China's experience in population control: the elusive model

A critique of a report prepared for the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives titled "China's experience in population control: the elusive model is presented. The title is criticized, pointing out that the Chinese have done nothing "elusive," but, instead, have used methods familiar to family planning experts the world over. They have brought services close to home, used a variety of paramedical and lay people drawn from the community, have made services free, have offered a choice of services, and have used people from within the community for family planning education. Neither have the Chinese been secretive about it, as the report implies. It is the American refusal to admit that the People's Republic of China was the accepted government of the region which made Americans ignorant of developments. The report's author also seems unwilling to admit that the reason for the success of the program is that it has been integrated into a total plan for the improvement of socioeconomic conditions for the average person. Since 1949 some 200 million people have been added to the population of China, nearly the population of the U.S. Despite this large population growth, conditions have improved and the starvation which used to be common has been eliminated. Population growth has not been a bar to development. Any country which tries to reduce family size without putting it in a total context of development will find it difficult to succeed. Other developing nations cannot borr ow China's experience in toto as circumstances vary from country to country, but the essence is that no viable solution to population problems can be brought be fertility reduction invest as such. Meaningful socioeconomic change is also essential.     

Metal ring - a safe,effective, economical and convenient approach of fertility regulation

A survey of 25,000 women from 1450 villages in China has indicated that the metal ring is a safe, effective, and convenient method of contraception. The continuation rate was 79.3% after 1 year of use and 55.2% after 5 years of use. Factors that were most influential in continuation included insertion after menstruation, insertion during breastfeeding, age at 1st birth, insertion after abortion, level of the health care system, age at insertion, intensity of labor, number of births before insertion, and number of abortions before insertion. The expulsion rate ranged from 11.4-20.7%. The accidental pregnancy rate was 2.4-6.8%. Events such as expulsion and unintended pregnancy showed an association with parity, number of abortions, level of the health care system, and insertion during the breastfeeding period. No serious complications were noted in any of the women fitted wih metal rings.     

Municipal records in nineteenth century Dutch emigration research

Dutch emigrant registration records for the nineteenth century are examined in an effort to shed light on the local circumstances of the Dutch emigration movement. "Since nineteenth century emigration took place mostly through primary contacts this article will examine the newly established immigrant settlements as 'communities transplanted'...which directs our research to include local municipal records such as population censuses, population registers (which were supplemented after 1861 with registers of in- and out-migration), tax records, and records of vital events like marriage, birth and death registers. The quality and availability of these records vary from place to place, but generally speaking, in the case of the Netherlands, they are of high quality since population registration at the municipal level was required by law. The source of information for the local records are the population registers (Bevolkings Registers) which were originally constructed on the basis of information obtained from the 1850 population census...."     

Polls in the Media: Content, Credibility, and Consequences

Polls appearing in the New York Times and on the CBS and NBCevening news programs for three years are categorized, theirtreatment by the media dissected, and their possible politicalimplications analyzed.     

A Framework for the Complexity of High-Multiplicity Scheduling Problems

The purpose of this note is to propose a complexity framework for the analysis of high multiplicity scheduling problems. Part of this framework relies on earlier work aiming at the definition of output-sensitive complexity measures for the analysis of algorithms which produce “large” outputs. However, different classes emerge according as we look at schedules as sets of starting times, or as related single-valued mappings.     

Content validation on the Work Performance Rating Scale for sheltered workshop workers

The purpose of this study was to revise the content of the Work Performance Rating Scale (WPRS) as a valid assessment tool for sheltered workshop workers. A focus group of 11 sheltered workshop workers was recruited to collect their opinions about the relevance of the WPRS from the service users' perspectives. A panel of 23 frontline practitioners who had experience in using various work assessment instruments provided at their work setting was recruited to review the content of the WPRS. A 14-item amended version of the WPRS with five new items added was proposed based on the opinions of service users, frontline practitioners, and the concept of the Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment (MTWA). An expert panel of 12 professionals at the senior level from various vocational rehabilitation settings was recruited to comment on the content validity of the 14-item amended version of the WPRS. The expert panel agreed that the amended version of the WPRS was related to the concept of job satisfactoriness which could be used to assess the work performance of sheltered workshop workers. Thus, the use of the MTWA for improving the content validity of the WPRS to assess the employability of sheltered workshop workers was supported by the findings of the study.     

Elder mistreatment in urban India: a community based study

This study examined the extent and correlates of elder mistreatment among 400 community dwelling older adults aged 65 and above in Chennai, India. The prevalence rate of mistreatment was 14%. Chronic verbal abuse was the most common followed by financial abuse and the rate of physical abuse and neglect was similar. Among the mistreated, exactly half of them had experienced more than one type of mistreatment (multifaceted-mistreatment). With the exception of financial abuse, a significantly greater number of women experienced verbal and physical abuse as well as neglect compared to men. Adult children, daughters-in-law, spouses, and sons-in-law were the prominent perpetrators. The mistreated older adults were more depressed and less satisfied with life than those who were not mistreated. Logistic regression analysis revealed gender, social support, and subjective rating of physical health as significant factors associated with abuse.