Policies on smoking in the casino workplace and their impact on smoking behavior among employees: Case study of casino workers in Macao

Exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) is a major health concern. This study sought to examine the smoking behaviors of casino workers in Macao, and explore how workplace smoking policies might affect that behavior. A majority of casino workers who smoked believed that exposure to SHS at work makes it harder to quit smoking, while over a quarter minded people smoking near them at work because of that reason. Over half of the workers believed that they would try to quit smoking if no-one was allowed to smoke in their workplace. The findings demonstrate how smoke-free casinos could lead to a healthier workforce, not just due to reduced exposure to dangerous chemicals in SHS, but also from the potential reduction in smoking among workers. The hospitality industry, and policy makers in government, should ensure that casinos, and their workforce, are not excluded from smoke-free legislation.     

LIBERTY BETWEEN THE LINES IN A STATIST AND MODERNIST AGE: UNFOLDING THE ADAM SMITH IN FRIEDRICH HAYEK

This article interprets F. A. Hayek as having been constrained by the statism and modernism of his times, and as writing in a way that obscured some of his central ideas. I suggest that between the lines we can see a focus on liberty understood hardily as others not messing with one's stuff– even though Hayek in The Constitution of Liberty defined liberty in ways that tended to obscure this hardy definition, and Hayek often used code words like ‘competition,’‘the market,’ and ‘spontaneous’ where ‘liberty’ or ‘freedom’ would have been plainer, albeit more offensive to the culture. Seeing the hardy definition of liberty between the lines in Hayek enables us to see his focus on the liberty principle and his case for a presumption of liberty. Such a reading of Hayek, I suggest, is true to Adam Smith, who expounded a central message that by and large the liberty principle holds, and that it deserves the presumption in our culture and politics.     

左手友情 右手爱情

一个起点的两条射线,只会越来越远。每个人都是一个起点,踏错了第一步,如果不懂得回首或是悔悟,成功只会越来越远。--前记     

手工艺类非物质文化遗产发展的困境与思路——以苏绣为例

传统手工艺类非物质文化遗产是非物质文化遗产中的一种重要分类。以苏绣为例,在其保护、传承与发展过程中,存在着保护意识淡薄、法律法规不完善、保护人才缺乏、传承机制不健全、宣传力度不够和保护资金的来源不足等问题。对手工艺类非物质文化遗产保护,要构建一个完善的保护机制,建设一个展览馆,做好保护传承人工作,以实现可持续发展。同时,要将传统手工艺类非物质文化遗产与旅游业相结合,最终实现手工艺类非物质文化遗产的开发。     

亚当·斯密“经济人假说”及其现实意义

"经济人假设"是西方主流经济学的基本前提,也是其核心概念之一。亚当·斯密提出,利己的经济人在市场即"看不见的手"的支配下,可以有效地促进社会整体利益的发展。在建立和完善社会主义市场经济的实践中,在社会主义理论经济学体系的建立和完善过程中,我们要对这一假设进行深入分析和研究,运用马克思主义经济理论加以审视和借鉴,以利于社会主义市场经济的健康发展。     

The Role of Durables Replacement and Second‐Hand Markets in a Business‐Cycle Model

Transactions of used durables are large and cyclical, but their interaction with purchases of new durables has been neglected in business‐cycle studies. I fill this gap by introducing a new business‐cycle model of consumer durables where households resell their goods on the second‐hand market and the production of new durables is affected by the supply of used goods. The model delivers three conclusions: Markups are smaller for goods that are more durable and more frequently replaced; markups are countercyclical for durables, resolving the comovement puzzle of Barsky, House, and Kimball (2007); and procyclical replacement demand amplifies durables spending.     

习俗元制度:另一只看不见的手

经济运行不仅受到市场机制这只看不见的手调节,而且还受到习俗元制度这另一只看不见的手的调节.从习俗与竞争发生作用的先后顺序来看,习俗比竞争更古老,起作用的时间更长.习俗元制度具有习俗的模糊性、可塑性与适应性、刚性与稳定性、广泛的群众性和外在的强制性以及默认性等特征.习俗元制度作为一种自发的内在制度安排,不仅存在于"习俗经济"之中,而且广泛存在于现代市场经济中.习俗元制度对于市场经济的运行具有重要作用,习俗元制度的实施机制主要有自我实施和第三方参与下的实施.     

Failures of the “Invisible Hand”

Despite many failures of the invisible hand both empirically and theoretically, it continues to be vigorously asserted and widely believed. We document the failures and explain why it continues to be asserted despite these failures.     

基于模糊控制的PLC在灵巧手控制中的开发

针对人手活动细节的研究,结合机器人机械灵巧手的动作需求,运用数据手套为输入端,基于模糊控制的PLC将数据手套的位置信息予以采集,加以逻辑运算便可实现对灵巧手的控制。试验结果表明,采用这种控制方案能够满足灵巧手运动轨迹动作的控制要求。     

Predictors of return to work and duration of absence following work-related hand injury

The aims of the study were to explore the situation and the potential determinants of return-to-work (RTW) and the absence duration following work-related hand injury, and to provide evidence for the future intervention strategy of improving RTW. A prospective cohort of workers with work-related hand injury from three selected hospitals in East China was followed up on the outcomes of RTW up to 8 months after discharge. Demographic and clinical data were collected during admission; economic factors, psychological factors and RTW outcomes were, respectively, investigated using a structured questionnaire via phone call after discharge from the hospitals in 0.5 month, 2 months, 4 months and 8 months. Univariate analysis and Cox regression model were used to examine the associations between potential determinants and outcomes of the RTW. Out of the 246 cases, 192 (78.1%) eventually returned to work with the median duration of the absence of 44.0 days during the 8-month follow-up. Factors from demographic, clinical, economic and psychological domains affected RTW in the univariate analyses. Receiving timely treatment at outpatient clinics, less serious injury, no tendon trauma and no skin loss were found to be significantly beneficial to RTW, while workers with the decreased monthly salary during absence and lower pre-injury salary were likely to take longer sick leave. Most of the workers successfully achieved RTW after work-related hand injury. Proper clinical treatment and rehabilitation, as well as economic and social support seem to have played vital roles in prompting RTW that should be prioritised for the intervention strategy.