The effects of teenage fatherhood on young adult outcomes

This paper uses national longitudinal data and several new empirical strategies to examine the consequences of teenage fatherhood. The key contribution is to compare economic outcomes of young fathers to young men whose partners experienced a miscarriage rather than a live birth. The results suggest that teenage fatherhood decreases years of schooling and the likelihood of receiving a high school diploma and increases general educational development receipt. Teenage fatherhood also appears to increase early marriage and cohabitation, and has mixed short-term effects on several labor market outcomes.     

Relational Aggression in Peer and Dating Relationships: Links to Psychological and Behavioral Adjustment

We examined the contribution of relational aggression in adolescents' peer and dating relationships to their psychological and behavioral adjustment. In the Fall and again four months later, 1279 (646 female) grade 9 students reported on relational aggression perpetration and victimization in their romantic and peer relationships, depression/anxiety symptoms (psychological adjustment) and delinquency (behavioral adjustment). Using hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for Time 1 adjustment/behavior, peer relational aggression perpetration predicted depression/anxiety. Dating relational victimization also predicted depression/anxiety, but only for girls. Furthermore, girls who were perpetrators of relational aggression in both peer and dating contexts were most likely to show increases in delinquent behavior. We conclude that dating and peer relationships are not redundant, but make independent and additive contributions to adolescent adjustment. Girls, in particular, may be at greatest risk for poor outcomes when they have relationally aggressive relationships. Results also highlight the need for greater awareness of the complexity and significance of adolescent dating relationships.     

Gamma-secretase--intramembrane protease with a complex

Gamma-secretase catalyzes intramembrane proteolysis of the amyloid beta protein precursor, a process closely linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This protease also cleaves the transmembrane domain of the Notch receptor as part of a signaling pathway that is essential for proper embryonic development. Recent findings suggest that gamma-secretase is a complex of at least four integral membrane proteins: presenilin, nicastrin, Aph-1, and Pen-2. Assembly of these four components apparently leads to autocleavage of presenilin into two subunits that together compose the intramembranous active site of gamma-secretase. Understanding the mechanism of this unusual enzyme is important, as it is both a key therapeutic target and a founding member of a newly discovered class of intramembrane-cleaving proteases.     

Generalized model for IGC growth in aluminum alloys

A generalized brick wall model is developed to describe intergranular corrosion in Equi-axed AA7178-T6 and Wingskin AA7178-T6 aluminum alloys. The intergranular corrosion rate is highly related to grain size and shape. High strength aluminum alloys are often elongated and anisotropic, with the fastest nominal IGC growth rate in the longitudinal direction (L) or long transverse direction (T) and the slowest in the short transverse direction (S). We propose a three-way intersection model and use it to simulate the corrosion kinetics for each direction. With a proper combination of model parameters, the generalized IGC model provides a good fit to experimental data developed by the foil penetration technique.     

Books vs. articles: Two ways of publishing sociology

Sociologists tend to publish either in the form of articles in scholarly journals or in the form of books. This paper attempts to show that not only do specific university departments have scholarly cultures emphasizing one or the other, but that structural and demographic factors — such as location, public or private status, and size — are correlated with each. Book departments tend to be found at exclusive private universities in or near big cities on both coasts, while article-producing departments tend to be in land grant universities in the South and Midwest. Recognizing that such publication decisions are not purely scientific in nature but are also partially socially constructed ought to allow us to have more diversity in how departments structure their scholarly cultures.     

Bayesian variable selection and regularization for time–frequency surface estimation

Summary.  We describe novel Bayesian models for time–frequency inverse modelling of non-stationary signals. These models are based on the idea of a Gabor regression , in which a time series is represented as a superposition of translated, modulated versions of a window function exhibiting good time–frequency concentration. As a necessary consequence, the resultant set of potential predictors is in general overcomplete—constituting a frame rather than a basis—and hence the resultant models require careful regularization through appropriate choices of variable selection schemes and prior distributions. We introduce prior specifications that are tailored to representative time series, and we develop effective Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for inference. To highlight the potential applications of such methods, we provide examples using two of the most distinctive time–frequency surfaces—speech and music signals—as well as standard test functions from the wavelet regression literature.     

The Relationship of Attachment Variables to Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy and Fear of Commitment

The present study indicated that both attachment bonds and self‐rated attachment style were significantly related to fear of commitment and, to a lesser extent, career decision‐making self‐efficacy. Given previous research showing that fear of commitment is related to career indecisiveness and “floundering,” the possible importance of attention to attachment bonds and styles in career counseling is suggested.     

Child Care Use and Parental Desire to Switch Care Type Among a Low-Income Population

This study investigates the use of and satisfaction with child care among low-income families, who are those likely to be affected by recent changes in public policy that emphasize increased work effort. Data from the Survey of Wisconsin Works Families portray differences in the use of center-based care depending on whether or not the family received a child care subsidy. A multivariate analysis of a measure of parental satisfaction, whether a parent would switch child care sources if all care were available at no charge, suggests that parents tend to be more satisfied with center-based care than with alternative forms of care. The analysis also suggests that mothers who received a child care subsidy were significantly more likely to have their children in center-based care.     

Hardiness and the relationship between stressors and outcomes

Using a sample of 468 participants, from two organizations, this study examined direct and moderating relationships between hardiness (a composite of challenge, control, and commitment), life and work stressors, and a variety of health-related outcomes. The results indicated that hardiness did not moderate the relationship between stressors and outcomes as reported by others (e.g. Kobasa 1982a). However, hardiness did have significant direct effects on emotional and psychological factors thought to be related to personal well-being and work performance. Hardy individuals reported higher levels of job satisfaction and fewer tensions at work dun did the less hardy. In general, hardy individuals experienced a higher quality of life and a more positive affect while being more energized and less negative about life. Hardy individuals also reported fewer somatic complaints and tended to be less depressed and anxious than individuals low in hardiness. In addition, hardiness was negatively related to all four measures of life and work stress implying that hardiness may not be independent of life demands.