Public primary health care and children’s health in Brazil: evidence from siblings

The Family Health Program (Programa Saúde da Família) is an initiative of the Brazilian Ministry of Health designed to deliver free primary health care services within communities and households. The program was implemented by municipalities in different periods of time, creating variation in its availability among siblings of different ages. The empirical approach uses this variation to estimate the effect of the program on children’s health in Brazil, in an attempt to control for family and municipality unobserved factors possibly related to the program’s adoption. The results indicate that children for whom the Family Health Program was available in their municipalities during the prenatal period are healthier than children for whom the program was not available during the same period of their lives.     

‘What better advertisement could Australia have?’ Encyclopaedias and nation-building

In the early twentieth century, Australians committed to nation-building had to be inventive. With neither a foundation myth nor a unique defining history to resort to, other cultural products were created to succour Australia's postcolonial development. Whereas one such cultural product, the Sydney Bulletin, has been examined in Australian historiography, the role of encyclopaedias has been neglected. It is argued here that the Australian Encyclopaedia (1925–26) plumped the cheeks of the nation; and that encyclopaedias, despite their claims to objectivity, are surprisingly effective in the communication of political ideas.     

Insights and recommendations for recruitment and retention of low socio-economic parents with overweight children

Low socio-economic groups are typically difficult to recruit and retain in health research, which makes it difficult to investigate their health-related beliefs and behaviours. Low socio-economic parents with overweight or obese children took part in a longitudinal qualitative child obesity study over 12?months. These parents’ views of and recommendations for appropriate recruitment and retention strategies are reported. Their interpretations and suggestions are considered in the light of the difficulties that were experienced in designing the study to meet their needs and the approaches that were found to be more effective in achieving and maintaining a viable study cohort. Relevant aspects of recruitment included remuneration, recruitment locations and the use of appropriate weight-related terminology. Retention factors included protocol flexibility, ongoing remuneration and learning opportunities. Barriers to ongoing participation are also discussed. Suggestions are provided for future qualitative research with low socio-economic families.     

The Unbearable Lightness of Positive Illusions: Engaged Individuals' Explanations of Unrealistically Positive Relationship Perceptions

Recent scholarship suggests that positive illusions about one's partner are normal in satisfying intimate relationships. Researchers have relied on the logical argument that agreement with extremely favorable evaluations of one's partner constitutes a positive illusion. Engaged individuals were asked to explain their responses to a measure of positive illusions (Idealistic Distortion scale) to examine whether their accounts were consistent with the concept of positive illusions. The results suggest that (a) the Idealistic Distortion scale generally functioned as its authors intended because most participants responded to the items at face value, (b) engaged individuals used several methods to maintain highly positive perceptions of their partners, and (c) moderate and low Idealistic Distortion scores were somewhat equivocal and may require in‐depth item analysis for clarification.     

Bayesian Capture-Recapture Analysis: An Application in Modeling Semelparity of a Neotropical Didelphid Marsupial

We develop a series of Bayesian statistical models for estimating survival of a neotropic didelphid marsupial, the Brazilian gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus). These models are based on the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model (Cormack, 1964 Cormack , R. M. ( 1964 ). Estimates of survival from the sighting of marked animals . Biometrika 51 : 429 – 438 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Jolly 1965 Jolly , G. M. ( 1965 ). Explicit estimates from capture-recapture data with both death and immigration stochastic model . Biometrika 52 : 225 – 247 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Seber 1965 Seber , G. A. F. ( 1965 ). A note on the multiple recapture census . Biometrika 52 : 249 – 259 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) with both survival and recapture rates expressed as a function of covariates using a logit link. The proposed models allow taking into account heterogeneity in capture probability caused by the existence of different groups of individuals in the population. The models were applied to two cohorts (Cohort, 2000, 2001) with the first one including 14 and the second one 15 sampling occasions. The best models for each of the cohorts indicate that G. microtarsus is best described as partially semelparous, a condition in which mortality after the first mating is high but graded over time, with a fraction of males surviving for a second breeding season (Boonstra, 2005 Boonstra , R. ( 2005 ). Equipped for life: the adaptive role of the stress axis in male mammals . Journal of Mammalogy 86 : 236 – 247 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

The effects of interruption,gender, and status on interpersonal perceptions

This study examined: (1) how violations in turn-taking, ie., interruption, are perceived, (2) whether attributions toward an interrupter vary according to gender and status, and (3) how individuals who adopt cross-sex interruptive styles are seen. Subjects listened to a four-minute audiotape of a conversation and rated conversants on masculinity, femininity, competence, sociability, attractiveness, and traditionality. Sex of interrupter, style of interruption (statement, question, no interruption), and status were varied. Results suggest that interruption leads to negative personality attributions. Interrupters were seen as less sociable and more assertive than individuals who did not interrupt. They were also perceived as more masculine and less feminine than those who did not interrupt. Few sex differences emerged, indicating that women who interrupt are not penalized relative to men.We would like to thank Emory Cowen for his helpful comments and suggestions on earlier version of this article. We extend special thanks to Anne Bogat for her assistance and support at Michigan State University, and to Sharon Benson, Erica Colwell, Scott Fischer, Maureen Goldman, Jason Korosec, Michael Lynch and Ann Skoczenski for their assistance and patience in the development of the materials.     

Marital Conflict, Depressive Symptoms, and Functional Impairment

Guided by a stress process perspective, we investigated (a) whether marital conflict might directly lead to changes in depression and functional impairment, (b) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in functional impairment via depression, and (c) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in depression via functional impairment. We estimated a latent variable causal model using 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 1,832). Results indicated that marital conflict directly led to increases in depression and functional impairment and indirectly led to a rise in depression via functional impairment. Overall, findings suggest marital conflict is a significant risk factor for psychological and physical health among midlife and older adults.     

The Migration of Organizational Functions to the Work Unit Level: Buffering, Spanning, and Bringing Up Boundaries

In this paper, we propose that the locus oforganizational boundary activities has migrated from theorganization to the work unit level as enterprisesreengineer structures, increase the use ofcross-functional teams, cut organizational slack, and adoptadvanced information technologies. From an open systemsperspective, we examine how environmental andorganizational forces affect this migration process.Three types of boundary activity relevant for workunits are identified: buffering, spanning, and bringingup boundaries. A set of preliminary propositionsregarding relationships between environmental andorganizational changes and boundary activities is offered asa guide for future research.