A Novel Approach to Chemical Mixture Risk Assessment—Linking Data from Population‐Based Epidemiology and Experimental Animal Tests

Humans are continuously exposed to chemicals with suspected or proven endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Risk management of EDCs presents a major unmet challenge because the available data for adverse health effects are generated by examining one compound at a time, whereas real‐life exposures are to mixtures of chemicals. In this work, we integrate epidemiological and experimental evidence toward a whole mixture strategy for risk assessment. To illustrate, we conduct the following four steps in a case study: (1) identification of single EDCs (“bad actors”)—measured in prenatal blood/urine in the SELMA study—that are associated with a shorter anogenital distance (AGD) in baby boys; (2) definition and construction of a “typical” mixture consisting of the “bad actors” identified in Step 1; (3) experimentally testing this mixture in an in vivo animal model to estimate a dose–response relationship and determine a point of departure (i.e., reference dose [RfD]) associated with an adverse health outcome; and (4) use a statistical measure of “sufficient similarity” to compare the experimental RfD (from Step 3) to the exposure measured in the human population and generate a “similar mixture risk indicator” (SMRI). The objective of this exercise is to generate a proof of concept for the systematic integration of epidemiological and experimental evidence with mixture risk assessment strategies. Using a whole mixture approach, we could find a higher rate of pregnant women under risk (13%) when comparing with the data from more traditional models of additivity (3%), or a compound‐by‐compound strategy (1.6%).     

A Screening,Brief Intervention,and Referral to Treatment Collaborative: Impact for Social Work Students

Screening brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a clinical intervention empirically linked to reductions in substance usage. However, less is known on how to effectively train social work students on SBIRT. This study examines the impact of a SBIRT training administered to BSW and MSW students (N=228) at the University of Oklahoma. Based on exposure to the training, our evaluation measured changes on students’ objective knowledge of how to perform SBIRT and in attitudes toward practicing with substance users. Results indicated exposure to the training was associated with robust gains across variables and across classes. Such results suggest that the proffered SBIRT training is an effective means to educate social work students on substance abuse practice.     

DISSECTING THE MONTY HALL ANOMALY

We assess competing explanations of irrational behavior in the Monty Hall problem by creating new variants of the problem. Some variants employ a feature that automates the merging of probabilities, thus rendering transparent the probabilistic advantage of the rational choice. That feature also enables systematic variation in informational asymmetry, and in ordering of actions. Data from 77 subjects, each of whom makes 30 binary decisions, indicate that automated merging raises the fraction of rational choices from around 40% to over 80%. Other features examined have much less impact, indicating the importance of a Bayesian updating failure. (JEL C91, D02, D81, D83)     

When Evolution Works Against the Future: Disgust's Contributions to the Acceptance of New Food Technologies

New food technologies have a high potential to transform the current resource‐consuming food system to a more efficient and sustainable one, but public acceptance of new food technologies is rather low. Such an avoidance might be maintained by a deeply preserved risk avoidance system called disgust. In an online survey, participants (N = 313) received information about a variety of new food technology applications (i.e., genetically modified meat/fish, edible nanotechnology coating film, nanotechnology food box, artificial meat/milk, and a synthetic food additive). Every new food technology application was rated according to the respondent's willingness to eat (WTE) it (i.e., acceptance), risk, benefit, and disgust perceptions. Furthermore, food disgust sensitivity was measured using the Food Disgust Scale. Overall, the WTE both gene‐technology applications and meat coated with an edible nanotechnology film were low and disgust responses toward all three applications were high. In full mediation models, food disgust sensitivity predicted the disgust response toward each new food technology application, which in turn influenced WTE them. Effects of disgust responses on the WTE a synthetic food additive were highest for and lowest for the edible nanotechnology coating film compared to the other technologies. Results indicate that direct disgust responses influence acceptance and risk and benefit perceptions of new food technologies. Beyond the discussion of this study, implications for future research and strategies to increase acceptance of new food technologies are discussed.     

‘Spirits,dancing in the flesh’: choreography and organisation

ABSTRACT

The body in organisations has received considerable scholarly attention, whilst the moving body and the ‘flesh’ has largely been overlooked. ‘Flesh’ for Merleau-Ponty connects the body and the world and supposes not an immobile, but moving body. We explore flesh as a movement-related, kinaesthetic phenomenon through a movement/dance-based method and interviews with professionals from a hospitality/service organisation. We apply the notion of ‘choreography’ from dance studies, composed of the elements of ‘writing’ (graphós) and ‘movement’ (chorós). Our findings show that fleshly movement interaction creates invisible structures, or choreographies, that are inscribed into bodies and tacitly confine organisational interaction (‘writing’). Bodies learn to relate to each other through perceptual interpenetration and kinaesthetic empathy and co-create the choreography (‘moving’). Fleshly movement interaction is a submission to choreographies fulfilling the organisational need to reproduce bodies capable of carrying out certain movement imperatives, which however provides momentary openings through the use of kinaesthetic empathy.     

Divorce among European and Mexican Immigrants in the U.S

Review of Economics of the Household - This paper analyzes the status of being currently divorced among European and Mexican immigrants in the U.S., among themselves and in comparison to the native...     

‘Inching’ towards interculturalism: ambiguities and tensions in teachers’ ideologies and practices in the context of Cyprus

ABSTRACT

This research examines teachers’ conceptualisations of diversity and intercultural education. It also investigates the teaching approaches adopted by teachers within their culturally diverse classrooms. More specifically, the current project investigates the following research questions: how do teachers define and understand the concept of intercultural education; what practices do they adopt (or not) to promote intercultural education in their classrooms; what barriers do they perceive in their efforts to teach in more intercultural ways; what are their suggestions for implementing intercultural education in more successful ways? Observations and interviews took place with twenty teachers from ten schools in Cyprus. Our data shows that two ideological positions co-existed in teachers’ discourses, namely: the monocultural approach (cultural-deficiency perspective), and the multicultural approach (cultural-celebratory perspective). We also examined how the ambiguities and contradictions in teachers’ ideologies influenced their teaching and practices. In their daily routines, teachers seemed to adopt a teaching-as-usual approach, while occasionally engaging in ‘intercultural moments’, which included their rare attempts to differentiate or add cultural content to their teaching.     

Pre-adolescents' Peer-relational Schemas and Social Goals across Relational Contexts

Current theorists stress the context-specificity of social behaviors and social cognitions. Although researchers have started to investigate the relationship as one context that might influence social cognitions, relatively little is known about the influence of relational context on the social goals endorsed by children and adolescents. The current study tested the hypothesis that pre-adolescents' goals would vary between individuals as well as across relational contexts, and examined factors that might explain such variation. Participants (N  =  102, 11–12 years) filled in questionnaires regarding their social goals and self- and peer-perceptions when around each same-sex classmate. Both goals and perceptions displayed significant variation between individuals, as well as between different relationship contexts. The goals pre-adolescents pursued in different relationships were partly explained by varying perceptions of self and of the relationship partner in each relational context, as well as by the affective nature of the relationship. After accounting for the relationship-specific variation, few associations were significant at the individual level. The results highlight the importance of studying contextual variance in social goals and social cognitions in general.     

Racial Differences Between African and White Americans in the Presentation of Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is commonly thought of as a disorder of White females. Despite evidence indicating similar prevalence rates across races and genders, no study has examined the experience of BPD among ethnic minorities and how this differs from Whites. The affective and behavioral symptoms of BPD were studied in 17 African Americans and 27 White Americans with the disorder. Results indicated that African Americans experience greater affective intensity and emotional dysregulation, fewer self-harming behaviors, and more thoughts of interpersonal aggression than Whites. Differences in affective symptoms were accounted for by group differences in substance use and receipt of inpatient services, whereas differences in behavioral symptomatology persisted after adjusting for potential confounders. These findings suggest that not only is BPD not a disorder exclusive to White females, but that the experience of the disorder may differ substantially across races. Implications for future research and directions for developing culturally relevant treatments are discussed.     

An online estimation scheme for a Hull–White model with HMM-driven parameters

This paper considers the implementation of a mean-reverting interest rate model with Markov-modulated parameters. Hidden Markov model filtering techniques in Elliott (1994, Automatica, 30:1399–1408) and Elliott et al. (1995, Hidden Markov Models: Estimation and Control. Springer, New York) are employed to obtain optimal estimates of the model parameters via recursive filters of auxiliary quantities of the observation process. Algorithms are developed and implemented on a financial dataset of 30-day Canadian Treasury bill yields. We also provide standard errors for the model parameter estimates. Our analysis shows that within the dataset and period studied, a model with two regimes is sufficient to describe the interest rate dynamics on the basis of very small prediction errors and the Akaike information criterion.