Attachment and depression differentially influence nicotine dependence among male and female undergraduates: a preliminary study

The authors surveyed a convenience sample of 208 undergraduate students who reported that they smoked cigarettes. The primary hypothesis they tested was whether gender predicted nicotine dependence. They further tested whether depression and attachment would mediate or moderate this relationship. Hierarchical regression analyses with social desirability and smoking stage of change entered as covariates indicated that women exhibited greater nicotine dependence than men did (p < .01). Lower attachment scores fully mediated this relationship, whereas elevated depression scores moderated the relationship. These findings suggest that depression and the inability to bond with peers may promote nicotine dependence among young female students.     

Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease

Strong evidence exists indicating that chronic neuroinflammation contributes to the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A major focus of AD-associated research has been amyloid-beta (Abeta) protein deposits. Vaccination with Abeta stimulates phagocytosis of Abeta in transgenic mouse models of AD, leading to clearance of the deposits. Similar vaccination in humans with AD has, however, led to meningoencephalitis in some cases. The difference probably depends on the initial level of brain inflammation, which is much higher in bona fide AD in humans than in the transgenic mice. Because both pro- and anti-inflammatory activation of immune cells are possible, stimulating the phagocytic action of microglia while simultaneously stimulating anti-inflammatory activity might be beneficial in AD.     

“What Colour Is Your English?”*

This paper raises questions about ways in which the “imagined community” is discursively patrolled through accents. Drawing on preliminary research with African immigrant women, we argue that “Canadian English” constitutes a border allowing only partial and provisional crossing for those with an “African English” accent. The accent border is material and figurative, affecting access to material benefits such as jobs or housing, as well as shaping perceptions of who belongs in Canada. Thus, accents form a site through which racialized power relations are negotiated and “Others” are reproduced materially and figuratively in Canada.

Citing Literature

Volume 40 , Issue 5 December 2003

Pages 565-573     

Probabilistic Risk Analysis for a High-Level Radioactive Waste Repository

A probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) for a high-level radioactive waste repository is very important since it gives an estimate of its health impacts, allowing comparisons to be made with the health impacts of competing technologies. However, it is extremely difficult to develop a credible PRA for a specific repository site because of large uncertainties in future climate, hydrology, geological processes, etc. At best, such a PRA would not be understandable to the public. An alternative proposed here is to develop a PRA for an average U.S. site, taking all properties of the site to be the U.S. average. The results are equivalent to the average results for numerous randomly selected sites. Such a PRA is presented here; it is easy to understand, and it is not susceptible to substantial uncertainty. Applying the results to a specific repository site then requires only a simple, intuitively acceptable "leap of faith" in assuming that with large expenditures of effort and money, experts can select a site that would be at least as secure as a randomly selected site.     

Bringing Carl Rogers Back In: Exploring the Power of Positive Regard at Work

We draw on Carl Rogers’ client‐centred therapy theory and the theoretical lens of positive work relationships to explain why and how positive regard can be a powerful source for the development of employees’ sense of vitality, job performance and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). We theorize that when employees experience relationships characterized by a high level of regard with their co‐workers they are likely to develop a sense of vitality, which in turn results in enhanced job performance and OCBs. These relationships are examined in both experimental and field studies. The results of these multiple studies provide general support for the power of positive regard in augmenting a sense of vitality and enhancing both job performance and citizenship behaviours.     

Ethnic origin and identity in the Jewish population of Israel*

The paper addresses the multifaceted quality of ethnicity in the Jewish population of Israel by probing into the ethnic categories and their subjective meaning. The analyses utilise data collected during 2015–2016 on a representative sample of Israelis age 15 and older, as part of the seventh and eighth rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS). Hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between demographically based ethnic origin and national identity, as well as the effect of ethnically mixed marriages on ethnic and national identities. The analyses reveal a strong preference among Jews in Israel to portray their ancestry in inclusive national categories – Israeli and Jewish – rather than more particularistic, ethno-cultural, categories (e.g. Mizrahim, Moroccan, Ashkenazim, Polish, etc). Yet, whether Israeli or Jewish receives primacy differs by migration generation, socioeconomic standing, religion, and political dispositions. While the findings clearly add to our understanding of Israeli society, they are also telling with regard to immigrant societies more generally. First, they reveal a multi-layered structure of ethnic identification. Second, they suggest that ethnic identities are quite resistant to change. Third, ethnically mixed marriages appear to erode ethnic identities and are likely to replace them with national identities.     

New perspective on the benefits of the gene–environment independence in case–control studies

We study the benefit of exploiting the gene–environment independence (GEI) assumption for inferring the joint effect of genotype and environmental exposure on disease risk in a case–control study. By transforming the problem into a constrained maximum likelihood estimation problem we derive the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) under the GEI assumption (MLE‐GEI) in a closed form. Our approach uncovers a transparent explanation of the efficiency gained by exploiting the GEI assumption in more general settings, thus bridging an important gap in the existing literature. Moreover, we propose an easy‐to‐implement numerical algorithm for estimating the model parameters in practice. Finally, we conduct simulation studies to compare the proposed method with the traditional prospective logistic regression method and the case‐only estimator. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 47: 473–486; 2019 © 2019 Statistical Society of Canada     

Conducting evaluation in contested terrain: challenges, methodology and approach in an American context

Using case examples, the author describes circumstances under which violence and conflict, overt and covert, have impinged on his evaluation field work. When fear is pervasive, it constrains people's ability and willingness to participate in an evaluation and their candor if they do. It can also be dangerous. Safety and well-being of participants and researchers in his view take priority over the evaluation's goals. Evaluation involving people who are survivors of violence, torture and conflict requires special sensitivity and examples are offered of appropriate methodologies. Stakeholders in evaluations presumably have beneficent interest in a program's success. However in conflict situations ‘malevolent’ stakeholders, who standing to gain from a project's failure, will actively try to thwart it. Undermining the evaluation as well and impugning the evaluator's objectivity, skill, knowledge and credibility are among the tactics they employ. Evaluators are urged to stay attuned to field conditions, consider alternative methods and locations for collecting data and be self-conscious and deliberate about how their study and role are defined and understood by contending parties.     

Information for Clinical Social Work Practice: A Potential Solution

The field of social work requires knowledgeable, skilled and self-confident professionals. We assume that many of these social workers will have less than optimal access to professionally relevant information, within and outside of their workplaces. We also assume that they, like others searching for information, will have a limited set of search skills yet will want to obtain the information for practice they need as easily as possible. Finally, we assume they will continue turning to the Internet to access relevant information. This paper describes Information for Practice (IP), an Internet service designed for social work practitioners based on these assumptions. Data regarding use of this service are presented.