Rivalry and strategic groups: what makes a company a rival?

Strategic group literature has generated a significant amount of research over recent decades. However, the rivalry implications of strategic group have remained unclear. This paper analyses rivalry and strategic groups in the house building industry in a small town from a cognitive approach. We consider rivalry as a subjective and directional phenomenon. Estimating rivalry as the direct identification of competitors we try to explain whether similarity affects rivalry and what factors make a company a “rival”. Results show that perceived rivalry is strongly related to size, past performance, subjective similarity and strategic group structure.

Clinical observations on interferences of early father absence in the achievement of femininity

In clinical work, we have observed that the loss of the father through divorce has a significant effect on the young girl's developing sense of feminity. This paper briefly reviews the research findings from sex-role development theory and psychoanalytic theory, and presents clinical discussions of latency aged girls whose parents divorced during their daughter's early and oedipal years. The most common defensive or coping patterns seen in these child patients during latency are identified, with clinical material presented to illustrate both the existence of these patterns and implications for treatment.     

Establishing a Parenting Program for Fathers in Substance Abuse Treatment

This paper describes a systemic, trauma and attachment model for a parenting program for fathers in residential substance abuse treatment. It emphasises the complex nature of delivering parenting programs in this context and the importance of going beyond simple linear principles of reward and punishment, upon which many other parenting programs are predicated.     

Relationships Between Social-Emotional Intelligence and Sexual Risk Behaviors in Adolescent Girls

Social-emotional intelligence (SEI) has been linked with a number of health behaviors in adolescent populations. However, little is known about the influence of SEI on sexual behavior. This study examined associations between three indicators of SEI (intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, stress management skills) and adolescent girls’ sexual risk behaviors. Data come from a cross-sectional sample of sexually active adolescent girls (ages 13 to 17 years) at high risk for pregnancy (N = 253), recruited from health care clinics in a Midwest metropolitan area during 2007 and 2008. Results of multivariable regression models controlling for participants’ age and race/ethnicity indicated that each aspect of SEI was related to distinct sexual risk behaviors. Specifically, girls with greater intrapersonal skills had significantly fewer male sex partners in the past six months (b = ?0.16). Participants with greater interpersonal skills reported earlier communication with their sexual partner about sexual risk (b = 0.14), and those with a better ability to manage stress reported more consistent condom use (b = 0.31). Study findings suggest that SEI may provide a protective buffer against sexual risk behaviors. Building adolescent girls’ social and emotional skills may be an effective strategy for reducing their risk for early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.     

The Jackknife estimate of covariance of two Kaplan–Meier integrals with covariables

In this paper the Jackknife estimate of covariance of two Kaplan–Meier integrals with covariates is introduced. Its strong consistency is established under mild conditions. Several applications of the estimator are discussed.     

Expanded renal transplantation: a competing risk model approach

Multi-state models (MSMs) are useful to analyze survival data when, besides the event of main interest, one or more intermediate states of the individual are identified. These models take the several existing states and the possible transitions among them into account. At the same time, covariate effects on each transition intensity may be investigated separately and, therefore, MSMs are more flexible than the standard Cox proportional hazards model. In this work, we use MSMs to investigate the impact of the quality of a transplanted kidney for a group of patients at the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias. Specifically, we use an illness-death model to study the evolution of patients with kidney disease who received a renal transplant after a dialysis period. The intermediate state is defined as the failure of the received organ, while the terminating state is the death of the patient. In order to increase the potential number of organs available for transplant, the standards of quality for the transplanted kidneys were relaxed (the new criteria are labeled expanded criteria), and these ‘expanded kidneys’ were transplanted in appropriate candidates (older patients, with higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus). Results suggest that the expanded kidneys have a minor effect on survival, while both the kidney mortality and the risk of death increase with the patient's age and the serum creatinine and serum hemoglobin levels.     

The Early Medieval State: A Strategic-Relational Approach

The state is a contested concept in the historiography on early medieval societies. Debates have frequently revolved around its heuristic validity, but few scholars have addressed its broader theoretical implications. Those who have tend to reduce the state to its institutional features and privilege the role of the dominant groups in the analysis of state-building processes and the workings of the state. This paper contends that a richer conceptualisation of the state can overcome the limits of the debate as it has been framed so far and provide a deeper insight into how social relations shaped and were shaped by the development of early medieval polities. After reviewing the most significant historiographical contributions to the debate, the paper introduces the Strategic-Relational Approach to the state, as formulated by B. Jessop, as one that can provide a more nuanced understanding of early medieval polities. Particular emphasis is made on the analysis of class relationships and the articulation of hegemonic projects as two particularly fruitful lines of inquiry. Finally, the paper focuses on one particular instance of early medieval political practice, the politics of the land, as a means to illustrate the potential of the approach.     

‘We Can All Just Get on a Bus and Go’: Rethinking Independent Mobility in the Context of the Universal Provision of Free Bus Travel to Young Londoners

This paper uses qualitative data from interviews with 118 young Londoners (age 12–18) to examine how the universal provision of free bus travel has affected young people’s independent mobility. Drawing on Sen’s capabilities approach, we argue that free bus travel enhanced young Londoners’ capabilities to shape their daily mobility, both directly by increasing financial access and indirectly by facilitating the acquisition of the necessary skills, travelling companions and confidence. These capabilities in turn extended both opportunity freedoms (e.g. facilitating non-‘necessary’ recreational and social trips) and process freedoms (e.g. feeling more independent by decreasing reliance on parents). Moreover, the universal nature of the entitlement rendered buses a socially inclusive way for groups to travel and spend time together, thereby enhancing group-level capabilities. We believe this attention to individual and group capabilities for self-determination provides the basis for a broader and more child-centred view of independent mobility than the typical research focus upon travelling without an adult and acquiring parental permissions.     

A Comparison of Mental Health,Substance Use,and Sexual Risk Behaviors Between Rural and Non-Rural Transgender Persons

The aim of this study was to compare the mental health, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors of rural and non-rural transgender persons. Online banner advertisements were used to recruit 1,229 self-identified rural and non-rural transgender adults (18+ years) residing in the United States. Primary findings include significant differences in mental health between rural and non-rural transmen; relatively low levels of binge drinking across groups, although high levels of marijuana use; and high levels of unprotected sex among transwomen. The results confirm that mental and physical health services for transgender persons residing in rural areas are urgently needed.