How do policy levers shape the quality of a national health system?

Poor quality of care may have a detrimental effect on access and take-up and can become a serious barrier to the universality of health services. This consideration is of particular interest in view of the fact that health systems in many countries must address a growing public-sector deficit and respond to increasing pressures due to COVID-19 and aging population, among other factors. In line with a rapidly emerging literature, we focus on patient satisfaction as a proxy for quality of health care. Drawing on rich longitudinal and cross-sectional data for Spain and multilevel estimation techniques, we show that in addition to individual level differences, policy levers (such as public health spending and the patient-doctor ratio, in particular) exert a considerable influence on the quality of a health care system. Our results suggest that policymakers seeking to enhance the quality of care should be cautious when compromising the level of health resources, and in particular, health personnel, as a response to economic downturns in a sector that traditionally had insufficient human resources in many countries, which have become even more evident in the light of the current health crisis. Additionally, we provide evidence that the increasing reliance on the private health sector may be indicative of inefficiencies in the public system and/or the existence of features of private insurance which are deemed important by patients.     

局部平稳部分线性面板数据模型的统计推断

部分线性模型是一类非常重要的半参数回归模型,由于它既含有参数部分又含有非参数部分,与常规的线性模型相比具有更强的适应性和解释能力。文章研究带有局部平稳协变量的固定效应部分线性面板数据模型的统计推断。首先提出一个两阶段估计方法得到模型中未知参数和非参数函数的估计,并证明估计量的渐近性质,然后运用不变原理构造出非参数函数的一致置信带,最后通过数值模拟研究和实例分析验证了该方法的有效性。     

民办幼儿园教师专业素养培训方式实验研究

随着现代教育的发展，提升幼儿园教师专业素养已成为促进学前教育发展的必然要求。以探究民办幼儿园教师专业素养为视角，提出通过干预行为提升教师专业素养水平的构想。实验随机选取成都市某民办幼儿园的20名教师为实验组，再选取与其办园环境、办园背景相似的另一所民办幼儿园的20名教师为对照组，对实验园教师的专业理念与师德、专业知识、专业能力3个维度进行干预。实验结果表明：与对照园相比，实验园教师的专业能力提升显著；与实验园实验前后相比，教师在专业知识、专业能力维度及专业素养总体水平方面均有提升。对教师培训的具体建议为：（1）单一与混合相结合的培训方式对提升民办幼儿园教师专业素养总体水平有现实意义；（2）民办幼儿园教师专业知识的提升需理论培训与自主学习相结合；（3）专家"现场诊断-指导式"培训方式对提升民办幼儿园教师专业能力有显著作用。综上，建议民办幼儿园在了解本园教师专业素养水平的基础上，针对教师专业素养的不同方面，分别采取不同的有效培训方式。     

Squashed dreams and rare breeds: ableism and the arbiters of life and death

The week beginning 29 June 2015 is not just historic for the closure of the Independent Living Fund in the United Kingdom, but for me was the week they decided that my life is not worth investing in; they being NHS England, NICE and, with them, the Department of Health. They chose not to support the enzyme replacement therapy that has been not only keeping me alive, but giving me a quality of life – enabling me to return to finish my Disability Studies PhD exploring how Christian leaders explain disability, where ethics have become the main topic, and to rebuild my career – or so I thought.     

从主权国家的兴衰看权力博弈形态的转型

传统的国际关系理论,无论是现实主义、自由主义、建构主义还是科学行为主义理论,都是把主权国家抽象成一个统一的国际关系行为体。这一行为主体有一致的利益,也自然要有一致的对外政策目标和手段。在20世纪,尤其是在两次世界大战和冷战期间,这一概念抽象是非常准确的。但冷战结束以后,尤其是进入21世纪以后,这一概念抽象逐渐与国际关系的现实相违背。一方面,国家综合实力并不能直接转化为具体领域的竞争优势;另一方面,很多国家,包括超级大国在内,其对外政策的主要阻力可能不是所谓的竞争对手,而是其国内不同的利益集团。这导致传统的国际关系理论,从假设到概念和推理层面,都已经无法解释和预测今天的世界,而权力小博弈理论可以为认识多元复杂互动博弈时代的国际关系提供一个新的解释框架。     

论贤相伊尹的个人素质及其形成

伊尹作为中国历史上第一位贤相,其突出的个人素质表现在精于至味之理、精通耕作之道、创制治病汤液几方面,即懂得如何吃饭、种地和治病。这正是广大民众最为关心的事情,也是治理内政极其关键的因素,只有这三件事做得好,才可能完成"祀与戎"等国家大事。如此全面素质的形成,与其丰富的人生经历和勤于思索有关。     

Testing equality of two normal covariance matrices with monotone missing data

Abstract

The problem of testing equality of two multivariate normal covariance matrices is considered. Assuming that the incomplete data are of monotone pattern, a quantity similar to the Likelihood Ratio Test Statistic is proposed. A satisfactory approximation to the distribution of the quantity is derived. Hypothesis testing based on the approximate distribution is outlined. The merits of the test are investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. Monte Carlo studies indicate that the test is very satisfactory even for moderately small samples. The proposed methods are illustrated using an example.     

国家级教学名师的优秀品质及其养成

通过对5位国家级教学名师的自述报告进行三级编码和主题凝练，研究发现国家级教学名师作为教师队伍的杰出代表，在其专业发展过程中养成了许多优秀品质。例如：教学方面注重实践、考虑周全，师德方面以德施教、追求卓越，科研方面以教带研、实现创新。国家级教学名师优秀品质的养成通常经历了漫长而曲折的过程，不仅需要精神与物质力量的共同推动，还需要家庭、学校和社会各环境要素的相互促进，以及社会取向养成方式和个人取向养成方式的互相配合。深入探究国家级教学名师的优秀品质及其养成之道，可以为教师专业发展提供借鉴与启示。     

Interval estimation for conformance proportions of multiple quality characteristics

A conformance proportion is an important and useful index to assess industrial quality improvement. Statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion are usually required not only to perform statistical significance tests, but also to provide useful information for determining practical significance. In this article, we propose approaches for constructing statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion of multiple quality characteristics. Under the assumption that the variables of interest are distributed with a multivariate normal distribution, we develop an approach based on the concept of a fiducial generalized pivotal quantity (FGPQ). Without any distribution assumption on the variables, we apply some confidence interval construction methods for the conformance proportion by treating it as the probability of a success in a binomial distribution. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated through detailed simulation studies. The results reveal that the simulated coverage probability (cp) for the FGPQ-based method is generally larger than the claimed value. On the other hand, one of the binomial distribution-based methods, that is, the standard method suggested in classical textbooks, appears to have smaller simulated cps than the nominal level. Two alternatives to the standard method are found to maintain their simulated cps sufficiently close to the claimed level, and hence their performances are judged to be satisfactory. In addition, three examples are given to illustrate the application of the proposed methods.     

川东北地区须家河组二段储层差异性分析

随着勘探程度的深入，为了扩大四川盆地天然气勘探领域、寻找新的勘探接替区，四川盆地的勘探区域由盆内逐渐向盆缘延伸。在这种背景下，川东北地区须家河组二段相继取得新的勘探成果，但在勘探开发过程中逐渐暴露了诸如区块之间气井产能差异大，储层的碎屑组分、结构及厚度、物性、孔隙结构差异明显等问题，制约了勘探开发的步伐。针对上述问题，根据岩芯观察描述、分析化验资料及测井解释成果，从沉积、成岩方面入手，对比剖析了川东北龙岗和营山地区须二段储层特征的差异性及其成因，认为远离物源区和高能水体的反复淘洗是造成储层差异性的首要因素，强烈的压实作用和多期石英加大对储层差异性起关键作用，自生绿泥石衬边胶结和长石选择性溶蚀最终决定了储层差异性。从而解释了气藏勘探开发中遇到的诸多问题，对有效指导该区的下一步勘探开发工作具有重要意义。