Differences in Physical Fitness and Body Composition Between Active and Sedentary Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Previous research analyzing the differences in physical fitness and body composition between active and sedentary adolescents aged 12–16 has not provided...     

Forensic Facial Reconstruction: A Systematic Review of Nasal Prediction Techniques

Prediction facial features from the skull are recurring theme on the forensic literature. The nose has been investigated since it has a significant role in facial recognition and the literature shows that there is not an universal method for nasal prediction. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to analyze what are the most consistent techniques of nasal reconstruction. Primary studies describing or validating nasal reconstruction techniques in adults and published in journals of Forensic Sciences were included in this review. Tedeschi‐Oliveira's method positioned nasal tip with acceptable accuracy as Gerasimov's method. The Krogman's and Iscan's technique underestimated nasal projection in North Americans. The Prokopec's and Ubelaker's method obtained accuracy in Caucasoid. George's method presented results similar to reference standard in Caucasoid. In a supplementary way, studies are needed to accurately estimate the nasal width.     

First Generation in Chilean Higher Education: Tension between Access and Inclusion in a Segmented University System

We analysed the Chilean university student selection processes, comparing ‘First Generation’ and ‘Continuist’ students, using the Chilean Higher Education population databases (2000–2015). Findings confirm that 60 percent of participants in the selection process are First Generation students. The data registers an increasing self-exclusion phenomenon. Of the students who did not take the selection test after enrolling, 80 percent are First Generation and 18 are enrolled in a selective university, compared to 44 in the Continuist conglomerate. These differences may be explained by cultural capital in the Bourdieu sense, in conjunction with a diversified, massified and marketalised higher education system.     

Intergenerational transmission of longevity is not affected by other familial factors: evidence from 16,905 Dutch families from Zeeland, 1812-1962

ABSTRACT

Studies have shown that long-lived individuals seem to pass their survival advantage on to their offspring. Offspring of long-lived parents had a lifelong survival advantage over individuals without long-lived parents, making them more likely to become long-lived themselves. We test whether the survival advantage enjoyed by offspring of long-lived individuals is explained by environmental factors. 101,577 individuals from 16,905 families in the 1812–1886 Zeeland cohort were followed over time. To prevent that certain families were overrepresented in our data, disjoint family trees were selected. Offspring was included if the age at death of both parents was known. Our analyses show that multiple familial resources are associated with survival within the first 5 years of life, with stronger maternal than paternal effects. However, between ages 5 and 100 both parents contribute equally to offspring’s survival chances. After age 5, offspring of long-lived fathers and long-lived mothers had a 16-19% lower chance of dying at any given point in time than individuals without long-lived parents. This survival advantage is most likely genetic in nature, as it could not be explained by other, tested familial resources and is transmitted equally by fathers and mothers.     

Environmental predictability influences the relationship between virtues and antisocial/delinquent behavior

ABSTRACT

Despite the notion that characterizes criminals as lacking virtues or character strengths, evidence shows that people who engage in antisocial and delinquent behavior are not dissimilar in possessing character strengths as compared to the general population. Character strengths may be used to either do ‘good’ or ‘wrong’; so that the question is, what situation does direct this use to either choice? This study hypothesized environmental predictability may influence a person using their character strengths to inhibit antisocial or delinquent behavior. Two samples were examined, one consisting of individuals convicted of a criminal offense, and the other composed of non-convicted participants. Individuals responded to a series of instruments targeting virtues and character strengths, antisocial and delinquent behaviors, and environmental predictability in their environment –inferred from life-history strategy. In both groups, virtues were negatively and significantly associated with antisocial/delinquent behavior. A further test of the moderating and mediating influence of environmental predictability showed that this environmental dimension modified the aforementioned relationship, decreasing the inhibitory influence of virtues on antisociality. This means that, in predictable contexts, possessing (or lacking) character strengths is not important to inhibiting antisocial behaviors; however, in unpredictable environments virtues are useful to prevent antisociality and delinquent behavior.     

To whom are “the people” opposed? Conceptualizing and measuring citizens’ populist attitudes as a multidimensional construct

ABSTRACT

Previous research has predominantly measured populist attitudes as a one-dimensional concept, tapping into the distinction between the ordinary people and the culprit elites. With growing differentiation of populist viewpoints across the globe, this unidimensional approach may not reflect the multifaceted reality of the people’s populism. Most importantly, albeit paramount in right-wing populist rhetoric, exclusionist perceptions of others threatening the monocultural nation of the people are typically not captured in one-dimensional conceptualizations. To assess more precisely how populist attitudes are structured, we collected original survey data (N?=?809) among a representative sample of Dutch citizens. Using Multidimensional Scaling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, we propose a two-dimensional structure: anti-establishment and exclusionism. This study further demonstrates how salient these different populist attitudes are among which voters.     

Is cooperation cost reducing? An analysis of public–public partnerships and inter-municipal cooperation in Brazilian local government

ABSTRACT

In local government systems worldwide, financial pressures have obliged local authorities to focus on cost-efficient methods for providing local services, including inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships. However, in comparison with municipal mergers, privatisation and other approaches to the problem, the cost impact of the cooperative provision has not yet been thoroughly examined empirically. Moreover, available empirical research has largely concentrated on waste disposal in developed countries. The present paper seeks to contribute to the empirical literature on inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships by comparing their impact on costs with ‘stand-alone’ provision in a range of non-waste local services. In contrast to the bulk of existing studies, our analysis takes place in a developing country context by examining Brazilian local government over the period 2013/15. We found that – on the whole – cooperative provision is less expensive than the ‘stand-alone’ provision for the services studied. Our results can be explained by the size and composition of the population, together with the politics for cooperation.     

BELT AND ROAD UNITES CHINA AND LATIN AMERICA

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, improves cooperation among its participants in terms of both economic and cultural? devel-opment. Latin American countries started to join the initiative in 2017, and as of 2019, 19 of them signed related memoranda of understand-ing with China.