Market Dynamics and Systemic Violence: A Longitudinal Examination of Market Penetration, Entry Deterrence, and Excess Capacity in the Illicit Drug Market

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
Christopher E. Torres ◽  
Stewart J. D’Alessio ◽  
Lisa Stolzenberg
Keyword(s):  
Drug Market ◽  
Market Penetration ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lethal Violence ◽  
Drug Selling ◽  
Systemic Violence ◽  
First Time ◽  
Longitudinal Examination ◽  
Drug Sellers

The nexus between lethal violence in the drug market and drug-selling behavior remains a topic of interest among social scientists. Although the current body of literature demonstrates strong empirical evidence of systemic violence, questions still endure as to the underlying causal mechanisms responsible for this violence. This study uses 10 years of prosecution data aggregated at the county level to investigate whether drug-related homicide is predictive of first-time drug-selling offending. Results from a pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis suggest that new entrants are using lethal violence to penetrate the illegal drug market. As drug-related homicides increase, the percent of first-time offenders being prosecuted for a drug-selling offense increases markedly. This relationship persists even after controlling for non–drug-related homicide. This finding suggests that lethal violence is being used primarily by new drug sellers, possibly to help them gain entry into a competitive drug market.

Situational or Generalized Violence in Drug Dealing Networks

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira Sommers ◽  
Deborah R. Baskin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Drug Distribution ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Drug Dealing ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Drug Selling ◽  
Systemic Violence ◽  
Violent Offenses ◽  
Drug Sellers

It has been contended that women's participation in drug markets has had a tremendous impact on female involvement in nondrug crimes, especially such violent offenses as robbery and assault. Systemic violence in drug selling, however, may be spuriously related to other etiological factors in violence and crime commission, rather than a function of social processes unique to drug selling. Violence within and apart from the context of drug dealing is compared for women involved in various types of drug distribution activities. Life history interviews were conducted with 156 female drug sellers from two New York City neighborhoods. The findings suggest that violence among drug sellers, including females, appears to reflect the concurrence of two processes: the self-selection of people who routinely use violence in their broader social and economic interactions, and the neighborhood itself, in which violence is taught, practiced, and maintained as a way of negotiating the social realities of street and domestic life.

Psychological Resilience Provides No Independent Protection From Suicidal Risk

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danica W. Y. Liu ◽  
A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt ◽  
Richard Burns ◽  
Rachel M. Roberts ◽  
Kaarin J. Anstey
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Background: Little is known about the role of resilience in the likelihood of suicidal ideation (SI) over time. Aims: We examined the association between resilience and SI in a young-adult cohort over 4 years. Our objectives were to determine whether resilience was associated with SI at follow-up or, conversely, whether SI was associated with lowered resilience at follow-up. Method: Participants were selected from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project from Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australia, aged 28–32 years at the first time point and 32–36 at the second. Multinomial, linear, and binary regression analyses explored the association between resilience and SI over two time points. Models were adjusted for suicidality risk factors. Results: While unadjusted analyses identified associations between resilience and SI, these effects were fully explained by the inclusion of other suicidality risk factors. Conclusion: Despite strong cross-sectional associations, resilience and SI appear to be unrelated in a longitudinal context, once risk/resilience factors are controlled for. As independent indicators of psychological well-being, suicidality and resilience are essential if current status is to be captured. However, the addition of other factors (e.g., support, mastery) makes this association tenuous. Consequently, resilience per se may not be protective of SI.

Twin Studies and Politics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levente Littvay
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Behavioral Genetics ◽  
Twin Studies ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Genetic Transmission ◽  
The Social ◽  
Direction Of Causation ◽  
Social Part ◽  
The Impact

As recently as 2005, John Alford and colleagues surprised political science with their twin study that found empirical evidence of the genetic transmission of political attitudes and behaviors. Reactions in the field were mixed, but one thing is for sure: it is not time to mourn the social part of the social sciences. Genetics is not the deterministic mechanism that social scientists often assume it to be. No specific part of DNA is responsible for anything but minute, indirect effects on political orientations. Genes express themselves differently in different contexts, suggesting that the political phenomenon behavioral political scientists take for granted may be quite volatile; hence, the impact of genetics is also much less stable in its foundations than initially assumed. Twin studies can offer a unique and powerful avenue to study these behavioral processes as they are more powerful than cross-sectional (or even longitudinal) studies not only for understanding heritability but also for asserting the direction of causation, the social (and, of course, genetic) pathways that explain how political phenomena are related to each other. This chapter aims to take the reader through this journey that political science has gone through over the past decade and a half and point to the synergies behavioral political science and behavioral genetics offer to the advancement of the discipline.

Sources of Information About Gestational Weight Gain, Diet, and Exercise Among Brazilian Immigrant Women Living in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Lindsay ◽  
Qun Le ◽  
Denise Lima Nogueira ◽  
Márcia M. T. Machado ◽  
Mary L. Greaney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Gestational Weight Gain ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Gestational Weight ◽  
Diet And Exercise ◽  
First Time

Abstract Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess sources of information about gestational weight gain (GWG), diet, and exercise among first-time pregnant Brazilian women in the United States (US). Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Massachusetts, United States. Participants: First-time pregnant Brazilian women. Results: Eighty-six women, the majority of whom were immigrants (96.5%) classified as having low-acculturation levels (68%), participated in the study. Approximately two-thirds of respondents had sought information about GWG (72.1%), diet (79.1%), and exercise (74.4%) via the internet. Women classified as having low acculturation levels were more likely to seek information about GWG via the internet (OR = 7.55; 95% CI: 1.41, 40.26) than those with high acculturation levels after adjusting for age and receiving information about GWG from healthcare provider (doctor or midwife). Moreover, many respondents reported seeking information about GWG (67%), diet (71%), and exercise (52%) from family and friends. Women who self-identified as being overweight pre-pregnancy were less likely to seek information about diet (OR = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.93) and exercise (OR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.96) from family and friends than those who self-identified being normal weight pre-pregnancy. Conclusions: This is the first study to assess sources of information about GWG, diet, and exercise among pregnant Brazilian immigrants in the US. Findings have implications for the design of interventions and suggest the potential of mHealth intervention as low-cost, easy access option for delivering culturally and linguistically tailored evidence-based information about GWG incorporating behavioral change practices to this growing immigrant group.

scholarly journals Viral Profiling Identifies Multiple Subtypes of Kaposi’s Sarcoma

mBio ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina C. Hosseinipour ◽  
Kristen M. Sweet ◽  
Jie Xiong ◽  
Dan Namarika ◽  
Albert Mwafongo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kaposi's Sarcoma ◽  
Kaposi’S Sarcoma ◽  
Complete Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Real Time Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Treatment Naïve ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACTKaposi’s sarcoma (KS), caused by KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the most common cancer among HIV-infected patients in Malawi and in the United States today. In Malawi, KSHV is endemic. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients with HIV infection and KS with no history of chemo- or antiretroviral therapy (ART). Seventy patients were enrolled. Eighty-one percent had T1 (advanced) KS. Median CD4 and HIV RNA levels were 181 cells/mm3and 138,641 copies/ml, respectively. We had complete information and suitable plasma and biopsy samples for 66 patients. For 59/66 (89%) patients, a detectable KSHV load was found in plasma (median, 2,291 copies/ml; interquartile range [IQR], 741 to 5,623). We utilized a novel KSHV real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) array with multiple primers per open reading frame to examine KSHV transcription. Seventeen samples exhibited only minimal levels of KSHV mRNAs, presumably due to the limited number of infected cells. For all other biopsy samples, the viral latency locus (LANA, vCyc, vFLIP, kaposin, and microRNAs [miRNAs]) was transcribed abundantly, as was K15 mRNA. We could identify two subtypes of treatment-naive KS: lesions that transcribed viral RNAs across the length of the viral genome and lesions that displayed only limited transcription restricted to the latency locus. This finding demonstrates for the first time the existence of multiple subtypes of KS lesions in HIV- and KS-treatment naive patients.IMPORTANCEKS is the leading cancer in people infected with HIV worldwide and is causally linked to KSHV infection. Using viral transcription profiling, we have demonstrated the existence of multiple subtypes of KS lesions for the first time in HIV- and KS-treatment-naive patients. A substantial number of lesions transcribe mRNAs which encode the viral kinases and hence could be targeted by the antiviral drugs ganciclovir or AZT in addition to chemotherapy.

COVID-19 and the Risk for Increased Intimate Partner Violence Among Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199745
Author(s):  
Rob Stephenson ◽  
Tanaka M.D. Chavanduka ◽  
Matthew T. Rosso ◽  
Stephen P. Sullivan ◽  
Renée A. Pitter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
First Time

Stay at home orders–intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by limiting social contact–have forced people to remain in their homes. The additional stressors created by the need to stay home and socially isolate may act as triggers to intimate partner violence (IPV). In this article, we present data from a recent online cross-sectional survey with gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in the United States to illustrate changes in IPV risks that have occurred during the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic. The Love and Sex in the Time of COVID-19 survey was conducted online from April to May 2020. GBMSM were recruited through paid banner advertisements featured on social networking platforms, recruiting a sample size of 696 GBMSM. Analysis considers changes in victimization and perpetration of IPV during the 3 months prior to the survey (March-May 2020) that represents the first 3 months of lockdown during the COVID-19 epidemic. During the period March-May 2020, 12.6% of participants reported experiencing any IPV with higher rates of emotional IPV (10.3%) than sexual (2.2%) or physical (1.8%) IPV. Of those who reported IPV victimization during lockdown, for almost half this was their first time experience: 5.3% reported the IPV they experienced happened for the first time during the past 3 months (0.8% physical, 2.13% sexual, and 3.3% emotional). Reporting of perpetration of IPV during lockdown was lower: only 6% reported perpetrating any IPV, with perpetration rates of 1.5% for physical, 0.5% for sexual, and 5.3% for emotional IPV. Of those who reported perpetration of IPV during lockdown, very small percentages reported that this was the first time they had perpetrated IPV: 0.9% for any IPV (0.2% physical, 0.2% sexual, and 0.6% emotional). The results illustrate an increased need for IPV resources for GBMSM during these times of increased stress and uncertainty, and the need to find models of resource and service delivery that can work inside of social distancing guidelines while protecting the confidentiality and safety of those who are experiencing IPV.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Model-Building for Research on Subjective Well-Being: Gaining Clarity on Control Variables

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bartram
Keyword(s):  
Model Building ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Directed Acyclic Graphs ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Acyclic Graphs ◽  
Standard Set ◽  
Substantial Bias ◽  
Parsimonious Model

AbstractHappiness/well-being researchers who use quantitative analysis often do not give persuasive reasons why particular variables should be included as controls in their cross-sectional models. One commonly sees notions of a “standard set” of controls, or the “usual suspects”, etc. These notions are not coherent and can lead to results that are significantly biased with respect to a genuine causal relationship.This article presents some core principles for making more effective decisions of that sort.  The contribution is to introduce a framework (the “causal revolution”, e.g. Pearl and Mackenzie 2018) unfamiliar to many social scientists (though well established in epidemiology) and to show how it can be put into practice for empirical analysis of causal questions.  In simplified form, the core principles are: control for confounding variables, and do not control for intervening variables or colliders.  A more comprehensive approach uses directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to discern models that meet a minimum/efficient criterion for identification of causal effects.The article demonstrates this mode of analysis via a stylized investigation of the effect of unemployment on happiness.  Most researchers would include other determinants of happiness as controls for this purpose.  One such determinant is income—but income is an intervening variable in the path from unemployment to happiness, and including it leads to substantial bias.  Other commonly-used variables are simply unnecessary, e.g. religiosity and sex.  From this perspective, identifying the effect of unemployment on happiness requires controlling only for age and education; a small (parsimonious) model is evidently preferable to a more complex one in this instance.

TRIPLOID APPLE VARIETIES OF SUMMER RIPENING SELECTION VNIISPK ON CLONAL ROOTSTOCK 54-118

1970 ◽  
pp. 34-36
Author(s):  
А. M. Galasheva ◽  
Е. N. Sedov
Keyword(s):  
Tree Height ◽  
Projection Area ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Crown Width ◽  
Crown Volume ◽  
The World ◽  
Apple Cultivars ◽  
Crown Projection Area ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
First Time

For the first time in the world and in Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, breeder Evgeny Nikolaevich Sedov created a series of triploid apple cultivars from intervalent crosses 2х × 4х. Triploid apple cultivars bear fruit more regularly, have higher self-fruitfulness and have fruits of high marketability. The article presents data on the study of triploid apple cultivars of the summer ripening period of the VNIISPK breeding - Augusta, Daryona, Maslovskoye, Osipovskoye, Zhilinskoye, Spasskoye and Yablochny Spas as well as the control Canadian cultivar Melba on a semi-dwarf clone rootstock 54-118. Maslovskoye, Zhilinskoye, Spasskoye and Yablochny Spas have immunity to scab. The orchard was planted in 2014, the garden planting scheme was 5 x 2 m. The indicators of the growth force (tree height, crown width and stem diameter) and the yield of trees were studied. At the age of six, the trees of triploid cultivars reached a height of 2.2 m (Maslovskoye) to 3.0 m (Yablochny Spas) on a semi-dwarf rootstock 54-118. The highest indicators of crown volume (3.3-5.3 m3), crown projection area (4.2-5.3 m2) and the cross-sectional area of the stem (46.5-52.8 cm2) were in Osipovskoye, Yablochny Spas, Zhilinskoye and Spasskoye. The highest yield in an average of three years was given by triploid scab-immune apple cultivars on a semi-dwarf rootstock 54-118: Maslovskoye, Zhilinskoye, Spasskoye and Yablochny Spas.

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