The use of resighting data to estimate the rate of population growth of the snail kite in Florida

The rate of population growth ( u ) is an important demographic parameter used to assess the viability of a population and to develop management and conservation agendas. We examined the use of resighting data to estimate u for the snail kite population in Florida from 1997-2000. The analyses consisted of (1) a robust design approach that derives an estimate of u from estimates of population size and (2) the Pradel (1996) temporal symmetry (TSM) approach that directly estimates u using an open-population capture-recapture model. Besides resighting data, both approaches required information on the number of unmarked individuals that were sighted during the sampling periods. The point estimates of u differed between the robust design and TSM approaches, but the 95% confidence intervals overlapped substantially. We believe the differences may be the result of sparse data and do not indicate the inappropriateness of either modelling technique. We focused on the results of the robust design because this approach provided estimates for all study years. Variation among these estimates was smaller than levels of variation among ad hoc estimates based on previously reported index statistics. We recommend that u of snail kites be estimated using capture-resighting methods rather than ad hoc counts.     

A robust prediction error criterion for pareto modelling of upper tails

Estimation of the Pareto tail index from extreme order statistics is an important problem in many settings. The upper tail of the distribution, where data are sparse, is typically fitted with a model, such as the Pareto model, from which quantities such as probabilities associated with extreme events are deduced. The success of this procedure relies heavily not only on the choice of the estimator for the Pareto tail index but also on the procedure used to determine the number k of extreme order statistics that are used for the estimation. The authors develop a robust prediction error criterion for choosing k and estimating the Pareto index. A Monte Carlo study shows the good performance of the new estimator and the analysis of real data sets illustrates that a robust procedure for selection, and not just for estimation, is needed.     

Family Cohesion And Control: A Multitrait-Multimethod Study*

This study assessed the convergent and discriminant validity of widely used various measures of family cohension and control using a multitrait, multi-method approach. Forty-two families, who had at least one adolescent and who were currently receiving family therapy, completed self-report measures of cohesion and control and engaged in Reiss' Card Sort Procedure. Ratings of the families' cohesiveness were also obtained from the families and their therapists. We were only partially successful in demonstrating convergent validity and discriminant validity for the family trait of cohesiveness across measures and methods, and even less so for family control. There was a general lack of relationship between self-report measures and either the therapist rating of family cohesion or the family's performance on the Card Sort Procedure. Our results cast doubt on the construct validity of some of the best measures of family functioning currently available. Implications of this are discussed.     

Police-reported intimate partner violence during pregnancy: who is at risk?

The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine risk factors for police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy among Seattle residents with a registered live birth or fetal death in Washington State. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals for the association between demographic, behavioral, and obstetric history risk factors and any, physical, and non-physical police-reported IPV. Significant risk factors for any police-reported IPV during pregnancy included unmarried status (aOR 2.36), public health program use (aOR 1.33), smoking or alcohol use during pregnancy (aORs 1.45 and 1.80, respectively), previous live birth (aOR 1.39), and previous spontaneous or induced abortion (aORs 1.39 and 1.34, respectively). Risk factors for physical IPV varied only slightly from those for any IPV, and fewer factors were associated with nonphysical IPV. Demographic, behavioral, and obstetric history risk factors are potential markers of IPV risk during pregnancy.     

Legal Disposition of Inter-Group and Intra-Group Homicides

A study of the legal treatment of inter-group and intra-group homicides reveals that dispositional decisions are made on the basis of the sex and occupational prestige combinations of offender-victim pairs. Discriminant analysis of data concerning 444 defendants and 432 victims indicates that males accused of slaying females receive the most severe dispositions, while females held in the death of males are noticeably underpenalized. Final convictions are most severe for low status defendants alleged to have murdered high status victims. Contrary to earlier studies, there are no significant differences in legal treatment in terms of the racial combinations of the offender-victim pair. An interpretive approach to the legal process may explain these results: differential processing of homicides depends on the extent to which defendants and victims conform to the popular conception of violent criminality.     

Symbolic correlation integral

This paper aims to introduce the concept of symbolic correlation integral SC that is extensively used in many scientific fields. The new correlation integral SC avoids the noisy parameter 𝜀 of the classical correlation integral, defined by Grassberger and Procaccia (1983 Grassberger, P., Procaccia, I. (1983). Measuring the strangeness of strange attractors. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena 9(1–2):189–208.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and extensively used for constructing correlation-integral-based statistics, as in the BDS test. Once the free parameter 𝜀 disappears, it is possible to construct a nonparametric powerful test for independence that can also be used as a diagnostic tool for model selection. The symbolic correlation integral is also extended to deal with multivariate models, and a test for causality is proposed as an example of the theoretical power of the new concept. With extensive Monte Carlo simulations, the paper shows the good size and power performance of symbolic correlation-integral-based tests.     

Mapping Right-Wing Women’s Policy Priorities in Latin America

ABSTRACT

Do right-wing women hold unique policy priorities from that of left-wing women and right-wing men? And do right-wing women legislators represent the priorities of right-wing citizens? Right-wing women share unique gendered socialization experiences with left-wing women, but their ideology informs values and attitudes critical to policy preference formation. Political representation theories suggest that women legislators should hold distinct incentives to represent female constituents. However, institutional theories suggest right-wing women legislators may face different incentives that limit the extent to which they represent right-wing female constituents. To evaluate our expectations, we leverage survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project and the Parliamentary Elites of Latin America. We demonstrate how right-wing women citizens differ from left-wing women citizens across a range of policy priorities. Then, we evaluate elite priorities for these same policy issues. We find little evidence for policy priority congruency between women citizens and women legislators on the right.