THE ROLE OF MARITAL STATUS IN HEALTH SERVICES EXPENDITURES FOR PSYCHIATRIC OUTPATTIENTS

This study tested the hypothesis that married psychiatric outpatients would have lower total health services expenditures than divorced or separated patients. Chart review of the 471 individuals attending an academic medical center outpatient psychiatric clinic during 1994 identified 131 married, 40 separated, and 93 divorced patients. Separated men had significantly higher average total charges ($16,890) than married ($5,279) or divorced ($5,539) men by one-way ANOVA (p < .05). The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test also showed that separated men had higher charges than married or divorced men. There were no differences between marital status groups for women.     

On the Contributions of Cognitive Sociology to the Sociological Study of Race

In this article, we argue for cognitive sociology as a framework for studying the sociology of race. Cognitive sociology concerns itself with classification, identity construction, meaning and collective memory and is thus centrally concerned with generic issues that apply well to racial category construction and maintenance. We, first, outline the cognitive sociology framework. We then elaborate on traditions in the sociology of race and racism that have implicit affinities to cognitive sociology. We argue that cognitive sociology provides a useful generic framework with which to look at specific issues in racial classification, the social construction of race, and to racist cognitions, while critical race theory and other sociology of race frameworks can compliment cognitive sociology by addressing issues of power and domination in cognitive frameworks.     

Evaluation of Verbal Behavior in Older Adults

Approximately 5% of older adults have a dementia diagnosis, and language deterioration is commonly associated with this disorder (Kempler, 2005). Several instruments have been developed to diagnose dementia and assess language capabilities of elderly adults. However, none of these instruments take a functional approach to language assessment as described by Skinner (1957). The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a function-based assessment for language deficits of older adults. Thirty-one participants were categorized into a control group (n  =  15) and a dementia group (n  =  16) based on their score on the Dementia Rating Scale-2. Individuals with dementia performed significantly worse on the tact assessment than those without dementia. Participants from both groups performed better on measures of tacts than intraverbals or mands, even though topographically identical responses were required in these assessments. The data provide support for Skinner''s conceptualization of functionally independent verbal operants.     

Light in hellas: how German classical philology engendered gay scholarship

Beginning in the latter part of the eighteenth century, German classical philology acquired a hegemonic status that made it the envy of scholars in other nations. Among the tasks embraced by this great endeavor was the study of what is known of same-sex behavior in ancient Greece. Remarkably, the German philologists chose to present their findings straightforwardly in modern German, accessible to every educated reader. The deposit of this inquiry is the basis of our contemporary knowledge of ancient Greek homosexuality. Moreover, by providing models of homosexual behavior that were more positive than those prevalent in Europe at the time, the research fostered the emergence of the German Gay Movement in 1897.     

Adolescent Career Development in Urban‐Residing Aboriginal Families in Canada

The purpose of this study was to understand how urban‐residing Aboriginal adolescent–parent dyads (n = 11) jointly constructed and acted on goals and strategies with their social supports (n = 17) to facilitate the adolescents' career development. A modified protocol following the qualitative action‐project method was used. A discrete joint project was identified for each family. These joint projects can be clustered into 3 joint career development projects: (a) navigating toward a safe future, (b) negotiating school continuance, and (c) intergenerational continuity through tradition of care. A 4th project emerging from the data was family survival. Family survival projects supplanted participants' efforts to engage in career development projects.     

Note on inventory models with Weibull distribution deterioration

This article explores the inventory model with a general demand rate function in which both the Weibull distributed deterioration and partial backlogging are considered. The inventory model discussed here is based on the important finding by Wu [Wu, K.S., 2001. An EOQ inventory model for items with Weibull distribution deterioration, ramp type demand rate and partial backlogging. Production Planning and Control, 12, 787–793]. There are four parts in our research. First, we derive the analytical framework of the inventory model for a general demand rate function1 1.?Based on detailed suggestions of Professor Wafik H. Iskander, Email: whiskander@mail.wvu.edu . Second, for the ramp type demand, we improve Wu's model to find the criterion to guarantee the existence and uniqueness of the optimal solution. Third, we develop a new model to compensate for the missing case in Wu's article. Fourth, we combine our results to show that our findings are applicable to the ramp type demand inventory model, so that the optimal solution is independent of the demand function. Finally, some numerical examples and graphs are provided to illustrate our discovery and demonstrate the application of our analytical framework.     

Wage Differentials of Transportation Industries: Deregulation Versus Regulation

This article investigates the wage differentials of similar occupations in three for-hire transportation carrier industries, railroad, truck, and motor bus, under regulation and deregulation. The estimation results indicate that the union wage gaps among all occupations have widened under deregulation. Specifically, the union wages of railroad occupations have increased relative to those of truck drivers and the union wages of truck drivers have increased relative to those of motor bus drivers. Further, wage gaps for all occupations for this period are greater among nonunion than among union workers.     

Methods for spatial and temporal land use and land cover assessment for urban ecosystems and application in the greater Baltimore-Chesapeake region

Understanding contemporary urban landscapes requires multiple sets of spatially and temporally compatible data that can integrate historical land use patterns and disturbances to land cover. This paper presents three principal methods: (1) core analysis; (2) historic mapping; and (3) gradient analysis, to link spatial and temporal data for urban ecosystems and applies their use in the Baltimore-Chesapeake region. Paleoecological evidence derived from the geochronology of sediment cores provides data on long-term as well as recent changes in vegetative land cover. This information, combined with contemporary vegetation maps, provides a baseline for conducting trend analyses to evaluate urbanization of the landscape. A 200-year historical land use database created from historical maps, census data, and remotely sensed data provides a spatial framework for investigating human impacts on the region. A geographic information system (GIS) integrates core analyses with historic data on land use change to yield a comprehensive land use and land cover framework and rates of change. These data resources establish the regional foundation for investigating the ecological components of an urban ecosystem. Urban-rural gradient analyses and patch analyses are proposed as the most appropriate methods for studying the urban ecosystem as they link ecological and social patterns and processes for varying degrees of urbanization.