Daily Inhalation Rate and Time‐Activity/Location Pattern in Japanese Preschool Children

Lack of data on daily inhalation rate and activity of children has been an issue in health risk assessment of air pollutants. This study aimed to obtain the daily inhalation rate and intensity and frequency of physical activity in relation to the environment in Japanese preschool children. Children aged four–six years (n= 138) in the suburbs of Tokyo participated in this study, which involved three days' continuous monitoring of physical activity using a tri‐axial accelerometer and parent's completion of a time/location diary during daily life. The estimated three‐day mean daily inhalation rate (body temperature, pressure, saturated with water vapor) was 9.9 ± 1.6 m³/day (0.52 ± 0.09 m³/kg/day). The current daily inhalation rate value of 0.580 m³/kg/day proposed for use in health risk assessment in Japan is confirmed to be valid to calculate central value of inhaled dose of air pollutants in five‐ to six‐year‐old children. However, the 95th percentile daily inhalation rate of 0.83 m³/kg/day based on measurement for five‐year‐old children is recommended to be used to provide an upper bound estimate of exposure that ensure the protection of all five‐ to six‐year‐old children from the health risk of air pollutants. Children spent the majority of their time in sedentary and light level of physical activity (LPA) when indoors, while 85% of their time when outdoors was spent in LPA and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity. The results suggest the need to consider variability of minute respiratory ventilation rate according to the environment for more refined short‐term health risk assessment.     

A robust multivariate measurement error model with skew-normal/independent distributions and Bayesian MCMC implementation

Skew-normal/independent distributions are a class of asymmetric thick-tailed distributions that include the skew-normal distribution as a special case. In this paper, we explore the use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to develop a Bayesian analysis in multivariate measurement errors models. We propose the use of skew-normal/independent distributions to model the unobserved value of the covariates (latent variable) and symmetric normal/independent distributions for the random errors term, providing an appealing robust alternative to the usual symmetric process in multivariate measurement errors models. Among the distributions that belong to this class of distributions, we examine univariate and multivariate versions of the skew-normal, skew-t, skew-slash and skew-contaminated normal distributions. The results and methods are applied to a real data set.     

The invisible minority: under-representation of people with disabilities in prime-time TV dramas in Japan

This study analysed the depiction of people with disabilities in Japanese TV dramas. Using preview issues of TV Guide, we content-analysed serial dramas and drama series aired during prime time on five commercial broadcasting networks between January 1993 and December 2002. The results showed that only 1.7 per cent of the characters examined were disabled, indicating that disabled persons were under-represented on TV. The study also found that most of the disabled persons depicted were young; there were almost no elderly people with disabilities. Analysis also revealed that Japanese TV dramas focused on certain disabilities. The implications of these findings are also discussed from the perspective of cultivation theory and the drench hypothesis.     

Psychological Theories and Low-Wage Work

Low-wage work is a modern social problem, affecting millions of individuals, families, and communities. The field of psychology is a critical starting point for examining the relationship between low-wage work and mental health. This literature review aims to identify psychological theories related to low-wage work. Psychological theories related to work and employment are explored, as is emerging research on the necessity of a paradigm shift from the dichotomous categories of “employed” and “unemployed,” which allows for the conceptualization of employment as a continuum. This research focuses on underemployment and may contribute to the development of theory directly relating to low-wage work.     

Hypotheses testing for structural calibration model

The main objective of this paper is to discuss maximum likelihood inference for the comparative structural calibration model (Barnett, in Biometrics 25:129–142, 1969), which is frequently used in the problem of assessing the relative calibrations and relative accuracies of a set of p instruments, each designed to measure the same characteristic on a common group of n experimental units. We consider asymptotic tests to answer the outlined questions. The methodology is applied to a real data set and a small simulation study is presented.     

The competing risks Cox model with auxiliary case covariates under weaker missing-at-random cause of failure

In the analysis of time-to-event data with multiple causes using a competing risks Cox model, often the cause of failure is unknown for some of the cases. The probability of a missing cause is typically assumed to be independent of the cause given the time of the event and covariates measured before the event occurred. In practice, however, the underlying missing-at-random assumption does not necessarily hold. Motivated by colorectal cancer molecular pathological epidemiology analysis, we develop a method to conduct valid analysis when additional auxiliary variables are available for cases only. We consider a weaker missing-at-random assumption, with missing pattern depending on the observed quantities, which include the auxiliary covariates. We use an informative likelihood approach that will yield consistent estimates even when the underlying model for missing cause of failure is misspecified. The superiority of our method over naive methods in finite samples is demonstrated by simulation study results. We illustrate the use of our method in an analysis of colorectal cancer data from the Nurses’ Health Study cohort, where, apparently, the traditional missing-at-random assumption fails to hold.     

Dispersion distance of queens from natal sites in the two haplometrotic paper waspsPolistes riparius andP. snelleni (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Summary Dispersion capabilities of new queens were studied in the two haplometrotic paper waspsPolistes riparius andP. snelleni. New queens were marked on the nests in the late summer and located in the next spring. Dispersion distances greatly varied among queens: although a large part of recovered queens nested in close proximity to their natal sites, some did disperse over 100–300 m. This suggests that queens' emigration from and immigration into the censused areas occurred to a substantial extent. On the whole, these species exhibited a weaker “philopatric” tendency than those so far studied for dispersion distance, and seem to have the potential for a long-distance dispersion.     

The effect of exposure to a professor with a visible disability on students' attitudes toward disabilities

An exploratory study was conducted on a small convenience sample of undergraduate social work students. The Modified Issues in Disability Scale was used to collect data on attitudes toward disability. There was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes scores among students who had different levels of contact with persons with disabilities. There was, however, a statistically significant difference between students who had a professor with a disability and those who did not. The former had more positive attitudes toward disability. These findings suggest that schools of social work should recruit more professors with disabilities.