Reassessing the family-delinquency association: Do family type, family processes, and economic factors make a difference?

The present study drew on four competing theoretical perspectives to examine the relationship between family structure and juvenile delinquency. Using data from the Add Health Study, the authors examined nonserious and serious delinquent behavior across youth from different types of households and also considered how the association between family structure and delinquency might be conditioned by family processes and economic factors. Results from negative binomial regression analyses indicated that, in general, type of household was not a significant predictor of nonserious or serious delinquency. Rather, maternal attachment emerged as the most important determinant of delinquent behavior among youth from all family types. The results are discussed within the context of Hirschi's original interpretation of social control theory and future directions for research are suggested.     

加纳经济的增长谜题:国外援助是不是重要的决定因素

重新审视研究了国外援助及其他因素对加纳经济增长的意义和影响。自加纳共和国独立以来,外商通过不同的渠道在加纳进行投资,目前约占国家预算的40%。那么,这些来自发达国家的资源是否对加纳的经济发展产生了积极的影响呢?为了解决这一难题,运用简单的最小二乘法(OLS),选取了包括国外援助在内的5个独立变量对加纳26年的经济增长进行了回归运算。其中,经济的波动体现在加纳1982年到2007年之间国内生产总值(GDP)的变化上。文中数据取自历年相关书籍,经合组织档案与公共文献。本文的研究证明,国外援助是一国经济增长的重要决定因素。数据显示,国外援助在1982年至2007年的26年里对加纳的经济增长产生了重大而积极的影响。     

Pete Maravich's incredible heart

Postmortem examination of a former professional basketball player revealed an abnormal heart, most notably a single coronary artery. The literature on single coronary arteries is briefly reviewed, and the possible mechanism which caused the patient's condition is considered. This case is particularly unusual because of the patient's profession, which is so physically demanding.     

Comparison of fingernail striation patterns in identical twins.

The fingernail ridge patterns of a pair of identical twins were compared to each other, their parents, and an unrelated subject. The patterns of the twins' nails showed regions of strong similarity but were distinguishable from one another. Fewer similarities were found when comparing the nails to those of the parents and the unrelated control. The twins were shown to be monozygotic by means of DNA profiling. This therefore represents the first demonstration of unique fingernail ridge patterns in subjects shown conclusively to be identical twins. When the fingernail ridge patterns were examined with a scanning electron microscope, the backscattered electron (BEI) images were found to have superior contrast when compared to the secondary electron (SEI) images.     

Decision Making in Autocratic Regimes: A Poliheuristic Perspective

This paper applies the poliheuristic theory of foreign policy decision making to non-democratic states. Poliheuristic theory asserts that state leaders assign primary importance to their political survival; however, the meaning of "the political" varies dramatically from country to country. Furthermore, the types of actors who hold leaders politically accountable also vary between countries. Consequently, leaders often pursue vastly different means of ensuring their political survival. The author uses the common distinction between single-party, military, and personalist autocracies to show that apparently arbitrary differences in autocratic leaders' political concerns actually vary in systematic and potentially predictable ways. Because this argument is generalized to non-democratic states as a whole, it has important implications for the ways in which democratic states craft their policies toward autocracies.