Mother–infant Interaction Quality and Infants' Ability to Encode Actions as Goal‐directed

The current study investigated the relationship between mother–child interaction quality and infants' ability to interpret actions as goal‐directed at 7 months in a sample of 37 dyads. Interaction quality was assessed in a free play interaction using two distinct methods: one assessed the overall affective quality (emotional availability), and one focused on the mother's proclivity to treat her infant as an intentional agent (mind‐mindedness). Furthermore, infants' ability to interpret human actions as goal‐directed was assessed. Analyses revealed that only maternal emotional availability, and not maternal mind‐mindedness, was related to infants' goal‐encoding ability. This link remained stable even when controlling for child temperament, working memory, and maternal education. These findings provide first evidence that emotionally available caregiving promotes social‐cognitive development in preverbal infants.     

Postnatal quality of life — A content analysis of qualitative results to the Mother-Generated Index

Background

The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) assesses postnatal quality of life (QoL) without providing a predefined checklist, thus offering mothers the opportunity to identify areas of life affected by having a baby.

On the absolute or relative basis of perception: The case for middle class identification

Previous studies of the relationship between social structural changes and individual-level perceptions have focused on perceptions of ‘well-being’. Those studies conclude that relative position in the social structure (e.g., more or less income compared to others) determines perceived ‘well-being’. In contrast to those studies, this research focuses on social structural changes and perceptions of middle class identification and concludes that absolute position in the social structure (e.g., a certain amount of income in itself) determines perceptions of middle class identification.     

Entropic Latent Variable Integration via Simulation

This paper introduces a general method to convert a model defined by moment conditions that involve both observed and unobserved variables into equivalent moment conditions that involve only observable variables. This task can be accomplished without introducing infinite‐dimensional nuisance parameters using a least favorable entropy‐maximizing distribution. We demonstrate, through examples and simulations, that this approach covers a wide class of latent variables models, including some game‐theoretic models and models with limited dependent variables, interval‐valued data, errors‐in‐variables, or combinations thereof. Both point‐ and set‐identified models are transparently covered. In the latter case, the method also complements the recent literature on generic set‐inference methods by providing the moment conditions needed to construct a generalized method of moments‐type objective function for a wide class of models. Extensions of the method that cover conditional moments, independence restrictions, and some state‐space models are also given.     

Einkommenseinbu?en durch Arbeitslosigkeit in Deutschland:

The article analyses the consequences of unemployment for earned income after reentering employment. The magnitude of these effects and their changes over the life course are described on the basis of existing research as well as own empirical analyses. The latter are based on administrative data from the German Pension Insurance (Versicherungskontenstichprobe VSKT 2006). Since previous studies differ with regard to both, sample definitions and the applied methods of causal analysis, our own empirical analysis of age- and gender-specific effects is based upon various methods of analysis while using a common dataset. We can show that income and wage penalties due to unemployment increase significantly with age. Moreover, women??s overall financial losses are higher than men??s, especially in the youngest age group.     

Update on ecstasy

After years of declining use in the United States, youth consumption of ecstasy has increased significantly. Although ecstasy (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is known to be a drug with detrimental effects, users view the drug as a safe and attractive social lubricant. To update and clarify misperceptions, this article reviews current evidence regarding ecstasy's side effects and risks and encourages honest discussion focusing on risk-reduction behaviors.     

Alternative food in the global south: Reflections on a direct marketing initiative in Kenya

Amidst booming scholarship on alternative food networks (AFNs) in the global North, research on AFN in the global South remains scarce. Partly this is because explicitly alternative initiatives are themselves scarce, except for those focused on export markets. Yet in countries such as Kenya, urban consumers and rural smallholders have good reason to want alternatives to agrichemical dependency, insecure marketing channels, and food of dubious safety. This article describes one attempt to provide an alternative. A pilot box scheme launched by the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) in 2007 aimed to connect organic smallholders to consumers in Nairobi, the capital city. It did not last long, and we reflect on the reasons why. In particular, we argue that efforts to build AFN in “developing” countries must take account of the problematic history of development itself, both as an ideology and as a set of institutions, policies and activities. In the case of the Kenyan box scheme, the pervasive yet often ineffectual presence of aid-dispensing non-governmental organizations, in particular, influenced different actors’ perceptions and participation in ways we did not fully anticipate. More broadly, this article emphasizes the need to appreciate the macro-historical and socioeconomic contexts that inform on-the-ground practices and understandings of alternative food.     

Update on energy drinks and youth

Energy drinks are attractive and readily available in every grocery store and gas station. While most youth verbalize an understanding that too much caffeine is bad for one's health, at an age of multiple demands, an over-the-counter offer of increased energy and alertness is hard to ignore. What makes energy drinks different from regular coffee? Although the heavily caffeinated drinks promise increased energy and stamina and are loaded with healthy natural ingredients, excessive consumption is of concern on many levels. This article will discuss some of the effects of excessive caffeine, as well as risks associated with energy drinks mixed with alcohol.     

Ein Ansatz zur Verbesserung der Steuerung des Zahlungsausfallrisikos im E-Commerce (B-to-C)

In recent years, the situation of e-commerce in Germany especially in the retail sector has not only been characterized by a sustained growth in sales but also by an increase in deficits in payment. Companies considering a general exclusion of risky payment methods to be suboptimal are challenged by an adequate assessment of their prospective customers’ risk of payment default. Thereby, inability and unwillingness to pay has to be considered as possible reasons on a transactional basis and in real-time. This paper presents a new approach combining common methods for risk identification and assessment. Case studies show that a more sophisticated risk control can be achieved by applying the approach presented.