Network diversity,contact diversity,and status attainment

We propose that diversity in social relations measured by network diversity and cross-race/cross-gender contacts affords job seekers higher contact status that in turn brings better status attainment outcomes. Controlling for traditional strength of tie measures and other confounders, the empirical study confirms that (1) network diversity in race and gender are significantly associated with actual utilization of cross-race/cross-gender contacts in job search, (2) use of cross-race/cross-gender contacts is significantly related to higher contact status for nonwhite and female job seekers, but (3) contact status (activated social capital) partially provides jobs of higher SEI scores for white job seekers. Similarly, male job seekers obtain better jobs through female contacts, but the same does not apply to female job seekers. These findings show relative return deficits of social capital experienced by racial minorities and females even when they exert extra effort to obtain heterogeneous social relations and contacts.     

Old-Age Homes and Services

Summary

Although generational co-residence continues to be the dominant form of housing and care for Indian elders and only 1% live in old-age homes, the numbers and types of these homes are growing. This article describes a recent study of 48 old-age homes in different parts of India, approximately 12%-15% of all homes. They included the more traditional free homes for the aged poor who have no family to care for them and the more recent for-pay homes for the middle-class. A small number of day-care centers, also a new phenomenon, were investigated. Two- to three-hour structured interviews were conducted with managers, supervisors, and trustees, augmented by a checklist of environmental and neighborhood features. Most homes house small numbers of residents, have common spaces for dining, TV and prayer, have access to medical care and transportation, provide meals and some assistance with activities of daily living, and are open to all castes. All are run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), only one-third with any government assistance. Free homes tend to be bigger and older, serve non-aged clients, have less privacy and emphasize occupational therapy and income-generating activities, and are more like board-and-care homes. For-pay homes have more privacy and western-style amenities, focus on local community outreach and provide fewer meals. The gradual increase of all old-age homes has given rise to debates about their appropriate roles in Indian society and about their quality. Government grants to NGOs for homes and day-care centers (often considered more appropriate support for elders) are limited. With the National Policy on Older Persons looking to NGOs and village councils to be the primary sources of non-familial aged care, several ways to build their capacity are suggested.     

Who Attends Senior Centers?

Abstract

Logistic regression analysis was used to compare users and non-users of senior centers. Variables assessing linkage to the service system were more significant predictors of senior center utilization than predisposing, enabling, or need variables. More specifically, users of senior centers were older and more likely to live in rural areas. They also had more social contacts, better mental health, and fewer ADL problems. Senior center users were also more aware of specific service agencies, more likely to consult formal resources in making service decisions, and more likely to have used other services.     

浅析北宋时期中日交往中的"僧侣现象"

北宋时,中日之间几乎没有派遣正式的政府使节,但在相互交往中两国的僧侣起到了媒介作用.本文首先考察了北宋时中日僧侣交往的概况,其次着重分析"僧侣现象"的政治背景、经济原因以及日僧入宋目的.北宋中日僧侣交往,改变了宋人对日本的看法,也进一步促进了中日双方的文化交流,影响极为深远.     

Evaluation of strategies to mitigate contagion spread using social network characteristics

Computer simulation is an effective tool for assessing mitigation strategies, with recent trends concentrating on agent-based techniques. These methods require high computational efforts in order to simulate enough scenarios for statistical significance. The population individuals and their contacts determined by agent-based simulations form a social network. For some network structures it is possible to gain high accuracy estimates of contagion spread based on the connection structure of the network, an idea that is utilized in this work. A representative social network constructed from the 2006 census of the Greater Toronto Area (Ontario, Canada) of 5 million individuals in 1.8 million households is used to demonstrate the efficacy of our approach. We examine the effects of six mitigation strategies with respect to their ability to contain disease spread as indicated by pre- and post-vaccination reproduction numbers, mean local clustering coefficients and degree distributions. One outcome of the analysis provides evidence supporting the design of mitigation strategies that aim to fragment the population into similarly sized components. While our analysis is framed in the context of pandemic disease spread, the approach is applicable to any contagion such as computer viruses, rumours, social trends, and so on.     

从《五体清文鉴》满语构词附加成分——tu看蒙古语对满语的影响

该文认为满语构词附加成分-tu很可能来源于蒙古书面语，是在满蒙书面语的相互接触和影响过程中由蒙古语借入满语的。由此，可以看出蒙古书面语对满语产生了很大的影响。     

钼酸钙晶体中点缺陷的电子结构研究

运用以密度泛函理论为基础的相对论性离散变分方法(DV-Xα),模拟计算了完整的和含氧空位的钼酸钙(CaMoO_4)晶体的电子结构,得到了含有F、F~ 心的CaMoO_4晶体电子态密度分布以及它们可能产生的光学跃迁模式.计算结果表明,含F、F~ 心的CaMoO_4晶体的禁带宽度明显变窄,F、F~ 心的能级出现在禁带中,利用过渡态理论计算得到其向Mo的4 d轨道发生光学跃迁,跃迁能量值分别为1.93,2.03 eV.利用提拉法生长的CaMoO_4晶体呈现蓝色的本质原因是F、F~ 心在黄红区产生比较强的吸收.     

How interrank contacts benefit masters in a Buddhist monastery: Comparing the effects of ascribed Dharma titles and perceived status

Social interactions within modern Buddhist communities reflect two hierarchical rules. First, the Dharma titles ordained to specific masters affect how they interact with one another. Second, as more Buddhist organizations adapt to secular society, their members also network along nonreligious hierarchies. To capture how such changing social hierarchies shape masters’ social networks, this study examines the “status effects” embedded in social interactions within Foothills, a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan, based on contact diaries recorded over twenty-eight months. Multilevel analyses that focus on 102,254 contacts nested in 582 interpersonal ties among 53 Buddhist masters indicate that nearly all pairings of the ascribed Dharma titles had significant effects on emotional gain, and perceived status was not significant. In addition, contact with the highest ascribed title was clearly more important for instrumental gain, whereas the pattern of the perceived status effect was ambiguous. While the modern monastery has incorporated task-oriented work from secular society, the ordained titles continue to generate more profound effects than perceived status.     

Mixing patterns between age groups in social networks

We present a method for estimating transmission matrices that describe the mixing and the probability of infection between age groups. Transmission matrices can be used to estimate age-dependent forces of infection in age-structured, compartmental models for the study of infectious diseases. We analyze the social network generated by the synthetic population of Portland and extract mixing patterns. Our results show that the mixing within the population consists of two groups, children and adults. Children interact most frequently with other children close to their own age, while adults interact with a wider range of age groups and the durations of typical adult contacts are shorter than typical contacts between children. Furthermore, the transmission matrix shows that children are more likely to acquire infection than adults.     

Kosovo: Phased Independence?

At the end of May 2005, UNMIK head Jessen-Petersen addressed the UN Security Council presenting a generally positive picture of the situation in Kosovo. Now, a special envoy of the UN Secretary General will prepare a full-length report by September 2005 that addresses whether the most important human rights and democratic standards in Kosovo have been fulfilled. It is expected that this report will ascertain that the necessary progress has been made so that, as early as autumn of 2005, the UN Security Council can give the green light for starting negotiations on Kosovo's final status. Whether the carrot of EU membership can be dangled as the most enticing political incentive for Belgrade and Prishtina is questionable in light of the increasing weariness within the EU over expansion.