Specificity of phonological representations in U.S. English-speaking late talkers and typical talkers

Late talkers are a heterogeneous group of children who experience delayed language development in the absence of other known causes. Late talkers show delays in expressive phonological development, but less is known about their receptive phonological development. In the current study, U.S. monolingual English-speaking typical talkers (TTs) (n = 23, mean age = 26.27 months, 57% male; 78.3% White) and late talkers (n = 22, mean age = 24.57 months, 59% male, 72.7% White) completed a Looking-While-Listening task to assess their sensitivity to mispronunciations. Results revealed that late talkers and TTs looked to the referent of a word for a shorter duration when it was mispronounced than when it was correctly pronounced, suggesting they were sensitive to mispronunciations. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in their sensitivity to mispronunciations.     

Natural cubic splines for the analysis of Alzheimer's clinical trials

Mixed model repeated measures (MMRM) is the most common analysis approach used in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease and other progressive diseases measured with continuous outcomes over time. The model treats time as a categorical variable, which allows an unconstrained estimate of the mean for each study visit in each randomized group. Categorizing time in this way can be problematic when assessments occur off-schedule, as including off-schedule visits can induce bias, and excluding them ignores valuable information and violates the intention to treat principle. This problem has been exacerbated by clinical trial visits which have been delayed due to the COVID19 pandemic. As an alternative to MMRM, we propose a constrained longitudinal data analysis with natural cubic splines that treats time as continuous and uses test version effects to model the mean over time. Compared to categorical-time models like MMRM and models that assume a proportional treatment effect, the spline model is shown to be more parsimonious and precise in real clinical trial datasets, and has better power and Type I error in a variety of simulation scenarios.     

Short-term impacts of urban landscape conversion on surface runoff quality

Urban Ecosystems - Given the rapid pace of urbanization and resulting pressures on water supplies in many regions, landscape water conservation has become increasingly important for many...     

BANK CAPITAL AND LIQUIDITY CREATION IN ASIA PACIFIC

We calculate liquidity creation for a large sample of commercial banks in 14 Asia‐Pacific economies from 2005 to 2012. We find that banks in this region created $7.83 trillion in liquidity in 2012, or approximately 3.24 times the total liquidity created in 2005. Large banks and those based in Developing Asia created the highest liquidity. We also investigate the bicausal relationship between liquidity creation and regulatory capital and find that the trade‐off between the benefits of financial stability induced by enhanced capital requirements and those of higher liquidity creation is applicable to all of the sample banks, regardless of bank size and economic region. (JEL G21, G28)     

Obesity-related behaviors in adolescent friendship networks

This study examines obesity-related behaviors within adolescent friendship networks, because adolescent peers have been identified as being important determinants of many health behaviors. We applied ERGM selection models for single network observations to determine if close adolescent friends engage in similar behaviors and to explore associations between behavior and popularity. Same-sex friends were found to be similar on measures of organized physical activity in two out of three school-based friendship networks. Female friends were found to engage in similar screen-based behaviors, and male friends tended to be similar in their consumption of high-calorie foods. Popularity (receiving ties) was also associated with some behaviors, although these effects were gender specific and differed across networks.     

Sensation Seeking and Impulsivity: Combined Associations with Risky Sexual Behavior in a Large Sample of Young Adults

Although prior studies have shown that sensation seeking and impulsive decision-making are related to sexual risk-taking, it is still unclear whether these personality traits operate independently or synergistically. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the joint contribution of these personality traits to HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk behaviors using data from a large sample of sexually active young adults (N = 2,386). Regression modeling indicated that both sensation seeking and impulsive decision-making were consistently associated with sexual risk behaviors across 11 risk-related outcomes. Results further indicated that sensation seeking and impulsive decision-making operated synergistically with respect to the outcome variables of sex acts using drugs, acts with a partner using alcohol, and acts with a partner using drugs. In contrast to this, sensation seeking and impulsive decision-making operated independently with respect to the other sexual risk outcomes. Theoretical implications, as well as implications for HIV/STD prevention among high sensation seekers and impulsive decision-makers, are discussed.     

On Population Problems and Population Policy

Abstract

Taking the position that too little attention has been given to the systematic study of the nature of, and dangers in, the relationship between sponsors of evaluation research and social scientists, this paper offers statements of situations, relationships, and conditions one should avoid or foster in doing such research. Suggestions are given concerning how sociologists might control the misuses of data.     

Are There Two Liberalisms? The Partisan and Demographic Influences on Two Dimensions of Political Belief

Abstract

Recent analyses suggest that a new kind of liberalism has emerged in the American system. “Social liberalism,” in this view, is organized by issues that are relatively new to the political agenda: abortion, homosexuality, marijuana use, pornography. This dimension of belief occupies an ideological domain clearly separate from traditional “New Deal” issues involving government spending and the management of the economy. Some scholars argue, furthermore, that partisan and social divisions on the basis of New Deal-style economic issues have declined in importance, and that the relatively young and the better educated are now more liberal on both dimensions of belief. Evidence presented here indicates that mass opinions on social issues and traditional views on government spending form distinct ideological dimensions. However, this analysis also reveals clear and persistent patterns of conflict characteristic of economic issues.