Rural/Urban Residence,Migration, HIV/AIDS,and Safe Sex Practices among Men in Zimbabwe*

Abstract The AIDS epidemic was initially thought to be primarily an urban phenomenon. However, migration between rural and urban areas has resulted in the spread of the virus to all segments of the population. Prevention efforts continue to focus on the ABCs of AIDS, namely, abstinence among young adults, being faithful within a monogamous relationship, and/or using condoms at each sexual encounter. We examine the effects of residence, migration status, and selected social and demographic variables on the use of these three practices among men in Zimbabwe, a nation experiencing one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world. Both residence and migration status were found to be significantly related to safe sex practices. Knowledge of a source with easy access to condoms was the strongest predictor of this behavior. Knowledge of prevention methods and experience with persons with AIDS also exerted significant effects, although not always in the manner hypothesized. Possible reasons for the findings and implications for policy are discussed.     

Immigrants' Language Skills and Visa Category1

This article is concerned with the determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants in a longitudinal survey for Australia. It focuses on both visa category and variables derived from an economic model of the determinants of destination‐language proficiency among immigrants. Skills‐tested and economic immigrants have the greatest proficiency shortly after immigration, followed by family‐based visa recipients, with refugees having the lowest proficiency. Other variables the same, these differences disappear by 3.5 years after immigration for speaking skills; and although they diminish, they persist longer for reading and writing skills. The variables generated from the model of destination‐language proficiency (such as schooling and age at migration) are, in part, predictions of visa category, but they are more important statistically for explaining proficiency.     

Why Did House Members Vote for H.R. 4437?1

This article examines why members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted for H.R. 4437, the controversial 2005 bill to construct a 700‐mile immigration barrier along the U.S.‐Mexican border and to criminalize illegal presence and aid to undocumented immigrants. Logit analysis suggests that being a first‐term House member or a Republican and representing a district that was in the South or the West or heavily blue‐collar substantially boosted the odds of supporting H.R. 4437. If a member's district was disproportionately Asian, Latino, or, especially, African American, he or she was instead more likely to oppose the measure.     

Empowering part-time nurses in the treatment of depressed inpatients.

1. With the consistent number of part-time nurses in the workforce, hospitals would benefit by more actively integrating them into professional nursing practice. 2. Empowering part-time nurses by affording them the opportunity to provide primary care has the potential to effectively use part-time personnel, decrease the workload for full-time staff, offer more flexibility in scheduling, and result in savings for hospitals in terms of nursing recruitment and retention. 3. This program has successfully developed and implemented a model of primary nursing that places three part-time nurses on a team capable of handling two to three primary patients. The success of this model has been attributed to excellent communication, trust in one another's professional skills, and nursing expertise.     

Liability in child welfare

Child welfare workers and agencies are vulnerable to lawsuits. Recent court rulings have more clearly defined the liability of workers. The distinguishing variable is custody. Children injured while in the custody of the state are entitled to sue for damages. Children injured by their parent, even if under the supervision of a child welfare agency, are not entitled to claim a violation of their 14th Amendment rights. These cases are reviewed and strategies designed to minimize vulnerability are offered.     

Rates of pathological gambling in publicly funded outpatient substance abuse treatment

Rates of problem or probable pathological gambling were assessed in substance abusers seeking outpatient treatment in a publicly funded outpatient substance abuse treatment program. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) was administered to 467 consecutive admissions at three different sites. Problem gamblers comprised 6.2 percent of the total (n=29), and 4.5 percent scored as probable pathological gamblers (n=21). These rates are two and one-half times greater than would be expected according to a recent state survey using the SOGS. Implications for assessment and treatment of problem gambling are discussed.The author expresses his appreciation to John Ramsay and the staff of Epoch Counseling Center for data collection; to Les Franklin for computational analysis; and Dr. Rachel Volberg for providing supplemental data from her Maryland State Gambling Survey.     

Sex differences in nonverbal expressiveness: Emotional expression,personality, and impressions

Sex differences in expressiveness are well documented, but the reasons for and correlates of these important differences are not well studied. A comprehensive set of emotion-relevant personality measures was administered to 40 female and 39 male undergraduate participants, who were also videotaped in three situations: engaging in natural social interaction, describing a past emotional experience, and posing various emotions. Videotapes were judged by sets of naive observers as to emotion communicated and overall impression. Expressive females, who appeared friendly and dominant in social interaction, were found to have a hostile/aggressive personality (but this was not true of males). Expressive females also tended to look angry/disgusted when describing happy and sad experiences. The findings suggest that nonverbally skilled, charismatic women (but not men) may often possess a dominant/aggressive but self-controlled personality, in a new twist on the theory that sex differences in expressiveness result in part from the oppression of women in society.This research was supported in part by an intramural research grant from University of California, Riverside.     

Four‐Month‐Olds' Discrimination of Voice Changes in Multimodal Displays as a Function of Discrimination Protocol

Past studies have found equivocal support for the ability of young infants to discriminate infant‐directed (ID) speech information in the presence of auditory‐only versus auditory + visual displays (faces + voices). Generally, younger infants appear to have more difficulty discriminating a change in the vocal properties of ID speech when they are accompanied by faces. Forty 4‐month‐old infants were tested using either an infant‐controlled habituation procedure (Experiment 1) or a fixed‐trial habituation procedure (Experiment 2). The prediction was that the infant‐controlled habituation procedure would be a more sensitive measure of infant attention to complex displays. The results indicated that 4‐month‐old infants discriminated voice changes in dynamic face + voice displays depending on the order in which they were viewed during the infant‐controlled habituation procedure. In contrast, no evidence of discrimination was found in the fixed‐trial procedure. The findings suggest that the selection of experimental methodology plays a significant role in the empirical observations of infant perceptual abilities.     

A Numerical Solution to the Nonhomogeneous Two-Stage MVK Model of Cancer

In this article, we describe a straightforward method for solving the probability of at least one malignant cell by time t, and the associated hazard function, in the general (i.e., nonhomogeneous) two-stage Moolgavkar-Venzon-Knudson (MVK) model of cancer. The method consists of solving four coupled ordinary differential equations derived from the Kolmogorov backward equations for this process. The relationship of this method to previously proposed solutions is discussed.     

A sea change on the island continent: frameworks for risk assessment,prevention and intervention in child health in Australia

This article overviews prevention and early intervention approaches focusing specifically on their relevance to the health of children and young people in Australia. Australian public health has a sound track record although concealed within the aggregate profile are a number of sub-populations with poorer health indicators. Recognition of this has increased efforts to improve the health of children and young people especially in exploring the impact of social environments within the communities where children are raised. This paper examines emerging research in this area drawing out key lessons and learning from Australian experience in the field of early intervention and prevention in community settings.