Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity During the Transition to Adulthood: The Contingent and Nonlinear Impact of Neighborhood Disadvantage

Neighborhood disadvantage in early adolescence may help explain racial and ethnic disparities in obesity during the transition to adulthood; however the processes may work differently for males and females and for minority groups compared to Whites. The present study examines the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and young adult obesity and the extent to which it contributes to racial/ethnic disparities among males and females. Data are from waves I and III of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative sample of adolescents administered between 1994 and 2002. The final sample of 5,759 adolescents was 54% female, 63% White, 21% African American, 16% Hispanic, and 14 years of age, on average, at wave I. Using hierarchical logit models and controlling for prior obesity status, findings indicate that, for females, adolescent neighborhood disadvantage partially explains racial/ethnic disparities in young adult obesity. Further, neighborhood disadvantage increases the odds of becoming obese for adolescent females in a curvilinear form, and this relationship significantly varies between Whites and Hispanics. Neighborhood disadvantage does not increase the risk of obesity for males, regardless of race/ethnicity. Implications for obesity prevention are discussed.     

Military First Doctrine Is Behind North Korea Adventurism

The recurrent crises emanating from North Korea, and the response to them, is testing US‐China relations and drawing the new boundaries of power in East Asia. The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the former South Korean national security advisor address this development.     

A preliminary investigation into the acquisition of fingerprints on food

The potential for enhancement and recovery of latent fingerprints on a variety of foodstuffs has been investigated. In general, black magnetic powder and black powder suspensions appear to be the most successful enhancement techniques with a high number of ridge detail-developed prints over a selected time scale. Banana, apple and tomato surfaces showed enhancement of latent prints but potato and egg surfaces proved to be less successful.     

The impending crisis in development administration

Two questions are posed about development administration theory and practice. Does it offer apparent, plausible solutions to the recent and current crises of developing countries? Is it based upon a knowledge of the organizational terms and conditions which are necessary to advance human welfare? Current theory and practice are found to be wanting in both respects. An emphasis on comparative institutional analysis is suggested as one potential remedy for these weaknesses.     

The Shift from Agonistic to Non-Agonistic Debate in Early Nyāya

This article examines the emergence of the Nyāya distinction between vāda and jalpa as didactic-scientific and agonistic-sophistical forms of debate, respectively. Looking at the relevant sutras in Gautama’s Nyāya-sūtra (NS 1.2.1-3) in light of the earlier discussion of the types of debate in Caraka Saṃhitā 8, the article argues that certain ambiguities and obscurities in the former text can be explained on the hypothesis that the early Nyāya presupposed an agonistic understanding of vāda similar to what we find in Caraka.     

CHOOSE TO HUG,NOT HIT*

This article discusses reasonable chastisement of children as a defense by parents to assault charges. It suggests that its continued retention contravenes the rights of children and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It compares developments in various countries, such as the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand, where the defense has been abolished, as compared with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, where it has been retained. It suggests that its continued retention encourages bullying and violence in schools and in later adult life.     

Parental Indifference and Children’s Digital Piracy in South Korea: Mediation Effects of Low Self-Control and Misconception

Digital piracy is a global concern for society. Although adolescents’ digital piracy in South Korea is pervasive, its cause has rarely been examined. Using data collected by the Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) in 2009, this study conducted structural equation modeling to determine if low self-control and social learning theory accounted for digital piracy. This study found that parental indifference increased adolescents’ digital piracy through low self-control and misconception about digital piracy. However, there were no direct effects of parental indifference on the digital piracy behaviors. In particular, the mediation effect in the model combining low self-control and misconception was greater compared to other models. Overall, the combination of low self-control and social learning theory provided a more meaningful framework to explain adolescents’ digital piracy. Results of this study can offer ways to aid in the examination and remediation of this particular form of deviant behaviors on the Internet by adolescents.     

The Quality of Forensic Psychological Assessments,Reports, and Testimony: Acknowledging the Gap Between Promise and Practice

During the past decade, the field of forensic psychological assessment entered a period of standard setting, reflected in the publication of specialty guidelines for practice and in the proliferation of educational opportunities, training programs, and credentialing and certification procedures for forensic examiners. Representing significant efforts to advance the quality of psychological assessments in legal contexts, these developments foreshadow the promise of forensic assessment. During this same time period, new evidence emerged regarding the quality of forensic practice. This article reviews this evidence and evaluates current practice against the promise of forensic assessment. Forensic reports appear to be of higher quality than those described by commentators in the 1970s and early 1980s; nevertheless, the level of practice falls far short of professional aspirations for the field. The review identifies significant areas of weakness that demand the attention of professional organizations, accrediting agencies, educators, lawmakers, practitioners, and consumers.The truth is what is, not what should be.--Lenny Bruce     

Multilevel governance and organizational performance: Investigating the political‐bureaucratic labyrinth

Research on governance has extensively explored the complex interactions of governmental, nongovernmental, and for‐profit entities in the execution of public policy. It has consistently failed, however, to model empirically the joint effects of political and bureaucratic actors in governance systems. To address this issue, a theory of multilevel governance built upon the foundation of representative bureaucracy was developed and tested. Results from an analysis of Texas school districts suggest that Latinos at all levels of the governance system, political and managerial, influence representation at other levels. Findings also indicate that Latinos at each level of governance have positive effects, directly and indirectly, on outcomes for Latino students. The influence of both political and managerial actors at times extends beyond the immediately adjoining level; the effects of such actors cascade through the governance system. The results show that a priority for systematic research should be the identification of approaches and settings for examining the multilevel aspect of governance. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Death and Turnout: The Human Costs of War and Voter Participation in Democracies

War heightens public interest in politics, especially when human lives are lost. We examine whether, and how, combat casualties affect the decision to vote in established democracies. Drawing from social psychology research on mortality salience, we expect increasing casualties to increase the salience of death, information that moves people to defend their worldview, especially nationalistic and ideological values. By heightening the importance of values, we propose that combat casualties increase the benefits of voting. In particular, we expect the effect of combat casualties to be pronounced among the least politically engaged. Using both cross‐national data of elections in 23 democracies over a 50‐year period and survey data from the United States and United Kingdom during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, we found that mounting casualties increase turnout. Furthermore, as expected, we found the effect of casualties to be most pronounced among those least interested in politics.