The Second Generation in New York City: A Demographic Overview

The study analyzes the forces leading to or impeding the assimilation of a 18-32 year olds from immigrant backgrounds that vary in terms of race, language, and the mix of skills and liabilities their parents brought to the United States. To make sure that what we find derives specifically from the immigrant experience, rather than simply being a young person in New York, we are also studying a "control group" of people from native born white, black, and Puerto Rican backgrounds. The main sample is drawn from the inner part of the region where the vast majority of immigrants and native born minority group members live and grow up. Our study groups make possible a number of interesting comparisons. Unlike many other immigrant groups, the West Indian first generation speaks English, but the dominant society racially classifies them as black. We are interested in ways that their experiences resemble or differ from native born African Americans. Dominicans and the Colombian-Peruvian-Ecuadoran population both speak Spanish, but live in different parts of New York, have different class backgrounds prior to immigration, and, quite often, different skin tones. We have compared them to Puerto Rican young people, who, along with their parents, have the benefit of citizenship. Chinese immigrants from the mainland tend to have little education, while young people with overseas Chinese parents come from families with higher incomes, more education, and more English fluency. According to the 1990 Census, the base year for looking at the first generation parents, these five groups accounted for 45 percent of the immigrants who had arrived in metropolitan New York since 1970. Our ability to compare these groups with native born whites, blacks and Puerto Ricans has permitted us to analyze the effects of nativity while controlling for race and language background

Microarray analysis of spring barley cultivars displaying differing sensitivity to physiological leaf spot (PLS)

peer-reviewedPhysiological leaf spot (PLS) is a disorder of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), which has become more pronounced in recent years. The initial symptoms are small chlorotic/brown spots on the upper four leaves, which may develop into necrotic lesions with an irregular shape. As PLS occurs on leaves that are directly exposed to sunlight, it is thought that high light stress could be a trigger for the condition. This study concentrates on two cultivars, Cooper and Crusader, which display differential sensitivity to PLS. Biochemical measurements and enzyme assays revealed substantial difference in levels of ascorbate, type III peroxidases, and superoxide dismutase between the chosen cultivars during the 2003 growing season. A global gene expression study, using these field samples, was performed by microarray analysis. This supported the biochemical findings and highlighted additional sets of genes differentially expressed between the cultivars. Transcripts of particular interest, which appeared, included calcium signalling genes, cold-responsive genes and those involved in the assembly of Photosystem I. We conclude that susceptibility to PLS is related to levels of expression of genes with a role in countering the effects of oxidative stress.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programm

Women, Climate Change and Eco-theology

The impact of climate change is not proportionate to the ones that contribute to it. It is the world’s poorest and those in vulnerable situations, especially women and children, who bear the brunt of environmental, economic and social shocks. This paper highlights the fact that women are disproportionately affected by climate change, when they are primarily the ones that have been caring for and preserving the earth. This paper also argues for the need for eco-consciousness and the increased participation of women in climate initiatives, as women have a theology and spirituality undergirded by eco-consciousness

Predicting the need for ventilatory support in organophosphorous compound poisoning

Background: Organophosphorus compound poisoning is one of the most common poisonings often requiring ICU care and ventilatory support. Hence this study was undertaken to identify the factors, which predict the need for ventilation in these patients.Methods: All the patients who were diagnosed to have consumed organophosphorus compound poison admitted in RLJ Hospital and SNR District Hospital Kolar, Karnataka, India who presented within 24hours of consumption were included in the study. Patients with concomitant respiratory illness, double poisoning and those treated outside were excluded from the study.Results: A total number of 50 patients were studied. 30(60%) were males and 20 (40%) were females. 18 patients required ventilation. 100% of patients with respiratory rate>25 breaths/minute and 55% of patients with a fasciculation score of >4 required ventilation. Ventilation was required by 84.6% of patients who has a GCS Score of <10. 21.7% of patients with mild and 33.3% with moderate poisoning required ventilation. In contrast 66.6% of patients with severe poisoning required ventilation. Of the patients admitted to the hospital >4hours after consumption of poison, 36% required ventilation. Of the 19 patients who had oxygen saturation levels <89%, 18 patients (94.7%) required ventilation. Patients who were ventilated required a higher dose of atropine within 48hours of admission as compared to those who were not ventilated.Conclusions: Patients who presented with higher respiratory rate, accessory muscles of respiration in action, higher fasciculation score, GCS score of 10, greater lag time between consumption of poison and admission to hospital (4hours), severe grade of poisoning and O2 saturation <89% were more likely to require ventilation. There is no relationship between the age group, sex, pulse rate, pupil size and type of organophosphorous compound consumed with the need for ventilation

Assessing parental risk in parenting plan (child custody) evaluation cases involving internet sexual behavior

One type of claim in parenting assessment (child custody)1 cases is that one parent, typically the father, is alleged to be engaging in improper or compulsive sexual behavior via the Internet. The sexual behavior at issue can range from frequent sexually explicit chats with other adults to compulsive viewing of adult pornography. In more extreme cases, the problematic behavior may involve viewing child pornography, and in some cases the parent faces actual criminal charges in this regard. The present article reviews the current scientific knowledge base for evaluation of risk in such parenting evaluation cases and provides some guidelines and recommendations for an evaluator in the assessment process

The Role of Industry Based Learning in a Construction Management Program

Increasingly university administrations are questioning the value of industry experience during a construction management undergraduate program. It is suggested that such work experience is difficult for academics to assess. It may also be unavailable to some students and not closely related to formal learning outcomes. As a result there is pressure to remove the requirement from the graduation eligibility process at many universities. For those who believe that an understanding of the industry context is critical to the development of a construction graduate, there is a need to provide evidence of the breadth and effectiveness of industry experience undertaken by undergraduates. Such evidence may be gleaned from the documents provided by students to support their completion of the required amount of industry experience. Logbooks and employer letters from the last four years at one university were examined and encoded using NVIVO9™ text analysis software. The resulting data indicates that current students are employed throughout the industry in a wide variety of roles and in many types of companies. There is some evidence that the type of experience gained in top tier companies is qualitatively different from that gained elsewhere. There is no indication that student employment is clustered at the low skilled end of the spectrum. Indeed, there is evidence that some students gain positions of considerable responsibility well before they graduate with an undergraduate degree. As such it may well be worth consideration that a specific hierarchy of industry roles be established for students to aim for during their study period. This research suggests that this question merits further discussed between industry advisors and academic providers