Site, type, and local mechanism of tibial shaft fracture in drivers in frontal automobile crashes

The location, type, and local mechanism of tibial shaft fracture were determined for 66 drivers injured in frontal automobile crashes. The results from the analyses showed that the distal third is the most common fracture location (p<0.05) and that bending is responsible for the majority of these fractures regardless of the fracture site. These findings indicate that the current injury criterion for predicting the occurrence of tibial shaft fracture in crash tests with anthropometric test devices is appropriate in terms of accounting for the primary mechanism of fracture but that increased protective effectiveness could be achieved by redefining the criterion for the distal third shaft section instead of the currently specified mid-shaft section of the tibia.     

Family Financial Stress and Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking: The Role of Self-Regulation

The ability to control one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is known as self-regulation. Family stress and low adolescent self-regulation have been linked with increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors, which peak in late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adolescent self-regulation, measured by parent and adolescent self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, mediates or moderates the relationship between family financial stress and risky sexual behaviors. We assessed these relationships in a 4-year longitudinal sample of 450 adolescents (52 % female; 70 % white) and their parents using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high family financial stress predicts engagement in risky sexual behaviors as mediated, but not moderated, by adolescent self-regulation. The results suggest that adolescent self-regulatory capacities are a mechanism through which proximal external forces influence adolescent risk-taking. Promoting adolescent self-regulation, especially in the face of external stressors, may be an important method to reduce risk-taking behaviors as adolescents transition to adulthood.     

Book Reviews

Taylor C. Boas, Presidential Campaigns in Latin America: Electoral Strategies and Success Contagion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Figures, tables, appendixes, bibliography, index, 276 pp.; hardcover $99.99, ebook. John Gledhill, The New War on the Poor: The Production of Insecurity in Latin America. London: Zed Books, 2015. Map, bibliography, index, 256 pp.; paperback $29.95, ebook $23.96. Ezequiel A. González‐Ocantos, Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 342 pp.; hardcover $110, paperback $35.99, ebook $88. Merrilee S. Grindle and Erin E. Goodman, eds., Reflections on Memory and Democracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016. Photograph, 274 pp.; paperback $24.95. David Pion‐Berlin, Military Missions in Democratic Latin America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 231 pp.; hardcover $105, ebook $79.99. Robert Gay, Bruno: Conversations with a Brazilian Drug Dealer. Durham: Duke University Press, 2015. Illustrations, chronology, notes, bibliography, index, 232 pp.; hardcover $89.95, paperback $14.95. Georgina Waylen, ed., Gender, Institutions, and Change in Bachelet's Chile. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Figure, tables, bibliographies, index, 259 pp.; hardcover $105, ebook $79.99. Dickie Davis, David Kilcullen, Greg Mills, and David Spencer, A Great Perhaps? Colombia: Conflict and Convergence. London: Hurst, 2015. Maps, figures, tables, notes, bibliography, index, 288 pp.; hardcover $39.40. Mary Helen Spooner and Steven Ullmann, Cuban Health Care: Utopian Dreams, Fragile Future. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014. Appendixes, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 152 pp.; hardcover $83, ebook $78.50. John M. Kirk, Healthcare Without Borders: Understanding Cuban Medical Internationalism. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2015. Tables, bibliography, index, 376 pp.; hardcover $79.95. Christine J. Wade, Captured Peace: Elites and Peacebuilding in El Salvador. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2016. Illustrations, abbreviations, bibliography, index, 304 pp.; hardcover $69.95, paperback $39.95, ebook.     

THE FAILURE OF COMPETITIVE ENTRY INTO FIXED-LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS: WHO IS AT FAULT?

Between 1998 and 2003, dozens of companies entered newly liberalizedtelecommunications markets in OECD countries. In Europe andNorth America, most of the entrants that attempted to use incumbents'"unbundled local loops," at regulated wholesale prices, to offernarrowband services—essentially "plain old telephone service"—havefailed. Even though Europe, the United States and Canada liberalizedat different times and with somewhat different policies, excessiveentry occurred in each region with too many players chasingan illusive pot of revenue with poorly designed business plans.On the other hand, the use of unbundled or shared local loopsfor entry into broadband services may be more of a winning strategybecause it allows the entrant to compete for customers by offeringnew services. This appears to be the emerging broadband strategyin Europe of large ISPs owned by incumbent telecommunicationcompanies in other countries (for example, France Telecom'sWanadoo) and in Japan. However, such entry has not worked inthe United States, where new companies, such as Covad, havefailed to develop profitable operations.