College students and tattoos. Influence of image,identity, family,and friends

Tattoos are popular among many groups of people. College students from a large university in the southwestern United States were queried using the 134-item Armstrong Team Tattoo Attitude Survey. Findings documents a progressive increase in tattooing and reflect significant support for tattoos, even from non-tattooed students. Similar and positive demographic characteristics were present in individuals who were both non-tattooed and tattooed. In addition, tattooed people were viewed positively, even among non-tattooed respondents. Friends significantly affected procurement and possession of tattoos, whereas of all family members, the sister was the only significant influence. Overall, friends, identity, and image seem to be the major influences for obtaining tattoos.     

Characterizations of the β- and the Degree Network Power Measure

A symmetric network consists of a set of positions and a set of bilateral links between these positions. For every symmetric network we define a cooperative transferable utility game that measures the “power” of each coalition of positions in the network. Applying the Shapley value to this game yields a network power measure, the β-measure, which reflects the power of the individual positions in the network. Applying this power distribution method iteratively yields a limit distribution, which turns out to be proportional to the well-known degree measure. We compare the β-measure and degree measure by providing characterizations, which differ only in the normalization that is used.      

Individual relationship education program as a prevention method for intimate partner violence

ABSTRACT

Intimate partner violence (IPV) can have detrimental effects on the lives of partners and children. The authors examined the effectiveness of a relationship education program, titled Within My Reach (WMR), to prevent IPV in a naturalistic nonrandomized adult sample. The sample included participants who endorsed no physical violence in their relationship and no to very low controlling behaviors at pretest. At 6-month follow-up the participants in the WMR group reported statistically significant fewer controlling behaviors than the comparison group (d = .45). Although there were no statistically significant differences between the WMR and comparison group in physical violence at 6-month follow-up, the findings were in still favor of the WMR group (d = .15).     

Education-related inequity in healthcare with heterogeneous reporting of health

Reliance on self-rated health to proxy medical need can bias estimation of education-related inequity in healthcare utilization. We correct this bias both by instrumenting self-rated health with objective health indicators and by purging self-rated health of reporting heterogeneity that is identified from health vignettes. Using data on elderly Europeans, we find that instrumenting self-rated health shifts the distribution of visits to a doctor in the direction of inequality favouring the better educated. There is a further, and typically larger, shift in the same direction when correction is made for the tendency of the better educated to rate their health more negatively.     

Accelerated Test Models for System Strength Based on Birnbaum-Saunders Distributions

Recent research in cumulative damage models for strengths of systems has yielded various statistical distributions that incorporate a system size variable and follow a generalized Birnbaum-Saunders form. These models can be unified as a three-parameter Birnbaum-Saunders-type family of distributions, where the third parameter arises from the size variable through the cumulative damage approach. In this paper, the generalized three-parameter Birnbaum-Saunders distribution is characterized, and examples of cumulative damage models for system strength that fit this form are given. Also, estimation and asymptotic theory are developed for the generalized distribution, and illustrations are presented for experimental strength data for carbon composite materials.     

Reducing interparental conflict among parents in contentious child custody disputes: an initial investigation of the Working Together Program

Interparental conflict is one of the primary risk factors for negative outcomes for children whose parents separate, and it is likely to be high while parents are separating. Results are mixed regarding the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing interparental conflict. This study examined co-parents who were court-ordered to attend a 12-hr co-parenting intervention and completed pre-postassessments (n = 20) and 2-month follow-up assessments (n = 17). The results demonstrated increases in co-parents' relationship functioning and confidence in co-parenting. Both men and women reported decreased amounts of conflict in the presence of their children; however, only women reported decreases in general negative communication with the co-parent. These changes were generally maintained at a 2-month follow-up assessment. These findings suggest that interventions for high-conflict co-parents may increase their ability to work cooperatively.     

中国文论的传统性与现代性

中国文论的“传统性”指它在长期的发展演化过程中形成的一系列特征,“现代性”则指它所隐含的现代文论因子及其与西方文论的关系,二者之间的关系涉及古代文论研究的基本观念和方法问题,有必要从理论上加以反思和清理。一种普遍的误解是以为西方文论都是大部头的体系性著作,对“西方”的理解也过于狭隘。“中西比较”这样的研究方式几乎是不成立的,因为它将原本庞大、复杂的文化发展过程大大简化、割裂,抽取出一些所谓的特征来进行比较;如果一定要比较,至少要在中、西、南亚3个传统之间进行。历史在变化,不可能“回到”古代文论,只能不断地学习它、使用它。学术研究的要义是把问题搞清楚,不能把纯粹的学术问题转化为社会问题或文化问题。