Spatially varying dynamic coefficient models

In this work we present a flexible class of linear models to treat observations made in discrete time and continuous space, where the regression coefficients vary smoothly in time and space. This kind of model is particularly appealing in situations where the effect of one or more explanatory processes on the response present substantial heterogeneity in both dimensions. We describe how to perform inference for this class of models and also how to perform forecasting in time and interpolation in space, using simulation techniques. The performance of the algorithm to estimate the parameters of the model and to perform prediction in time is investigated with simulated data sets. The proposed methodology is used to model pollution levels in the Northeast of the United States.     

Complex climate and network effects on internal migration in South Africa revealed by a network model

Population and Environment - Climate variability and climate change influence human migration both directly and indirectly through a variety of channels that are controlled by individual and...     

‘Water divide’ in the global risk society

In contemporary society, which is also defined as global risk society, the water crisis plays a controversial but decisive role in comparison with other kinds of risk (health care, environmental, financial, warlike). However, the sociological debate does not confer to the world water crisis the right significance: the essay precisely highlights this lack and focuses on the hypothesis that it could be also connected to the lack of interest that mass media agenda-setting shows to this issue. The result is that, in most cases, industrialized countries show an irresponsible approach towards a resource which is so precious for the simple fact that it is exhaustible. Furthermore, the advantages of both development and globalization are not equally distributed from a geographic point of view, and the gap between the ‘rich’ and the ‘poor’ is getting deeper and deeper also within this phenomenon. According to the author's perspective, it would be reasonable to talk about a water divide and assume a sustainable development capable of dealing with the overall problem of drinking water availability, its quality, its public access, with a view to democratic management and the sharing of this resource.     

Lyceum 1511 and Mountain Crest High School: An International Exchange Program Reveals Educational Contrasts

Abstract

Mexico. The Story of Two Americas. By Stuart Chase, in collaboration with Marian Tyler. Illustrated by Diego Rivera. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1931. 338 pp. $3.00. Reviewed by Milton W. Hamilton.

Mexican Maze. By Carleton Beals. With Illustrations by Diego Rivera. J. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1931. 370 pp. $3.00. Reviewed by Milton W. Hamilton.

The United States and Disarmament. By Benjamin H. Williams. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1931. 361 pp. Reviewed by Milton W. Hamilton.

Bolívar. A Contribution to the study of his political Ideas. By C. Parra-Perez. Translated by N. Andrew N. Cleven. Pittsburgh Printing Company, Pittsburgh, 1930. 198 pp. $3. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

The Black Napoleon. The Story of Toussaint Louverture. By Percy Waxman. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1931. 298 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Coronado's Children. Tales of Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the Southwest. By J. Frank Dobie. The Southwest Press, Dallas, 1930. xv, 367 pp. $3. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Dominicans in Early Florida. By The Very Rev. V. F. O'Daniel. The United States Catholic Historical Society, New York, 1930. xiii, 230 pp. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Historia de la Guerra del Guano y el Salitre o Guerra del Pacifico entre Chile, Bolivia y el Peru. Vol. I. Causas y origenes de la Guerra Naval. By Jacinto Lopez. De Laisne and Rossboro, Inc., New York, 1931. 413 pp. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

A History of the United States Since the Civil War, Volume IV. By Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1931. 718 pp. $5.25. Reviewed by Elmer Ellis.

Old France. By John G. Coulter; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1931, 600 pp. Français et Allemands. By Louis Reynaud; Paris: A. Fayard et Cie, 1931, 387 pp. Reviewed by Jacques Barzun.

Twelve Portraits of the French Revolution. By Henri Béraud. Translated by Madeleine Boyd. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1928. 831. pp. Reviewed by C. R. Hall

The Second Republic and Napoleon III. By René Arnaud. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1931. Pp. vii, 436. $4.50. Reviewed by Shepard B. Clough.

Prologue to Mexico. The story of a Search for a Place. By Marian Storm. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1931. xii, 328 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Mexico. A Study of Two Americas. By Stuart Chase. The Macraillan Company, New York, 1931. vii, 338 pp. $3.00. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

The Genius of Mexico. Lectures Delivered before the Fifth Seminar in Mexico, 1930. Edited by Hubert C. Herring and Katharine Terrill. The Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America, New York, 1931, ix, 334 pp. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Liberalism in Mexico, 1857–1929. By Wilfred Hardy Callcott. Stanford University Press, 1931. xiii, 410 pp. $5.00. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Mexico and its Heritage. By Ernest Gruening. The Century Company, New York, 1930. xix, 728 pp. $3.00. Reviewed by A. Curtis Wilgus.

Hero Stories for Children. By Earl A. Collins and Lyda Hale. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1931. 264 pp. Reviewed by

The First Three Hundred Years in America. By Marion G. Clark and Wilbur Fisk Gordy. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1931. 436 pp. Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara.

Young America. By Charles F. Horne and Olive Bucks. Charles E. Merrill Co., New York, 1930. 328 pp. Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara.     

Contextualizing Gender and Migration: Galician Immigration to Switzerland

Focusing on two main aspects of the Spanish‐Galician migration experience, this article attempts to analyze how migrants' actions and discourses are shaped by notions of gender. First, the discourse of returning will question notions of family and how differently men and women define their positions as members of a family. While men seem to link their social identity to immovable goods of prestige back in Galicia, women are able to redefine their social identity as they base it on social relations. The second aspect deals with the fact that cleaning is defined as women's work, but at the same time it is — under certain conditions — performed by men.     

Women's voluntarism and philanthropy in pre-revolutionary Russia: building a civil society

Historically, civil activism was primarily shaped illegally in Russia, through the revolutionary underground under tsarism, and via dissident movement under the Soviet regime. Among legal enterprises, philanthropy maintained an orientation toward gradualist social change and mutual support. Women have played a major role in philanthropy and voluntary activities in Russia. Compared to European and American women, Russian women enjoyed far more extensive property rights which defined different strategies for gaining access to public space. Women's philanthropy made its greatest impact on public policy-making agendas not through maternalistic programmes for mothers and children but through education of women and girls, and support of women entering the job market. However, their contribution, especially in its civic aspects, has been undervalued for many reasons, particularly in the interpretation of a powerful ethos of female self-sacrifice peculiar to Russian women as a basic motive of women's voluntarism. This article challenges this interpretation and instead portrays women in philanthropy and voluntary activity as agents of social change.     

When standardization becomes the lens of professional practice in child welfare services

This paper examines the relationship between professional work and standardization. There has been an increase in the use of standardized programmes in child welfare services (CWS) in Western society. Some researchers have criticized standardized programmes suggesting that they undermine professionals expertise and threaten their position, whereas others argue that such programmes strengthen professional practice. In this paper, we examine how standardized tools, in this case, a standardized parenting programme and a standardized Norwegian assessment tool, influence professional roles as experienced by child welfare workers (CWS professionals) in Norway. Semistructured individual and group interviews were conducted with 31 frontline workers in two CWS agencies. Our findings suggest that standardized tools increase the social workers experienced professional competence but challenge their professional knowledge base, reflective practice, and professional accountability. Professional and practical implications for CWS work are discussed in the light of these findings.     

Testing the acculturation of the 1.5 generation in the United States: Is there a “critical” age of migration?

Review of Economics of the Household - Existing research shows that on average first-generation immigrants earn less than native-born workers in the United States, especially during their first...