Seapower and socioeconomic change

The present essay examines the concepts of path dependence and change of political and economic regimes. Starting from the debate of the influence of the so called military revolution on the emergence of modern states, the neglected aspect of the influence of seapower on socioeconomic change is presented, using a formal model. It is maintained that the choice of seapower by a state leads to a different regime than the choice of land military power, because sustainable seapower necessitates a wide alliance of interests, which brings with it more democratic regimes, develops new more efficient and complex forms of organizations, requires the acquisition and diffusion of new knowledge and expertise, which brings with it institutional change and economic growth. The essay concludes with a short presentation of the United Provinces' (the Dutch Republic) turn to the sea.     

Obesity and urinary incontinence

Obesity is growing at an alarming rate worldwide. It poses a major health problem that in turn places a huge financial burden on health services. Medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease are commonly associated with obesity, but less well documented is the association between obesity and urinary incontinence. This article reviews the current literature to see whether: (1) obesity predisposes to urinary incontinence; (2) weight loss improves urinary incontinence and (3) obesity affects the surgical outcome. It also covers the surgical and anaesthetic implications of obesity. New minimally invasive surgical techniques make surgical risks acceptable for the obese patient but the anaesthetic risks remain high. Obese patients should not be denied surgery but be made aware of the higher risks. Future research should focus on the impact of obesity on surgical outcomes for continence surgery, particularly on intraoperative and postoperative complication rates as well as long-term cure rates.     

The development of a CAHPS instrument for Nursing Home Residents (NHCAHPS)

We report on a federal initiative to develop a CAHPS (The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey to measure residents' experiences with quality-of-care and quality-of-life in nursing homes (known as NHCAHPS). We focus on how we created and tested questions for inclusion in the instrument and tested a possible cognitive screener to determine which residents could participate in a NHCAHPS interview. The major lessons learned were: (1) In contrast to other CAHPS surveys, ratings were more useful than reports because of the difficulty that residents had with summarizing over time and people; (2) consistent with other CAHPS surveys, the 0 to 10 response scale appeared to work well with nursing home residents for many of the quality-of-care questions; however, a different response scale was needed for many of the quality-of-life items; and (3) in contrast with typical survey methodology and other CAHPS surveys where explicit time reference periods are used, a non-specific present reference period in questions seemed to work best.     

An Integrated Scenario Ensemble-Based Framework for Hurricane Evacuation Modeling: Part 1—Decision Support System

This article introduces a new integrated scenario-based evacuation (ISE) framework to support hurricane evacuation decision making. It explicitly captures the dynamics, uncertainty, and human–natural system interactions that are fundamental to the challenge of hurricane evacuation, but have not been fully captured in previous formal evacuation models. The hazard is represented with an ensemble of probabilistic scenarios, population behavior with a dynamic decision model, and traffic with a dynamic user equilibrium model. The components are integrated in a multistage stochastic programming model that minimizes risk and travel times to provide a tree of evacuation order recommendations and an evaluation of the risk and travel time performance for that solution. The ISE framework recommendations offer an advance in the state of the art because they: (1) are based on an integrated hazard assessment (designed to ultimately include inland flooding), (2) explicitly balance the sometimes competing objectives of minimizing risk and minimizing travel time, (3) offer a well-hedged solution that is robust under the range of ways the hurricane might evolve, and (4) leverage the substantial value of increasing information (or decreasing degree of uncertainty) over the course of a hurricane event. A case study for Hurricane Isabel (2003) in eastern North Carolina is presented to demonstrate how the framework is applied, the type of results it can provide, and how it compares to available methods of a single scenario deterministic analysis and a two-stage stochastic program.     

From the Ghetto to the Ivory Tower: Gendered Effects of Segregation on Elite‐College Completion*

Objectives. To explore the continuing consequences of segregation for students in elite colleges and test whether male and female students experience the effects of segregation in different ways. Methods. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF, 1999–2003) are used to predict the odds of elite‐college graduation separately by gender. Theories on childhood gender socialization are addressed using OLS and logistic regression models to test for gendered pathways through which childhood segregation affects the likelihood of college graduation. Results. Males are exposed to higher levels of violence and disorder than females throughout childhood, and the gender gap in exposure grows as levels of segregation increase. The effect of segregation and its sequella on academic performance, however, appears to operate through different channels for males and females. Females experience significant negative effects of ongoing family stress, whereas males at elite colleges do not. Academic preparation, operating through college GPA, remains the single biggest factor affecting the likelihood of college graduation, although the strength of association is greater for males. Conclusions. Growing up in racially segregated environments affects long‐term educational outcomes in ways that are not gender neutral. Despite having reached the “ivory tower,” females and males continue to experience the effects of segregation, although in different ways and degrees.     

Understanding the antecedents of aggressive behavior in Persian Gulf War veterans within individual,interpersonal, and community contexts

ABSTRACT

The present study applies the social-ecological framework to examine multiple level correlates of aggressive behavior of veterans of the first Gulf War in 1991. Data were collected from the VA‘s Persian Gulf Family Support Programs (PGFSP), and the sample includes 1,519 veterans who participated in the PGFSP. At the individual level, the study finds that younger and female veterans and those with higher self-esteem were less likely to report displaying aggressive behavior. At the interpersonal level, veterans who displayed misconduct in the home are more likely to display aggressive behavior. At the community level, veterans who were in the Air Force was less likely, while those in the Marines were more likely to be aggressive. Implications for practice are discussed.     

‘English… it's part of our blood’: Ideologies of language and nation in United States Congressional discourse

Utilizing a combination of corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, the article describes ideologies of United States (U.S.) national identity based in civic and ethnic nationalisms. These ideologies circulated during debates and hearings in the U.S. Congress concerning the 2006 reauthorization of provisions of the Voting Rights Act requiring that multilingual voting materials be made available for language minorities in certain jurisdictions. The article argues that although those legislators supporting the use of multilingual voting materials construct an ideology of civic nationalism that promotes inclusion of language minorities, they are still greatly influenced by the dominant language ideology. Those opposing multilingual voting materials construct a U.S. national identity that places stringent requirements on newcomers to assimilate and learn English. These legislators simultaneously attempt to avoid the suspicion of ethnic nationalist ideologies by arguing that English is a neutral entity, detaching it from its dominant linguistic community. The findings suggest that despite Congressional support for multilingual voting materials, the language ideologies present in Congress are not necessarily favorable to the rights of language minorities. These findings have language policy implications in that they suggest opposition to a right to language for linguistic minorities in the U.S.