paradigms such as these fail to focus on the engendering processes at work vis-à-vis the expert class, without which the discursive frames such methodologies analyse would simply dissipate. My overarching purpose in this paper is to develop the concept of the ASC, its quiddity, and to present at least an incipient methodology for analysing its critical duties. As my primary intent is to introduce and conceptualize the theoretical framework of the affective security curriculum, the applied segment of this endeavour will be relatively brief – and is designed as a primer for further research.     

汉代政府公务“招募”活动研究

汉代社会中广泛存在着雇佣关系,此种关系也被汉政府以＂招募＂的形式大量利用。除募兵外,汉政府在许多经济、政治活动中采用了＂招募＂的形式,像募凶杀人、募人出使、募人除害等。其薪酬除金钱给付外,还有封王赐爵、赐田宅、赦免罪行等。其有着自己的特点,如带有强制性、种类多样化、报酬多元性及非等价性、主体范围特别大。它们保证了政务活动的顺利实施,加强了社会的稳定,促进了社会经济的发展,优化了社会资源的配置。     

Math-oriented fields of study and the race gap in graduation likelihoods at elite colleges

This study examines the relationship between chosen field of study and the race gap in college completion among students at elite colleges. Fields of study are characterized by varying institutional arrangements, which impact the academic performance of students in higher education. If the effect of fields on graduation likelihoods is unequal across racial groups, then this may account for part of the overall race gap in college completion. Results from a large sample of students attending elite colleges confirm that fields of study influence the graduation likelihoods of all students, above and beyond factors such as students’ academic and social backgrounds. This effect, however, is asymmetrical: relative to white students, the negative effect of the institutional arrangements of math-oriented fields on graduation likelihood is greater for black students. Therefore, the race gap is larger within math-oriented fields than in other fields, which contributes to the overall race gap in graduation likelihoods at these selective colleges. These results indicate that a nontrivial share of the race gap in college completion is generated after matriculation, by the environments that students encounter in college. Consequently, policy interventions that target field of study environments can substantially mitigate racial disparities in college graduation rates.     

Negotiating Tensions between Methodology and Procedural Ethics

In this commentary, I consider what can go wrong in research when tensions arise between methodology and procedural ethics. I recount difficulties negotiating and implementing a participant recruitment strategy during my doctoral research project, which aimed to explore the experiences of people affected by dementia in the United Kingdom who were disengaged from services. To access this hard-to-reach population, I intended to adopt an informal recruitment strategy, snowball sampling from personal contacts and striking up conversations in public places. The procedural ethics committee were unhappy with this approach, deeming it potentially coercive. They suggested a more formal recruitment strategy enacted via emailing community organisations and churches. This approach entailed practical consequences that ultimately weakened the study sample, data and findings. This case raises questions about the negotiation of tensions between methodology and procedural ethics in gerontological research.     

The Black male teacher: a 10-year content analysis of empirical research

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to characterize the last decade of Black male teacher empirical research. The present study aimed to elucidate the most salient themes, commonalities, and departures in the literature on Black male educators. A quantitative content analysis was performed to systematically characterize the research trends present in this line of inquiry. The data were collected using an inductively generated coding scheme. A sample of n = 31 studies were identified and examined from articles published between 2006 and 2016. Then frequency data were computed to characterize the data under investigation. The study results indicate that Black male teacher research is nuanced and burgeoning, despite several lapses in article production. The results of this study contribute to the literature on Black male teacher recruitment, retention, and experiences by providing a survey of current research trends that suggest areas of strength, as well as challenges warranting further consideration.     

南疆基层社会的精英互动

本文根据帕累托提出的广义"精英"定义,将南疆基层社会的精英分子分为政治精英、道德精英和经济精英三种类型,并使用实地调查得到的资料和案例分析了这三种精英在当地实际社会运行过程中的互动方式,同时探讨了国家政权、乡村干部和传统宗教人士在基层社区民众生活中各自发挥的作用。     

How far merit selection? Social stratification and the labour market1

The question of how societies allocate occupational positions and subsequent rewards has long been of interest to sociologists. According to one influential theory, the needs of modern industrial societies and economies demand that high-level and functionally important occupational positions are allocated according to meritocratic principles. I argue that, ultimately, employers get the final say about which characteristics are rewarded in the labour market. In order to examine which skills and attributes are required by employers for particular occupations I analyse data drawn from a content analysis of c.5000 British newspaper job advertisements. The results show that both merit and non-merit characteristics are requested by employers in job advertisements, even for occupations falling within the higher classes. I also find evidence that employers have similar requirements for similar occupations, cross-cutting class boundaries.     

中、韩两国大学自主招生政策的比较研究

中韩两国的历史文化以及价值观存在很大的相似性,因此,两国的大学自主招生政策在政策性质、政策价值取向、适用范围以及政策的实际效果方面存在较大的可比较性。而正是两者之间的差异性启示我们：中国的自主招生政策应该坚持统一高考以保证公正性,扩大自主招生以保证多样性;实现大学与中学“双向”联动改革,建立综合多元化的录取机制;理顺政府、高校与社会的关系,构建高校自主招生的监督机制。