A semiparametric Bayesian model for repeatedly repeated binary outcomes

Summary.  We discuss the analysis of data from single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays comparing tumour and normal tissues. The data consist of sequences of indicators for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and involve three nested levels of repetition: chromosomes for a given patient, regions within chromosomes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms nested within regions. We propose to analyse these data by using a semiparametric model for multilevel repeated binary data. At the top level of the hierarchy we assume a sampling model for the observed binary LOH sequences that arises from a partial exchangeability argument. This implies a mixture of Markov chains model. The mixture is defined with respect to the Markov transition probabilities. We assume a non-parametric prior for the random-mixing measure. The resulting model takes the form of a semiparametric random-effects model with the matrix of transition probabilities being the random effects. The model includes appropriate dependence assumptions for the two remaining levels of the hierarchy, i.e. for regions within chromosomes and for chromosomes within patient. We use the model to identify regions of increased LOH in a data set coming from a study of treatment-related leukaemia in children with an initial cancer diagnostic. The model successfully identifies the desired regions and performs well compared with other available alternatives.     

Exploring the Predictors of Organizational Preparedness for Natural Disasters

There is an extensive body of research on the determinants of disaster preparedness at the individual and household levels. The same cannot be said for the organizational level. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the predictors of organizational preparedness for natural disasters. Since leaders of organizations have an incentive to overstate their level of preparedness and because surveys of organizational leaders suffer from selection bias and low response rates, we take the novel approach of interviewing employees about the organizations that employ them. Using an online survey, we collected information from a national sample of 2,008 U.S. employees and estimated the predictors of preparedness at the organizational level. We find, among other results, that organization size (facility level) is a consistent predictor of preparedness at the organizational level. We conclude with policy recommendations and outline an agenda for future research on organizational preparedness for natural disasters.     

Politics and Growth

Theories of growth have made progress in understanding the mechanisms of growth in economic terms. However, there is less understanding of the political processes that enable or obstruct these mechanisms. This article provides a four‐stage framework to clarify and analyse the connections between politics and growth: (i) discussing the basic conditions essential for growth; (ii) suggesting that whether or not these conditions emerge depends on specific forms of public‐private interaction; (iii) linking these relationships to the incentives facing those in political power and investors; and (iv) considering the factors at country level that may help to push incentives in a pro‐growth direction.     

New Global Politics of Reproductive Labor: Gendered Labor and Marriage Migration

The feminization of international migration nowadays has demonstrated a new global politics of reproductive labor (work necessary for the reproduction of families). This paper reviews recent studies that manifest similarity, affinity, and continuity across multiple forms of reproductive labor carried out by migrant women in four aspects. First, the recruitment of women as foreign maids or foreign brides provides class‐specific parallel strategies to the global care crisis. Second, paid and unpaid forms of reproductive labor constitute intersecting circuits of labor and marriage migration through which women partake in continuous migration. Third, various categories of migrant women are discursively conflated and attached to similar images as sexualized others. Finally, global care chains not only involve migrant reproductive labor conducted at home but also operate on the level of social reproduction as indicated by the expansion of international nursing migration.     

Nonparametric adaptive likelihood weights

The weighted likelihood can be used to make inference about one population when data from similar populations are available. The author shows heuristically that the weighted likelihood can be seen as a special case of the entropy maximization principle. This leads him to propose the minimum averaged mean squared error (MAMSE) weights. He describes an algorithm for calculating these weights and shows its convergence using the Kuhn‐Tucker conditions. He explores the performance and properties of the weighted likelihood based on MAMSE weights through simulations.     

Impact of Canadian Postsecondary Education on Occupational Prestige of Highly Educated Immigrants

Cet article utilise les données provenant de l'Enquête longitudinale auprès des immigrants du Canada (ELIC) couvrant la période 2000‐2004 afin d'évaluer l'emploi à durée déterminée et la réussite professionnelle des immigrants récents qui, bien qu'ayant obtenu un diplôme universitaire dans leur pays d'origine, ont choisi de s'inscrire dans un établissement d'enseignement postsecondaire canadien. La principale conclusion de l'article est que la réussite professionnelle des immigrants très instruits est affectée par le choix de l'enseignement post‐secondaire au Canada, toutes catégories socio‐démographiques et conditions d'avant ou après migration confondues. Quatre années après leur arrivée au Canada, les immigrants occupent des emplois nettement moins prestigieux que ceux qu'ils avaient avant la migration. Les immigrants qui ont poursuivi des études universitaires au Canada atteignent des meilleurs résultats professionnels que les non‐participants ou ceux qui ont choisi un collège communautaire. Néanmoins, la majorité des immigrants très instruits n'ont pas réussi à retrouver leur profession. This paper uses data from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada covering the period 2000 to 2004 to assess short‐term employment and occupational attainment of recent immigrants who, despite having completed a university degree in their countries of origin, chose to obtain additional credentials at a Canadian postsecondary institution. The main finding of this paper is that occupational attainment of highly educated immigrants is affected by choice of postsecondary education in Canada regardless of differences in sociodemographic, premigration characteristics, and postmigration conditions. Four years after entry, immigrants worked in jobs with significantly lower occupational prestige than those held prior to migration. Immigrants who pursued a university education in Canada attained highest occupational outcomes when compared to nonparticipants and those who chose a community college pathway. Nevertheless, the majority of highly educated immigrants failed to gain entry to the professions.     

The Impact of Liberalization on Female Workers in Quebec: Four Case Studies

Cet article explore l'impact de la libéralisation des marchés sur la main‐d'?uvre féminine au Québec. Il cherche à valider une intuition formulée par Brunelle, Beaulieu and Minier ( 2004 ) en guise de conclusion d'un rapport de recherche mettant en relief l'essor et la prolifération des marchés périphériques du travail dans le capitalisme mondialisé. Parce qu'elles sont surreprésentées dans le travail atypique, les auteurs se demandaient alors si la restructuration des marchés du travail avait des impacts négatifs les femmes. En nous appuyant sur quatre études de cas dans différents secteurs de l'économie (habillement, commerce de détail, télécommunications, services d'aide à domicile), l'article valide l' hypothèse d'une rehiérarchisation genrée du marché du travail sur la base de statuts d'emploi dans le sillage du processus de libéralisation. The article explores the impact of market liberalization on Quebec's female workforce in a context of global capitalism by testing a hypothesis formulated by Brunelle, Beaulieu, and Minier ( 2004 ) as a concluding remark of a research that exposed the burgeoning of secondary labor market: “Is liberalization leading to an employment‐statuses‐based restructuration of labor markets that would have negative impacts on women?” Using four case studies in key sectors of the economy (garments, retail, telecom, home‐care services), the article suggests a genderized rehierarchization of labor markets based on employment statuses in the wake of the liberalization process.     

Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury in a Community Sample of Adolescents: Subgroups,Stability, and Associations With Psychological Difficulties

Patterns of nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and their association with other psychological difficulties were studied in a community sample of young Swedish adolescents, by a two‐wave longitudinal design with a 1‐year interval. Hierarchical cluster analysis at T1 identified eight NSSI subgroups in each gender, of which five were clearly replicated at T2. Among these were a subgroup with generalized high‐frequency NSSI, which was associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems, and a subgroup of girls who engaged primarily in cutting and showed mainly internalizing problems. In general, NSSI clusters among girls were more stable over time and associated with more psychological problems. The results indicate that different patterns of NSSI have different developmental and clinical implications.     

Profiles of adult survivors of severe sexual,physical and emotional institutional abuse in Ireland

Adult survivors of institutional abuse were interviewed with a comprehensive assessment protocol which included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV axis I disorders and personality disorders, the Trauma Symptoms Inventory, a Life Problems Checklist, the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Profiles were identified for subgroups that described severe sexual (N = 60), physical (N = 102), or emotional (N = 85) abuse as their worst forms of maltreatment. Survivors of severe sexual abuse had the most abnormal profile, which was characterised by higher rates of all forms of child maltreatment and higher rates of post‐traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, trauma symptoms and life problems. Survivors of severe emotional abuse were better adjusted than the other two groups. The profile of survivors of severe physical abuse occupied an intermediate position between the other two groups. A thorough assessment of abuse history and current functioning should be conducted when providing services to adult survivors of institutional abuse, since this may have important implications for the intensity of services required. Survivors of severe sexual abuse may require more intensive services. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.