Machismo: Manifestations of a cultural value in the Latin American casino

Casino operations were observed in twelve Latin American countries. Owners, managers, employees, players, and government regulators in each of these countries were interviewed. The concept of machismo is described in its historical and cultural context. It is then used to illuminate casino operations and the mode of play in existence in these casinos.Research activities for this paper were supported by grants from the First Interstate Bank of Las Vegas, Nevada, through the Center for Business Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and from Tottenham and Associates, Gaming Consultants, London, England.     

After the highwayman: Syntax and successful placement of press releases in newspapers

This study proves once again that too many press releases are poorly written and over-written, with long sentences and paragraphs, and poor syntax as well as weak and passive construction. In their use of press releases, journalists almost always have to make them simpler, shorter, easier to read, and less passive.The authors conclude that success in writing of press releases requires brevity and simplicity, shorter paragraphs, sentences, and words, and the elimination of the passive voice.Timothy Walters is an assistant professor of communication at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. Lynne Walters is associate professor of journalism and Douglas Starr professor of journalism, both at Texas A&M University, College Station. Lynne Walters is currently a Fulbright professor at the American Journalism Center in Budapest, where her husband Timothy is also on a one-year appointment as a visiting professor.     

Continuous-Time Stochastic Processes with Cyclical Long-Range Dependence

This paper introduces continuous‐time random processes whose spectral density is unbounded at some non‐zero frequencies. The discretized versions of these processes have asymptotic properties similar to those of discrete‐time Gegenbauer processes. The paper presents some properties of the covariance function and spectral density as well as a theory of statistical estimation of the mean and covariance function of such processes. Some directions for further generalizations of the results are indicated.     

On indices of marginal and total production cost

In this paper we suggest cost indices that measure absolute changes in total and marginal production costs between two periods when factor prices change. The class of cost functions that generate equal total and marginal cost indices is characterized. A numerical illustration of the indices is provided using Indian cotton textile industry data.     

Ehrenberg law-like relationship and anthropometry

Summary. Ehrenberg presented the simple law-like relationship log( w )=0.8 h  + 0.4 ± 0.04 between the weight and height of children aged 5–13 years. Several researchers have confirmed that this relationship holds, irrespective of the child's ethnic, racial, gender and social class. In anthropometry, a weight–height relationship is used to measure the nutritional status of children. For this purpose, the World Health Organization have adopted the National Center for Health Statistics population as the international reference population. The relationship between the World Health Organization–National Center for Health Statistics anthropometric standards and Ehrenberg law-like relationship is examined. Differences between the weight-for-height relationship in anthropometry and the law-like relationship between weight and height for children are small and can be attributable to functional differences. It is found that an Ehrenberg law-like relationship can be extended to include children who are under 5 years old. Criteria for using the law-like relationship to assess the nutritional status of these children are thus suggested. The criteria are evaluated using anthropometric data of a sample of 513 children from a rural district of Botswana. The results indicate that the proposed method of using the law-like relationship to assess nutritional status is much simpler and at least as reliable as the existing methods in anthropometry.     

PTSD and the Vietnam veteran: the battle for treatment

1. Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often encounter treatment that is complicated by professional bias, personal issues, countertransference, and pathological staff dynamics. 2. Treatment is further complicated by diagnostic confusion, the dual diagnoses of substance abuse or depression, and symptoms that mimic personality disorders or psychosis. 3. The special circumstances of the Vietnam conflict that contributed to the susceptibility and etiology of PTSD are the individual characteristics of those who served, the special nature of the war itself and the military strategies used, and the psychosocial and cultural milieu in which it occurred.     

The energy and mass balance of Los Angeles County

We conducted an urban “metabolic” study of inputs and outputs of food, water, energy, and pollutants from Los Angeles County, USA. This region has been the subject of recent debate about the nature of population density and distribution as it relates to urban form and associated environmental impacts. We found that with the exception of food imports and wastewater outputs, inputs of resources and outputs of pollutants generally declined on a per capita basis from 1990 to 2000. Reductions likely reflected a combination of changes in public policy, improvements in technology and public infrastructure, and impacts of increases in population density. However, in comparison to other municipalities and urban regions, resource consumption per capita was still relatively high in some categories, particularly inputs of water and transportation energy. Per capita greenhouse gas emissions were lower in Los Angeles County than for the average of the USA as a whole but higher than previous analyses of urban areas internationally, largely due to comparatively high emissions from the transportation sector. Wastewater discharge accounted for less than 40% of water inputs excluding precipitation; however the partitioning of water outputs through other potential losses, specifically evapotranspiration, runoff, and groundwater recharge, remains highly uncertain. We suggest that more detailed information about water losses will greatly improve future mass and energy accounting for analyses of urban environmental sustainability in this semi-arid region.     

Alcohol use among college students: responses to raising the purchase age

On December 1, 1985, New York State raised its alcohol purchase age from 19 to 21. We used a quasi-experimental research design to explore the changes in alcohol use behaviors and attitudes of undergraduates at a large central New York university before and after this legislation was enacted. The overwhelming majority of this undergraduate population is under 21 years old and is thus affected by the new legislation. A comparison of data from the two survey times revealed that 90% of the undergraduates sampled continued to drink at least occasionally. Our analysis of drinking quantity showed a slight moderation in alcohol consumption overall, with the greatest changes occurring for the heaviest drinkers--men and members of Greek organizations. Even with apparent moderation in student drinking, reported negative consequences such as physical injuries were more common. A change in drinking location to less-controlled environments, such as private rooms and unmonitored parties, is offered as one possible explanation.