Processes of adjustment in organized out-of-school activities: opportunities and risks

Participation in organized out-of-school activities leads to long-term psychosocial and educational benefits for young people. Now we're learning which features of these activities best support individual children.     

Exploiting proteomics in the discovery of drugs that target mitochondrial oxidative damage

To understand how oxidative stress contributes to aging and age-related diseases and to better evaluate the therapeutic effect of antioxidant drugs, it would be highly desirable to have a comprehensive and detailed readout of the types of oxidative damage that occur to proteins at a global or proteome level. In this Perspective, I examine how proteomics, defined here as the science of examining all proteins in an organelle, cell, or tissue in the context of biological phenomena, can be used to provide molecular details of mitochondrial protein oxidative damage. Specifically, I discuss approaches that combine knowledge of the mitochondrial proteome with newer mass spectrometry-based techniques that are capable of identifying proteins and sites of oxidative modification in a high-throughput manner.     

Bayesian Estimation of Survival Functions under Stochastic Precedence

When estimating the distributions of two random variables, X and Y, investigators often have prior information that Y tends to be bigger than X. To formalize this prior belief, one could potentially assume stochastic ordering between X and Y, which implies Pr(X < or = z) > or = Pr(Y < or = z) for all z in the domain of X and Y. Stochastic ordering is quite restrictive, though, and this article focuses instead on Bayesian estimation of the distribution functions of X and Y under the weaker stochastic precedence constraint, Pr(X < or = Y) > or = 0.5. We consider the case where both X and Y are categorical variables with common support and develop a Gibbs sampling algorithm for posterior computation. The method is then generalized to the case where X and Y are survival times. The proposed approach is illustrated using data on survival after tumor removal for patients with malignant melanoma.     

Comparisons of Test Statistics Arising from Marginal Analyses of Multivariate Survival Data

We investigate the properties of several statistical tests for comparing treatment groups with respect to multivariate survival data, based on the marginal analysis approach introduced by Wei, Lin and Weissfeld [Regression Analysis of multivariate incomplete failure time data by modelling marginal distributians, JASA vol. 84 pp. 1065–1073]. We consider two types of directional tests, based on a constrained maximization and on linear combinations of the unconstrained maximizer of the working likelihood function, and the omnibus test arising from the same working likelihood. The directional tests are members of a larger class of tests, from which an asymptotically optimal test can be found. We compare the asymptotic powers of the tests under general contiguous alternatives for a variety of settings, and also consider the choice of the number of survival times to include in the multivariate outcome. We illustrate the results with simulations and with the results from a clinical trial examining recurring opportunistic infections in persons with HIV.     

Walking a tightrope: Dilemmas of participant observation of groups in conflict

This article addresses issues that develop in the conduct of comparative participant observation research. The two groups in which the authors became involved as participant observers were the Unification Church of the Korean evangelist Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the emerging network of organizations involved in the practice of deprogramming. Each group was dedicated to the destruction of the other. Five major methodological problems, common to conducting investigation on single groups, are discussed in the context of researching these two antagonistic groups: 1) role definition and justification; 2) pressures to go native; 3) public pressure to take a stand; 4) evolving commitments; and 5) gaining comparable information and insights. The authors describe their efforts to resolve these problems and maintain a good rapport with both groups. This paper is the product of a joint effort. The order of authorship is random and does not imply any difference in the importance of contributions.     

Teacher-pupil interactions: a negotiation perspective*

L'analyse de l'interaction entre enseignant et élève dans une perspective de négociation augmenterait notre compréhension des processus par lesquels on arrive à des ententes collectives, si on y arrive dans ces situations. Ann de démontrer l'utilité de cette proposition, trois processus de négociation sont sélectionnés pour l'analyse de l'interaction entre enseignant et élève. Les processus sont les suivants: (1) les ambiguites et les désaccords autour desquels les négociations se déroulent, (2) les stratégies adoptées par les enseignants et par les élèves, (3) les aspects temporels de la négociation. Le texte conclut en indiquant des domaines de recherche que suggère cette perspective. It is proposed that analyses of teacher-pupil interactions from a negotiation perspective would increase our understanding of the processes whereby collective agreements are achieved, if at all, in these situations. To demonstrate the utility of this proposal this paper selects three processes of negotiation and analyses teacher-pupil interactions along these lines. The processes analysed are (1) the ambiguities and disagreements around which negotiations evolve, (2) the strategies employed by teachers and pupils, and (3) the temporal aspects of negotiation. Further areas of research suggested by this perspective are indicated.     

Nonverbal cues employed in discriminating between disabled persons and actors

Undergraduate subjects were seen to accurately discriminate between simulating actors and genuinely disabled males confined to wheelchairs. Judgments were based on skill in manipulating the wheelchair, poorer muscular development of the disabled, and on appearance of clothing. Implications for research on the disabled employing actors was discussed.This study was supported by a grant from the York University Faculty of Arts awarded to the first two authors. The project was performed as the third author's Honours thesis. The authors wish to thank all participants for their cooperation and assistance in making this research possible. The authors also wish to thank Gail Kenyon, Coordinator of the Centre for Handicapped Students who helped recruit participants for the videotaping and to Lucie Cantrell, Executive Officer of the York University Counselling and Development Centre who arranged for the use of the Centre's facilities and equipment.     

Assumptions of social mobility research in the U.S.: The case of occupational status

This paper examines the theoretical and empirical basis for common rank-orderings of occupational roles by raters throughout the world. From an illustrative comparison of occupational stratification in Australia and the United States we conclude tentatively that (1) commonalities in the socioeconomic characteristics of occupational roles provide the basis for interplace consistencies in “prestige” scores, (2) the structure of occupational mobility in the U.S. and Australia is largely similar, (3) this similar structure of occupational stratification manifests a common socioeconomic process which defines a (the?) major component of occupational mobility in capitalist, industrial (only?) societies. We infer that “prestige” scores for occupations are fallible estimates of the socioeconomic statuses of occupation, within the context of mobility processes in (at least) the U.S. and Australia.