Adolescent autonomy,parent-adolescent conflict,and parental well-being

The present study examines whether parents' reports of well-being are related to the level of parent-adolescent conflict in the family and their youngsters' level of emotional autonomy. The sample is composed of 129 intact families with a first-born child between the ages of 10 and 15. Measures included parents' reports of midlife identity concerns, self-esteem, life satisfaction, psychological symptoms, and parent-adolescent conflict, as well as youngsters' reports of emotional autonomy vis-à-vis parents. Findings indicate that (1) parents' experience of midlife identity concerns is positively related to the level of emotional autonomy reported by same-sex children; (2) mothers', but not fathers', well-being is negatively related to the intensity of parent-adolescent conflict; and (3) socioeconomic status moderates the relation between parental well-being and parent-adolescent relations. These results are discussed in terms of psychoanalytic and parental stress perspectives on parental well-being during the adolescent years.The work described herein has been conducted during the second author's tenure as a Faculty Scholar under the William T. Grant Foundation's Program in the Mental Health of Children and is supported as well by a grant to the second author from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin.Received Ph. D. in Child and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Major research interests are in the psychological well-being of parents with adolescent children.Received Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University. Major research interests are in social relations during adolescence.     

Early work experience: A partial antidote for adolescent egocentrism

One of the most important lessons a young person may learn from working is how to interact effectively with others. This potential outcome of work experience has received virtually no attention from proponents of the early integration of adolescents into the workplace. In this paper we suggest that working may contribute to the development of more advanced social understanding (i.e., social sensitivity, social insight, and effective social communication and manipulation) by requiring youngsters to (a) shift back and forth between diverse roles and (b) interact frequently with strangers. Illustrative material is presented from interviews with 100 working adolescents and their parents.This study is part of a large-scale investigation of the costs and benefits of part-time employment during the high school years. The first two authors are Co-Principal Investigators of the Spencer Foundation grant and share primary and equal responsibility for this report.Received Ph.D. in human development and family studies from Cornell University. Main research interests are adolescent development, life-span development, and social policy.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Harvard University. Main research interests are adolescence and social institutions, life-span development, and social policy.Main research interests are environmental and community psychology.Main research interests are human development and social policy.     

Mediating between state and citizens: the significance of the informal politics of third-party representation in the global south

This article argues that we should take more seriously the role of intermediaries in relationships between states and citizens in the global south. More specifically it holds that the practice of mediation, the third party representation of citizens to states and vice versa, is a widespread and important political practice in this context. Largely distinct from the contentious politics and popular mobilisation of social movements, mediation is more a politics of negotiation and bargaining by representatives. Developed as an emergent analysis from multiple case studies, mediation is a broad concept that includes practices that at other times might be described as lobbying, clientelism and coercion, but that we conceptualise in terms of claiming legitimacy to speak for the poor and marginalised, and theorise in terms of a democratic deficit between formal political institutions and these groups. In addition to identifying different kinds of mediators, the article categorises mediation in terms of the orientation and nature of various mediatory practices. Lastly, the article identifies at least three explanations for mediation including the endurance of pre-democratic political relations and practices, new forms of social exclusion in post-colonial democracies and the erosion of state authority brought about by neo-liberal policies and globalisation.     

Stewardship of health security: The challenges of applying the One Health approach

Experience with the control of epidemics, notably the 2004 outbreaks of avian influenza, has demonstrated that a “One Health approach,” that recognizes that human, animal, and environmental health are interdependent, is the most effective way of dealing with threats from emerging infectious diseases (EID). However, introducing and applying a One Health approach is challenging for many countries. One of the key challenges relates to stewardship. The evolution of the strategies and policies used to introduce and adopt the One Health approach in the detection and response to EID over the period 2005 to 2017 is described at global level and in country case studies of Thailand and Indonesia. Both countries experienced significant outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza from 2004 and have sought to adopt the One Health approach in their response strategies. The challenges for stewardship of health systems in introducing a One Health approach are described, and key lessons identified in regard to national level agency coordination, engagement of the broader civil society outside government, and developing a reliable, credible, and impartial decision‐making process. The concept of stewardship provides valuable insights for policymakers on how to incorporate a One Health approach into their EID response systems.     

Development of a harmonised method for the profiling of amphetamines VI: Evaluation of methods for comparison of amphetamine

Amphetamine samples were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the peak areas of 33 target compounds were transformed by applying various pretreatment techniques. The objective was to optimise the ability of a number of distance metrics to establish links between samples of amphetamine originating from the same batch (henceforth referred to as linked distances). Furthermore, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to evaluate the effects of various pretreatment methods on separation of amphetamine batches synthesised by the Leuckart reaction, reductive amination of benzyl methyl ketone, and the nitrostyrene route. The most efficient way to pretreat GC-MS data varied for the different distance metrics, although best results were obtained when data were normalised to the sum of peak areas, and either the fourth root or a logarithm was applied to the normalised data. When pretreating normalised data by fourth root transformation, Pearson correlation was the distance metric that was most successful at finding linked samples. Normalisation and the use of fourth root also represented the best method of pretreating data when employing PLS-DA to separate samples synthesised by different routes. To achieve a faster and more user-friendly procedure for evaluating chromatograms, experiments were performed in which the number of target compounds used to compare samples was reduced. The effect of each compound that was removed was studied by applying PLS-DA and by using Pearson correlation to calculate linked distances as well as unlinked distances (between samples from different batches of amphetamine). Considering both links between samples from the same batch and separation of samples synthesised by different routes, the best results were obtained with the data set comprising 26 compounds. Finally, it was found that the profiling method developed in this work was superior to an existing technique with respect to separating linked and unlinked distances.     

Collective Security and the Economic Interventionism of the UN--the need for a coherent and Integrated Approach

The scope of the collective security system established underthe United Nations Charter has expanded significantly sincethe end of the cold war to cover new fields. An increasing linkagebetween maintenance of peace and economic reconstruction haslead the United Nations to play an unprecedented role withinthe economic realm, be it by the widening of the range of measuresadopted by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charterwith economic consequences or through the direct managementof economies in post-conflict situations as part of a globalstrategy to restore peace in war-torn territories. This evolutionhas brought to light the limits of the existing UN collectivesecurity system as a framework to deal with economic issues.It is submitted that the ‘derogatory’ logic underArticle 103 of the Charter and under WTO law through its exceptionclauses is no longer sufficient to review and assess the UNaction in the economic sphere. The promotion and integrationof a broader set of principles and rules of international economiclaw such as principles of fair competition, non-discrimination,or transparency, would help enhance the legitimacy of actionsof the UN Security Council. Moreover, this article argues thattaking into account international economic law would contributeto achieve UN goals in post conflict situations by paving theway for a stable and safe economic environment in a long-termperspective. The recently established Peacebuilding Commissionmay contribute to develop a coherent and integrated legal approachin this area.     

Legal, Individual, and Environmental Predictors of Court Disposition in a Sample of Serious Adolescent Offenders

Historically, the juvenile court has been expected to consider each youth's distinct rehabilitative needs in the dispositional decision-making process, rather than focusing on legal factors alone. This study examines the extent to which demographic, psychological, contextual, and legal factors, independently predict dispositional outcomes (i.e., probation vs. confinement) within two juvenile court jurisdictions (Philadelphia, Phoenix). The sample consists of 1,355 14- to 18-year-old male and female juvenile offenders adjudicated of a serious criminal offense. Results suggest that legal factors have the strongest influence on disposition in both jurisdictions. For example, a higher number of prior court referrals is associated with an increased likelihood of secure confinement in both jurisdictions. Juveniles adjudicated of violent offenses are more likely to receive secure confinement in Phoenix, but are more likely to be placed on probation in Philadelphia. Race is unrelated to dispositional outcome, but, males are consistently more likely than females to be placed in secure confinement. Importantly, individual factors (e.g., developmental maturity) generally were not powerful independent predictors of disposition. Finally, an examination of the predictors of juvenile versus adult court transfer in Phoenix indicated that males, older juveniles, and those with a violent adjudicated charge were more likely to be transferred to adult court, while juveniles scoring high on responsibility as well as those juveniles with an alcohol dependence diagnosis were more likely to be retained in juvenile court.     

Detection of Tooth‐Colored Restorative Materials for Forensic Purposes Based on Their Optical Properties: An In Vitro Comparative Study

Victim identification using dental records involves antemortem and postmortem comparison of dental charts. Since dental restorations may be part of such records, identifying them accurately is critical. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic reliability and validity of two optical methods for identifying tooth‐colored restorations (digital imaging fiber optic transillumination (DiFOTI) using near infrared light, and fluorescence‐aided identification of restorations (FAIR)) with conventional diagnostic methods. Four examiners identified and charted tooth‐colored restorations in three sets of typodonts on the bench using conventional visual and tactile examination, DiFOTI (DIAGNOcam?) and FAIR. All examinations were repeated after 4 weeks. Both the sensitivity (95%) and specificity (97%) of the FAIR method were significantly higher than those for DiFOTI (82% and 82%) and for conventional inspection (71% and 82%). In conclusion, FAIR method performed better than conventional examination and DiFOTI, and was more reliable for identifying tooth‐colored restorations.     

The Shard Box Store

People have been creating ceramics in the lands that now make up China for 20,000 years. The pottery discovered in caves in southeast China's Jiangxi Province is among the oldest examples found anywhere in the world, and iluminates the origins of one of China's most signiif cant art forms. Chinese earthenware came to resemble what we might today cal porcelain sometime around the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220), with techniques honed throughout the dynastic period to reach a level of refinement which saw Chinese pots, vases and bowls become some of the most coveted objects in the world.