Comparison of 12-Year-Old Children with Prenatal Exposure to Cocaine and Non-Exposed Controls on Caregiver Ratings of Executive Function

Differences in caregiver reported executive function in 12-year-old children who were prenatally exposed to cocaine (PCE) compared to children who were not prenatally exposed to cocaine (NCE) were assessed. One hundred and sixty-nine PCE and 169 NCE, primarily African-American, low socioeconomic status children participated in a prospective longitudinal study. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) Parent Form was administered. Two broadband BRIEF scores (Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognition Index (MI)) and a summary Global Executive Composite (GEC) were computed. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effects of amount of PCE on executive function, controlling for covariates including caregiver (rater) psychological distress, child’s gender and other prenatal drug exposure variables. After adjustment for covariates, amount of PCE was associated with the GEC and two MI subscales, Plan/Organize and Monitor, with heavier exposure associated with more problems of executive function. An amount of PCE by gender interaction revealed amount of PCE effects in other remaining subscales of the MI (Initiate, Working Memory, and Organization of Materials) only among girls. Head circumference did not mediate the effects of cocaine on outcomes. Higher current caregiver psychological distress levels were independently associated with poorer ratings on the executive function scales. Assessment and targeted interventions to improve metacognitive processes are recommended for girls who were prenatally exposed to cocaine.     

行政区划改革滞后于区域发展的现象研究——以浙江省温州市为例

行政区划改革滞后于区域发展的现象,就是一个地区的行政区划格局已经对区域经济与城镇化发展起了制约作用,而又长期得不到改革的现象.温州是我国经济改革走在前列的地区,但其行政区划改革却是相当滞后的,所以其行政区划格局就应当不断加以调整和创新,尤其应注重扩大市区规模、完善各县市城区的街道体制、赋予部分中心城镇"准建制市"地位和撤并欠发达的小规模乡镇.     

Race and Women’s Imprisonment: Poverty, African American Presence, and Social Welfare

Female imprisonment rates have increased proportionately more than male imprisonment rates over recent decades. There are substantial race differences in women’s rates, as is the case for men. Yet, there has been little quantitative research on the correlates of women’s imprisonment using data over time, or on potential race differences in those correlates. The present research analyzes data on black and nonblack female imprisonment rates in the 50 states for the period 1981–2003. The analyses are guided substantively by existing research on race, social threat and criminal punishment, and theory and research on the penal-welfare hypothesis. The study uses bivariate-response multilevel modeling to simultaneously examine the factors associated with black and nonblack women’s imprisonment rates. The results show that black female imprisonment rates increase when the concentration of African Americans in metropolitan areas and poverty rates grow, whereas nonblack female imprisonment rates are unaffected by poverty rates and actually decrease when African American populations become more concentrated in metro areas. Both black and nonblack women’s imprisonment rates increase when welfare spending declines. The results are consistent with social threat perspectives and the penal-welfare hypotheses.     

ASSESSING THE PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN PARENTING CAPACITY EVALUATIONS: CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF ATTACHMENT RESEARCH

The lack of an articulated model of parenting competence and the limited use of empirically based assessment procedures is a weakness of current parenting capacity assessment protocols. The current article attempts to address this issue through the application of attachment theory and research in assessing one of the most critical components of parenting capacity assessments: the parent–child relationship. New empirically and attachment‐based assessment tools and procedures, well suited for the assessment of parental fitness, are presented, along with recommended practice guidelines to enhance the assessment of the parent–child relationship in cases of young, maltreated children (under 6 years of age).     

Fiscal and Spending Behavior of Local Governments: Identification of Price Effects when Prices are not Observed

This paper analyzes local public fiscal andspending behavior in a setting where localgovernments, represented by the dominantparty or coalition, are treated as utilitymaximizing agents. The econometricanalysis, which is based on a modifiedversion of ELES, recognizes total spendingas well as total income as endogenousvariables. Identification of the priceeffects is achieved by utilizing data onenvironmental cost factors and localtastes. The performance of the estimatedmodel is investigated by testing itsability to make out-of-sample predictionsof local government behavior.     

Developmental and Validation of The Illustrated Version of The Home Inventory for Dangers and Safety Precautions: Continuing to Address Learning Needs of Parents in Injury Prevention

This paper describes the development and validation of the Home Inventory for Dangers and Safety Precautions – Illustrated Version to be used with parents whose children are at significant risk for home injury. Because illustrations are useful in facilitating learning by parents who have difficulty ensuring child and self home safety, colored illustrations representing 6 home rooms or areas were empirically developed for assessment purposes. The dangers depicted were selected from previous work and represented those associated with the majority of family home injuries. Score-sheets contained dangers and associated precautions administered to 62 referred young parents. Administration and psychometric characteristics were examined; specific hypotheses were tested. Obtained measures of internal consistency for dangers and precautions for all illustrations (except for Stairway) and for totals were satisfactory. Administration was suitable for use with this population. Parents were able to identify approximately half of the depicted dangers while being able to provide a suitable precaution for 40%. Reading comprehension was predictive of danger identification whereas reading recognition was predictive of precautions given. The HIDSP-IV is useful in assessing a parent's knowledge of dangers and precautions from which more individualized home safety instruction can occur.     

A Case for Applying the Theoretical Semiotics in the Practice of Trade Mark Law

The application of semiotics in trade mark law is an interdisciplinary endeavour in its infancy. The author traces its genesis in recent years and situates it within the context of general theoretical approaches, in particular of an interdisciplinary kind, appearing in the trade mark law literature in the past. The purposes for which such theories are applied, and questions of methodology arising from this, are examined. In particular, it is observed that semiotic theory has, by and large, been used for the purpose of debating legal policy in trade mark law (especially in the United States), and that this has given rise to argument about the extent to which semiotic theory can exert any normative force of its own upon the law. This article offers a different perspective. It is sought to demonstrate the usefulness of theoretical semiotics in solving trade mark law questions in practice. The author emphasises that this involves no threat to orthodox legal problem-solving methodology (whatever one may think of the orthodoxy), and in particular does not require the normative use of semiotic theory. Taking as a starting point the concept of ‹trade mark use’, and having regard to trade mark law and literature in Europe, the United States and Australia, the author proceeds to demonstrate the proposed approach by reference to some current problems in trade mark infringement.