Executive Clemency in Post-Furman Capital Cases

In the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court invalidated virtually all existing death penalty statutes in the United States. Consequently, those jurisdictions that wanted to continue to execute were forced to revise their capital sentencing procedures. Since Furman,nearly all aspects of American death penalty law have been rewritten. Left unchanged by both the courts and the legislatures, however, are the ways in which states decide which death-sentenced inmates will have their sentences commuted through the powers of executive clemency

Labor market structure and fertility differences among Puerto Rican women: The effects of economic and social policies on opportunity costs

The oft-observed inverse relationship between economic activity in the formal or informal sector and levels of fertility is attributed to the opportunity costs of reproduction. The economic and social policies that initiate and maintain the substantial flow of federal transfer payments to the Puerto Rican population is likely to reduce the opportunity costs among women participating in the informal economy; therefore, informal labor market participants will have fertility levels more like women who have never worked than like women active in the formal labor market. Using data from the 1982 Puerto Rican Fertility and Family Planning Assessment, this paper compares fertility differentials among ever-married women who have never worked, who have ever worked in the informal economy, and who have only worked in the formal economy. Contrary to expectations, the fertility levels of informal labor market participants are more like those of formal labor market participants; economic activity in either sector is associated with bearing fewer children. Federal transfer payments do not appear to reduce the opportunity costs of reproduction among women employed in the informal economy. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1989 meeting of the Population Association of America.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43524/1/11113_2006_Article_BF02343246.pd

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Ethnic variation in health and the determinants of health among Latinos

The purpose of this research is to document and explain ethnic variation in health among Latino adults in the United States. Results of analyses of data pooled from the 1997-2001 National Health Interview surveys reveal that health patterns are clearly different among Latino ethnic groups. Mexicans have health advantages, whereas Puerto Ricans experience health disparities. Cubans and Dominicans reveal a mix of health disparities and advantages, depending on the health outcome. The effects of social determinants of health are also contingent upon ethnicity. For example, worse health is associated with higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES) and acculturation among Mexicans, but with lower levels of SES and acculturation among Latinos whose origins are from Caribbean islands. We conclude that racial/ethnic comparative health research should avoid pan-ethnic groupings, and explicitly acknowledge ethnic group distinctiveness.Latinos Health disparities Determinants USA

THE EFFECT OF ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING ON PUERTO RICAN WOMEN'S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION IN THE FORMAL SECTOR

The joint effort by the U.S. government and the political elite of Puerto Rico to industrialize the island created increased demand for female labor and a decline in the number of jobs traditionally held by men. The authors examine whether women's labor force participation in the formal sector responds to improving opportunities for women, declining opportunities for men, or the household's changing opportunity structures. Specifically, they examine a woman's return to work after the birth of her first child as the initial point of conflict between productive and reproductive work. The data used in these analyses are from the 1982 Puerto Rican Fertility and Family Planning Assessment (PRFFPA), an islandwide, representative sample of never-married and ever-married women between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine. The authors estimate a series of nested logistic regression models to evaluate the influence of occupational expansion or contraction on the timing of return to work after the first birth. Their findings offer selective support for the idea that women's lives are affected primarily by the occurrence of growing labor demand for women's labor.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67632/2/10.1177_089124394008004004.pd

Longitudinal associations between allostatic load, pet ownership, and socioeconomic position among U.S. adults aged 50+

It is hypothesized that pets provide benefits to human health by buffering the deleterious effects of stress, but varying exposure to chronic stress via social position is rarely considered in these conceptual and empirical models. Allostatic load is an index of biological and physical measures that represents cumulative wear and tear on the body via chronic stress exposure. In this study, we use the 2006–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative, longitudinal panel survey of adults aged 50+ in the United States, to test whether and to what extent pet ownership has an impact on allostatic load, and whether pet ownership moderates the effects of socioeconomic position on allostatic load. Linear mixed effects regression models revealed that pet owners had significantly lower allostatic load scores than those who do not own pets; however, after adjusting for socioeconomic position (i.e., wealth, education, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status), the effect of pet ownership was no longer significant. We estimated a series of models stratified by sociodemographic groups to test moderation effects. Among those who had a high school education, pet owners had lower allostatic load scores, whereas among those who had attended some college, pet owners had higher scores. Among those who were aged 80+, pet owners had higher scores than those who did not own pets. These findings suggest that the magnitude of the effect of pet ownership on allostatic load may not be sufficient to counteract experiences of high chronic stress as experienced by lower-status groups. Supporting the human-animal bond may contribute to improving older adult population health if paired with efforts to address the underlying causes of population health disparities