32 research outputs found
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The impact of PICALM genetic variations on reserve capacity of posterior cingulate in AD continuum
Phosphatidylinositolbinding clathrin assembly protein (PICALM) gene is one novel genetic player associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), based on recent genome wide association studies (GWAS). However, how it affects AD occurrence is still unknown. Brain reserve hypothesis highlights the tolerant capacities of brain as a passive means to fight against neurodegenerations. Here, we took the baseline volume and/or thickness of LOAD-associated brain regions as proxies of brain reserve capacities and investigated whether PICALM genetic variations can influence the baseline reserve capacities and the longitudinal atrophy rate of these specific regions using data from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset. In mixed population, we found that brain region significantly affected by PICALM genetic variations was majorly restricted to posterior cingulate. In sub-population analysis, we found that one PICALM variation (C allele of rs642949) was associated with larger baseline thickness of posterior cingulate in health. We found seven variations in health and two variations (rs543293 and rs592297) in individuals with mild cognitive impairment were associated with slower atrophy rate of posterior cingulate. Our study provided preliminary evidences supporting that PICALM variations render protections by facilitating reserve capacities of posterior cingulate in non-demented elderly
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Racial and educational disparities in union transitions of cohabitors : the importance of long-term economic prospects
textThe purpose of this dissertation is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that sustain the divergent patterns of union transition behavior among cohabitors of different socioeconomic backgrounds--broadly defined by race and education. For this purpose, this dissertation proposes three research questions. First, it asks how racial and educational disparities in cohabitors' union transition behaviors have changed over time. I find that the trends of cohabitors' union transitions diverge particularly among educational groups, with the decline in the odds of transitioning into marriage primarily concentrated among those with no college degrees, resulting in a growing disparity in marriage between college-educated and non-college educated over time. Moreover, the differences in transitioning to marriage across educational or racial-ethnic groups cannot be explained by differences in marital intentions. Specifically, the current analysis suggests that there are no differences in marital intentions by education (or race-ethnicity) among recent cohabitors. Second, I explore how the first union formation processes based on a variety of indicators for young people's socioeconomic conditions vary between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites. I find that the process of entering cohabiting unions does differ between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites. That is, non-Hispanic whites who come from disadvantaged family backgrounds, in terms of low levels of parental incomes and education, and who have nonmarital births are more likely to enter cohabiting unions than to stay single, as compared with their non-Hispanic white peers with more advantaged backgrounds and those who have no children born outside of marriage. Yet, African Americans are significantly less likely to enter cohabiting unions and are more likely to stay single, as compared with similarly disadvantaged non-Hispanic whites. I further discuss in Chapter 2 how the findings on racial differences in the process of entering first unions can shed light on how racial and educational differences in cohabitation outcomes take shape among recent cohorts of cohabitors. Third, I investigate to what extent the educational disparities in the odds of transitioning to marriage could be attributed to differences in wealth as well as employment conditions among educational groups. I find that cohabitors' union transitions are largely contingent on their homeownership status (and the access to credit for securing it) for both male and female cohabitors. Moreover, parental wealth is also associated with their opportunities for entering marriage with their cohabiting partners, but only for women. More importantly, a substantial amount of educational disparities in the probability of transition to marriage from cohabitation is found to be attributable to the differences in securing these economic resources among educational groups. Altogether, findings in my dissertation update our knowledge of what cohabitation looks like in contemporary American society. Also, they point out the importance of exploring the institutional and economic mechanisms involved in the educational differences in family behavior and investigating the racial differences in family behavior through the lens of class.Sociolog
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Research Note: New Evidence on the Motherhood Wage Penalty.
U.S. women's age at first birth has increased substantially. Yet, little research has considered how this changing behavior may have affected the motherhood pay penalty, or the wage decrease with a child's arrival, experienced by the current generation. Using Rounds 1-19 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), in this research note we examine shifts in hourly pay with childbirth for a cohort of women who became mothers mostly in the 2000s and 2010s. Results from fixed-effects models indicate that the motherhood pay penalty for NLSY97 women who had their first child before their late 20s is generally similar to that of previous cohorts. Those who became mothers near or after age 30, however, encounter a parenthood premium, as men do. The growing proportion of women delaying motherhood, coupled with the rising heterogeneity in motherhood wage outcomes by childbearing timing, contributes to a comparatively small motherhood penalty for this recent cohort. The pay advantage of "late mothers" cannot be explained by factors such as their labor market locations, number of children, stage of childrearing, marital status, or ethnoracial composition. Instead, the hourly gain stems from such mothers' tendency to reduce working hours more than other mothers without experiencing a commensurate decrease in total pay. Unlike the fatherhood premium, the premium for late mothers does not lead to a real boost in income
Another work-family interface: Work characteristics and family intentions in Japan
Background: Previous research highlights the importance of job and workplace characteristics in the work‒family interface. Nevertheless, we know little about how the specific context of work is related to singles' marriage and parenthood intentions. Objective: In this study we examine the links between work conditions and family intentions using a representative sample of never-married, childless adults in Japan, a country that is well known for rapid declines in marriage and fertility rates. Results: We find that, surprisingly, work characteristics conducive to less work‒family conflict are rarely associated with stronger desires to marry and have children. For never-married men in Japan, the job qualities most relevant to family intentions are those that imply a bright economic future. Job conditions with the potential for work‒family conflict can be positively related to the desire to marry and have children if they also indicate promising career prospects. Conversely, workplace sociability is highly relevant to women's marriage and fertility intentions. Never-married women working in more collaborative and interactive environments seek potential marriage partners more actively, want to marry and become parents more, and have higher preferred numbers of children. We suggest that in more sociable workplaces, childless singles tend to be more exposed to earlier cohorts' family experiences and beliefs and so become more interested in marriage and parenthood. Contribution: This study demonstrates that, in Japan, the work characteristics relevant to single men's family intentions differ from those that are relevant to the equivalent intentions of single women. In particular, the finding that women working in more sociable environments desire marriage and children more adds to the literature emphasizing the influence of social relations on family decisions in advanced economies, as well as suggesting a new channel through which social relations shape ideas and plans about marriage and parenthood