Envisioning emerging nanotechnologies: a three-year panel study of South Carolina citizens

This article reports results from a three-year panel study of a nonrandom sample of 76 South Carolina citizens, recruited from a variety of walks of life, and their impressions of emerging nanotechnology. This discussion focuses on material from depth interviews conducted alongside a baseline opinion and awareness inventory at the beginning of the study, the most intensive data-gathering phase. These results are placed in the context of data from three additional surveys conducted at about equal intervals over the three years, plus exit interviews from 21 of the 34 individuals who completed the entire study. The results give insight into popular thinking about technology but little indication of strong emerging concerns, a trajectory of amplification of those concerns, or opinion polarization over time, despite some awareness of risks and potential ethical dimensions. Nanotechnology may stand out more as an example of risk attenuation than of risk amplification, consistent with most results from national surveys.     

Family cap provisions and changes in births and abortions

As part of welfare reform efforts in the 1990s, 23 states implemented family caps, provisions that deny or reduce cash assistance to welfare recipients who have additional births. We use birth and abortion records from 24 states to estimate effects of family caps on birth and abortion rates. We use age, marital status, and completed schooling to identify women at high risk for use of public assistance, and parity (number of previous live births) to identify those most directly affected by the family cap. In family cap states, birth rates fell more and abortion rates rose more among high-risk women with at least one previous live birth compared to similar childless women, consistent with an effect of the family cap. However, this parity-specific pattern of births and abortions also occurred in states that implemented welfare reform with no family cap. Thus, the effects of welfare reform may have differed between mothers and childless women, but there is little evidence of an independent effect of the family cap.     

Redundancy in Designs

The author contends that a previous Risk Analysis article overemphasized the pitfalls of incorporating redundancy into designs. Relevant aspects of that article are reviewed and commented upon, then the potentials and pitfalls of redundancy in systems and procedures are more broadly discussed. To provide a solid foundation for that discussion, some definitions for systems risk analysis terminology are presented. It is shown that pairs and larger sets of related failures (the physical causes of shortfalls in redundancy effectiveness) can be divided into two types: (1) cascading/induced failures and (2) common-external-cause failures. Each type has its own physical characteristics and implications for mathematical modeling. Service experience with large-commercial-airplane jet-engine propulsion systems is used to illustrate the two types of related failures. Finally, an overview is provided of event-sequence analysis, an alternative approach to systems risk analysis. When the possibility of related failures of mutually-redundant system elements must be accounted for, event-sequence analysis can usually do that better than fault-tree analysis.     

The Development of Theory and Treatment with Substance Abusing Female Juvenile Offenders

Little is known regarding the specific treatment needs of those female juvenile offenders with a history of substance abuse. While social scientists have advanced distinct theories regarding adolescent substance use and juvenile delinquency, minimal work has been conducted to integrate or link these two. In attempting to further explore their interrelationships, this article will review and incorporate the relevant theoretical and practice milestones in three areas: (1) substance abuse and women, (2) substance abuse and adolescents, and (3) substance abuse and juvenile delinquency, leading to the development of new theory and practice relevant to the female substance abusing juvenile offender population. The authors propose some practice considerations for current interventions with this population and discuss implications for future research and exploration.     

What do midwives fear?

BackgroundThere is evidence that a significant number of women are fearful about birth but less is known about the fears of maternity health providers and how their fear may impact on the women they care for.AimThe aim of this study was to determine the top fears midwives in Australia and New Zealand hold when it comes to caring for childbearing women.MethodFrom 2009 to 2011, 17 workshops were held in Australia and New Zealand supporting over 700 midwives develop skills to keep birth normal. During the workshop midwives were asked to write their top fear on a piece of paper and return it to the presenters. Similar concepts were grouped together to form 8 major categories.FindingsIn total 739 fears were reported and these were death of a baby (n = 177), missing something that causes harm (n = 176), obstetric emergencies (n = 114), maternal death (n = 83), being watched (n = 68), being the cause of a negative birth experience (n = 52), dealing with the unknown (n = 36) and losing passion and confidence around normal birth (n = 32). Student midwives were more concerned about knowing what to do, while homebirth midwives were mostly concerned with being blamed if something went wrong.ConclusionThere was consistency between the 17 groups of midwives regarding top fears held. Supporting midwives with workshops such as dealing with grief and loss and managing fear could help reduce their anxiety. Obstetric emergency skills workshops may help midwives feel more confident, especially those dealing with shoulder dystocia and PPH as they were most commonly recorded.     

Do Hispanic and Asian Adolescents Practice Panethnicity in Friendship Choices?*

Objectives. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we investigate whether Asian and Latino youth value racial boundaries more than ethnic boundaries. We evaluate the relative preferences of same‐ethnic, same‐race (but different‐ethnic), and different‐race friends. Methods. We use multilevel multinomial logistic regression models to examine the odds of choosing same‐ethnic, different‐ethnic (but same‐race), and different‐race friends net of the opportunity to interact. Results. We find strong effects of school racial and ethnic composition, immigrant status, and parental education on the likelihood of crossing boundaries in the selection of friends. In addition, we develop a new scale of panethnicity and find substantial ethnic group variation in panethnic sentiment. Conclusion. We find an overwhelming preference for same‐ethnic peers over same‐race (different‐ethnic) and different‐race peers.     

African American Stepfather–Stepchild Relationships,Marital Quality,and Mental Health

ABSTRACT

This study examined associations between stepfather–stepchild relationship quality, stepfathers’ depressive symptoms, and two aspects of marriage: marital quality and positive marital interactions. Marital quality was assessed in terms of commitment, trust, passionate and friendship-based love, and happiness. Marital interactions were assessed in terms of intimacy, shared activities, and verbal communication. Using data collected from 149 recently married African American stepfathers, structural equation modeling revealed that when stepfathers reported more positive relationships with their stepchildren, they also reported more positive marital quality and a higher frequency of positive marital interactions (relationship-solidifying activities), and that, in turn, was associated with stepfathers experiencing fewer depressive symptoms.     

Effects of Familiarity and Feeding on Newborn Speech–Voice Recognition

Newborn infants preferentially orient to familiar over unfamiliar speech sounds. They are also better at remembering unfamiliar speech sounds for short periods of time if learning and retention occur after a feed than before. It is unknown whether short‐term memory for speech is enhanced when the sound is familiar (versus unfamiliar) and, if so, whether the effect is further enhanced by feeding. We used a two‐factorial design and randomized infants to one of four groups: prefeed‐unfamiliar, prefeed‐familiar, postfeed‐unfamiliar, and postfeed‐familiar. Memory for either familiar or unfamiliar speech (the infant's mother saying “baby” versus a female stranger saying “beagle”) was assessed using head turning to sound in an habituation–recovery paradigm and a retention delay of 85 sec either before or after a typical milk feed. Memory for the familiar speech–voice was enhanced relative to the unfamiliar speech–voice, expressed by significantly less head turning toward the habituated sound stimulus when it was re‐presented after the delay. Memory for familiar or unfamiliar speech was not significantly enhanced from pre‐ to postfeeding, nor was there a significant interaction. This is the first demonstration in newborns that familiarity enhances short‐term memory for speech–voice sound.