The dynamics of health care opinion, 2008-2010: partisanship, self-interest, and racial resentment

Recent debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act highlights the extent of party polarization in Washington. While the partisan divide on this issue is stark among political elites, it is less clear how the mass electorate has responded to this divisive conflict. In this article we examine individual-level dynamics in health care attitudes between 2008 and 2010. We find partisan attachments and self-interests strongly predict change in health care attitudes, with Republicans growing more opposed to universal health insurance between 2008 and 2010, and those personally worried about medical expenses less likely to abandon support. We find, however, that the effect of partisanship is moderated by self-interest, with strong Republicans significantly less likely to switch to opposition if they were personally worried about medical expenses. Finally, we find that health care policy preferences, already tinged with racial attitudes in 2008, became increasingly so by 2010.     

Predicting Phenotype from Genotype: Normal Pigmentation*

Abstract: Genetic information in forensic studies is largely limited to CODIS data and the ability to match samples and assign them to an individual. However, there are circumstances, in which a given DNA sample does not match anyone in the CODIS database, and no other information about the donor is available. In this study, we determined 75 SNPs in 24 genes (previously implicated in human or animal pigmentation studies) for the analysis of single‐ and multi‐locus associations with hair, skin, and eye color in 789 individuals of various ethnic backgrounds. Using multiple linear regression modeling, five SNPs in five genes were found to account for large proportions of pigmentation variation in hair, skin, and eyes in our across‐population analyses. Thus, these models may be of predictive value to determine an individual’s pigmentation type from a forensic sample, independent of ethnic origin.     

A quasi-experimental evaluation of the impact of bike-sharing stations on micro-level robbery occurrence

Objectives

To examine if the implementation of bike-sharing stations is linked to robbery occurrence in micro-level street corner units in Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Methods

Propensity score matching was used to select comparison street corner units. The effect of bike-sharing station implementation on robbery occurrence across weekly, biweekly, and monthly observations was estimated using repeated measures multi-level logistic regression models.

Results

Bike-sharing stations did not statistically significantly link to robbery occurrence in immediate or nearby street corner units after implementation.

Conclusions

Numerous explanations consistent with Crime Pattern Theory may explain the null effect of bike-sharing stations on robbery occurrence. Future research should continue to examine how changes in the urban backcloth, such as bike-sharing stations, impact geographic crime patterns.

     

ABTS: a safe alternative to DAB for the enhancement of blood fingerprints

The use of 2,2'-azino-di-[3-ethylbenzthiazolinesulfonate(6)] diammonium salt (ABTS) for the enhancement of fingerprints in blood has been investigated. Optimal pH conditions and H2O2 concentrations have been determined using UV/Vis spectroscopy. ABTS is an effective and safe noncarcinogenic (though more expensive) alternative to the presently used 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB) for the development of blood fingerprints, especially on porous surfaces. The bright green color of the oxidized ABTS is an advantage on certain colored surfaces where the dark brown color of DAB does not stand out well from the background. Development with ABTS does not interfere with subsequent DAB treatment, making ABTS a "nothing-to-lose" reagent. ABTS can be used after ninhydrin treatment, but the reverse is not the case.     

Review

Nuclear Power in the Developing World by Daniel Poneman George Allen and Unwin, London, 1982. 254 pp. including tables, figures, notes, bibliography and index. £14,95.

Employment Policy in Developing Countries: A Survey of Issues and Evidence by Lyn Squire Oxford University Press, New York, 1981. xiii plus 229 pp. including tables, figures, references and index. R.16,95 paperback.

Migration Decision‐Making: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Micro‐Level Studies in Developed and Developing Countries edited by Gordon F. de Jong and Robert W. Gardner Pergamon Press, New York, and Oxford, 1981. xii plus 394 pp. including tables, figures, bibliography and index. R.73,85.

Cities, Poverty and Development: Urbanization in the Third World by Alan Gilbert and Josef Gugler Oxford University Press, London, 1984. viii plus 246 pp. including tables, figures, notes, bibliography and index. R.23,95 paperback.

Urban Dynamics in Black Africa: An Interdisciplinary Approach by William J. Hanna and Judith L. Hanna Aldine Publishing Co., New York, 1981. viii plus 260 pp. including map, tables, figures, illustrations, bibliography and index. $19,95.

No Shortcuts to Progress: African Development Management in Perspective by Goran Hyden Heinemann, London, 1983. xv plus 223 pp. including tables, figures, notes and index. £4,95 paperback.

African Philosophy: Myth and Reality by Paulin J. Hountondji Hutchinson, London, 1983. 221 pp. including notes, references and index. R.32,75 paperback.

The African City by Anthony O'Connor Hutchinson, London, 1983. 359 pp. including figures, tables, diagrams, bibliography and index. $27,50. $17,50 paperback.

A History of Nigeria by Elizabeth Isichei Longman, London, 1983. xix plus 517 pp. including illustrations, maps, tables, figures, appendix, bibliography and index. £19,95. £7,95 paperback.

Politics and Class Formation in Uganda by Mahmood Mamdani Heinemann, London, 1976. viii plus 339 pp. including notes, tables, bibliography and index. £2,90 paperback.

Maternal and Child Health in Rural Kenya: An Epidemiological Study edited by J.K. van Ginneken and A.S. Muller Croom Helm, London, 1984. 383 pp. including illustrations, tables, references and index. £15,95.

The Road to Zimbabwe: 1890–1980 by Anthony Verrier Jonathan Cape, London, 1986. 364 pp. including map, notes and index. £16,00.

A Peace in Southern Africa: The Lancaster House Conference on Rhodesia, 1979 by Jeffrey Davidow Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), 1984. 143 pp. including notes, bibliography and index. $22,00.

Botswana's Economy since Independence edited by M.A. Oommen, F.K. Inganji and L.D. Ngcongco Tata McGraw‐Hill Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1983. xx plus 321 pp. including tables, bibliography and index. No price available.

Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires: The Evolution and Dissolution of the Nineteenth‐Century Swazi State by Philip Bonner Cambridge University Press, and Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1983. viii plus 315 pp. including maps, figures, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. R15,95 paperback.

The Diplomacy of Isolation: South Africa's Foreign Policy‐Making by Deon Geldenhuys Macmillan, Johannesburg, 1984. iii plus 295 pp. including notes and index. Ri 30,00.

Studies on Urbanization in South Africa edited by E.A. Kraayenbrink South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg, 1984. vi plus g6 pp. including tables and notes. R5,95 paperback.

The Emergence of Modern South Africa: State, Capital, and the Incorporation of Organized Labour on the South African Goldfields, 1902–1939 by David Yudelman Greenwood Press, Westport (Connecticut) and London, and David Philip, Cape Town, 1983. xvi plus 315 pp. including figures, tables, bibliography and index. R46,50.

South Africa at War: White Power and the Crisis in Southern Africa by Richard Leonard Lawrence Hill and Co., Westport (Connecticut), 1983. x plus 280 pp. including notes, appendices and index. R3i,35 paperback.

Rural Development in South Africa: A Case Study of the Amatola Basin in the Ciskei edited by Chris de Wet and Simon Bekker Shuter and Shooter, Pietermaritzburg, 1985. xiv plus 165 pp. including tables, figures, maps, bibliography and index. R25,00 paperback.

Call Me Not A Man by Mtutuzeli Matshoba Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1979. x plus 198 pp. R4,95 paperback.

Anthem of the Decades: A Zulu Epic by Mazisi Kunene Heinemann, London, 1981. xi plus 312 pp. £3,50 paperback.