From Divergence to Convergence: The Sex Differential in Life Expectancy in Canada, 1971–2000*

Au cows du XX^e siècle, la différence de l'espérance de vie entre les sexes dans les pays industrialisés a augmenté en faveur des femmes. On a remarqué récemment un renversement du modèle a long terme de cet écart dans certains pays. Au Canada, entre 1981 et 2000, cette différence a diminué d'environ deux ans. Une grande partie de ce phénomène sexplique par un taux de mortalité moins élevé chez les hommes que celui auquel on se serait attendu par rapport aux cardiopathies, aux cancers du poumon, aux accidents et à la violence (les suicides non compris). Le changement de la préevalence du tabagisme chez les hommes et chez les femmes est en forte corrélation avec la modification de la mortalité due aux maladies du c?ur et au cancer en fonction des sexes. Les raisons qui expliquent la diminution de la mortalité chez les hommes par suite d'accidents et de violence sont cependant moins claires et exigent des recherches plus approfondies. Over the 20th century sex differences in life expectancy in the industrialized countries have widened in favour of women. Recently, a reversal in the long‐term pattern of this differential has been noted in some countries. In Canada, between 1981 and 2000, this differential narrowed by almost two years. Greater than expected improvements in male death rates with respect to heart disease, lung cancer, accidents and violence (excluding suicide) explain a large part of this phenomenon. Change in male and female smoking prevalence correlates strongly with change in sex differences in mortality from heart disease and cancer. The reasons underlying men's greater mortality improvements in regard to accidents and violence are less clear and need further investigation.     

Asymptotic Properties and Variance Estimators of the M-quantile Regression Coefficients Estimators

M-quantile regression is defined as a “quantile-like” generalization of robust regression based on influence functions. This article outlines asymptotic properties for the M-quantile regression coefficients estimators in the case of i.i.d. data with stochastic regressors, paying attention to adjustments due to the first-step scale estimation. A variance estimator of the M-quantile regression coefficients based on the sandwich approach is proposed. Empirical results show that this estimator appears to perform well under different simulated scenarios. The sandwich estimator is applied in the small area estimation context for the estimation of the mean squared error of an estimator for the small area means. The results obtained improve previous findings, especially in the case of heteroskedastic data.     

Readiness for practice: social work students' perspectives in England,Italy, and Sweden

The aim of this article is to present the views of social work students from three different welfare regimes—Italy, Sweden, and England—and to analyze in what way at the end of their training they feel ready to practice. Primarily, it considers the findings of a comparative pilot study conducted in the three countries. Specifically, the paper initially offers general comments on the European context of standards of social work competence and how these impact on the countries involved here. It then briefly discusses the three different welfare regimes that these countries reflect. Social work education is then given some consideration, including reflection on similarities and differences in each curriculum. We then review examples of previous research on students' readiness to practice, also referencing models of competence previously developed. After this we look in detail at the research study itself, with a short discussion of its methodological—primarily phenomenological—approach and modest scope, before we consider tentative findings in relation to the themes of theory, practice, and personal growth. The paper concludes with reflections on levels of competence attained and how the research might best be extended.     

Married female labor force participation and suicide in Canada, 1971 and 1981

The cultural context affects the relationship between women's involvement in the labor force and the odds of suicide for both men and women. In this study, we examine this relationship in Canada in 1971 and then again in 1981, when cultural conditions were significantly different. Two hypotheses are evaluated: (1) in 1971 the effects of married female labor force participation increase suicide risk for both men and women, due to the relative antipathy of society toward women's participation in the labor force; and (2) in 1981 the effects of married female labor force participation decrease the risk of suicide for both sexes, for there are net positive gains (psychic and material) in a context of widespread acceptance of women's involvement in the paid economy. The empirical analysis provides support for these two hypotheses.     

Life tables in actuarial models: from the deterministic setting to a Bayesian approach

The mortality dynamics experienced in the latest decades, especially at adult and old ages, has motivated the introduction of major innovations in the modeling of mortality for actuarial applications; such innovations concern, in particular, the representation of the uncertainty relating to aggregate mortality.     

Black‐White Biracial Children's Social Development from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade: Links with Racial Identification,Gender, and Socioeconomic Status

In this study, we investigated trajectories of Black‐White biracial children's social development during middle childhood, their associations with parents’ racial identification of children, and the moderating effects of child gender and family socioeconomic status (SES). The study utilized data from parent and teacher reports on 293 US Black‐White biracial children enrolled in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS‐K). Growth curve models suggested increasing trajectories of teacher‐reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors between kindergarten and fifth grade. Parents’ racial identification of children predicted child externalizing behavior trajectories such that teachers rated biracially identified children's externalizing behaviors lower relative to those of Black‐ and White‐identified children. Additionally, for White‐identified biracial children, the effect of family SES on internalizing behavior trajectories was especially pronounced. These findings suggest that in the USA, how parents racially identify their Black‐White biracial children early on has important implications for children's problem behaviors throughout the elementary school years.     

The Use of Risk Assessment to Decide the Control Strategy for Bluetongue in Italian Ruminant Populations

The affiliation, assessment and management of risks is a traditional part of veterinary medicine. In the past, veterinary services involved in this type of activity usually assessed risks qualitatively. However, since the 1990s, quantitative methods have become increasingly important. The establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994, and the promulgation of its Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Agreement") led to an increased application of import risk analysis and to significant improvements in the methodology of risk analysis as applied to international trade policy for animals and animal products. However, there was very little development of risk analysis in veterinary fields other than international trade and management of health risks to consumers of animal products and little has been published on its use in the choice and definition of control or prophylaxis strategies for animal diseases. This article describes a quantitative risk assessment, which was undertaken in Italy to help choose an appropriate national response strategy following an incursion of bluetongue, an infectious disease of sheep and goats. The results obtained in this study support the use of risk analysis as a tool to assist in choosing an appropriate animal disease management strategy. The use of risk analysis in the evaluation of disease management strategies also offers advantages in international trade. It makes easier the comparison of different strategies applied in the various countries, and thus facilitates the assessment of equivalence of the guarantees provided by different strategies.