A spatiotemporal model for Mexico City ozone levels

Summary.  We consider hourly readings of concentrations of ozone over Mexico City and propose a model for spatial as well as temporal interpolation and prediction. The model is based on a time-varying regression of the observed readings on air temperature. Such a regression requires interpolated values of temperature at locations and times where readings are not available. These are obtained from a time-varying spatiotemporal model that is coupled to the model for the ozone readings. Two location-dependent harmonic components are added to account for the main periodicities that ozone presents during a given day and that are not explained through the covariate. The model incorporates spatial covariance structure for the observations and the parameters that define the harmonic components. Using the dynamic linear model framework, we show how to compute smoothed means and predictive values for ozone. We illustrate the methodology on data from September 1997.     

Anniversary reactions: Trauma revisited

This article is intended to acquaint the reader with a phenomena known in the psychoanalytic literature as anniversary reactions. Conceptualized as ensuing from incomplete forms of mourning, these reactions may be evident in various forms including somatic symptoms and diseases, depression, psychosis, suicide, and homicide on the anniversary date of a significant past traumatic event. This article identifies various manifestations of anniversary reactions and familiarizes the reader with some of the elements thought to constitute them: trauma, incomplete mourning, identification and an unconscious sense of time. A clinical vignette is presented and discussed.     

Correction to: Influence of environmental factors on bird diversity in greenspaces in an Amazonian city

Urban Ecosystems - The original version of this article unfortunately contained errors.     

Partial equality-of-opportunity orderings

This paper proposes a partial equality-of-opportunity ordering based on the inequality-of-opportunity curve, a mechanism that gives preference to those who are worse off in terms of opportunity. Moreover, it provides a complete ordering that depends on a sensitivity parameter representing the degree of priority in the equality-of-opportunity policy. The Moreno-Ternero approach is obtained as a particular case. This proposal is applied to a set of 12 countries to compare their degree of equality of opportunity. Results show the relevance for economic policy of observing inequality of opportunity over tranches. Denmark dominates, in terms of post-tax income, all other economies in our sample. This paper was written during my visit to the Department of Political Science at Yale University. I am very grateful for the hospitality and helpful comments of John Roemer. I also acknowledge useful comments and suggestions by Juan D. Moreno-Ternero, the audiences at XIV EEP (Santander) and ECINEQ2007 (Berlin) and two anonymous referees. This paper has benefited from the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology [Project#SEC2003-08397], Fundación BBVA and Instituto de Estudios Fiscales. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Mother–Child Conflict and Sibling Relatedness: A Test of Hypotheses From Parent–Offspring Conflict Theory

Parent–offspring conflict theory (POCT) has been underutilized in studies of human family dynamics. An implication of POCT is that the presence of siblings will increase conflict in biological parent–child dyads, and that half siblings will increase that conflict more than full siblings. Evidence consistent with this prediction was found in a longitudinal study of 236 early adolescent children and their mothers. Following parental disruption, the entry of younger maternal half siblings into the home was uniquely associated with elevated conflict between mothers and their biological children, independent of the effects of family size, socioeconomic status, and maternal depression. As predicted by the model, the effect of parental disruption on mother–child conflict was partially mediated by the entry of half siblings (but not stepfathers) into the home.     

Psychoanalytic Theory and Psychotherapy: A Dynamic Systems View of Change

This paper explores the application of nonlinear dynamic systems theory and concepts to the investigation of the psychotherapeutic situation. Although dynamic systems theory was originally applied in the study of chemistry, mathematics, and physics—not initially for its application to psychotherapy—its emphasis on contextualization provides a rich platform for the reconsideration of how change occurs in the therapeutic dyad. This paper first reviews some tenets of dynamic systems theory, in particular the general processes of system change including the introduction of novelty and perturbation. It then examines some psychoanalytic theories from a dynamic systems vantage point. This is followed by the presentation of two cases that illustrate the application of systems concepts to clinical work. This paper concludes that psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the perspective of dynamic systems theory views moments of change as unpredictable, soft assembled, and emergent in the dialogue and context created mutually by therapist and patient.     

THE FATALISTIC IMAGINATION AND THE CONTINUED SALIENCE OF RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD: A TEST OF RESOURCE COMPENSATION/RESOURCE AMPLIFICATION HYPOTHESES USING CROSSNATIONAL DATA

The resource compensation hypothesis predicts that religiosity will serve as a cognitive buffer against structural constraints whereby more religious individuals will exhibit lower levels of fatalism than their less religious counterparts. The resource amplification perspective, on the other hand, predicts that religiosity will foster a sense that otherworldly forces control life's outcomes, leading to higher levels of fatalism. Using a precise measure of fatalism from the two most recent waves of the World Values Survey, a comparative examination of three Latin American countries, South Africa, and the United States is carried out. With Mexico as the sole exception, findings from ordered logistic regression models suggest that higher levels of religiosity are associated with lower levels of fatalism, supporting the resource compensation hypothesis. Implications for longstanding debates over the salience of modern religion are considered. An important and underappreciated cognitive function provided by thriving religious denominations and institutions may be to provide a catalyst for personal empowerment that comes through the rejection of a fatalistic mentality.     

Social Welfare Institutions: A Sociological Reader. Edited by Mayer N. Zald. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1965. 671 pp. $8.95 Hardbound

Interdisciplinary approaches to mental health training comprise one form of innovation occurring in educational programs involving social workers. This paper supports the continued development of this educational format for the mental health and allied professions and offers a provisional definition of interdisciplinary training in a community mental health context. A review of the current status of interdisciplinary training precedes some assertions about its presumed values, obstacles to its implementation, and potential curricular content.