乐观取向、社会服务使用与社会融合：香港新移民的一项探索性研究

本文基于对285名香港新移民的调查发现乐观取向、社会服务的使用是影响社会融合的重要因素,高乐观取向、更多使用社会服务的新移民社会融合程度更高。论文提出了相应的政策和服务建议。     

Differences in meconium stained amniotic fluid in an Australian population: A retrospective study

Background

Meconium stained amniotic fluid commonly occurs postdates (?>40 weeks gestation) indicating fetal maturity. Previous literature indicates that different ethnicities mature at different rates.

A Scale on Beliefs about Children's Adjustment in Same-Sex Families: Reliability and Validity

In this study, we developed a new instrument named Scale Beliefs about Children's Adjustment on Same-Sex Families (SBCASSF). The scale was developed to assess of the adults' beliefs about negative impacts on children who are raised by same-sex parents. An initial pool of 95 items was generated by the authors based on a review of the literature on homophobia and feedback from several focus groups. Research findings, based on a sample of 212 university students (mean age 22 years, SD?=?8.28), supported the reliability and validity of the scale. The final versions of the SBCASSF included items reflecting the following two factors: individual opposition (α = .87) and normative opposition (α = .88). Convergent validity of the scale is demonstrated by predictable correlations with beliefs about the cause of same-sex sexual orientation and the support for gay and lesbian rights. Our study reveals a strong positive association between high scores on SBCASSF and beliefs that the origin of same-sex sexual orientation is learned and opposition to gay and lesbian rights.     

Immigration and the public sector: Income effects for the native population in Sweden

The immigrants' age structure and labour market situation are major determinants for their net contribution to the public sector. During the 50s, 60s and the 70s the immigrants' net contributions gave positive income effects for the native Swedes. Nowadays there are negative income effects due to the deteriorating employment situation among the immigrants. The yearly positive or negative income effects have at most been 1–2% of the gross national product. A change in the immigrants' employment rate by 1 percentage unit will change their yearly net contribution to the public sector by 0.1% of the gross national product. Received: 2 February 1996/Accepted: 28 July 1998     

社会网络与社会融合对农村流动妇女初婚的影响——来自上海浦东的调查发现

本文利用“浦东新区外来人口调查”数据,定量研究了社会网络、社会融合以及流动因素对妇女的理想婚龄、实际婚龄和初次流动后5年内结婚风险的影响。研究发现,社会交往、居住环境和在城市的滞留时间对妇女的初婚年龄均存在显著影响。本文的研究有助于理解农村流动人口初婚观念与行为转变的过程、途径和机理。     

Yearly variation in recruitment and its effect on population dynamics inYoldia notabilis (Mollusca: Bivalvia), analyzed using projection matrix model

Summary Long-term variation in recruitment was estimated by constructing projection matrices for a marine bivalve,Yoldia notabilis, at two stations in Otsuchi Bay, northeastern Japan, and the effects of its variation on population dynamics were examined using a simple matrix model. The matrix model was developed from the Leslie matrix, in which the population growth rate λ was expressed as a function of recruitment rater ₀. The equilibrium recruitment rater _s, or the recruitment rate required to maintain population at constant size (λ=1), was expressed by the reciprocal of the reproductive value of a newly recruited individual. The estimates ofr _s for the field population were lower at the shallower station than at the deeper station, reflecting higher survivorship and fecundity. Past recruitment rate estimated both by the field samplings for 3 years and by the back-calculation from the current age structure for over 10 years showed large yearly variation, ranging between 0 and 58.6×10⁻⁴. The estimates were larger thanr _s, and hence, large enough to increase population size (λ>1) only in approximately one-third of the estimated years. This suggests that the population has been maintained by occasional successful recruitment occurring once every few years.     

Growing old and staying young: population policy in an ageing closed economy

This paper analyses the relation between public pensions, fertility and child care in a closed-economy overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility. It is shown that raising a child involves two social externalities and that it is optimal to introduce child allowances if the government redistributes income from the young to the old. The optimal child allowance rises when longevity increases. If the costs of raising children depend positively on the wage, a third externality arises and the returns to savings should be taxed.

Grasping the meaning of integration in an era of (forced) mobility: ethnographic insights from an informal refugee camp

ABSTRACT

The European refugee ‘crisis’ changed the migration dynamics of many EU member states. As a result of this mass movement of refugees, the Western Balkan Route was formed. Along this way, temporary settlement camps were created to cater to the needs of people on the move. This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork that took place at the port of Piraeus (Athens, Greece) camp. Through insights from participant observation, it brings to the fore imaginaries of movement and inclusion in Central and North-Western European societies along with acts of temporary local integration as a result of arrested mobilities on the ground.     

Strong,healthy, energized: Striving for a healthy weight in an older lesbian population

The Office on Women’s Health funded five pilot healthy weight intervention studies for lesbian and bisexual (LB) women, which included a program called Strong. Healthy. Energized (SHE). SHE was a 12-session program, targeted toward LB women age 60 and older, which focused on exercise, including a pedometer to track steps; nutrition; stress management; and group discussions. The program enrolled 39 participants. Waist circumference decreased by 3.7% across the group (p < .01). Participants with the lowest one-third baseline step count saw a marked step increase. This intervention was effective in improving health behaviors and short-term health outcomes for older LB women.     

Use of quantitative ultrasound as bone mineral density evaluation in an Italian female population living with HIV: A real-life experience

This is a multicenter cross-sectional study where we aimed to detect the rate of osteopenia/osteoporosis in an HIV female population (WLWHIV) by means of “heel quantitative ultrasound” (QUS) measurement. We enrolled 273 patients, mean age 48.1 years, 36% menopausal, 96% on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Calcaneal measure of bone mass index by QUS revealed osteopenia and osteoporosis in 76 (27.8%) and 16 (5.9%) WLWHIV. Our data underline the correlation between low QUS parameters and traditional risk factors for osteoporosis rather than with cART exposure, thus suggesting the crucial importance of detection and correction of traditional risk factors for osteoporosis in WLWHIV.     

Communicating future water needs to an at-risk population: lessons learned following defeat of the Applewhite Dam and Reservoir Project in San Antonio,Texas

San Antonio, Texas, the seventh largest city in the United States, has experienced steady population growth, since the “boom” of the 1960s. Projected water shortages due to this growth were realized as early as the 1970s by city leaders and south-central Texas regional development decision makers. To reduce dependence on the already over-taxed, Edwards aquifer, a solution, the Applewhite Dam and Reservoir Project, was developed with wide acceptance by federal, state, and city leaders who regarded the project as a necessary measure for regional growth and development. However, opposition by taxpayer and environmental groups led to referendums of 1991 and 1994 in which voters blocked construction of the dam and reservoir leaving the city with limited options for water provision. This case study investigated the factors which led to a clear mismatch in communication between decision makers—those who were aware of the actual and quantifiable risk to the region in terms of reduced water supplies—and the general public, a population that did not have complete and/or adequate knowledge of their actual risk regarding future water shortages, nor, of solutions being developed, such as the Applewhite project. The findings from this case study indicate that when municipal leadership fails to adequately communicate risk regarding resource shortage to an affected public, as well as, openly planned solutions, that voters are likely to underestimate future impacts of water shortages, heed last-minute opposition, and reject long-standing, publicly proposed projects. The intent of this research is not to support either side in the Applewhite controversy, but to shed perspective on the process of adequately and effectively communicating future water needs to an at-risk population. Decision makers in cities across the United States who are faced with solving problems of limited resources needed by a large populace may be informed by the results of this research.