Sudden infant death syndrome risk factors with regards to sleep position, sleep surface, and co-sleeping

We present a study of 102 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths using a retrospective review of medical examiner autopsy reports. The prevalence of sleep related risk factors with regards to sleep surface, sleep position, and co-sleeping were determined in a population of infants less than 1-year-old. Of the 102 SIDS deaths, 67 (65.7%) were not in a crib, 63 (61.8%) were prone, and 48 (47.1%) were co-sleeping. However, 94 (92.2%) of these deaths had at least one risk factor present. Only 8 (7.8%) infants had slept alone, in a crib or bassinet, and on their back or side. Infants less than 4-months-old had a higher rate of co-sleeping (54.7%) than the older infants (25.9%), and a higher frequency of heart malformations at post-mortem examination. The older infants were more likely to exhibit pulmonary and tracheal inflammation, and neuropathology.     

Accuracy of facial soft tissue thickness measurements in personal computer-based multiplanar reconstructed computed tomographic images

The purpose of this study was to determine the precision and accuracy of facial soft tissue measurement using personal computer (PC)-based multiplanar reconstructed (MPR) computed tomography (CT) images and to evaluate the effect of the various CT scanning protocols on the facial soft tissue thickness measurement. Thirteen different CT imaging protocols were used to image a cadaver head. MPR reformations and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions viewed on a laptop PC were used to make measurements at six specific sites on each set of images. These measurements were compared to physical measurements at the same sites. Increasing the slice thickness resulted in decreased image quality. Within the same slice thickness, increasing the pitch ratio in the spiral mode, resulted in decreasing image quality. The image quality of conventional CT scanning was relatively poorer than that of the spiral CT scanning. However, the mean deviation from the physical measurement was within 0.43 mm in every instance. This mean deviation was quite small and clinically acceptable for measuring the soft tissue thickness of the facial area. PC-based MPR CT images of the face using routine scanning CT protocols can be used to accurately measure soft tissue thickness in the facial region. However, for more fine and accurate data collection, scanning protocols with slice thicknesses less than 5mm, and a spiral/helical mode pitch less than 2:1 are recommended.     

Self-Silencing and Rejection Sensitivity in Adolescent Romantic Relationships

This study examined the link between rejection sensitivity, self-silencing behaviors, and depressive symptomatology among adolescent dating couples. Self-silencing was hypothesized to be the process mediating the association between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Our sample included 211 couples between 14 and 21 who were dating at least 4 weeks. Results indicated that dating adolescents who were sensitive to rejection reported more depressive symptomatology and higher levels of self-silencing behaviors within their romantic relationship compared to dating adolescents who were not so sensitive to rejection. Self-silencing was identified as a partial mediator of the association between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptomatology among dating adolescents. Clinical implications in light of these findings are discussed.

Lessons to be learnt? The role of evaluations of active labour market programmes in evidence‐based policy making

The interest in results‐based policy formulation requires us to examine the impact of evaluations. This article focuses on the production and use of impact evaluations of UK active labour market programmes. It is intended to be useful for non‐evaluators and for those working in developing and transition countries. The UK provides a case study where there is good evaluation data, available expertise and high‐level political commitment to evaluation. However, obstacles remain in the generation and use of impact data. The article seeks to identify the opportunities and difficulties faced in the UK, and it considers the implications for other countries. It suggests that the measurement of impact concepts will prove difficult in countries that do not have sound administrative data, comprehensive labour market statistics and well‐established macroeconomic and tax‐benefit models. Furthermore, the use of evaluation data may be limited by a range of factors, most crucially those emanating from the legislative and policy‐making environment. The conclusion is that if knowledge‐based policy management is to be improved, changes in evaluation methodology will only be effective if supported by changes in the wider government environment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

No exit and the organization of voice in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

Although leadership is typically seen as coming from the leaders of governments and major institutions, a strong case can be made that concerned citizens first articulate important issues and policies that official leaders then pick up and promote. In a market-based society dominated by large corporations, Hirschman's framework of exit, voice, and loyalty can be used to relate consumer and grassroots movements to markets, when participants believe there is no exit and loyalty (or acquiescence) is not an option. While "voice" is usually applied to the individual or consumer level, this article develops the concept of organized voice and illustrates how it has exhibited leadership in the controversial relations between the biotech and pharmaceutical industries and society as a whole. The essay concludes by urging more research on organized voice as a source of leadership and by outlining some important dimensions for researchers to consider.     

Differences in the predictive validity of actuarial risk assessments in relation to sex offender type

This study seeks to expand on the previously reported validity of the Static-99, RRASOR, MnSOST-R, and SORAG in predicting sexual recidivism utilizing a regional sample of offenders. The predictive validity of each test was determined utilizing subgroups of the sample based on each offender's known offense history. The effectiveness of each instrument varied depending on offender type. The Static-99 and SORAG were both significantly predictive of sexual, violent, and any recidivism for extra-familial child molesters, and all four tests were predictive of violent or any recidivism in this subgroup. For incest offenders, all four tests were at least moderately predictive of sexual recidivism, whereas the Static-99 and the SORAG were highly predictive of violent or any recidivism. None of the four tests established consistent predictive validity across recidivism categories in regard to rapists or hands-off offenders, however, the Static-99 and the SORAG were significant in terms of sexual recidivism.     

Discrepancies in Adolescent Romantic Couples' and Observers' Perceptions of Couple Interaction and their Relationship to Depressive Symptoms

We examined discrepancies in adolescent romantic couple members' and observers' perceptions of couples' conversations in order to further understand adolescents' romantic interactions and their association with adolescents' depressive symptoms. We used a video-recall procedure to assess 61 adolescent romantic couples' perceptions of their videotaped conversations with each other. Our results suggest that although couple members and outside observers agreed that adolescent romantic couples' conversations were generally harmonious, adolescent dating partners and observers perceived couples' communications in systematically different ways and perceived inequalities in their interactions. Perceptions of discrepancies in power were more salient in females' perceptions. Both males and females perceived themselves more positively than their partners. Finally, discrepancies in couple members' perceptions of their conversations were somewhat associated with their mental health. Boys who viewed themselves more favorably than their girlfriends viewed them exhibited fewer depressive symptoms. Girls who perceived fewer inequalities between themselves and their boyfriends showed fewer depressive symptoms.     

A confirmatory factor analysis of a four-factor model of adolescent concerns revisited

This article addresses the issue of the day-to-day concerns faced by adolescents from urban, lower socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds. The current research is both a replication and extension of the work of C. Violato and W. B. Holden ([1988], A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of a Four-Factor Model of Adolescent Concerns, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 17, pp. 101–113), who collected similar data on a sample of predominantly white students from a range of SES levels. The first goal was to analyze the mean ratings of the 14 concerns for the current study, and to compare these ratings to those found by Violato and Holden. Here, a high degree of similarity between the two studies: students in both studies rated career, grade, future schooling and appearance issues as the four most serious concerns and sexual impulse, drug, smoking and alcohol issues as the four least serious concerns. The second goal was to reevaluate Violato and Holden 's four-factor model of adolescent concerns, where the 14 concerns were evaluated in terms of four major themes: Social Self, Personal Self, Future and Career, and Health and Drug issues. In particular, we were interested in determining whether there were gender differences in this model. Results indicated that the model for boys and girls were not identical. For girls, the model was improved by including the correlations of the Health and Drugs factor to the three remaining factors, suggesting that girls have a more holistic view of their concerns.Received Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Current research interests are in quantitative methods and program evaluation.Received Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in educational psychology. Current research interests include quantitative methods in education and psychology.     

Reviews

E. H. Carr, The Russian Revolution from Lenin to Stalin, 1917–1929. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1979. x + 200 pp. £6.95.

Paul Dukes, October and the World: Perspectives on the Russian Revolution. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1979. viii + 224 pp. £10.00 and £4.95.

Graeme J. Gill, Peasants and Government in the Russian Revolution. (The London School of Economics and Political Science) London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1979. xiv + 233 pp. £12.00.

John L. H. Keep, The Debate on Soviet Power: Minutes of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets, Second Convocation, October 1917‐January 1918. (British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. xiv + 465 pp. £15.00.

Robert Service, The Bolshevik Party in Revolution: A Study in Organisational Change, 1917–1923. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1979. 246 pp. £12.00.

Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. Cambridge, London, New York and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1979. xvii + 406 pp. £19.50 and £5.50.

Marc Ferro, October 1917: a social history of the Russian Revolution. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980. xiv + 345 pp. £13.50.

Arcadius Kahan and Blair A. Ruble (eds.), Industrial Labor in the U.S.S.R. (Pergamon policy studies), New York and Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1979. xv+ 421 pp. $9.95

Murray Yanowitch (ed.), Soviet Work Attitudes—The issue of Participation in Management, Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1979. xiv+ 133 pp. £12.00.

Nicholas Lampert, The Technical Intelligentsia and the Soviet State. A Study of Soviet Managers and Technicians 1928–1935. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1979. x + 191 pp. £12.00.

Neils Erik Rosenfeldt, Knowledge and Power: The Role of Stalin's Secret Chancellery in the Soviet System of Government. Copenhagen University, Institute of Slavonic Studies, no. 5. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1978. 219 pp. 80 D. kr., paper.

Ljubo Sirc, The Yugoslav Economy Under Self‐Management. London: The Macmillan Press, 1979. xx + 270 pp. Index. £15.00.

Marshall I. Goldman, The Enigma of Soviet Petroleum—Half Empty or Half Full. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1980. 214 pp. £10.95.

Jonathan P. Stern, Soviet Natural Gas Development to 1990. London: D. C. Heath, 1980. xiii + 190 pp. £13.50.

Jozef M. van Brabant, Socialist Economic Integration: Aspects of Contemporary Economic Problems in Eastern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980. xiii + 362 pp. £15.00.

David E. Albright (ed.), Africa and International Communism. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan in association with Indiana University Press, 1980. viii + 277 pp. £12.50 and £4.95.

Michael J. Deane, Strategic Defense In Soviet Strategy. Coral Gables, Fla: Advanced International Studies Institute, University of Miami, 1980. 119 pp.

David W. Paul, The Cultural Limits of Revolutionary Politics: Change and Continuity in Socialist Czechoslovakia. Boulder: East European Quarterly, 1979. x + 361 pp. $23.10.

Christian Rakovsky, Selected Writings on Opposition in the USSR, 1923–30 (edited with an introduction by Gus Fagan). London: Allison & Busby, 1980. 185 pp. £13.95 (cloth), £4.95 (paper).

Alan W. Fisher, The Crimean Tatars, Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1978. xii + 264 pp. $14.95.     

Do economic conditions influence how theorists view adolescents?

Eighty-nine articles in thePedagogical Seminary and theJournal of Genetic Psychology appearing during two economic depressions and the two world wars were analyzed for their adolescent ideologies. A systematic, ideological bias in the content of these articles was found to be statistically significant. In times of economic depression theories of adolescence emerge that portray teenagers as immature, psychologically unstable, and in need of prolonged participation in the educational system. During wartime, the psychological competence of youth is emphasized and the duration of education is recommended to be more retracted than in depression. The objective, scientific nature of theory building is questioned and discussed.Received Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Research interests: adolescent social development, moral development.Received M.S. in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research interests: adolescent development, cognitive development.Received Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research interests: quantitative methods.Research interests: adolescent social development, cognitive development.