Childhood Predictors and Mid-Adolescent Correlates of Developmental Trajectories of Alcohol Use among Male and Female Youth

The identification of salient risk factors for alcohol consumption among male and female adolescents is an important topic not only for etiology research but also for designing effective gender-specific alcohol prevention programs for young people. This study examined the extent to which problematic alcohol use trajectories from ages 14 to 18 among male and female youth were related to childhood predictors assessed at age 9 (i.e., impulsivity, academic self-confidence, social problems with peers), socio-demographic variables, and mid-adolescent correlates [i.e., parental use, body mass index (BMI), risky peer context, conduct problems at school, parent–child relationship, somatic complaints]. Data analysis was based on a representative German longitudinal study (1986–1995, n = 1,619, 55 % female). Using growth mixture modeling methodology, associations of childhood predictors and mid-adolescent correlates to distinctive trajectories of alcohol use were examined for males and females separately. For males, a problematic consumption trajectory was associated with poor relationships to parents in adolescence and small community size. For females, low impulsivity during childhood, high BMI, and contact with deviant peers during adolescence predicted problematic as compared to normative alcohol use trajectories. Additionally, high parental alcohol use, low parental educational background, and conduct problems at school during adolescence were common predictors of a problematic alcohol use trajectory in both genders. The results provide insights regarding differences in the gender-typical development of adolescent alcohol use as well as stress the need of gender-specific intervention components along with universal prevention strategies against problematic consumption trajectories.     

The ‘heart’ of Eurasia? Kazakhstan's centrally located capital city

In a world still dominated by a geopolitical system of territorial states, one tool in the state- and nation-building repertoire is the strategy of moving a capital from one city to another, and to an ostensibly more ‘central’ location of a geometrically conceived territory. From Ankara to Brasília, the technique has been used in a variety of places around the world, and Kazakhstan's new capital since 1997, Astana, is one more recent iteration. Taking a Foucauldian approach to analysing political technologies of government, the author examines the strategy of the centrally located city and considers how it has been instrumental to simultaneously producing a ‘state effect’ and a ‘territory effect’ in newly independent Kazakhstan. Part of a larger mixed-methods study, this article draws on a diverse range of methods, including data from interviews, participant observation, textual analysis, focus groups and a country-wide survey.     

The Baltic Republics and the Crisis of 2008–2011

This essay explores how the Baltic republics responded to the crisis of 2008–2011. We argue that while there are significant differences in how the Baltic economies responded to the crisis, these responses not only remain within the neo-liberal policy paradigm characteristic of the region from the early 1990s, but that the crisis radicalised Baltic economies and particularly their fiscal stance. We show that there are a number of unique features in all three Baltic republics' political economies that made such a radicalisation possible. However, these unique features make it almost impossible for the Baltic experience to be replicable anywhere else in Europe.     

Microscopical discrimination of human head hairs sharing a mitochondrial haplogroup

In forensic analyses, determining the level of consensus among examiners for hair comparison conclusions and ancestry identifications is important for assessing the scientific validity of microscopical hair examinations. Here, we present data from an interlaboratory study on the accuracy of microscopical hair comparisons among a subset of experienced hair examiners currently analyzing hair in forensic laboratories across the United States. We examined how well microscopical analysis of hair can reliably be used to differentiate hair samples, many of which were macroscopically similar. Using cut hair samples, many sharing similar macroscopic and microscopic features, collected from individuals who share the same mitochondrial haplogroup as an indication of genetic relatedness, we tested multiple aspects that could impact hair comparisons. This research tested the extent to which morphological features related to ancestry and hair length influence conclusions. Microscopical hair examinations yielded accurate assessments of inclusion/exclusion relative to the reference samples among 85% of the pairwise comparisons. We found shorter hairs had reduced levels of accuracy and hairs from populations examiners were not familiar with may have impacted their ability to resolve features. The reliability of ancestry determinations is not yet clear, but we found indications that the existing categories are only somewhat related to current ethnic and genetic variation. Our results provide support for the continued utility of microscopical comparison of hairs within forensic laboratories and to advocate for a combined analytical approach using both microscopical analysis and mtDNA data on all forensic analyses of hair.     

Heart rate changes in response to mild mechanical irritation of the high cervical spinal cord region in infants

Alterations in the heart rate were monitored before, during and after the application of a unilateral mechanical impulse to the high cervical spinal cord region which was administered strictly in connection with the so called manual therapy (diagnosis= KISS). The investigation is based on a survey of 695 infants between the ages of 1 and 12 months. A notable change in the heart rate was evident in 47.2% of all examined infants (n= 695). In 40.1% of these infants, the change in heart rate was characterized by heart rate decrease of 15-83% compared to control conditions. Infants in their first 3 months of life responded more often with a severe bradycardia (50-83% decrease), older infants (7-12 months) more often with a mild bradycardia (15-49.9% decrease). This comparison revealed a significantly increased occurrence of severe bradycardia in the younger age group compared to the group of children >3 months (significance 0.0017). In 12.1% (n= 84) of the infants, the bradycardia was accompanied by an apnea. We discuss the hypothesis that mechanical irritation of the high-cervical region serves as a trigger that may be involved in sudden infant death (SID).     

Einheit-in-Verschiedenheit

Der Beitrag setzt sich kritisch mit der Debatte um Integration in der deutschen Migrationsforschung auseinander. In Deutschland dominiert eine assimilative Integrationstheorie: Integration sei nur als Assimilation möglich, weil sozialstrukturelle Integration (Chancengleichheit) und kultureller Pluralismus nicht miteinander vereinbar seien (Unvereinbarkeitstheorem). Am Beispiel des klassischen Einwanderungslandes Kanada wird gezeigt, dass das Unvereinbarkeitstheorem eine unzulässige Verallgemeinerung darstellt und dass die interkulturelle Integration nach dem kanadischen Prinzip von Einheit-in-Verschiedenheit einen humanen Mittelweg zwischen Assimilation und Segregation darstellt. Dieses Konzept sucht nach einer ausgewogenen Balance zwischen den gesellschaftlichen Erfordernissen nach sozialer Kohäsion sowie den Interessen der Mehrheit am Respekt vor ihren Grundwerten einerseits und den Bedürfnissen der ethnischen Minderheiten nach Gewährung und Anerkennung sozialkultureller Differenzen andererseits. Am kanadischen Beispiel wird zugleich deutlich gemacht, dass es großer politischer und gesellschaftlicher Anstrengungen bedarf (ethnic diversity mainstreaming), um eine Ethnisierung der Ungleichheitsstruktur einzudämmen.