How Children Spend Their Time: A Sample Survey for Use in Exposure and Risk Assessments

Children are becoming an increasingly important focus for exposure and risk assessments because they are more sensitive than adults to environmental contaminants. A necessary step in measuring the extent of children's exposure and in calculating risk assessments is to document how and where children spend their time. This 1990-1991 survey of 1000 households was designed for this purpose, targeting children between 5 and 12 years of age, in six states in varied geographic regions. The behavior of children was sampled on both weekdays and weekends over all four seasons of the year using a retrospective time diary to allocate time to activities during the previous 24 h. Information was obtained on the kinds and locations of activities, the nature of the microenvironments of the locations, and the time spent in the different environments. Measures of variability in addition to mean hours per day are reported. Results of this study closely match those of earlier research on California children's activities done by the California Air Resources Board. One important finding of the survey was that 5- to 12-year-old children in all geographic regions spend most of their time indoors at home, indicating that risk assessments should focus on indoor, on-site hazards.     

Supporting People with a Mental Handicap in the Community: A Social Psychological Perspective

Community care is a key concept in policy-making and service provision for people with a mental handicap. Yet the nature of the 'community' and the source of 'care' referred to is rarely specified. The meaning of 'community' is examined in relation to sociological and social psychological research and the assumption that geographical proximity promotes shared identity and caring relationships is called into question. It is argued that an emphasis on place and nostalgic notions of neighbourliness can obscure the difficult social psychological work of creating relationships within which people with a mental handicap can develop positive social and personal identities. The paper emphasises the importance of such relationships and argues that, for many people with a mental handicap, spontaneous local contact will not provide adequate levels of support and involvement. The creation of artificially maintained supportive networks is recommended and the resource implications of achieving good-quality care in the community are noted.     

Forecasting contemporal time series aggregates

Forecast of a contemporal aggregate of several time series can be obtained from ‘1’ an aggregate series, ‘2’ individual component processes, or ‘3’ a joint multiple forecasting model. Through general Hilbert space theory and some illustrative examples, this paper establishes the relative efficiencies among the three methods     

Missing observations in time series

A method based on forecasting techniques is proposed to estimate missing observations in time series. Using mean squares, this method is compared to the minimum mean square estimate.     

A Conceptual Base for ‘Second-Generation’ Programs in Gerontological Social Work

A framework developed by Vance promises better understanding of the mechanisms by which various kinds of severely deprived environments produce high rates of cognitive, emotional, and personality disabilities. Effort is focused on assessing how Vance's concepts may aid in reconceptualizing and reorganizing much Human Behavior and Social Environment content to facilitate the integration of seemingly unrelated findings and conflicting theories on the relationship between disability, poverty, and alienation. The potential for enhancing teaching and development of interventive strategies is explored.     

Determinanten des Wiedereinstiegs von Müttern in den Arbeitsmarkt in Vollzeit oder Teilzeit

This paper deals with the question which determinants influence the re-entry of mothers on the labor market after the first childbirth. Contrary to existing studies it is possible to distinguish empirically between full time and part time employment after re-entry by employing the newly available BASiD-data. Theoretical arguments indicate that women decide deliberately for a part or full time job due to labor market restriction, their household und family situation and institutional rules which vary in time. Empirically this paper focuses on mothers in West Germany because the data includes a long observation period before reunification. Based on event history models we can show that the determinants for full and part time re-entries differ substantially. Hence it can be reasoned that full and part time jobs for re-entry after birth are not simple substitutes for the women.     

Telomeres and human aging: facts and fibs

Can telomere dynamics, defined by telomere length and attrition rate, provide information about the biology of human aging above and beyond that provided by chronological age? Accruing data suggest that it can. White blood cells (WBCs) have been used as the primary model in attempts to decipher links between aging, aging-related disorders, and telomere dynamics in humans. The WBC model may be appropriate in clinical settings, provided that we fully appreciate its drawbacks and limitations. On the basis of WBC telomere data, it is evident that age-adjusted telomere length is highly variable, highly heritable, longer in women than men, and shorter in people who harbor a host of age-related disorders, whose common denominators may prove to be increased oxidative stress and inflammation. It appears that shorter age-adjusted WBC telomere length augurs a greater risk of morbidity and premature mortality in the elderly. However, it is unsettled whether human telomere dynamics is only a proxy for fundamental mechanisms that govern the course of aging or a key determinant in its progression.     

Bringing Carl Rogers Back In: Exploring the Power of Positive Regard at Work

We draw on Carl Rogers’ client‐centred therapy theory and the theoretical lens of positive work relationships to explain why and how positive regard can be a powerful source for the development of employees’ sense of vitality, job performance and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). We theorize that when employees experience relationships characterized by a high level of regard with their co‐workers they are likely to develop a sense of vitality, which in turn results in enhanced job performance and OCBs. These relationships are examined in both experimental and field studies. The results of these multiple studies provide general support for the power of positive regard in augmenting a sense of vitality and enhancing both job performance and citizenship behaviours.     

Spatial Planning in Ghana: Exploring the Contradictions

The purpose of this research is twofold: to explore the complexity of spatial plan preparation and implementation in Ghana using Kumasi as a case study; and second, to examine the contradictions of spatial plans and ‘actual development’ occurring in Kumasi. Using social science research methods (semi-structured interviews) and physical survey (land use plans), findings indicate that spatial planning in Kumasi is a bureaucratic process hijacked by urban planning agencies with limited involvement of urban residents. As a result, urban development is considerably influenced by spontaneous informal development patterns (i.e. self-organization). This phenomenon of self-organization is expressed in a context of uncertainty created by weak spatial planning system which encourages haphazard development. Regrettably, in Kumasi, self-organization is often overlooked by spatial planning agencies as they focused on rigid and exclusionary spatial plans. This paper advocates consideration and integration of self-organization processes in spatial planning efforts to respond adequately to the urban development challenges confronting Kumasi.