Linguistic differentiation and Mayan language revitalization in Guatemala1

This paper presents a quantitative study of syntactic change in the context of Mayan language revitalization in Guatemala. Quantitative analyses of grammatical variation and code‐switching patterns were used to examine the degree of Spanish influence in the speech of three generations of Sipakapense‐Spanish bilinguals. The younger generations show lower frequencies of code‐switching compared to the oldest generation. In terms of syntactic variation, younger speakers show patterns that suggest a resistance to influence from Spanish. The results suggest that younger speakers are hyperdifferentiating the two languages by avoiding traditional Sipakapense constructions that could be interpreted as resulting from Spanish influence. The analysis highlights the important role of language ideology in cases of language change due to contact and language shift.     

An investigation on the effects of emerging 4G transmissions on 3G networks

Within the last 10 years, technological advances have allowed personal wireless communications to become part of our global, information-centric culture. Cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and wireless computer networks allow for tetherless use anytime and almost anywhere. These wireless communication advances have quickly matured through three technological generations. Currently, wireless communications are considered to be in the third generation (3G) of deployment and are rapidly approaching the fourth (4G). As these wireless technologies advance to meet market demand, careful pre-market technical analysis of these new capabilities must be made to understand potential impact on existing communication systems. This paper provides a novel examination into the effects of 4G ultrawide band (UWB) signaling on a 3G wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. Through empirical and statistical analyses, we show that the throughput performance of the Wi-Fi system can be negatively impacted by up to 20%. We conclude that careful implementation of emerging 4G UWB systems must occur to mitigate the detriments to existing 3G communication systems.     

Impacts of HIV/AIDS on poor and socially marginalised former commercial plasma donors in rural central China: social work implications

Little is known about the impact of HIV/AIDS on people who acquired the virus through former commercial plasma donations in the mid-1990s in rural Central China. The objective of this study was to examine socioeconomic impacts associated with HIV/AIDS on poor farm workers and their families, with a particular focus on economic hardships and social exclusion. The findings from 30 interviews reveal the profound effects of deteriorating health on labour power loss. The well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS was immensely affected by the loss of income, debts due to health-related expenses and a lack of alternate sources of income. Social exclusion and HIV/AIDS-related stigma remain significant issues in a workplace, funerals, and weddings. This article highlights the economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on China’s rural population and provides recommendations for social workers to mitigate the impacts of social exclusion on vulnerable rural households in China.     

Cognitive Self‐Regulation and Depression: Examining Academic Self‐Efficacy and Goal Characteristics in Youth of a Northern Plains Tribe

The relationship between cognitive self‐regulatory processes and depression was examined in American Indian adolescents from a Northern Plains tribe. Students completed measures of negative life events, self‐efficacy, goals, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that academic self‐efficacy was strongly associated with depression. Academic self‐efficacy also correlated with intrinsically motivating goal representations, such that students who indicated high academic self‐efficacy had goals that were more important to them, goals they thought more about, and goals they viewed as wanted by the self instead of as imposed on by others. However, we did not find the hypothesized mediational model in which academic self‐efficacy influenced depression indirectly by influencing goal characteristics. Rather, this indirect model varied by grade, and differed from what we expected. Specifically, for older adolescents, higher levels of academic self‐efficacy predicted goals that were more likely to be identified as the adolescent's own, and in turn, these self‐ as opposed to other‐oriented goals predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms. Results are discussed as providing support for continued investigations into the role of specific cognitive self‐regulatory processes in youth adjustment.     

The connection between maternal employment and childhood obesity: inspecting the mechanisms

This paper investigates the channels through which maternal employment affects childhood obesity. We use time diaries and interview responses from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics which combines information on children’s time allocation, children’s BMI, and mother’s labor force participation. We find some evidence that supervision and nutrition play significant but small roles in the relationship between maternal employment and childhood obesity. Although the difference in the effect of maternal employment varies by mother’s education, we find few differences in the mechanisms by mother’s education.

“A Geography of Disparate Spirits”: Pathology as Oppression in “A Woman is Talking to Death” and “Mental”

This article foregrounds Judy Grahn's commitment to social justice and chiefly considers her nine-part poems: “A Woman is Talking to Death” and “Mental.” These poems illuminate the socially constructed nature of mental illness and challenge readers to consider how and why the characters within them are deemed mentally ill. Little, if any, scholarship has been devoted to using Grahn's poetry, and particularly “Mental,” as a framework for analyzing the pathologization of people, especially women, relative to the system of mental health. Her work remains relevant to critical conversations that illuminate contemporary issues of oppression that still haunt us today.     

Federal nutrition programs and childhood obesity: inside the black box

In response to the dramatic rise in childhood obesity, particularly among low income individuals, federal nutrition assistance programs have come under scrutiny. However, the vast majority of this research focuses on the direct relationship between these programs and child health, while little is known about the mechanisms by which such relationships arise. Using the 2007 American Time Use Survey and the Eating and Health Module, we explore differences in time use—albeit in a non-causal framework—across families that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the National School Lunch Program to better understand behavioral differences across participants and non-participants. These differences have important implications for future research and policy.