The normalization of sibling violence: Does gender and personal experience of violence influence perceptions of physical assault against siblings?

Despite its pervasive and detrimental nature, sibling violence (SV) remains marginalized as a harmless and inconsequential form of familial aggression. The present study investigates the extent to which perceptions of SV differ from those of other types of interpersonal violence. A total of 605 respondents (197 males, 408 females) read one of four hypothetical physical assault scenarios that varied according to perpetrator–victim relationship type (i.e., sibling vs. dating partner vs. peer vs. stranger) before completing a series of 24 attribution items. Respondents also reported on their own experiences of interpersonal violence during childhood. Exploratory factor analysis reduced 23 attribution items to three internally reliable factors reflecting perceived assault severity, victim culpability, and victim resistance ratings. A 4 × 2 MANCOVA—controlling for respondent age—revealed several significant effects. Overall, males deemed the assault less severe and the victim more culpable than did females. In addition, the sibling assault was deemed less severe compared to assault on either a dating partner or a stranger, with the victim of SV rated just as culpable as the victim of dating, peer, or stranger-perpetrated violence. Finally, respondents with more (frequent) experiences of childhood SV victimization perceived the hypothetical SV assault as being less severe, and victim more culpable, than respondents with no SV victimization. Results are discussed in the context of SV normalization. Methodological limitations and applications for current findings are also outlined

Popular Support for Trade Agreements and Partner Country Characteristics – Evidence from an Unexpected Election Outcome

Using quasi‐experimental data from a survey that was conducted immediately before and after the November 2016 presidential election, we analyze how the election of Donald Trump affected the willingness of Europeans to sign a trade and investment agreement with the United States. We find that the election outcome lead to an immediate and sizable negative effect on Europeans' image of the United States. But we do not find that, at the same time, there was a negative reaction in the willingness of Europeans to sign an agreement with the United States

Perceptions of Specialties and Primary Care Careers: Findings from West Virginia Medical Student and Resident Focus Groups

The purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of how perceptions of practicing specific medical specialties contribute to career decisions. Participants included medical students and residents from training programs in West Virginia. Focus groups were conducted between September 2013 and February 2015. Thematic content analysis of focus group interviews was used to identify phrases indicating perceptions of person- versus technique-oriented personality medical specialties. “Self-focused” and “other-focused” themes emerged within person-oriented comments. Factors affecting “self”, including work/life balance and salary and practice environment, made certain specialties more appealing. Technique-oriented comments included working in a hospital setting, performing technical procedures, and solving immediate problems as opposed to long-term management. Technique-oriented comments from students emphasized learning about disease, and resident comments emphasized treatment as their primary focus. The majority of participants’ comments suggested that a strong patient-doctor relationship and continuity of care are rewarding components of primary care and more compatible with person-oriented personalities. Participants selecting person-oriented specialties viewed rural practice locations more favorably, especially the opportunity to become an integral part of a community. Participants selecting technique-oriented specialties preferred limited interactions with patients and stated that problem-solving and learning about disease states were the most appealing aspects of practicing medicine

Six-color photometry of Iapetus, Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethys

The extensive photometric observations of Titan, Iapetus, Rhea, Dione and Tethys have made it possible to separate the solar phase and orbital phase contributions to the observed light variations of these satellites. For Titan, the wavelength dependence of its solar phase coefficient has been obtained. This dependence should prove useful in constructing future model atmospheres. The other four satellites show a surprising array of different photometric behaviors. Despite these differences, all four satellites have similar spectral reflectivities. Clearly Iapetus, Rhea, Dione and Tethys are complex objects, varying substantially from one another in surface structure and/or composition

Measurement of Sibling Violence: A Two-Factor Model of Severity

The measurement of violence is a major challenge in aggression research. Because of the heterogeneous nature of violent behavior, problems arise when applying blanket measures to inherently distinct subtypes of aggression. Incidents of intersibling violence (ISV) exacerbate these problems because siblinghood represents a unique offender–victim situation. This research explored whether an existing two-factor model for severe violence found in a sample of 250 adult offenders (age M = 26.8, SD = 5.9) could be generalized to deliberate severe ISV in a sample of 111 young offenders (age M = 14.83, SD = 1.45). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor model encompassing severe ISV perpetration with weapon use (Factor 1) and severe ISV perpetration without weapon use (Factor 2). The results provide strong empirical support for the two-factor model of violence severity previously established with adult offenders. This analysis demonstrates construct validity of the severity measures among the different types of offenders studied and provides support for generalization across populations

A physical gene map of the bacteriophage P22 late region: Genetic analysis of cloned fragments of P22 DNA

A physical gene map of the late region of the P22 chromosome has been constructed by genetic analysis of restriction enzyme fragments of P22 DNA cloned in a plasmid vector. Cleavage sites for restriction endonucleases SalI, SstI, SmaI, Xhoi, and BglI were mapped on P22 DNA to provide physical reference points in addition to the EcoRI, HindIII, and BamHI cleavage sites previously mapped. Restriction enzymes KpnI, BglII, and Xbal were found to have no cleavage sites on P22 DNA. Fragments of P22 DNA produced by cleavage with EcoRI, BamHI, or EcoRI plus BamHI were cloned in Escherichia coli using the plasmid vector pBR322, and the resulting recombinant plasmids were introduced into Salmonella typhimurium. The genes present on a cloned fragment were identified by the ability of the hybrid plasmid to complement or recombine with P22 amber mutations in known genes when mutant phage were used to infect S. typhimurium strains carrying the recombinant plasmids. These experiments place all phage genes required for P22 head morphogenesis except gene 3 on the physical map between coordinates 0.000 and 0.318. The coding capacity of this interval is in close agreement with the molecular weights of the proteins assigned to it. The single gene for the P22 base plate protein is placed between coordinates 0.376 and 0.420 on the physical map. These results also show that distances on the recombination frequency map are significantly distorted relative to the physical gene map of the late region. The recombination frequency map is expanded in the region of the physical gene map where terminally redundant ends of the circularly permuted mature chromosomes fall.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23263/1/0000197.pd

Perceptions of Specialties and Primary Care Careers: Findings from West Virginia Medical Student and Resident Focus Groups

The purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of how perceptions of practicing specific medical specialties contribute to career decisions. Participants included medical students and residents from training programs in West Virginia. Focus groups were conducted between September 2013 and February 2015. Thematic content analysis of focus group interviews was used to identify phrases indicating perceptions of person- versus technique-oriented personality medical specialties. “Self-focused” and “other-focused” themes emerged within person-oriented comments. Factors affecting “self”, including work/life balance and salary and practice environment, made certain specialties more appealing. Technique-oriented comments included working in a hospital setting, performing technical procedures, and solving immediate problems as opposed to long-term management. Technique-oriented comments from students emphasized learning about disease, and resident comments emphasized treatment as their primary focus. The majority of participants’ comments suggested that a strong patient-doctor relationship and continuity of care are rewarding components of primary care and more compatible with person-oriented personalities. Participants selecting person-oriented specialties viewed rural practice locations more favorably, especially the opportunity to become an integral part of a community. Participants selecting technique-oriented specialties preferred limited interactions with patients and stated that problem-solving and learning about disease states were the most appealing aspects of practicing medicine

An approach to time dependence and reliability in dynamic route guidance

This paper presents a methodology, in order to increase the reliability of the route suggestions in route guidance systems. Based on the A* path finding algorithm and Chen’s link penalty method, the procedure involves penalising links with a high risk of being congested and obtaining a set of reliable route suggestions. Time-dependence of travel times is considered by adapting the Flow Speed Model technique accordingly. Modifications to the structure of the path finding algorithms are also made, so as to account for real road network features. Finally, experiments using simulated travel time and reliability data are carried out on a road network and the results are discussed

Acceptability, feasibility, drug safety, and effectiveness of a pilot mass drug administration with a single round of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus primaquine and indoor residual spraying in communities with malaria transmission in Haiti, 2018

For a malaria elimination strategy, Haiti's National Malaria Control Program piloted a mass drug administration (MDA) with indoor residual spraying (IRS) in 12 high-transmission areas across five communes after implementing community case management and strengthened surveillance. The MDA distributed sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and single low-dose primaquine to eligible residents during house visits. The IRS campaign applied pirimiphos-methyl insecticide on walls of eligible houses. Pre- and post-campaign cross-sectional surveys were conducted to assess acceptability, feasibility, drug safety, and effectiveness of the combined interventions. Stated acceptability for MDA before the campaign was 99.2%; MDA coverage estimated at 10 weeks post-campaign was 89.6%. Similarly, stated acceptability of IRS at baseline was 99.9%; however, household IRS coverage was 48.9% because of the high number of ineligible houses. Effectiveness measured by Plasmodium falciparum prevalence at baseline and 10 weeks post-campaign were similar: 1.31% versus 1.43%, respectively. Prevalence of serological markers were similar at 10 weeks post-campaign compared with baseline, and increased at 6 months. No severe adverse events associated with the MDA were identified in the pilot; there were severe adverse events in a separate, subsequent campaign. Both MDA and IRS are acceptable and feasible interventions in Haiti. Although a significant impact of a single round of MDA/IRS on malaria transmission was not found using a standard pre- and post-intervention comparison, it is possible there was blunting of the peak transmission. Seasonal malaria transmission patterns, suboptimal IRS coverage, and low baseline parasitemia may have limited the effectiveness or the ability to measure effectiveness