The relationship between homosexuality, internalized homo-negativity, and mental health in men who have sex with men

Whether homosexuality or internalized homo-negativity is the critical variable affecting the mental health of men who have sex with men has long been debated. As part of a larger study, 422 Midwestern homosexual men completed questionnaires examining degree of homosexuality, internalized homo-negativity, and depression. Logistic regression modeling identified internalized homo-negativity, but not degree of homosexuality, as significantly associated with greater adjustment depression (OR = 1.5), major depression (OR = 2.6), dysthymia (OR = 1.5), and likelihood of being in therapy (OR = 1.4). Internalized homo-negativity was also negatively associated with overall sexual health, psychosexual maturation, comfort with sexual orientation, "outness," and peer socialization. Internalized homo-negativity, not homosexuality, appears associated with negative health outcomes. Providers should promote sexual health and avoid interventions that reinforce internalized homo-negativity.     

The continuum of dependent family care: a theoretical explanation and model

ABSTRACT

Caring for dependents with disabilities and how this type of care differs from the care of typically developing dependents has largely remained unaddressed in the work–family literature, partly because of a lack of theoretical development on the concept of dependent family care. Studies examining dependent family care often apply a life course perspective, missing key disability factors influencing dependent family care demands and need for resources. This article develops a theoretical framework of dependent family care that accounts for both typical care, which follows the life course trajectory, and exceptional care, which follows a disability trajectory. We position dependent family care as based on a continuum, achieved by adapting life course theory, family adjustment to chronic illness, ecological systems theory, stigma theory and the social model of disability into a model. We explain how dependent family care occurs and what contributes to whether one is engaging in typical or exceptional care. We draw broad constructs representing predictors of different types of dependent family care. We provide specific examples to illustrate how one might test theoretical propositions, an agenda for further research and discuss implications for family–work–community research and practice.     

Trajectory Discrimination and Peripersonal Space Perception in Newborns

The ability to discriminate the trajectories of moving objects is highly adaptive and fundamental for physical and social interactions. Therefore, we could reasonably expect sensitivity to different trajectories already at birth, as a precursor of later communicative and defensive abilities. To investigate this possibility, we measured newborns' looking behavior to evaluate their ability to discriminate between visual stimuli depicting motion along different trajectories happening within the space surrounding their body. Differently from previous studies, we did not take into account defensive reactions, which may not be elicited by impending collision as newborns might not categorize approaching stimuli as possible dangers. In two experiments, we showed that newborns display a spontaneous visual preference for trajectories directed toward their body. We found this visual preference when visual stimuli depicted motion in opposite directions (approaching vs. receding) as well as when they both moved toward the peripersonal space and differed only in their specific target (i.e., the body vs. the space around it). These findings suggest that at birth human infants seem to be already equipped with visual mechanisms predisposing them to perceive their presence in the environment and to adaptively focus their attention on the peripersonal space and their bodily self.     

Hydrology of the Brooklyn Grange,an urban rooftop farm

Intensive agriculture is an emerging theme of green roof technology. Production of affordable, nutritious vegetables for local consumption and stormwater management are among the ecosystem services emphasized in studies of rooftop farming. However, intensive vegetable production requires irrigation, which can reduce stormwater retention, and there is little empirical data from full-scale operational rooftop farms. In this paper, we report the hydrologic performance of the Brooklyn Grange Navy Yard Farm, a 0.61-ha rooftop farm atop an 11-story building in New York City USA. We monitored soil water content, precipitation, irrigation, drainage, and crop yields to provide water balance and water use efficiency. We found cumulative discharge exceeded precipitation by 11% during the entire study period, hence the farm was a net source of water in the urban hydrologic cycle. Depending on crop types, water use efficiency at the Grange was lower than in-ground agriculture in dry regions with high irrigation demands. For the Brooklyn Grange to integrate stormwater management and water-efficient crop production, it will be important to increase soil water storage, to reduce irrigation demands and drainage loss of water while maintaining average soil moisture levels in the range of readily available water between 10 and 100 kPa of soil water tension.     

Clustering in dividends: Do managers rely on cognitive reference points?

Prior studies (see e.g. [Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive reference points. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 532–547]) indicate that multiples of ten serve as cognitive reference points with a view to perceiving and evaluating numbers. In order to explore whether managers set dividends per share (henceforth DPS) at or just above a cognitive reference point, we perform a digital analysis on US firms’ DPS for the period 1995–2004. That is, based on the theory of cognitive reference points, DPS of $2.00 will be viewed as being abnormally larger than DPS of $1.99, whereas the actual difference only amounts to a marginal $0.01. Results presented in this paper indicate that managers fall back on cognitive reference points when they set DPS, which shows in significantly more (fewer) zeroes (large digits) in the second-from-the-left position of DPS than would normally be expected. Overall, results presented in this paper tally with prior findings on odd-ending prices and price clustering documented in related disciplines.     

An inspection game of internal audit and the influence of whistle-blowing

In this paper we analyse how whistle-blowing affects fraudulent behaviour of managers while the company instigates imperfect internal audit to detect the fraud. To do so, we employ in a first step a non-cooperative inspection game to analyse fraudulent behaviour of a manager controlled by an internal auditor. In a second step we introduce exogenous whistle-blowing of a manager’s employee to aid the auditor to reveal the fraud. In a third step, the two-person inspection game is extended to a three-person approach with endogenous whistle-blowing. Our novel results are that the intensity of internal audit is always lower with whistle-blowing than without and that whistle-blowing renders the manager to act less fraudulently than compared to the basic inspection game if and only if she is unaware of the whistle-blower’s expected pay-off and the efficacy of internal audit is sufficiently low.     

A screening tool for detecting eating disorder risk and diagnostic symptoms among college-age women

Objective: As eating disorders (EDs) often emerge during college, managing EDs would ideally integrate prevention and treatment. To achieve this goal, an efficient tool is needed that detects clinical symptoms and level of risk. This study evaluated the performance of a screen designed to identify individuals at risk for or with an ED. Participants: Five hundred forty-nine college-age women. Methods: Participants completed a screen and diagnostic interview. Results: Using parsimonious thresholds for ED diagnoses, screen sensitivity ranged from 0.90 (anorexia nervosa) to 0.55 (purging disorder). Specificity ranged from 0.99 (anorexia nervosa) to 0.78 (subthreshold binge eating disorder) compared to diagnostic interview. Moderate to high area under the curve values were observed. The screen had high sensitivity for detecting high risk. Conclusions: The screen identifies students at risk and has acceptable sensitivity and specificity for identifying most ED diagnoses. This tool is critical for establishing stepped care models for ED intervention.     

东方智慧文学和创世神话——兼谈对古希腊宇宙开创论的影响

我们对柏拉图之前的希腊情况知之甚少,然而公元前6世纪出现的一种特殊文学样式留下了宝贵的历史资料。在这个时期曾经有一些视野较为宽阔的关于宇宙及其起源的书籍问世,它们在特殊的环境中获得繁荣。这些书籍主要由两条支流——思想和文学汇集而成,它们超越了狭小的地域边界,广为流传的是：智慧的宣言和宇宙开创的神话。到目前为止,我们没有理由将希腊人——荷马,赫西俄德或俄耳甫斯神话的宇宙发生论从其东方副本（极相似的人或物）中分离出来。很明显,它们出自同一个家庭,而且有不少证据显示出前苏格拉底的哲学家们依然在步东方宇宙发生论的后尘。