The Peer Context and the Development of the Perpetration of Adolescent Dating Violence

The peer context is a central focus in research on adolescent risk behaviors but few studies have investigated the role of the peer context in the perpetration of adolescent dating violence. This longitudinal study examined between-subjects and within-person contemporaneous and lagged effects of peer attributes, measured with social network analyses, on trajectories of dating violence perpetration and determined if effects varied by grade and/or sex of the adolescent. Data are from adolescents who participated in a five-wave panel study beginning when they were in 7 through 9th grade and ending when they were in 10 through 12th grade (n = 3,412); half were male, 40.5 % were white, 49.9 % were black and 10.4 % were of another race/ethnicity. Significant between-subjects effects indicate that adolescents who typically have friends who use dating violence, and girls who are typically high in social status, are at increased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Adolescents who typically have high quality friendships and girls who typically have friends with pro-social beliefs are at decreased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Significant within-person contemporaneous effects indicate that both boys and girls reported lower levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had more friends with pro-social beliefs, and reported higher levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had higher social status. None of the lagged effects were significant and none of the effects varied across grade. These findings suggest that the peer context plays an important role in the development of the perpetration of adolescent dating violence.     

Death associated with inadvertent hydrocodone overdose in a child with a respiratory tract infection

A 3-year-old child died of the combined effects of a bacterial superinfection and a relative overdose of hydrocodone prescribed for a cough due to a presumed viral respiratory tract infection. This case illustrates the importance of evaluating the effects of prescribed medication in assessing the cause and mechanism of death in children dying suddenly of presumed natural disease.     

The financial competition,concentration and structure of financial performance nexus in the financial sector of Oman

Economic Change and Restructuring - This study aimed to measure the impact of financial competition, as measured by the Lerner index (LRI) and the Panzar-Rosse model (PRM), and concentration, as...     

An Evaluation of Differentially Spliced Genes as Markers of Sex for Forensic Entomology,,

Blow flies (Calliphoridae) are important medically and economically and are commonly used in forensics as temporal markers in death investigations. While phenotypic traits in adult flies can be sexually dimorphic, sex identification in immatures is difficult. Consequently, little is known about how sex may result in developmental disparities among sexes even though there are indications that they may be important in some instances. Since genetic mechanisms for sex are well studied in model flies and species of agricultural and medical importance, we exploit the sex-specifically spliced genes transformer (tra) and doublesex (dsx) in the sex determination pathway to optimize a sex identification assay for immatures. Using known primer sets for tra and with a novel one for dsx, we develop PCR assays for identifying sex in four forensically relevant Calliphoridae species: Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann), Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius), and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) and evaluated their performance. Band detection rates were found to range from 71 to 100%, call rates ranged from 90 to 100%, and no error was found when bands could be called. Such information is informative for purposes of testimony and in preparation for development studies. The developed assays will assist in further differentiating sexually dimorphic differences in development of the Calliphoridae and aid in more accurately estimating insect age when age predictive markers (size, development time, molecular expression) are sexually dimorphic.     

Depressive Symptomology as a Moderator of Friend Selection and Influence on Substance Use Involvement: Estimates from Grades 6 to 12 in Six Longitudinal School-Based Social Networks

Although the contributions of friend selection and friend influence to adolescent homophily on substance use behaviors has been of enduring research interest, moderators of these processes have received relatively little research attention. Identification of factors that dampen or amplify selection and influence on substance use behaviors is important for informing prevention efforts. Whereas prior research has examined adolescent drinking, smoking, and marijuana use, the current study examined whether friend selection and friend influence operated on substance use involvement, an indicator of problematic use, and whether depressive symptomology moderated these processes. In addition, it examined whether these relationships varied from grade 6 to 12. The study used a cohort-sequential design in which three cohorts of youth (first surveyed in grades, 6, 7, and 8) in six school-based longitudinal social networks were surveyed up to seven times, yielding N?=?6817 adolescents (49% female). Stochastic actor-oriented models were applied to test hypothesized relationships in the six networks, then results were synthesized in a meta-analysis. Depressive symptoms did not moderate selection or influence on substance use involvement at any grade level, but indirectly contributed to diffusion of substance use involvement through school networks via patterns of network ties. Research is needed on contextual factors, particularly in schools, that might account for when, if at all, depressive symptoms condition friend selection and influence on substance use.