Are benefits conferred with greater socioeconomic position undermined by racial discrimination among African American men?

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jomh.2012.03.00

Methodological innovations in the National Survey of American Life

This paper provides an overview of the conceptualization and methods used in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). The objectives of the NSAL are to investigate the nature, severity, and impairment of mental disorders among national samples of the black and non-Hispanic white (n = 1,006) populations in the US, including African American (N = 3,570), and Afro-Caribbean (N = 1,623) immigrant and second and older generation, populations. National multi-stage probability methods were used in generating the samples and race/ethnic matching of interviewers and respondents were employed in the largely face-to-face interview, lasting on average 2 hours and 20 minutes. Two methodological approaches are described for addressing sampling coverage of individuals attached to, but not residing in, selected households at the time of the study. The paper also describes two approaches used to address concerns about the interpretations of standard symptom probe information in assessing serious mental disorders. This included a clinical reappraisal study designed to ascertain differences in symptom responding and ascertainment of cases (N = 677) in a subset of the same NSAL respondents. Finally, an abbreviated, novel method for estimating the prevalence of mental disorders in first-degree family members is described and the preliminary results from this new approach are reported. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34227/1/182_ftp.pd

The influence of racial factors on psychiatric diagnosis: A review and suggestions for research

Research on race and diagnosis initially focused on black-white differences in depression and schizophrenia. Statistics showing a higher treated prevalence of schizophrenia and a lower prevalence of depression for blacks seemed to support the claim that blacks did not suffer from depression. Others argued, however, that clinicians were misdiagnosing depression in blacks. This article reviews empirical studies of racial differences in individual symptoms and summarizes the evidence on misdiagnosis. It argues that more attention must be paid to resolving two contradictory assumptions made by researchers working in the area of race and diagnostic inference: (1) blacks and whites exhibit symptomatology similarly but diagnosticians mistakenly assume that they are different; (2) blacks and whites display psychopathology in different ways but diagnosticians are unaware of or insensitive to such cultural differences. The article concludes with suggested research directions and a discussion of critical research issues.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44303/1/10597_2004_Article_BF00755677.pd

Orbiter Interface Unit and Early Communication System

This report describes the Orbiter Interface Unit (OIU) and the Early Communication System (ECOMM), which are systems of electronic hardware and software that serve as the primary communication links for the International Space Station (ISS). When a space shuttle is at or near the ISS during assembly and resupply missions, the OIU sends groundor crew-initiated commands from the space shuttle to the ISS and relays telemetry from the ISS to the space shuttle s payload data systems. The shuttle then forwards the telemetry to the ground. In the absence of a space shuttle, the ECOMM handles communications between the ISS and Johnson Space Center via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Innovative features described in the report include (1) a "smart data-buffering algorithm that helps to preserve synchronization (and thereby minimize loss) of telemetric data between the OIU and the space-shuttle payload data interleaver; (2) an ECOMM antenna-autotracking algorithm that selects whichever of two phased-array antennas gives the best TDRSS signal and electronically steers that antenna to track the TDRSS source; and (3) an ECOMM radiation-latchup controller, which detects an abrupt increase in current indicative of radiation-induced latchup and temporarily turns off power to clear the latchup, restoring power after the charge dissipates