Association Study on Pathological Gambling and Polymorphisms of Dopamine D1, D2, D3, and D4 Receptor Genes in a Korean Population

Several studies have reported that some dopaminergic receptor polymorphisms are associated with pathological gambling (PG). Considering that there are major race and ethnic group difference in dopaminergic polymorphisms, the result of genetic association studies should be confirmed in more homogeneous population to avoid problems of population stratification. The present study aimed to investigate whether selected polymorphisms in the dopamine receptors genes (DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, and DRD4) are associated with PG in Korean population which is consisted of only Korean ancestry. Subjects were 104 men with a diagnosis of PG and 114 unrelated age-matched normal control men. Genotyping was performed for the DRD1 gene -48 A/G, DRD2 gene TaqI A, DRD3 gene Ser9Gly, and DRD4 gene exon III variable number tandem repeat polymorphisms. The method of multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) was used to analyze gene-gene interactions. There were no differences in the frequencies of any studied polymorphisms between patients with PG and normal controls. MDR analysis did not show a significant effect of the 4 dopamine receptor gene polymorphisms on susceptibility to PG (P > 0.05). The present study suggests that the analyzed polymorphisms of the dopamine receptor genes might not be associated with PG in a Korean population.     

Toward a Composite Measure of Green Consumption: An Exploratory Study Using a Korean Sample

This study developed a composite measure of green consumption behaviors, incorporating multiple dimensions of green consumption behaviors. As a result of an extensive literature review, four value orientations were proposed: health-related egoistic value orientation, resource-related egoistic value orientation, altruistic value orientation, and biospheric value orientation. And a composite measure of green consumption which measured green consumption behavior manifesting the suggested value orientations were proposed and empirically tested using a Korean sample. After empirical testing and validating the proposed composite measure according to the measurement validation procedure proposed by Nunnally (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978), the composite measure of green consumption behaviors was revised to three dimensions of green consumption behaviors: health-conscious green consumption behavior, resource-conscious green consumption behavior, and socially conscious green consumption behavior that combined originally suggested altruistic and biospheric value orientations. A multivariate regression analysis was employed to test the usability of the composite measure of green consumption behaviors and to identify the determinants of green consumption behaviors. As hypothesized, the results of regression analysis showed that perceived consumer effectiveness, reference persons, and perceived market situation are significant determinants of green consumption behaviors, and the effects of environmental concern and socioeconomics are limited. Based on these findings, public policy and marketing implications that promote green consumption are also proposed.     

A Longitudinal Study of the Developmental Trajectories of Parental Attachment and Career Maturity of South Korean Adolescents

This study tested the developmental trajectories of career maturity (CM) and parental attachment (PA), the longitudinal influence of both, and gender as a moderator. Findings showed developmental progressions in adolescents’ PA and CM over 4 years. The change in PA was positively related to the developmental change in CM. For gender, there was a statistically significant difference in the initial status of CM and PA but no significant difference in developmental change. This study verified the longitudinal influence of PA on CM and showed that the cross‐sectional effect of predictors on CM needs to be distinguished from the longitudinal effect in future studies.     

RESERVE PRICE EFFECTS IN AUCTIONS: ESTIMATES FROM MULTIPLE REGRESSION‐DISCONTINUITY DESIGNS

We present evidence from 260,000 online auctions of second‐hand cars to identify the impact of public reserve prices on auction outcomes. We exploit multiple discontinuities in the relationship between reserve prices and vehicle characteristics to present causal regression‐discontinuity estimates of reserve price impacts. We find an increase in reserve price decreases the number of bidders, increases the likelihood the object remains unsold, and increases expected revenue conditional on sale. We then combine these estimates to calibrate the reserve price effect on the auctioneer's ex ante expected revenue. This reveals the auctioneer's reserve price policy to be locally optimal. (JEL D44, L11, L62)     

Social work intervention with wife assaults

This article presents data from a national survey on social work intervention in cases of wife assaults in Singapore. The survey was conducted from March to July 1992 among 510 citizens, educated and over 17 years old. Trained interviewers during a 20-minute interview used a structured questionnaire divided into six major sections. Respondents were asked to choose from the four possible responses, namely: 1) work together with couple to solve their problems; 2) help the wife find another place to stay; 3) help the wife obtain a court order; and 4) help the wife get a divorce. Demographic variables are included in the analysis. About 92.4% of the respondents indicated that social workers should limit their intervention to ?work with the couple? in dealing with cases of minor assault occurring for the first time. About 35.8% opted to help the wife obtain a court order, and 22.3% chose separation or divorce in minor assaults. Majority suggested that social workers should help the wife obtain a court order and separation on major assaults. Findings suggest that social services in Singapore should focus their programs on battered women solely on conciliatory services outside the legal system.     

A robust support vector machine for labeling errors

Support vector machine (SVM) is sparse in that its classifier is expressed as a linear combination of only a few support vectors (SVs). Whenever an outlier is included as an SV in the classifier, the outlier may have serious impact on the estimated decision function. In this article, we propose a robust loss function that is convex. Our learning algorithm is more robust to outliers than SVM. Also the convexity of our loss function permits an efficient solution path algorithm. Through simulated and real data analysis, we illustrate that our method can be useful in the presence of labeling errors.     

Marriage‐Market Constraints and Mate‐Selection Behavior: Racial,Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Intermarriage

Despite theoretical consensus that marriage markets constrain mate‐selection behavior, few studies directly evaluate how local marriage‐market conditions influence intermarriage patterns. Using data from the American Community Survey, the authors examine what aspects of marriage markets influence mate selection, assess whether the associations between marriage‐market conditions and intermarriage are uniform by gender and across pan‐ethnic groups, and investigate the extent to which marriage‐market conditions account for group differences in intermarriage patterns. Relative group size is the most salient and consistent determinant of intermarriage patterns across pan‐ethnic groups and by gender. Marriage‐market constraints typically explain a larger share of pan‐ethnic differences in intermarriage rates than individual traits, suggesting that scarcity of co‐ethnic partners is a key reason behind decisions to intermarry. When faced with market constraints, men are more willing or more successful than women in crossing racial and ethnic boundaries in marriage.     

The Buffering Effects of Social Capital on Inequalities in Subjective Well-Being Among Older People

Social Indicators Research - Empirical evidence regarding the buffering effects of community social capital on health inequality is limited. This study aims to examine the moderating effects of a...     

Influence of advertising on acceptance of press releases

To analyze the influence of advertising on the acceptance of press releases, this study examined two national and two local newspapers. The results of this study show that journalists and editors partially consider advertisers while selecting press releases. Specifically, local newspapers give more consideration to advertisers than national newspapers. However, when journalists and editors select press releases, they consider not only advertisers but the newsworthiness of the press releases.