Inter-ethnic Marriage and Partner Satisfaction

This paper investigates immigrant assortative mating and relationship satisfaction. Using a modified random effects ordered probit model, the paper demonstrates that spouses of mixed couples are significantly less satisfied with their partner than native-only and foreign-only couples.international migration, assortative mating, partner satisfaction

Inter-ethnic Marriage and Partner Satisfaction

This paper investigates immigrant assortative mating and relationship satisfaction. Using a modified random effects ordered probit model, the paper demonstrates that spouses of mixed couples are significantly less satisfied with their partner than native-only and foreign-only couples.International migration; assortative mating; partner satisfaction

Using MLP to determine abiotic factors influencing the establishment of insect pest species

The use of multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) to determine the significance of climatic variables to the establishment of insect pest species is described. Results show that the MLP are able to learn to accurately predict the establishment of a pest species within a specific geographic region. Analysis of the MLP yielded insights into the contribution of the individual input variables and allowed for the identification of those variables that were most significant in either encouraging or inhibiting establishment

Inter-ethnic Marriage and Partner Satisfaction

This paper investigates immigrant assortative mating and relationship satisfaction. Using a modified random effects ordered probit model, the paper demonstrates that spouses of mixed couples are significantly less satisfied with their partner than nativeonly and foreign-only couples.Dieses Papier untersucht die Wahl des Ehepartners und die Zufriedenheit mit dem Partner. Unter Verwendung eines modifizierten Random Effects Ordered Probit-Modells zeigt das Papier, dass Ehepartner gemischter Haushalte (in denen ein Partner einheimisch und der andere Partner eingewandert ist) signifikant weniger zufrieden sind mit ihrem Partner als Paare, in denen beide Partner Einheimische oder Einwanderer sind

An investigation of cotton for parachute cloth

This is a resume of the work of the Bureau of Standards on a cotton parachute cloth for use as a substitute for silk in the event of an emergency curtailing the supply. Cotton yarn of high strength in proportion to its weight and otherwise specially suitable for parachute cloth was developed. Cloth woven from this yarn in the bureau mill was equal or superior to parachute silk in strength and tear resistance, met the requirements with respect to air permeability, and weighed only a few tenths of an ounce per square yard more than the silk cloth. Practical trials of cotton parachutes carried out by the Navy Department clearly indicate that the cotton parachute closely approaches the silk parachute in performance as to rate of descent, opening time, strength and ability to function when stored in the pack for sixty days. The increase in weight of the equipment resulting from the use of cotton cloth instead of silk is considered to be well within practicable limits. A specification for cotton parachute cloth and the way in which the requirements of the specification have been met are given. Cotton yarns suitable for parachute cloth are now being woven commercially in the United States

The Effects of Assortative Mating on Income Inequality: A Decompositional Analysis

Using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Survey of Income and Household Costs, this paper explores the effect of changing assortative mating patterns on income inequality. Evidence from theoretical and mathematically calibrated models suggest that assortative mating has distributional implications for measurable traits, which include income. Using a semi-parametric conditional weighted kernel density estimation framework we analyse the effect of assortative mating on the distribution of income in Australia. In controlling for labour force participation, family characteristics, education and other demographic variables, we find some evidence to suggest that assortative mating has had an influence on the increase in income inequality in the 17 years to 2003. The results are robust to several changes in specification

Inter-ethnic marriage and partner satisfaction

This paper investigates immigrant assortative mating and relationship satisfaction. Using a modified random effects ordered probit model, the paper demonstrates that spouses of mixed couples are significantly less satisfied with their partner than native-only and foreign-only couples

Invasive alien species in the food chain : advancing risk assessment models to address climate change, economics and uncertainty

Economic globalization depends on the movement of people and goods between countries. As these exchanges increase, so does the potential for translocation of harmful pests, weeds, and pathogens capable of impacting our crops, livestock and natural resources (Hulme 2009), with concomitant impacts on global food security (Cook et al. 2011)

Improving cluster-based methods for investigating potential for insect pest species establishment: region-specific risk factors

Existing cluster-based methods for investigating insect species assemblages or profiles of a region to indicate the risk of new insect pest invasion have a major limitation in that they assign the same species risk factors to each region in a cluster. Clearly regions assigned to the same cluster have different degrees of similarity with respect to their species profile or assemblage. This study addresses this concern by applying weighting factors to the cluster elements used to calculate regional risk factors, thereby producing region-specific risk factors. Using a database of the global distribution of crop insect pest species, we found that we were able to produce highly differentiated region-specific risk factors for insect pests. We did this by weighting cluster elements by their Euclidean distance from the target region. Using this approach meant that risk weightings were derived that were more realistic, as they were specific to the pest profile or species assemblage of each region. This weighting method provides an improved tool for estimating the potential invasion risk posed by exotic species given that they have an opportunity to establish in a target region