Cognitive and Affective Factors Which Influence Downtown Behaviors

Abstract

Data collected on perceptions of downtown Atlanta are used to explore the impact of cognitive and affective assessments of place on the frequency with which individuals go downtown for shopping, business or professional services, and for entertainment activities. Findings include: (1) social background variables generally exert only weak effects on cognitive and affective responses to downtown Atlanta; (2) affective identification with downtown exerts a positive, significant, and powerful effect on the frequency of using downtown for shopping and business activities; (3) non-Whites, city residents, and singles are more likely to go downtown for entertainment activities than Whites, suburbanites, and married respondents; and (4) images of downtown, affective identification, and positive assessments of downtown municipal services encourage participation in downtown entertainment activities. The analysis strongly suggests that behaviors are influenced by the meanings and evaluations people create for an area.     

A Collaborative Student Affairs and Faculty Health Assessment and Intervention Initiative

Abstract

The authors describe a collaborative partnership forged between faculty and student affairs staff to improve student health at a large urban university. They examine skills and reward structures of each constituency and the stages of the collaboration in the context of 2 theoretical models. A comprehensive data collection and dissemination process in the campus community provided goals for the initial stage of the partnership, leading to implementation of campus initiatives that use the reciprocal skills of each stakeholder. Outcomes of the collaboration included (1) a working relationship between faculty and student affairs staff, (2) increased dialogue with high-level administrators, (3) more coordinated campus efforts to decrease high-risk drinking, (4) use of outcome measures for implementing and evaluating health programs, and (5) an opportunity for interdisciplinary research. The authors offer suggestions for implementing the process on other campuses.     

Disabled Persons Support: The Serial Literature

Abstract

The authors anticipate that the primary use of this analysis will be to demonstrate journal price fluctuations by discipline and country of origin to department heads, university and hospital administrators, and others concerned (or who should be concerned) with the costs of health information. The authors expect to repeat this study on an annual basis and would welcome any comments.     

Calculation of age-specific fertility schedules from tabulations of parity in two censuses

The mathematics of stable populations recently has been generalized to cover populations with time-varying fertility and mortality by a modification incorporating the sum of age-varying growth rates in place of the fixed growth rate of a stable population. Equations that characterize nonstable populations apply to any cohort-like phenomenon with a measurable property that cumulates gains or losses through time. In particular, the equations fit the relation between a population's average parity at a given age and age-specific fertility rates previously experienced at lower ages. Techniques devised to derive an intercensal life table from single-year age distributions in two censuses are adapted to estimate accurate intercensal fertility schedules from distributions of parity by age of woman in two censuses. Birth-order specific fertility schedules are also estimated.     

Changes in Income Concentration: Taxes or Macroeconomic Conditions?

We examine the relative importance of tax rates and macroeconomic fluctuations in explaining the share of national adjusted gross income (AGI) reported by the top 0.5% of all taxpayers. Results indicate that cutting the top income or capital gains tax rate would increase the top AGI share but not by enough to increase revenues. The preponderance of evidence suggests that the top AGI share is affected more by the capital gains tax rate than by the income tax rate but that real gross domestic product fluctuations have even larger effects.     

Survival of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 13565 in Intermediate Moisture Foods is Highly Variable

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, enterotoxin-producing coccus. It is a hardy organism and known to survive over a wide range of water activities, pH values, and temperatures. The objective of this study was to model the survival or gradual inactivation of S. aureus ATCC 13565 in intermediate moisture foods (IMFs). Various initial concentrations (approximately 10(1), 10(2), 10(3), and 10(4) CFU/g) were used to inoculate three different IMFs (beefsteak, bread, and chicken pockets). Viable counts were determined up to 60 days using tryptic soy agar. Inoculum size did not influence the survival or gradual inactivation of S. aureus in these foods. The rate of change (increase or decrease) in log CFU/day was calculated for every consecutive pair of data points and by linear regression for each inactivation curve. Both consecutive pair and linear regression rates of change were fit to logistic distributions (with parameters alpha and beta) for each food. Based on the distribution parameters, survival or gradual inactivation of S. aureus was predicted by computer simulation. The simulations indicated an overall decline in S. aureus population over time, although a small fraction of samples in the consecutive pair simulation showed a slight population increase even after 60 days, consistent with the observed data. Simulation results were compared to predictions from other computer models. The models of Stewart et al., were fail-safe, predicting the possibility of significant growth only after > 3,000 days. The USDA pathogen modeling program predictions were found to be fail-dangerous, predicting declines at least four times faster than observed.