Think then act or act then think?

We introduce a new agent-based model of opinion dynamics in which binary opinions of each agent can be measured and described regarding both pre- and post-influence at both of two levels, public and private, vis-à-vis the influence source. The model combines ideas introduced within the q-voter model with noise, proposed by physicists, with the descriptive, four-dimensional model of social response, formulated by social psychologists. We investigate two versions of the same model that differ only by the updating order: an opinion on the public level is updated before an opinion on the private level or vice versa. We show how the results on the macroscopic scale depend on this order. The main finding of this paper is that both models produce the same outcome if one looks only at such a macroscopic variable as the total number of the individuals with positive opinions. However, if also the level of internal harmony (viz., dissonance) is measured, then significant, qualitative differences are seen between these two versions of the model. All results were obtained simultaneously within Monte Carlo simulations and analytical calculations. We discuss the importance of our studies and findings from three points of view: the theory of phase transitions, agent-based modeling of social systems, and social psychology.

[The comparative analysis of the medico-social characteristics and objective somato-stomatology status in the patients who have worried at children's age the siege of Leningrad and their contemporaries].

The research is executed on 73 patients of the senile age who have worried in their childhood the siege of Leningrad and group of comparison--140 patients of comparable age. The comparative analysis of indicators of the medico-social, objective somatic and dental status at the patients who have worried at children's age the siege of Leningrad and their contemporaries, not being exposed extreme impacts of the siege is carried out. The essential increase in number of correlative communications between an indicator of a cumulative rating scale of somatic diseases and the stomatologic status at the patients of the senile age who have endured the siege is established.

Clinical and social characteristics of Korean men with Klinefelter syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the characteristics of Klinefelter syndrome in a consecutive series of men consulting for sexual as well as fertility problems in Korea. METHODS: A total of 179 men with non-mosaic 47,XXY Klinefelter syndrome of the 1876 azoospermic males who visited the fertility center of our university hospital between January 2002 and January 2010 were included in this analysis. Their semen characteristics, hormone profiles, size of the prostate gland, and education level were assessed and compared with an age-matched control group of 218 fertile males. Additionally, a histological evaluation was carried out. RESULTS: Prostate size, testicular volume, semen volume and symptom severity showed statistically significant differences in both groups (P < 0.0001). As the severity of signs and symptoms worsened, the education level decreased. Each degree of signs and symptoms was associated with a different level of education, as well as with significant differences in the level of testosterone and testicular volume (P < 0.05). Spearman's correlation coefficient showed the severity of signs and symptoms was associated with testosterone (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Testosterone has the strongest negative association with the severity of signs and symptoms in patients with Klinefelter syndrome. It influences the reproductive capacity, as well as the manifested signs and symptoms of hypogonadism. Furthermore, it is also associated with various aspects of life in these patients.

[Aborting women social characteristics: a study in Maine-et-Loire region (France) in 2007]. / Caractéristiques sociodémographiques des femmes recourant à l'interruption volontaire de grossesse, et de sa prise en charge dans le Maine-et-Loire en 2007.

The number of voluntary termination of pregnancies (VTOP) in the district of Maine-et-Loire (France) has been slightly increasing in the last ten years but the rate of childbearing age seems to be stable as it is on a national or regional data. The aborting women in this district seem to be representative of French women terminating pregnancy regarding sociodemographical, gynaecological and contraception criteria. When they come to abort, the terms of the pregnant women are also representative. But if we compare the three family planning clinics of this department, we realise that the psycho-social interview is not equally carried out. In these three centres, there is the same proportion of medication abortion (as on a national and regional scale) but much less surgical abortion under general anaesthetic in Cholet (3.9%) than in Angers (27.7%) or Saumur (64.2%). The regional rate was of 30% and the national one of 65%. The explanation is the lack of time slot for general anaesthetics in Cholet and Angers. The majority of these women used a contraception method to avoid unwanted pregnancies but we observe a lot of failures due to natural methods and condoms (especially with young people). School prevention as well as prevention on a larger population of women and couples must be comprehensive and carried out seriously. It is essential to train doctors sufficiently and regularly on the questions of contraception in general (methods, instructions…).

Sleep in Mexican-American adolescents: social ecological and well-being correlates.

A burgeoning body of research documents links between sleep and adjustment in adolescence, but little is known about the role of the social ecology in promoting healthful sleeping habits. This study was aimed at identifying the socio-cultural correlates of adolescents' sleep, including average nighttime sleep duration, average daytime napping, and night-to-night variability in sleep duration and assessing the links between these dimensions of sleep and adjustment in Mexican-American youth. Participants were 469 Mexican-American adolescents (50.5% female) and their mothers and fathers. Data on family socio-cultural characteristics and youth adjustment were collected in home interviews with youth, mothers, and fathers, and, during 7 evening telephone interviews, adolescents reported on nighttime sleep and daytime napping for the prior 24-h period. Night-to night variability and napping were more strongly linked to youth depressive symptoms and risky behavior than was average nighttime sleep, whereas nighttime sleep predicted lower body mass index. Lower parental acculturation and fathers' familism values predicted more healthful sleep, and higher levels of family income, parental education and neighborhood crime predicted less healthful sleep. In addition to illuminating the significance of socio-cultural influences on youths' sleep, this study contributes to the literature by documenting the multidimensionality of sleep patterns and their links with adjustment in an understudied population.

Similar survival on automated peritoneal dialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in a large prospective cohort.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is increasingly used in comparison with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Although APD is expected to improve survival, convincing evidence of major advantages is lacking. The objective was to investigate whether overall mortality and technique failure of incident dialysis patients treated with APD are different from those treated with CAPD. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Patients on APD or CAPD at 3 mo after start of dialysis were selected from a prospective multicenter cohort study in incident dialysis patients (NECOSAD). Overall mortality was studied with an intention-to-treat design; the event was death. Technique failure was studied with an as-treated design; the event was a switch of dialysis modality. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated with a follow-up of 5 yr. The HRs were adjusted for gender, age, primary kidney disease, comorbidity, residual GFR, urine production and plasma albumin at 3 mo after inclusion. RESULTS: Eighty-seven APD and 562 CAPD patients were included. In the intention-to-treat analysis 154 CAPD and 21 APD patients died. The crude HR for overall mortality was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.62-1.54), the adjusted HR was 1.09. In the as-treated analysis 238 CAPD and 34 APD patients switched therapy, whereas 91 CAPD and 7 APD patients died. The crude HR for technique failure was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.64-1.31) and did not change after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: No difference was found in overall mortality and technique failure for APD compared with CAPD in incident dialysis patients.

Comparison of health and social characteristics of people leaving New York City jails by age, gender, and race/ethnicity: implications for public health interventions.

OBJECTIVES: We compared health and social needs by gender, age, and race/ ethnicity of people leaving New York City jails and assessed the implication of these differences for the development of jail reentry programs. METHODS: Surveys were completed with 1,946 individuals (536 men, 704 women, and 706 adolescent males) between 1997 and 2004. Structured questionnaires captured data on demographic, criminal justice, substance use, and health characteristics. Bivariate comparisons were performed to determine variations between men and women, men and male adolescents, and non-Latino black and Hispanic/Latino respondents. RESULTS: The majority of participants were black and Hispanic/Latino, reported high levels of substance use, had high rates of recidivism, and experienced difficult living circumstances. Compared with men, women were more likely to be homeless, use illicit drugs, report drug charges at index arrest, have health problems, and be parents. Adolescent males were more likely than men to rely on illegal activities for income and to have used marijuana and alcohol recently, and were less likely to report homelessness or health problems. Ethnic/racial differences between black and Hispanic/Latino respondents within gender and age groups were smaller than differences among these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Jails concentrate individuals with multifaceted health and social problems, providing opportunities to engage at-risk populations in comprehensive reentry programs. Gender, age, and ethnic/racial differences among incarcerated populations require that interventions be tailored to the specific needs of these different groups.

Bridging the gap: using microsociological theory to understand how expressed emotion predicts clinical outcomes.

Research has shown that expressed emotion (EE) among families is a strong predictor of relapse for people with severe mental illness. Recent studies have also found the presence of EE in consumer-provider relationships. Despite high consistency in the findings related to EE and relapse, the concept has weak validity as little is known about how exactly it triggers relapse. Microsociological theory provides a framework with which to analyze social interaction and, more specifically, understand how interactions relate to the emotions of pride and shame. By identifying the components of interaction rituals, the theory provides insight into the key processes underlying EE and demonstrates how methodologies based on direct observation have the potential to measure EE with greater validity. This article describes how microsociological theory can be applied to the concept of EE.

Women's and men's careers in British sociology.

The career experience of men and women in British university sociology since 1950 is compared, using published data for the whole group and fresh data from a sample of departments. It is shown that, when like is compared with like, the outcomes for men and for women have not been as different as is often suggested; family reasons were more salient in women's careers, but in the end have not made much difference to their destinations. But the proportions of women recruited have varied over time, and the experience of both sexes has been strongly influenced by historical factors affecting different periods. Within the constraints which those have imposed, individuals have not all made the same choices, and that too has affected the outcomes.

Disciplinary perspectives on later-life migration in the core journals of social gerontology.

PURPOSE: The authors examine the bibliographic structure of recent research on later-life migration, highlighting the contributions of particular journals and disciplines. DESIGN AND METHODS: The authors identify the primary journals publishing research in this area, including a set of four core journals within the field of social gerontology. They evaluate the disciplinary affiliations of authors publishing in the core journals and the extent to which those journals cite relevant research published elsewhere. RESULTS: Geographical and economic perspectives on later-life migration are underrepresented within the core journals of social gerontology. In particular, major articles published outside the core journals are seldom cited within those journals. IMPLICATIONS: Although the core journals of social gerontology account for over a third of the recent literature on later-life migration, they present only a partial (chiefly sociological) perspective on the subject.

The effect of researchers' focus on interpretation of diversity data.

The tendency for intercultural researchers to focus primarily on cultural differences instead of both differences and similarities may reflect the emphasis of current statistical methodology toward cultural distance instead of cultural overlap. The authors proposed the cultural similarity index as a way of assessing the extent of communalities between 2 groups. The authors (a) analyzed research (T. Cox, S. Lobel, & P. L. McLeod, 1991; Y. F. Niemann & J. Dovidio, 1998) that placed a primary emphasis on differences, (b) presented alternative insights gained from a focus on similarities, and (c) explored the implications of a research focus on both cultural differences and similarities.

Reconciling cross-sectional and longitudinal measures of fertility, Quebec 1890-1900.

In the absence of vital registration, studies of the onset and early phases of the fertility transition in North America have been seriously hampered and yet the seemingly early timing of the decline, the multi-ethnic nature of the population and continuous flow of immigrants from Europe suggest that North America has much to offer to this debate. This paper is primarily methodological drawing on parallel data for the city of Montreal and surrounding region. By reconciling cross-sectional census measures of fertility using the own-child methods (1901) with those derived from a longitudinal ten-year panel (1891-1901) using family reconstitution, it exposes some of the weaknesses and the potentials of the two methods most often currently used and the advantages of combining methods. Own-children measures of marital fertility are seriously affected by significant local differences in infant survival between rural and urban areas and between cultural groups as well as by residual effects of duration and timing of marriage, while small-scale longitudinal studies in complex environments cannot always render reliable results for all sub-populations not can they necessarily be 'scaled up.' They suggest that national and even regional averages of fertility may conceal large diversity, which in turn raises questions about the existence of any single transition with uniform characteristics and timing, or universal cause. Instead we argue different groups in different environments may actually have been fine-tuning their fertility behaviour to compensate for the differential effects of mortality through adjustments to both marriage and fertility within marriage.