Autonomy and relatedness in early adolescent friendships as predictors of short‐ and long‐term academic success

This study examined early adolescent autonomy and relatedness during disagreements with friends as key social competencies likely to predict academic achievement during the transition to high school and academic attainment into early adulthood. A sample of 184 adolescents was followed through age 29 to assess predictions to academic success from observed autonomy and relatedness during a disagreement task with a close friend. Observed autonomy and relatedness at age 13 predicted relative increases in grade point average (GPA) from 13 to 15, and greater academic attainment by age 29, after accounting for baseline GPA. Findings remained after accounting for peer acceptance, social competence, scholastic competence, externalizing and depressive symptoms, suggesting a key role for autonomy, and relatedness during disagreements in helping adolescents navigate challenges in the transition to high school and beyond.     

Variability of water quality,metals and phytoplankton community structure in urban stormwater ponds along a vegetation gradient

Stormwater Ponds (SPs) are common throughout urbanizing environments, yet their ecological role has not been well established. SPs are primarily designed for hydrological control of stormwater, but many are also designed to attenuate the quality of runoff prior to discharge. Thus, SPs likely serve as an important land-water linkage between terrestrial and aquatic systems in urban areas. In this study, we characterized 22 SPs and 3 natural reference ponds from Durham Region, Ontario, Canada representing a gradient in emergent plant cover. There was high variability and wide ranges in water quality parameters among SPs. The percentage of impervious surface served as a measure of urbanization intensity, and was a significant driver of conductivity, chloride and total suspended solids regardless of emergent vegetation cover. In fact, only water temperature (r?=??0.61) was found to significantly correlate with vegetation cover. This suggests a minimal role for emergent vegetation in mediating SP water quality. SPs had notably higher conductivity and runoff-metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cr) than reference ponds, but nutrients (Total P and Total N) and algal biomass did not significantly differ between SPs and reference ponds. Dominant phytoplankton groups included blue-green and euglenid algae, both of which are indicators of eutrophic and high organic systems, respectively. The blue-green genus Microcystis was detected in all ponds, and was the dominant taxon in most SPs. This raises concern that SPs may serve as reservoirs of toxin-producing algae. Multivariate analyses of metals, water quality variables and algal species composition showed considerable dissimilarity among SPs, yet comparably high similarity among reference ponds. This indicates that SPs are dynamic and diverse systems despite their engineered origins. Such broad gradients in water quality characteristics also imply variable impacts to receiving waters in the same region.     

Pay and productivity in “corporatist” Germany

Conventional theory predicts that productivity gains lead to pay hikes. Pay increases, however, can influence labor productivity. But what about the case of a corporatist economy, in which wage setting is highly coordinated? With cor-poratist cooperation between unions and management, is pay de-coupled from productivity? Using an innovative technique, this study disentangles the rela-tionship between pay and productivity in Germany. Citing high unemployment and increasingly global competition, critics have argued that Germany's brand of corporatist labor relations cannot survive. Our findings show that links between productivity and pay were different in the 1990s than in earlier years, suggesting that the collective bargaining process now works differently.     

Cyber child sexual exploitation

A 2-year review of 285 child cyber crime cases reported in the newspaper revealed how the Internet offenders were apprehended, the content of child pornography, and crime classification. A subsample of 100 cases with data on offender occupation revealed 73% of cases involved people in positions of authority. The dynamics of child cyber crime cases direct the implications for nursing practice in terms of evidence-based suspicion for reporting, categorizing the content of Internet images, referral of children for counseling, and treatment of offenders.     

Quantentative and Squalortative

The following article is actually a five piece work built around an essay submitted to the Internet the week prior to the tenth anniversary of the Challenger disaster. The article discusses the juxtaposition of schooling and the Challenger disaster, and incorporates a collective response of Internet scholars to the basic theme. In a brief conclusion, the article is held up as a model for future sorts of collective Internet and print scholarly joint ventures.     

U.S. Latinas' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Mammography: Meta-synthesis

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Latinas in the United States. The primary purpose of this meta-synthesis was to integrate findings on qualitative studies related to Latinas' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding breast cancer and its prevention through mammography. After applying inclusion criteria, eleven studies were located. Results were organized around four areas of inquiry that cross-cut primary studies: 1) Latina participants' knowledge of breast cancer and its prevention; 2) barriers for regular mammography; 3) facilitators that encouraged such screening; and 4) recommendations on how to provide screening for Latina women.     

The “male” privilege of White women,the “White” privilege of Black women,and vulnerability to violence: an intersectional analysis of Peace Corps workers in host countries

This article is an intersectional analysis of race, gender, and nationality in development work. Using interview, document, and observational data, I situate this inquiry in the context of US women’s work in the Peace Corps, an organization within a field marked by colonialism. I find that White women and women of color have similar and yet instructively different experiences of their gendered identities in field sites, because race and gender differently affect their identities and relative privilege abroad. Specifically, White women volunteers are often afforded some degree of “male” privilege because of their race (though their race may render them vulnerable to sexual violence), while some volunteers of color are afforded a degree of “White” privilege because of their nationality (although their race may also render them vulnerable to violence). However, because the Peace Corps does not challenge conventional race and gender privileges, it lacks the organizational orientation and capacity to effectively address safety and assault among its women volunteers.     

Closing the Wealth Gap: A Review of Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Homeownership

Homeownership plays an important role in the socioeconomic well‐being of Americans. Despite recent major losses in wealth due to the subprime market crash, home equity remains the largest source of wealth for the average American family. A marker of class status, owning one's home provides access to neighborhoods with the best schools, quality public services, and lowest crime. This article demonstrates that minorities have not had the same access to homeownership that Whites have, and this contributes to continuing socioeconomic disparities between Whites and minorities. This article explores the homeownership experience of Blacks – including African‐Americans, Caribbeans, and Africans – Hispanics, and Asians in the United States relative to non‐Hispanic Whites. Minorities rely heavily on homeownership and home equity as the key component of their wealth and remain less likely than Whites to hold alternative forms of investment such as stocks. The role that homeownership plays in perpetuating intergenerational wealth disparities between Whites and minorities is discussed as are challenges to minority homeownership such as the pervasiveness of risky mortgage products. Exploring the racial gap in homeownership is fundamental to understanding racial inequalities and formulating strategies and policies to help close such disparities. This article concludes with suggestions for future research.