A framework for joint estimation of age,gender and ethnicity on a large database

Human age, gender and ethnicity are valuable demographic characteristics. They are also important soft biometric traits useful for human identification or verification. We present a framework that can estimate the three traits jointly. The joint estimation framework could deal with the mutual influence of age, gender, and ethnicity implicitly. Under this joint estimation framework, we explore different methods for simultaneous estimation of age, gender, and ethnicity. The canonical correlation analysis (CCA) based methods, and partial least squares (PLS) models are explored under our joint estimation framework. Both the linear and nonlinear methods are investigated to measure the performance. We also validate some extensions of these methods, such as the least squares formulations of the CCA methods. We found some consistent ranking of these methods under our joint estimation framework. More importantly, we found that the CCA based methods can derive an extremely low dimensionality in estimating age, gender and ethnicity. An analysis of this property is given based on the rank theory. The experiments are conducted on a very large database containing more than 55,000 face images.     

Pre‐natal and post‐natal exposure to pet ownership and lung function in children: The Seven Northeastern Cities Study

To evaluate the association between pre‐natal and post‐natal exposure to pet ownership and lung function in children, a cross‐sectional study named Seven Northeastern Cities (SNEC) study was conducted. In this study, children's lung function including the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), maximal mid‐expiratory flow (MMEF), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were measured by spirometers, and pet ownership situations were collected by questionnaire. Analyzed by multiple logistic regression and generalized linear modeling, we found that for all subjects, pet exposure in the first 2 years of life was significantly associated with lung function impairment of FVC<85% predicted (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01, 1.63). For current pet exposure, the increased odds of lung function impairment ranged from 35% (aOR=1.35; 95%CI: 1.12, 1.62) for FVC<85% predicted to 57% (aOR=1.57; 95%CI: 1.29, 1.93) for FEV₁<85% predicted. The in utero exposure was not related to lung function impairment. Compared with other pets, higher odds were observed among children with dogs. When stratified by gender, girls with current pet exposure were more likely to have lung function impairment than boys. It implies self‐reported exposures to pets were negatively associated with lung function among the children under study.     

Effects of color on expectations of drug effects: A cross‐gender cross‐cultural study

To study the role of color in expectations of drug effects, 80 Chinese participants (40 females and 40 males) were asked to classify each of seven single colored capsules and six differently colored two‐piece capsules into one of four classifications of drug effects. The results from the Chinese sample were also compared with that from four other cultural groups studied elsewhere. The Chi‐square test results showed that all seven single colored capsules yielded non‐chance distributions in classifications of drug effects, with six showing specific effects; and that five two‐colored capsules had non‐chance distributions, with four significantly associated with specific effects. Notable gender differences were observed in the expectations of drug effects. While the cross‐group comparison revealed consistent red‐stimulant and blue‐depressant associations across the five cultural groups, disagreements existed for other colors among the groups. The findings emphasized the importance of color in drug design and administration in support of drug differentiation, medication adherence, and drug efficacy, and suggest gender and cultural implications on the basis of color to achieve better drug effects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 124–130, 2017     

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Alice H. Eagly.

Alice H. Eagly, winner of the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, is cited for her work in the field of social psychology, the psychology of gender, and the use of meta-analytic techniques. She envisions a psychology that extends from individual cognitions to societal structures. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of Eagly's works are presented. Also included is Eagly's paper, entitled "The his and hers of prosocial behavior: An examination of the social psychology of gender," a version of which she delivered at the American Psychological Association's annual convention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factorial invariance of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale across gender.

The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; G. B. Spanier, 1976) is the most widely used inventory of relationship satisfaction in the social sciences, yet the question of whether it is measuring the same concept in men and women has never been addressed. In the current study, the authors examined the factor structure of the DAS in a sample of 900 currently married couples who participated in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to a second-order factor solution with Spanier’s four factors (Dyadic Consensus, Dyadic Satisfaction, Dyadic Cohesion, Affectional Expression) loading on one higher order factor (Relationship Adjustment), to test for measurement invariance across gender. The second-order solution was relatively invariant across gender, even when taking into account the nonindependent nature of the data. This suggests that the best conceptualization of the DAS is one of a gender-invariant measure of marital adjustment with four distinct subfactors and that differences between men and women on any of these constructs can be interpreted by both clinicians and researchers as true mean differences rather than measurement bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Externality, internality, and (in)dispensability of grammatical features in speech production: Evidence from Czech declension and conjugation.

In 3 picture–word experiments, the authors explored the activation of 2 grammatical features in Czech during lexical access: declensional class of nouns and conjugational class of verbs. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated congruency effects of declensional and conjugational class, respectively. Picture naming times were reliably longer if the declensional or conjugational classes of the pictures' names and the distractors were incongruent. Experiment 3 explored the origin of the congruency effect in more detail. Congruency effects were obtained for declensional class regardless of whether the target name and the distractor differed in form, speaking for competition at the lemma level. These findings are discussed in comparison with gender congruency effects. The authors propose a differentiation between externally and internally specified features of lemmas, especially with respect to the time course of their activation. Internal features that become available only when the lemma is activated (e.g., gender, declensional or conjugational class of nouns and verbs) can be bypassed or not, depending on the grammatical specification of the earlier available external features (like case or number). Following this argument, supposedly inconsistent findings regarding grammatical gender and declensional or conjugational class can be explained straightforwardly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of fog,driver experience and gender on driving behavior on S-curved road segments

Driving on curved roads has been recognized as a significant safety issue for many years. However, driver behavior and the interactions among variables that affect driver performance on curves is complicated and not well understood. Previous studies have investigated various factors that influence driver performance on right- or left-turn curves, but have paid little attention to the effects of foggy weather, driver experience and gender on driver performance on complex curves. A driving simulator experiment was conducted in this study to evaluate the relationships between driving behavior on a continuous S-curve and foggy weather, driver experience and gender. The process of negotiating a curve was divided into three stages consisting of a straight segment, the transition from the straight segment to the S-curve and the S-curve. The experimental results indicated that drivers tended to drive more cautiously in heavy fog, but the driving risk was still increased, especially in the transition stage from the straight segment to the S-curve. The non-professional (NP) drivers were less sensitive to the impending change in the road geometry, and less skilled in both longitudinal and lateral vehicle control than the professional drivers. The NP female drivers in particular were found to be the most vulnerable group in S-curve driving.     

Afterword—gendering religious objects: placing them as agents in matrices of power

ABSTRACT

The articles in this special issue demonstrate how objects can be interpreted as agents, as gendered images that make a statement, and how their impacts can be understood and assessed by human actors. They are differentially placed in matrices of power, and they can be manipulated to shift genders, to play with gendered combinations, to expand the limits of a particular gendered domain, to creatively play with reproductive imagery, and even to sell commodities in new and enticing ways in the mass media. Gendered religious objects are “statements” addressed not only to the eye but to the emotions, and part of a complex cultural field in which things can play important roles in people's lives. The links that connect ritual power to other forms of agency and biographical significance are perhaps the most significant links that we need to examine to understand them better in a world of many diverse cultural forms.     

Site operatives’ attitudes towards traditional masculinity ideology in the Australian construction industry

There is a widely accepted assumption in the construction literature that the industry is highly masculinised. However, there has been a surprising lack of empirical evidence around workers’ own attitudes towards masculinity in the sector. Addressing this lack of research, a survey to measure construction site operatives’ attitudes towards traditional masculinity ideology was undertaken in Australia using the Male Role Norms Inventory Scale-Short Form (MRNI-SF). It is found that the focus of attitudes towards masculinity in the construction industry may be shifting to reflect trends in the wider population and may be more inclusive and less hegemonic than has been previously argued. It is also found that the focus of masculinity in the construction industry is closely related to the physical and high-risk nature of work and that sexuality and humour may also be an important source of masculine identity. These results are important since they contribute a more nuanced understanding of the dimensions and exact nature of attitudes towards masculinity in the construction industry. It is concluded that future research into the impact of masculinity in areas such as gender diversity, safety and mental health would benefit from a more inclusive theoretical lens which recognises the dynamic nature of masculinity and which highlights the institutional legacies of past hegemonies that have to be challenged to move the industry forward.