Gender Differences in Smoking Among an Urban Emergency Department Sample.

BackgroundUrban emergency department (ED) patients have elevated smoking and substance use compared with the general population. We analyzed gender differences in smoking among an urban ED sample and assessed the contribution of substance use, demographic, and couple factors.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of data obtained from a cross-sectional, observational survey (N = 1037 participants) on drinking, drug use, and intimate partner violence (IPV). Gender-specific logistic regression models for current (past 30-day) smoking and multinomial regression models for smoking intensity (light: ⩽5 cigarettes per day [CPD]; moderate: 6 to 10 CPD; heavier: >10 CPD) were estimated.ResultsSmoking prevalence was higher among men than women (35.5% vs 18.9%; P < .001). Substance use (frequency of intoxication, marijuana, amphetamine, and cocaine use), demographic (food insufficiency, unemployment), and couple-related factors (having a spouse/partner who smoked, IPV involvement, being in a same-gender couple) were differentially associated with current smoking and level of intensity among men and women.ConclusionsEmergency department staff should consider the impact of polysubstance use, food insufficiency, unemployment, and whether both partners in the couple smoke when screening patients for smoking and formulating cessation treatment plans. Women in same-gender relationships and those who have experienced IPV involvement may require additional referral

Secured Transactions History: The Impact of Southern Staple Agriculture on the First Chattel Mortgage Acts in the Anglo-American World

The development of secured transaction law in colonial America was spurred by a litigious conflict between the recognizance and the chattel mortgage. The recognizance was the admission and recording of a debt before the court in order to secure credit. However, court hearings were infrequent in the colonies and often logistically impractical to the average farmer or merchant. The chattel mortgage was a more informal and practical solution to providing lines of credit on personal property. Without a system for recording chattel mortgages, lenders could not be sure in their investments. In the southern colonies, the emergence of staple crops, the infrequent use of recognizances, and the planter-merchant’s influence and control of local governments led to the adoption of chattel mortgage acts. If a southern colony developed a staple agricultural product, such as rice, tobacco, or tar and pitch, then merchants were willing to extend lines of credit on indentured servants and various goods in exchange for an interest in an equivalent value of the staple product by years end. The use of a recognizance by some lenders, only after they realized their borrowers were on the verge of default, created the opportunity for subsequent lender to take a chattel mortgage on the borrower’s personalty before the original lender recorded the recognizance. Because English common law recognized a first in time right for mortgages, courts held that the earlier recorded chattel mortgage would be recognized after litigation. In an effort to streamline the process and protect the interests of the lenders who also served as sheriffs and legislators, many southern colonies passed the chattel mortgage acts requiring filing of the mortgage within a designated period of time, which voided all unrecorded interests

Secured Transaction History: The Impact of English Smuggling on the Chattel Mortgage Acts in the Spanish Borderlands

Spanish colonies, including the territories of Florida, Louisiana, and southwestern America, acknowledged the jurisdiction of Spanish royal decrees. The colonies approached the registration of mortgages in a similar but more tentative fashion, recognizing the distances between the borderlands and the registrar’s offices. The law developed differently in Florida and Louisiana, which were administered by a different governmental body. While the registration process was required for chattel mortgages on slaves, there is no evidence the rules were enforced or applied to other types of mortgages on personalty. However, in 1770, Louisiana adopted a filing requirement for chattel mortgages for all slaves and ships in order to protect against fraud and cheaper English black market goods. Although France assumed power in Louisiana, the territory followed Spanish law rather than French law by judicial decision. Mexico’s cessation from Spain had little effect on the orchestration of government, but Spain’s former southwestern territories continued to follow Spanish law. Mexico recognized chattel mortgages, but made no effort to enforce filing requirements in the Spanish borderlands. Several historical theories propose the origin of the spanish chattel mortgage acts. A royal tax was placed on the sale of most goods. These sales were to be recorded by a notary and any sale not recorded was invalid, thereby encouraging the recording of sales of personal property. However, O’Reilly, charged with imposing the Spanish mercantile system on the French inhabitants of Louisiana, introduced a recording statute preceding Spain’s land registration or ship registration. Another theory suggests that O’Reilly’s Spanish chattel mortgage act was the response to an isolated economic issue in Louisiana. Because Louisiana was not self-sufficient, trade dominated by the Spanish mercantile system failed to encourage economic independence. The act created assurances of property interests and thereby allowed creditors to be secure in their transactions when offering lines of credit. The adoption of the Spanish chattel mortgages in various forms in the Spanish borderland territories precedes the common belief that chattel mortgages developed in the Northeast in the 1820s

Sports Spectator Behavior for Collegiate Women’s Basketball

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the Desire to attend collegiate women’s basketball (DES) and three aspects of attending collegiate women\u27s basketball games. The participants were spectators of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women\u27s basketball game ranging in age from 18 to 70 (N = 312). The Modified Sports Consumers Questionnaire (Milne & McDonald, 1999) was administered during a basketball game. After exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), three factors (Habit, Attitude, and Satisfaction) with 19 items were retained for Sports Spectator Behavior (SSB). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among DES and three SSB factors. The findings revealed that the DES was positively related to the Habit of affiliating themselves with sports (HAB) and the Attitude toward watching sports (ATT), but negatively related to the Satisfaction of watching sports (SAT). The three main predictors of SSB account for 85% of the variance of DES