Trend smoothness achieved by penalized least squares with the smoothing parameter chosen by optimality criteria

This work presents a study about the smoothness attained by the methods more frequently used to choose the smoothing parameter in the context of splines: Cross Validation, Generalized Cross Validation, and corrected Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria, implemented with Penalized Least Squares. It is concluded that the amount of smoothness strongly depends on the length of the series and on the type of underlying trend, while the presence of seasonality even though statistically significant is less relevant. The intrinsic variability of the series is not statistically significant and its effect is taken into account only through the smoothing parameter.     

IRENA as a glocal actor: pathways towards energy governmentality

For decades renewable energy has remained a “blind spot” within the sphere of international energy governance. The existing institutional network is highly fragmented, resulting in a myriad of international organizations, which all claim to deal with energy issues, yet do not focus on renewables on a global scale. Since 2009, IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, seeks to fill up this vacuum, thereby creating a new (and maybe more Southern-led) political arena for governing renewable energy issues. This article focuses on IRENA’s role as a changemaker in the sphere of global energy governance by investigating IRENA’s governance practices and contributions to knowledge production.     

A revised Brown and Payne model of voting behaviour applied to the 2009 elections in Italy

When elections are close in time, voters may stick to their preferred party or chose a different option for several reasons; reliable estimates of the amount of transitions across the available options can allow to answer a number of relevant questions about electoral behaviour. We describe a modified version of the model due to Brown and Payne (J Am Stat Assoc 81:453–460, 1986) and argue that it is based on simple, yet realistic, assumptions with a direct interpretation in terms of individual behaviour and compares well with other models proposed more recently. We apply the model to an Italian borough where, during June 2009, two elections were held simultaneously and a runoff took place two weeks later. Estimates of the joint distribution of voters between the European Parliament election and the other two elections provide evidence of substantially different kinds of voting behaviour which, given the specific context, we interpret in the light of the recent literature on the subject.     

Community Wise: The Development of an Anti-Oppression Model to Promote Individual and Community Health

Communities with histories of oppression have shown great resilience, yet few health interventions focus on structural oppression as a contributor to health problems in these communities. This article describes the development and active ingredients of Community Wise, a unique behavioral health intervention designed to reduce substance use frequency, related health risk behaviors, and recidivism among individuals with a history of incarceration and substance abuse residing in distressed and predominantly African American communities. Community Wise, developed through the collaborative efforts of a board of service providers, researchers, consumers, and government officials, is a 12-week group intervention that aims to address behavioral health problems by raising critical consciousness in distressed communities.     

Who Reads Catholic Newspapers? Exploring Readership in a Changing Industry

Newspapers published by Roman Catholic dioceses represent a large and unexplored part of the religious publishing industry. This study attempts to shed light on the challenges these publications face by examining the readership of a diocesan newspaper in a large Catholic diocese in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Based on a comprehensive survey of 24,278 Roman Catholic households from 27 parishes throughout the diocese, this study finds a large gap in readership and engagement between older and younger readers, raising important strategic and pastoral questions for the newspaper in the years to come.     

Resilience in low-income African American women living and aging with HIV

Women are living with HIV into middle and older age and are likely to face multiple comorbidities and stressors as they age. This study focused on understanding how women who experience multiple forms of oppression and ongoing adversity are still able to adapt and stand strong. Using a theoretical framework of resilience and a feminist research ideology, interviews of eight middle-aged and older African American women living with HIV were analyzed. Despite experiences of HIV-related discrimination, trauma, and violence, these women demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and maintain support. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Raising rural women’s voices: From self-silencing to self-expression

Within the context of a community-academic partnership, we undertook a mixed-methods study to identify and explore health status, priorities, and management strategies among aging Wisconsin rural women. A questionnaire measuring diverse wellness needs was administered to women participating in personal development programming offered by a rural nonprofit organization. A subgroup participated in qualitative interviews to deepen the understanding of identified health priorities and methods of coping and healing. Findings provide insight into the prevalence of self-silencing among rural women and highlight mechanisms that help to facilitate the dismantling of self-silencing.     

Organisationskultur im Spielfilm

By analyzing cinema films, specific organizational cultures can be illustrated. The culture of prison as a “total institution” is explained on the basis of the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994). With regard to the developing friendship between the former banker Andy Dufresne who is innocently convicted and the homicide delinquent Ellis Boyd Redding typical characteristics of a total institution are pointed out. Furthermore, the psychological function those characteristics serve for employees, inmates and even for the society as a whole is analyzed. Central to this interpretation is thinking of the prison as a father substitute. Many interactions become comprehensible viewed in this context. Additionally, the prison represents a huge object of projection which facilitates the collective release of aggression.     

Essentialism and Islamic Theology of Homosexuality: A Critical Reflection on an Essentialist Epistemology toward Same-Sex Desires and Acts in Islam

Although most traditional Muslim scholars condemn same-sex desires and acts, revisionist Muslim scholars have offered a more tolerant approach on this issue over the last two decades. Building on an essentialist approach to same-sex desires and acts, these scholars have argued that Islam accepts difference and diversity, including sexual diversity, as part of God’s creation. Homosexuality, which in their view is an innate disposition to the same sex, is an alternative sexuality and, thus, accepted by the Qur’an and Islam. This article argues that an essentialist approach is not suitable to defend all manifestations of same-sex desires and acts, not only because it is narrow (as it excludes both bisexual Muslims and homosexual Muslims who believe that their sexual orientation is socially constructed), but also because it cannot even argue the case for the view of homosexuality as inborn. This article proposes to open up the debate beyond essentialism and constructivism, which both have their limitations, to accommodate a more inclusive and tolerant Islamic approach to same-sex desires and acts.     

The Development of Object Construction From Infancy Through Toddlerhood

Early in development, children explore and combine objects in increasingly complex ways. One manual skill, object construction, represents a major shift in how objects are explored relative to other objects. Despite recent connections with cognitive functioning such as spatial skills, the development of object construction ability has rarely been studied and its trajectory has not been adequately described. The purpose of this study was to describe the development of three types of object construction (stacking, nesting, and affixing) across 5 monthly infant visits and 7 monthly toddler visits using a longitudinal design and a large sample size. Infants (10–14 months, n = 131) and toddlers drawn from the infant sample (18–24 months, n = 65) were given sets of age‐appropriate toys each of which elicited at least one type of constructive play. We described success at different construction tasks and identified trends for construction skill for infant and toddler development using multilevel modeling. We found that each of the three construction actions developed in unique ways across the 10‐ to 24‐month period. Infant construction skill predicted the development of toddler skill, but toddler construction skill diverged from infant trajectories. We discuss the role of combination strategies in the development of object construction skill and how object construction could be related to other domains of development.