bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Asymmetry in ENSO Teleconnection with Regional Rainfall, Its Multidecadal Variability, and Impact
Authors: Cai Wenju , van Rensch Peter , Cowan Tim , Sullivan Arnold
Published: May 2010

An asymmetry, and its multidecadal variability, in a rainfall teleconnection with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are described. Further, the breakdown of this relationship since 1980 is offered as a cause for a rainfall reduction in an ENSO-affected region, southeast Queensland (SEQ). There, austral summer rainfall has been declining since around the 1980s, but the associated process is not understood.

It is demonstrated that the rainfall reduction is not simulated by the majority of current climate models forced with anthropogenic forcing factors. Examination shows that ENSO is a rainfall-generating mechanism for the region because of an asymmetry in its impact: the La Niña–rainfall relationship is statistically significant, as SEQ summer rainfall increases with La Niña amplitude; by contrast, the El Niño–induced rainfall reductions do not have a statistically significant relationship with El Niño amplitude. Since 1980, this asymmetry no longer operates, and La Niña events no longer induce a rainfall increase, leading to the observed SEQ rainfall reduction. A similar asymmetric rainfall teleconnection with ENSO Modoki exists and shares the same temporal evolutions.

This breakdown is caused by an eastward shift in the Walker circulation and the convection center near Australia’s east coast, in association with a post-1980 positive phase of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). Such a breakdown occurred before 1950, indicating that multidecadal variability alone could potentially be responsible for the recent SEQ rainfall decline. An aggregation of outputs from climate models to distill the impact of climate change suggests that the asymmetry and the breakdown may not be generated by climate change, although most models do not perform well in simulating the ENSO–rainfall teleconnection over the SEQ region.
Rapid-Scan Super-Resolution Observations of a Cyclic Supercell with a Dual-Polarization WSR-88D
Authors: Kumjian Matthew R. , Ryzhkov Alexander V. , Melnikov Valery M. , Schuur Terry J.
Published: May 2010

In recent years, there has been widespread interest in collecting and analyzing rapid updates of radar data in severe convective storms. To this end, conventional single-polarization rapid-scan radars and phased array radar systems have been employed in numerous studies. However, rapid updates of dual-polarization radar data in storms are not widely available. For this study, a rapid scanning strategy is developed for the polarimetric prototype research Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) radar in Norman, Oklahoma (KOUN), which emulates the future capabilities of a polarimetric multifunction phased array radar (MPAR). With this strategy, data are collected over an 80° sector with 0.5° azimuthal spacing and 250-m radial resolution (“super resolution”), with 12 elevation angles. Thus, full volume scans over a limited area are collected every 71–73 s.

The scanning strategy was employed on a cyclic nontornadic supercell storm in western Oklahoma on 1 June 2008. The evolution of the polarimetric signatures in the supercell is analyzed. The repetitive pattern of evolution of these polarimetric features is found to be directly tied to the cyclic occlusion process of the low-level mesocyclone. The cycle for each of the polarimetric signatures is presented and described in detail, complete with a microphysical interpretation. In doing so, for the first time the bulk microphysical properties of the storm on small time scales (inferred from polarimetric data) are analyzed. The documented evolution of the polarimetric signatures could be used operationally to aid in the detection and determination of various stages of the low-level mesocyclone occlusion.
Strain differences in the dose–response relationship for morphine self-administration and impulsive choice between Lewis and Fischer 344 rats
Authors: García-Lecumberri Carmen , Torres Isabel , Martín Sonsoles , Crespo José A , Miguéns Miguel , Nicanor Cristina , Higuera-Matas Alejandro , Ambrosio Emilio
Published: May 2010

Dose–response studies are thought to be a valuable tool to predict the most genetically drug-vulnerable individuals. However, dose–response curves for morphine self-administration have not yet been examined and nor strain differences might be evident. Therefore, this study aimed to define the dose–response curve for morphine self-administration (0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg) in Lewis (LEW) rats and their histocompatible Fischer-344 (F344) rats. In addition, impulsivity has been suggested as one of the genetic factors contributing most to the initiation of drug use. Therefore, the impulsive choice of both rat strains in the presence or absence of the same morphine doses was also analysed. LEW rats self-administered significantly more morphine whatever the dose tested and they exhibited greater basal impulsive choice compared with F344 rats. The F344 strain showed a preference for the dose of 0.5 mg/kg, while any of the doses used had a differential reinforcing effect in the LEW strain. The basal pattern of strain differences in impulsive choice was not affected by morphine administration. These data suggest that the LEW strain has a highly drug-vulnerable phenotype and they point to the strength of impulsivity as a pre-existing behavioural trait that might make this rat strain more vulnerable to the reinforcing effects of drugs and, therefore, to develop addiction.
Efficacy of Surgery for Femoroacetabular Impingement
Authors: Ng Vincent Y. , Arora Naveen , Best Thomas M. , Pan Xueliang , Ellis Thomas J.
Published: May 2010

Background

Recent case studies on the surgical treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) have introduced a large amount of clinical data. However, there has been no clear consensus on its efficacy.

Hypothesis

The current literature can be clarified to address 4 questions: (1) Does treatment for FAI succeed in improving symptoms? (2) In which subset of patients should treatment for FAI be avoided? (3) Is labral refixation superior to simple resection? (4) Does treatment for FAI alter the natural progression of osteoarthritis in this group of typically young patients?

Study Design

Systematic review.

Methods

Twenty-three reports of case studies on the surgical treatment of FAI were identified and a systematic review was conducted. Data from each study were collected to answer each of the 4 focus questions.

Results

This review of 970 cases included 1 level II evidence trial, 2 level III studies, and 20 level IV studies. Based on patient outcome scores and effect size, all studies demonstrated improvement of patient symptoms. Up to 30% of patients will eventually require total hip arthroplasty; those patients with Outerbridge grade III or IV cartilage damage seen intraoperatively or with preoperative radiographs showing greater than Tonnis grade I osteoarthritis will have worse outcomes with treatment for FAI. Only 2 studies directly compared labral refixation with labral debridement. Several studies reported postoperative osteoarthritis findings; only a minority of these patients had progression of their osteoarthritis.

Conclusion

Surgical treatment for FAI reliably improves patient symptoms in the majority of patients without advanced osteoarthritis or chondral damage. Early evidence supports labral refixation. It is too soon to predict whether progression of osteoarthritis is delayed.

Clinical Relevance

These results may be used to help predict the outcome of surgical treatment of FAI in different patient populations and to assess the need for labral refixation.
A statistical evaluation of the effects of gender differences in assessment of acute inhalation toxicity
Authors: Price Charlotte , Stallard Nigel , Creton Stuart , Indans Ian , Guest Robert , Griffiths David , Edwards Philippa
Published: May 2010

Acute inhalation toxicity of chemicals has conventionally been assessed by the median lethal concentration (LC50) test (organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) TG 403). Two new methods, the recently adopted acute toxic class method (ATC; OECD TG 436) and a proposed fixed concentration procedure (FCP), have recently been considered, but statistical evaluations of these methods did not investigate the influence of differential sensitivity between male and female rats on the outcomes. This paper presents an analysis of data from the assessment of acute inhalation toxicity for 56 substances. Statistically significant differences between the LC50 for males and females were found for 16 substances, with greater than 10-fold differences in the LC50 for two substances. The paper also reports a statistical evaluation of the three test methods in the presence of unanticipated gender differences. With TG 403, a gender difference leads to a slightly greater chance of under-classification. This is also the case for the ATC method, but more pronounced than for TG 403, with misclassification of nearly all substances from Globally Harmonised System (GHS) class 3 into class 4. As the FCP uses females only, if females are more sensitive, the classification is unchanged. If males are more sensitive, the procedure may lead to under-classification. Additional research on modification of the FCP is thus proposed.
Modification of the relationship between urinary 8-OHdG and hippuric acid concentration by GSTM1, GSTT1, and ALDH2 genotypes
Authors: Kim Yong-Dae , Eom Sang-Yong , Yan Wei Zhang  , Kim Hyeongsu , Park Jung-Duk , Yu Seung-Do , Lee Chul-Ho , Arashidani Keiichi , Kawamoto Toshihiro , Kim Heon
Published: May 2010

Urinary hippuric acid (HA) has been widely used as a biological marker of occupational exposure to toluene, although it is no longer valid for low levels of toluene exposure. Toluene exposure is known to induce oxidative DNA damage and the metabolism is affected by genetic polymorphisms of some metabolizing enzymes. Therefore, genetic polymorphisms of these metabolizing enzymes must be considered in the evaluation of oxidative stress caused by toluene exposure. We evaluated the relationship between urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a marker of oxidative DNA damage, and urinary HA in individuals without occupational exposure to toluene and characterized the possible roles of GSTM1, GSTT1, and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) genotypes in the relationships between these markers. In this study, we enrolled 92 healthy Koreans. Urinary HA and 8-OHdG levels were measured and the correlations between them were statistically tested according to the GSTM1, GSTT1, and ALDH2 genotypes. HA did not significantly correlate with urinary 8-OHdG in overall subjects. However, the correlation between them showed a statistical significance in individuals with GSTM1-null, GSTT1-null, and ALDH2 *2/*2 genotypes (r = 0.766, p < 0.01). This study shows that the relationship between urinary HA and 8-OHdG concentration is modified by genetic polymorphisms of some metabolizing enzymes such as GSTM1, GSTT1, and ALDH2.
Project ALERT’s Effects on Adolescents’ Prodrug Beliefs: A Replication and Extension Study
Authors: Kovach Clark Heddy , Ringwalt Chris L. , Hanley Sean , Shamblen Stephen R.
Published: May 2010

This article represents a replication and extension of previous studies of the effects of Project ALERT, a school-based substance use prevention program, on the prodrug beliefs of adolescents. Specifically, the authors’ research examined Project ALERT’s effects on adolescents’ intentions to use substances in the future, beliefs about substance use consequences, normative beliefs, and resistance self-efficacy. In all, 34 schools with Grades 6 to 8 completed this randomized controlled trial and 71 Project ALERT instructors taught 11 core lessons to 6th graders and 3 booster lessons to 7th graders (one grade level earlier than in previous studies). Students were assessed in 6th grade prior to the onset of the intervention, in 7th grade after the completion of the 2-year curriculum, and again 1 year later in 8th grade. The authors found no evidence to suggest that Project ALERT had a positive impact on any alcohol, cigarette, or marijuana prodrug beliefs. Implications for school-based substance use prevention are discussed.
Toward a More Nuanced Approach to Program Effectiveness Assessment: Hierarchical Linear Models in K–12 Program Evaluation
Authors: Newton Xiaoxia A. , Llosa Lorena
Published: May 2010

Most K–12 evaluations are designed to make inferences about how a program implemented at the classroom or school level affects student learning outcomes and such inferences inherently involve hierarchical data structure. One methodological challenge for evaluators is linking program implementation factors typically measured at the classroom or teacher level with student outcomes measured at the individual student level. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is ideal for K–12 program evaluations because it can appropriately handle hierarchical data while allowing for a nuanced conceptualization of evaluation questions. The authors illustrate the advantages of HLM with an example of the evaluation of a technology-based reading program for elementary students. HLM enabled evaluators to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between program implementation and program outcomes by (a) providing a better and more proper estimate of the average program outcome, (b) providing an estimate of variation in student outcomes within classrooms, between classrooms, and between schools, and (c) most importantly, by providing a framework for probing what factors are related to variations in student outcomes. Through illustrating the potentials of HLM, the authors aim to advance and expand evaluative tools for establishing empirical evidence regarding program effectiveness in K–12 settings. The authors also hope to bring balance and additional insight into the current methodological discussions about the relationship between program implementation and program impact, rather than merely demonstrating the average effect of a program or policy intervention.
Progression on the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite in multiple sclerosis: what is the optimal cut-off for the three components?
Authors: Bosma LVAE , Kragt JJ , Brieva L. , Khaleeli Z. , Montalban X. , Polman CH , Thompson AJ , Tintoré M. , Uitdehaag BMJ
Published: May 2010

For the Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW) and 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT), components of the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), cut-off points of 20% change have previously been defined as meaningful endpoints of functional decline. Recently, however, a 15% change of MSFC components was introduced. The objective of this study was to determine optimal cut-offs for all MSFC components to indicate clinical disease progression in a primary progressive (PP) multiple sclerosis (MS) population. T25FW, 9HPT and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) were performed in 161 patients with PPMS with a 2-year interval. Absolute and relative differences in test scores were calculated. For each cut-off point of relative change, proportions of patients who progressed (deterioration beyond cut-off value) and improved (improvement beyond cut-off value) were calculated. Further, we calculated the ratio of ‘improved’ versus ‘progressed’ patients. Line graphs were created indicating: percentage progressed patients, percentage improved patients, and ratio of improved versus progressed patients. The optimal cut-off was determined by searching the cut-off point with the lowest ratio of improved versus progressed patients, while at the same time capturing a substantial amount of progression. For both T25FW and 9HPT, the ratio between patients that improved and worsened clearly decreased between the cut-offs of 15% and 20%. For the PASAT, the ratio between patients improved and worsened was persistently poor. In conclusion, a cut-off of 20% for both T25FW and 9HPT has a better signal-to-noise ratio than lower values (e.g. 15%) and is therefore preferable for the assessment of disease progression. No satisfactory cut-off point for the PASAT could be determined.
Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First
Authors: Hou Su-I
Published: May 2010

Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication is a summary of a workshop proceedings conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on health literacy. The document describes key emerging issues and lessons learned on eHealth applications such as electronic health records (EHRs) and personal health records (PHRs), as well as challenges of dealing with health literacy issues among a diverse vulnerable group. It also introduces promising eHealth initiatives that demonstrate great potential to reduce health disparities. This practical and thought-provoking document is a valuable resource for policy makers, healthcare providers, and advocacy groups.
The TRPC2 channel forms protein-protein interactions with Homer and RTP in the rat vomeronasal organ
Authors: Mast Thomas G , Brann Jessica H , Fadool Debra A
Published: May 2010

Background

The signal transduction cascade operational in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) of the olfactory system detects odorants important for prey localization, mating, and social recognition. While the protein machinery transducing these external cues has been individually well characterized, little attention has been paid to the role of protein-protein interactions among these molecules. Development of an in vitro expression system for the transient receptor potential 2 channel (TRPC2), which establishes the first electrical signal in the pheromone transduction pathway, led to the discovery of two protein partners that couple with the channel in the native VNO.

Results

Homer family proteins were expressed in both male and female adult VNO, particularly Homer 1b/c and Homer 3. In addition to this family of scaffolding proteins, the chaperones receptor transporting protein 1 (RTP1) and receptor expression enhancing protein 1 (REEP1) were also expressed. RTP1 was localized broadly across the VNO sensory epithelium, goblet cells, and the soft palate. Both Homer and RTP1 formed protein-protein interactions with TRPC2 in native reciprocal pull-down assays and RTP1 increased surface expression of TRPC2 in in vitro assays. The RTP1-dependent TRPC2 surface expression was paralleled with an increase in ATP-stimulated whole-cell current in an in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiological assay.

Conclusions

TRPC2 expression and channel activity is regulated by chaperone- and scaffolding-associated proteins, which could modulate the transduction of chemosignals. The developed in vitro expression system, as described here, will be advantageous for detailed investigations into TRPC2 channel activity and cell signalling, for a channel protein that was traditionally difficult to physiologically assess.
Risk of pneumocystosis after early discontinuation of prophylaxis among HIV-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy
Authors: Cheng Chien-Yu , Chen Mao-Yuan , Hsieh Szu-Min , Sheng Wang-Huei , Sun Hsin-Yun , Lo Yi-Chun , Liu Wen-Chun , Hung Chien-Ching
Published: May 2010

Background

Risk of pneumocystosis after discontinuation of primary or secondary prophylaxis among HIV-infected patients before CD4 counts increase to ≧200 cells/μL (early discontinuation) after receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is rarely investigated.

Methods

Medical records of 660 HIV-infected patients with baseline CD4 counts <200 cells/μL who sought HIV care and received HAART at a university hospital in Taiwan between 1 April, 1997 and 30 September, 2007 were reviewed to assess the incidence rate of pneumocystosis after discontinuation of prophylaxis for pneumocystosis.

Results

The incidence rate of pneumocystosis after HAART was 2.81 per 100 person-years among 521 patients who did not initiate prophylaxis or had early discontinuation of prophylaxis, which was significantly higher than the incidence rate of 0.45 per 100 person-years among 139 patients who continued prophylaxis until CD4 counts increased to ≧200 cells/μL (adjusted risk ratio, 5.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.18, 23.94). Among the 215 patients who had early discontinuation of prophylaxis after achievement of undetectable plasma HIV RNA load, the incidence rate of pneumocystosis was reduced to 0.31 per 100 person-years, which was similar to that of the patients who continued prophylaxis until CD4 counts increased to ≧200 cells/μL (adjusted risk ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.03, 14.89).

Conclusions

Compared with the risk of pneumocystosis among patients who continued prophylaxis until CD4 counts increased to ≧200 cells/μL after HAART, the risk was significantly higher among patients who discontinued prophylaxis when CD4 counts remained <200 cells/μL, while the risk could be reduced among patients who achieved undetectable plasma HIV RNA load after HAART.
Hierarchical folding of multiple sequence alignments for the prediction of structures and RNA-RNA interactions
Authors: Seemann Stefan E , Richter Andreas S , Gorodkin Jan , Backofen Rolf
Published: May 2010

Background

Many regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) function through complementary binding with mRNAs or other ncRNAs, e.g., microRNAs, snoRNAs and bacterial sRNAs. Predicting these RNA interactions is essential for functional studies of putative ncRNAs or for the design of artificial RNAs. Many ncRNAs show clear signs of undergoing compensating base changes over evolutionary time. Here, we postulate that a non-negligible part of the existing RNA-RNA interactions contain preserved but covarying patterns of interactions.

Methods

We present a novel method that takes compensating base changes across the binding sites into account. The algorithm works in two steps on two pre-generated multiple alignments. In the first step, individual base pairs with high reliability are found using the algorithm, which includes evolutionary and thermodynamic properties. In step two (where high reliability base pairs from step one are constrained as unpaired), the principle of cofolding is combined with hierarchical folding. The final prediction of intra- and inter-molecular base pairs consists of the reliabilities computed from the constrained expected accuracy scoring, which is an extended version of that used for individual multiple alignments.

Results

We derived a rather extensive algorithm. One of the advantages of our approach (in contrast to other RNA-RNA interaction prediction methods) is the application of covariance detection and prediction of pseudoknots between intra- and inter-molecular base pairs. As a proof of concept, we show an example and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approach.
Automated integration of partially colocated models: Subsurface zonation using a modified fuzzy c -means cluster analysis algorithm
Authors: Paasche Hendrik , Tronicke Jens , Dietrich Peter
Published: May 2010

Partitioning cluster analyses are powerful tools for rapidly and objectively exploring and characterizing disparate geophysical databases with unknown interrelations between individual data sets or models. Despite its high potential to objectively extract the dominant structural information from suites of disparate geophysical data sets or models, cluster-analysis techniques are underused when analyzing geophysical data or models. This is due to the following limitations regarding the applicability of standard partitioning cluster algorithms to geophysical databases: The considered survey or model area must be fully covered by all data sets; cluster algorithms classify data in a multidimensional parameter space while ignoring spatial information present in the databases and are therefore sensitive to high-frequency spatial noise (outliers); and standard cluster algorithms such asfuzzy [Formula: see text]-means (FCM) or crisp [Formula: see text]-means classify data in an unsupervised manner, potentially ignoring expert knowledge additionally available to the experienced human interpreter. We address all of these issues by considering recent modifications to the standard FCM cluster algorithm to tolerate incomplete databases, i.e., survey or model areas not covered by all available data sets, and to consider spatial information present in the database. We have evaluated the regularized missing-value FCM cluster algorithm in a synthetic study and applied it to a database comprising partially colocated crosshole tomographic P- and S-wave-velocity models. Additionally, we were able to demonstrate how further expert knowledge can be incorporated in the cluster analysis to obtain a multiparameter geophysical model to objectively outline the dominant subsurface units, explaining all available geoscientific information.
Three measures of longevity: Time trends and record values
Authors: Canudas-Romo Vladimir
Published: May 2010

This article examines the trend over time in the measures of “typical” longevity experienced by members of a population: life expectancy at birth, and the median and modal ages at death. The article also analyzes trends in record values observed for all three measures. The record life expectancy at birth increased from a level of 44 years in Sweden in 1840 to 82 years in Japan in 2005. The record median age at death shows increasing patterns similar to those observed in life expectancy at birth. However, the record modal age at death changes very little until the second half of the twentieth century: it moved from a plateau level, around age 80, to having a similar pace of increase as that observed for the mean and the median in most recent years. These findings explain the previously observed uninterrupted increase in the record life expectancy. The cause of this increase has changed over time from a dominance of child mortality reductions to a dominance of adult mortality reductions, which became evident by studying trends in the record modal age at death.
Employment and self-employment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Zissimopoulos Julie , Karoly Lynn A.
Published: May 2010

We use data from the monthly Current Population Survey to examine the short- and longer-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the labor market outcomes of prime-age individuals in the most affected states—Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi— and for evacuees in any state. We focus on rates of labor force participation, employment, and unemployment, and we extend prior research by also examining rates of self-employment. With the exception of Mississippi, employment and unemployment one year after the hurricane were at similar rates as the end of 2003. This aggregate pattern of labor market shock and recovery has been observed for other disasters but masks important differences among subgroups. Those evacuated from their residences, even temporarily, were a harder-hit group, and evacuees who had yet to return to their pre-Katrina state up to one year later were hit especially hard; these findings hold even after controlling for differences in observable characteristics. We also find evidence of an important role for self-employment as part of post-disaster labor market recovery, especially for evacuees who did not return. This may result from poor job prospects in the wage and salary sector or new opportunities for starting businesses in the wake of Katrina.
Retirement and death in office of U.S. Supreme Court justices
Authors: Stolzenberg Ross M. , Lindgren James
Published: May 2010

We construct demographic models of retirement and death in office of U.S. Supreme Court justices, a group that has gained demographic notice, evaded demographic analysis, and is said to diverge from expected retirement patterns. Models build on prior multistate labor force status studies, and data permit an unusually clear distinction between voluntary and “induced” retirement. Using data on every justice from 1789 through 2006, with robust, cluster-corrected, discrete-time, censored, event-history methods, we (1) estimate retirement effects of pension eligibility, age, health, and tenure on the timing of justices’ retirements and deaths in office, (2) resolve decades of debate over the politicized departure hypothesis that justices tend to alter the timing of their retirements for the political benefit or detriment of the incumbent president, (3) reconsider the nature of rationality in retirement decisions, and (4) consider the relevance of organizational conditions as well as personal circumstances to retirement decisions. Methodological issues are addressed.
Social demographic change and autism
Authors: Liu Kayuet , Zerubavel Noam , Bearman Peter
Published: May 2010

Parental age at child’s birth—which has increased for U.S. children in the 1992–2000 birth cohorts—is strongly associated with an increased risk of autism. By turning a social demographic lens on the historical patterning of concordance among twin pairs, we identify a central mechanism for this association: de novo mutations, which are deletions, insertions, and duplications of DNA in the germ cells that are not present in the parents ’ DNA. Along the way, we show that a demographic eye on the rising prevalence of autism leads to three major discoveries. First, the estimated heritability of autism has been dramatically overstated. Second, heritability estimates can change over remarkably short periods of time because of increases in germ cell mutations. Third, social demographic change can yield genetic changes that, at the population level, combine to contribute to the increased prevalence of autism.
Family structure and the transition to early parenthood
Authors: Hofferth Sandra L. , Goldscheider Frances
Published: May 2010

With the rise in out-of-wedlock childbearing and divorce in the last quarter of the twentieth century, an increasing proportion of children have been exposed to a variety of new family forms. Little research has focused on the consequences of childhood family structure for men’s transition to fatherhood or on the family processes that account for the effects of family structure on the likelihood that young women and men become first-time unmarried parents, what we now call “fragile families.” The data come from the linked Children and Young Adult samples of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), which provide information on the children of the women of the NLSY79 from birth until they enter young adulthood. Females growing up with a single parent and males experiencing an unstable family transition to parenthood early, particularly to nonresidential fatherhood for males. For males, the effects are strongly mediated by parenting processes and adolescent behaviors and are shaped by economic circumstances. Having experienced multiple transitions as a child is associated with a reduced likelihood that males father their first child within marriage and an increased likelihood that they become fathers within cohabitation, demonstrating how changes in family structure alter family structure patterns over time and generations.
A comparative perspective on intermarriage: Explaining differences among national-origin groups in the United States
Authors: Kalmijn Matthijs , Van Tubergen Frank
Published: May 2010

Little is known about the validity of group-level theories of ethnic intermarriage despite the fact that such theories are often invoked in explaining why certain ethnic groups are “closed,” whereas others are relatively “open.” We develop a comparative perspective by analyzing the marriage choices of 94 national-origin groups in the United States, using pooled data from the Current Population Surveys, 1994–2006, and multilevel models in which individual and contextual determinants of intermarriage are included simultaneously. Our analyses show large differences in endogamy across groups. After taking compositional effects into account, we find that both structural and cultural group-level factors have significant effects on endogamy. Cultural explanations (which focus on the role of norms and preferences) play a more important role than structural explanations (which focus on meeting and mating opportunities). Our results reinforce the common but untested interpretation of endogamy in terms of group boundaries.
The impact of family policy expenditure on fertility in western Europe
Authors: Kalwij Adriaan
Published: May 2010

This article analyzes the impact on fertility of changes in national expenditure for family allowances, maternity- and parental-leave benefits, and childcare subsidies. To do so, I estimate a model for the timing of births using individual-level data from 16 western European countries, supplemented with data on national social expenditure for different family policy programs. The latter allow approximation of the subsidies that households with children receive from such programs. The results show that increased expenditure on family policy programs that help women to combine family and employment-and thus reduce the opportunity cost of children—generates positive fertility responses.
Intergenerational mobility in the post-1965 immigration era: Estimates by an immigrant generation cohort method
Authors: Park Julie , Myers Dowell
Published: May 2010

The new second generation of the post-1965 immigration era is observed as children with their parents in 1980 and again as adults 25 years later. Intergenerational mobility is assessed for both men and women in four major racial/ethnic groups, both in regard to children’s status attainment relative to parents and with regard to the rising societal standards proxied by native-born non-Hispanic whites. A profile of intergenerational mobility is prepared using multiple indicators of status attainment: high school and college completion, upper white-collar occupation, poverty, and homeowner ship. The immigrant generation cohort method we introduce accounts for four distinct temporal dimensions of immigrant progress, clarifying inconsistencies in the literature and highlighting differences in mobility between racial/ethnic groups and with respect to different outcome measures. The immigrant generation cohort method consistently finds greater intergenerational mobility than suggested by alternative approaches. Our analysis also shows that the intergenerational progress of women is greater than that of men and provides a more complete record of immigrant mobility overall. Findings for individual racial/ethnic groups accord with some expectations in the literature and contradict others.
How does the age gap between partners affect their survival?
Authors: Drefahl Sven
Published: May 2010

I use hazard regression methods to examine how the age difference between spouses affects their survival. In many countries, the age difference between spouses at marriage has remained relatively stable for several decades. In Denmark, men are, on average, about three years older than the women they marry. Previous studies of the age gap between spouses with respect to mortality found that having a younger spouse is beneficial, while having an older spouse is detrimental for one’s own survival. Most of the observed effects could not be explained satisfactorily until now, mainly because of methodological drawbacks and insufficiency of the data. The most common explanations refer to selection effects, caregiving in later life, and some positive psychological and sociological effects of having a younger spouse. The present study extends earlier work by using longitudinal Danish register data that include the entire history of key demographic events of the whole population from 1990 onward. Controlling for confounding factors such as education and wealth, results suggest that having a younger spouse is beneficial for men but detrimental for women, while having an older spouse is detrimental for both sexes.
Biodemographic modeling of the links between fertility motivation and fertility outcomes in the NLSY79
Authors: Miller Warren B. , Bard David E. , Pasta David J. , Rodgers Joseph Lee
Published: May 2010

In spite of long-held beliefs that traits related to reproductive success tend to become fixed by evolution with little or no genetic variation, there is now considerable evidence that the natural variation of fertility within populations is genetically influenced and that a portion of that influence is related to the motivational precursors to fertility. We conduct a two-stage analysis to examine these inferences in a time-ordered multivariate context. First, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, and LISREL analysis, we develop a structural equation model in which five hypothesized motivational precursors to fertility, measured in 1979–1982, predict both a child-timing and a child-number outcome, measured in 2002. Second, having chosen two time-ordered sequences of six variables from the SEM to represent our phenotypic models, we use Mx to conduct both univariate and multivariate behavioral genetic analyses with the selected variables. Our results indicate that one or more genes acting within a gene network have additive effects that operate through child-number desires to affect both the timing of the next child born and the final number of children born, that one or more genes acting through a separate network may have additive effects operating through gender role attitudes to produce downstream effects on the two fertility outcomes, and that no genetic variance is associated with either child-timing intentions or educational intentions.
Choice of study discipline and the postponement of motherhood in Europe: The impact of expected earnings, gender composition, and family attitudes
Authors: Van Bavel Jan
Published: May 2010

Theory suggests that the field of study may be at least as consequential for fertility behavior as the duration and level of education. Yet, this qualitative dimension of educational achievement has been largely neglected in demographic studies. This article analyzes the mechanisms relating the field of study with the postponement of motherhood by European college-graduate women aged 20–40. The second round of the European Social Survey is used to assess the impact of four features of study disciplines that are identified as key to reproductive decision making: the expected starting wage, the steepness of the earning profile, attitudes toward gendered family roles, and gender composition. The results indicate that the postponement of motherhood is relatively limited among graduates from study disciplines in which stereotypical attitudes about family roles prevail and in which a large share of the graduates are female. Both the level of the starting wage and the steepness of the earning profile are found to be associated with greater postponement. These results are robust to controlling for the partnership situation and the age at entry into the labor market.
Educational assortative mating and economic inequality: A comparative analysis of three Latin American countries
Authors: Torche Florencia
Published: May 2010

Educational assortative mating and economic inequality are likely to be endogenously determined, but very little research exists on their empirical association. Using census data and log-linear and log-multiplicative methods, I compare the patterns of educational assortative mating in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, and explore the association between marital sorting and earnings inequality across countries. The analysis finds substantial variation in the strength of specific barriers to educational intermarriage between countries, and a close association between these barriers and the earnings gaps across educational categories within countries. This finding suggests an isomorphism between assortative mating and economic inequality. Furthermore, educational marital sorting is remarkably symmetric across gender in spite of the different resources that men and women bring to the union. This study highlights the limitations of using single aggregate measures of spousal educational resemblance (such as the correlation coefficient between spouses’ schooling) to capture variation in assortative mating and its relationship with socioeconomic inequality.
Son targeting fertility behavior: Some consequences and determinants
Authors: Basu Deepankar , De Jong Robert
Published: May 2010

This article draws out some implications of son targeting fertility behavior and studies its determinants. We demonstrate that such behavior has two notable implications at the aggregate level: (a) girls have a larger number of siblings (sibling effect), and (b) girls are born at relatively earlier parities within families (birth-order effect). Empirically testing for these effects, we find that both are present in many countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and North Africa but are absent in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Using maximum likelihood estimation, we study the effect of covariates on son targeting fertility behavior in India, a country that displays significant sibling and birth-order effects. We find that income and geographic location of families significantly affect son targeting behavior.
"Light might possibly be requisite": Edgar Huntly , Regional History, and Historicist Criticism
Authors: Newman Andrew
Published: May 2010

Charles Brockden Brown's celebrated novel Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (1799), set in the Forks of the Delaware region of Pennsylvania, has been related to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on the basis of a mistaken understanding that its action takes place during the summer of 1787. The correct date is 1785. The narrative's connections to the local history of Indian relations, however, are systematic and profound. Its villain, the Indian crone "Old Deb," is modeled after an elderly Delaware woman from Chester County, Hannah Freeman. Edgar himself is modeled in part after Edward Marshall, who walked off the measurement for the 1737 Walking Purchase land fraud. Moreover, a pivotal scene between Edgar and the traveler Weymouth is a symbolic reenactment of the midcentury treaty meetings at which the Delaware spokesman Teedyuscung sought restitution for the Walking Purchase. These claims provide an occasion to reflect on the methods of historicist criticism: how connections to history illuminate a literary work.
"Ready to act in defiance of Government": Colonial Philadelphia Voluntary Culture and the Defense Association of 1747–1748
Authors: Roney Jessica Choppin
Published: May 2010

This article examines the Defense Association formed in Philadelphia in 1747–48, an extralegal militia that for a short time usurped governmental powers when the city feared attack during King George's War. It argues that the Defense Association was no aberration, that it must be understood as the fruition and extension of patterns of voluntary organization that had been developing in Philadelphia for twenty years. The Association, in turn, expanded the scope of what was politically possible through voluntary organization and carved out space for future extralegal organizing up to and including the Revolutionary groups of the 1770s.
A Historical Archaeological Study of Eighteenth-Century Newport: Three Middling Households
Authors: Hodge Christina J. , Gallagher Diana S.
Published: May 2010

How did the early modern consumer economy transmit consumption-based social identities of status and gender and standards of gentility, refinement, and propriety? How and why did new fashions become common necessities? With these issues in mind, three households are considered in two archaeological studies of colonial Newport: the Pratts, Tates, and Browns. Archaeologists use artifacts and organic remains alongside visual, oral, and written records to reveal life and experience in these households. In the following articles we will address, archaeologically, daily experiences of status, identity, and community in Newport, an early modern commercial town. The sources we as archaeologists use may be the same as those used by other disciplines, but a focus on things distinctly shapes both the questions we ask and the answers we find.
"A Flag of Defyance at the Masthead": The Delaware River Pilots and the Sinews of Philadelphia's Atlantic World in the Eighteenth Century
Authors: Finger Simon
Published: May 2010

This essay explores a neglected link in the chain of Atlantic commerce by examining the role of river pilots, who conducted maritime traffic from the ocean to the port of Philadelphia, nearly one hundred miles up the Delaware River. Pilots' specialized knowledge made them a vital part of the city's commercial economy in peacetime and of its defensive posture in wartime. The need for their services also granted them an unusual degree of leverage in negotiating the terms of their labor. By tracing the development of this profession, the article provides a new perspective on how Philadelphia managed its relationship with the broader Atlantic world.
Widow Pratt's World of Goods: Implications of Consumer Choice in Colonial Newport, Rhode Island
Authors: Hodge Christina J.
Published: May 2010

The material world of Elizabeth Pratt, a widow and trader in eighteenth-century Newport, was part of on-the-ground mechanisms through which individuals propagated complex and contingent early modern transformations, in particular those associated with social values and the material culture of daily life. This study of Elizabeth Pratt has considered dressing the body; dining and drinking; and experiences of landscape and architecture as active engagements by an individual with a material world. Interdisciplinary study of Pratt's possessions and decision making suggests that she did not emulate well-to-do neighbors, nor did she make the same choices as other middling property owners in the town. Pratt's choices speak to developing middling discourses of consumerism, class, and gender. This study proposes that "piecemeal" refinement was not an epiphenomenonal paradox. Rather, it was the norm in the eighteenth century and constitutive of social values in the long term.
"Jacobins in this Country": The United States, Great Britain, and Trans-Atlantic Anti-Jacobinism
Authors: Cleves Rachel Hope
Published: May 2010

Conservative vitriol against domestic "Jacobinism" suffused American political culture from the early 1790s to the Civil War. Yet this transnational counterrevolutionary discourse has received far less attention than transnational radicalism during the recent Atlantic turn in early American history. Seeking to correct that oversight, this article argues that American anti-Jacobinism developed simultaneously and in conversation with British anti-Jacobinism. American prints and events influenced British opposition to French Revolutionary violence, just as they were influenced by Britain. At the same time, British and American counterrevolutionaries frequently clashed over national interests. Recovering American contributions to trans-Atlantic anti-Jacobinism opens new questions about the sentiments underlying it. I argue that American anti-Jacobinism grew out of deeply rooted concerns about domestic civil violence. Ultimately, these fears of bloodshed transformed anti-Jacobinism into a powerful weapon against the violence of slavery.