Fuzzy sets in nonparametric Bayes regression

A simple Bayesian approach to nonparametric regression is described using fuzzy sets and membership functions. Membership functions are interpreted as likelihood functions for the unknown regression function, so that with the help of a reference prior they can be transformed to prior density functions. The unknown regression function is decomposed into wavelets and a hierarchical Bayesian approach is employed for making inferences on the resulting wavelet coefficients.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/074921708000000084 the IMS Collections (http://www.imstat.org/publications/imscollections.htm) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Career Officers and Political Appointees in American Diplomacy: Contending for Diplomatic Positions through Boundary Work

American Political and Economic SeriesAmerican diplomacy has long included a larger contingent of non-career appointees than is found in many other countries' diplomatic corps. Since the 1950s, successive White Houses have allocated about 30% of ambassadorships to individuals outside the diplomatic profession (so-called "political appointees"). These political appointments are a source of controversy within the career Foreign Service and in the national media. While news reports and academic studies remain focused on the formal boundary between career and non-career diplomats, this paper calls attention to the symbolic boundary determining the legitimacy of participants in American diplomacy. I argue that, in their attempt to secure their access to diplomatic positions, career members of the Foreign Service and political appointees compete for the social recognition of their respective "boundary work", that is to say, the symbolic boundaries that they respectively produce through their discourse and practices and that differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate diplomats. On the one hand, career diplomats try to protect their dominant position through turf claims establishing restrictive distinctions, based on quantitative and qualitative criteria, between legitimate and illegitimate political appointees. On the other hand, political appointees try to carve out a place for themselves by promoting less restrictive selection criteria for diplomatic appointments while at the same time downplaying the formal distinction between career and non-career practitioners. Methodologically, the paper builds on interviews with members of the Foreign Service and political appointees as well as on written primary sources.Alors que la plupart des pays industrialisés s'appuient essentiellement sur les services de diplomates de carrière pour leur représentation à l'étranger, les États-Unis ont pour tradition d'allouer environ 30% de leurs postes d'ambassadeur à des individus n'ayant pas fait carrière au sein du service diplomatique national. Ces nominations politiques sont une source de controverse dans les médias et parmi les diplomates faisant carrière au sein du Service extérieur américain. Tandis que le traitement médiatique et les quelques études universitaires sur la question demeurent concentrés sur la frontière formelle entre diplomates de carrière et diplomates non permanents, ce texte attire l'attention sur la frontière symbolique déterminant la légitimité des acteurs diplomatiques américains. Je soutiens que cette frontière symbolique est l'enjeu de luttes entre les membres de carrière du Service extérieur et les praticiens non issus de la profession; les deux groupes font compétition pour la reconnaissance sociale de différentes frontières symboliques entre diplomates légitimes et illégitimes. D'une part, les diplomates de carrière tentent de protéger leur position dominante en faisant la promotion de frontières restrictives sur la base de critères qualitatifs et quantitatifs. D'autre part, les diplomates non permanents tentent de légitimer leur rôle en promouvant des critères moins restrictifs et en minimisant la distinction formelle entre eux et les membres du Service extérieur. Sur le plan méthodologique, ce texte s'appuie sur des entretiens avec les deux groupes de diplomates à l'étude et sur diverses sources primaires écrites.CÉPÉA, Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québe

À la recherche d'une protection efficace contre les inspections abusives de l'État : la Charte québécoise, la Charte canadienne et le Bill of Rights américain

Many laws in Canada and Québec grant rights of entry to inspectors responsible for looking after the proper operation of structures implemented by the State. From heavily regulated industrials to permit holders and simple citizens, everyone can expect someday to be paid a visit by an inspector. The question arises, however, as to whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms may be resorted to so as to exercise control over possible abuses resulting from such inspections. These Charters provide security for the person against the State in these areas whether through the right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure, the right to a private life or to the inviolability of the home. However, the means by which such rights shall be adequately protected are somewhat uncertain. Should this be done by the granting of an administrative warrant issued ex parte as in the United States ? Or by granting the same kind of warrant in the presence of both parties ? The granting of administrative subpoenas also may be a solution to be considered. But for both legal and administrative reasons, it seems that the best control to exercise over these entries would come from drafting well-defined powers of inspection into the law granting them, which would provide an adequate protection of human rights and freedoms

Struggles over Legitimate Diplomathood : the United States Foreign Service, the State Department and Other Government Agencies in Contemporary American Diplomacy

Au cours du dernier demi-siècle, le nombre d'acteurs gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux jouant un rôle de représentation politique et de gouvernance à l'échelle internationale s'est considérablement accru. Malgré cette évolution, les chercheurs en Relations internationales tendent à perpétuer la distinction conventionnelle entre les « diplomates » - principalement associés aux représentants de l'État issus des ministères des affaires étrangères - et d'autres types d'acteurs internationaux, qu'ils soient gouvernementaux ou non étatiques. Cette thèse problématise cette distinction en étudiant de façon inductive comment la « frontière » entre diplomates et d'autres acteurs internationaux est socialement construite. Mobilisant un cadre théorique inspiré de la sociologie de Pierre Bourdieu et d'autres auteurs (Max Weber, Andrew Abbott, Michèle Lamont), la thèse avance l'argument que les diplomates se constituent et se reproduisent comme groupe de statut à travers des luttes sociales et symboliques. Ces luttes impliquent la (re)production de distinctions symboliques (frontières symboliques) et la revendication du contrôle légitime d'un ensemble de tâches (revendications juridictionnelles). L'argument est démontré à travers une étude de cas de la diplomatie américaine contemporaine et s'appuie sur une trentaine d'entretiens semi-dirigés et un ensemble de sources écrites primaires et secondaires. La thèse montre que le corps d'agents du Service extérieur cherche à se reproduire comme groupe de statut de la diplomatie américaine à travers la (re)production de frontières symboliques et de revendications juridictionnelles vis-à-vis trois autres groupes d'acteurs: la fonction publique régulière du Département d'État; les fonctionnaires de celui-ci issus de nominations politiques (e.g. ambassadeurs politiques); et les fonctionnaires des autres agences ou bureaucraties du gouvernement fédéral. Les agents du Service extérieur reproduisent également des frontières symboliques et sociales entre eux, et donc des hiérarchies informelles au regard du statut de diplomate, en fonction de leur champ de spécialisation. À l'encontre de ces hiérarchies internes, l'esprit de corps du groupe est constamment en travail grâce notamment au rôle joué par l'association professionnelle du Service, qui met l'accent sur l'identité du corps comme élite professionnelle et réclame en leur nom un certain nombre de monopoles dans la gestion et la conduite de la diplomatie américaine. Les efforts des agents du Service extérieur et de leurs organisations visant à la reproduction du corps comme groupe de statut apparaissent partiellement réussis. Ils parviennent dans une large mesure à reproduire leur domination sociale et symbolique par rapport aux fonctionnaires réguliers du Département d'État, mais leurs revendications juridictionnelles sont contestées par le personnel issu de nominations politiques et par les fonctionnaires d'autres bureaucraties gouvernementales. En somme, la thèse contribue à la compréhension, au sein de la discipline des Relations internationales, des processus sociaux et symboliques qui constituent les diplomates, groupe d'acteurs clés du système international.The last half-century has been characterized by the multiplication of state and non-state actors involved in political representation and governance at the international or global level. Despite this evolution, International Relations scholars tend to perpetuate the conventional distinction between "diplomats" - mainly thought of as state representatives from foreign ministries - and other types of international actors. This thesis problematizes such distinction by looking inductively at how "diplomathood" is constituted and reproduced in practice. Combining theoretical insights from Pierre Bourdieu and other sociologists (Max Weber, Andrew Abbott, Michèle Lamont), I argue that diplomats create and reproduce themselves as a status group through symbolic and social struggles. These struggles over legitimate diplomathood involve the (re)production of symbolic boundaries (boundary work) and jurisdictional claims, whereby agents claim legitimate control of a set of tasks. Diplomathood is contingent on the social legitimacy conferred to these boundaries and jurisdictional claims. The argument is demonstrated through a case study of American diplomacy, building on over thirty semi-directed interviews, notably with Foreign Service officers (FSOs), and a set of primary and secondary written sources. The dissertation shows that the American corps of FSOs seeks to constitute and reproduce itself as a status group of United States diplomacy through boundary work and jurisdictional claims vis-à-vis three other groups of foreign affairs actors: State Department civil servants; political appointees as ambassadors or domestic officials of the State Department; and public servants from other agencies or bureaucracies of the federal government. FSOs from different functional specializations also reproduce informal social and symbolic hierarchies among themselves with respect to diplomathood. Against these internal hierarchies, which put political officers in a dominant position, Foreign Service organizations (e.g. the Service's professional association) foster the esprit de corps of the group by emphasizing its collective identity as an elite corps of professional diplomats and by claiming control in its name of a number of diplomatic and foreign policy tasks. On balance, the efforts of FSOs and their organizations aimed at constituting the former as a status group of US diplomacy appear partly successful. They have so far managed to reproduce their social and symbolic domination vis-à-vis civil servants of the State Department. However, their jurisdictional claims are contested by political appointees and public servants from other agencies involved in US foreign relations. In sum, the thesis contributes to knowledge, within the discipline of International Relations, on ongoing social and symbolic processes that constitute diplomats, arguably one of the most important social groups in world politics

Alien Registration- Angers, Alfred (Lewiston, Androscoggin County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/30310/thumbnail.jp

Sexual Health and HPV Vaccine Conversations: Enhancing Provider Communication for Young Women

Young women (ages 18-26) face a multitude of difficulties when choosing to disclose information regarding their sexual health to their provider. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quality of patient-provider communication and the patient’s likelihood to receive the HPV vaccine with an explicit recommendation. Interviews were conducted with 11 young women (M = 21.36; SD = 2.46), with the majority identified as Seniors (n = 4; 36.4%), non-Hispanic (n = 10; 90.9%) and White (n = 9, 81.8%). Interviews were also conducted with two providers, one male and one female (M = 43.5; SD = 7.78), both who identified as non-Hispanic and White, to cross-check the data. Young women and providers were recruited from the Northeast and interviews ranged from 10-30 minutes in length. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed between two researchers following the Grounded Theory coding process (Klose & Seifert, 2017). The collection of qualitative data allowed for a greater understanding of young women’s perspective of their providers, as well as factors that influence their willingness to share sexual health information and receive the HPV vaccine. Suggestions for improvements in communication by providers on sexual health and the HPV vaccine with young women are discussed throughout the research paper