URBAN WELFARE REGIMES,ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES,AND CLIENT‐STAFF TIE ACTIVATION: A COMPARISON OF TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PROGRAMS IN LOS ANGELES AND TOKYO

With state safety nets failing to keep up with expanding urban poverty, ties to community organizations can provide crucial resources. But what explains variation in such tie activation at urban, organizational, and individual levels? I advance a multilevel framework of organizational client–staff tie activation that centralizes the role of trust and specifies effects of multiple social contexts. I apply the framework to an exploratory comparison of transitional housing programs in Los Angeles and Tokyo, including analysis of qualitative data collected among clients, staff, and administrators. I argue that urban welfare regimes and organizational cultures are key contexts shaping how macro‐level forces like neoliberalism intersect with micro‐level processes of social capital building in differentiated ways. Urban scholars can inform theory and practice by further analyzing how organizational‐level trust building practices of holism and flexibility can be affected by urban‐level regulations on scope of aid and inter‐organizational ties.     

Resource settings have a major influence on the outcome of maintenance hemodialysis patients in South India

Chronic kidney disease is reaching epidemic proportions and the number of patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) is increasing worldwide and also in developing countries. To meet the challenge of providing RRT, a few charity organizations provide hemodialysis units for underprivileged patients, as the private hospitals are unaffordable for the majority. There is a paucity of information on the outcome of dialysis in these patients. Here, we describe the outcome of hemodialysis patients comparing the middle‐ and upper‐class income group with the lower class income group. A retrospective analysis was carried out in 558 CKD patients initiated on maintenance hemodialysis in two different dialysis facilities. Group A (n=247) included those who belonged to the lowermost socioeconomic status and were undergoing dialysis in two nonprofit, charity (TANKER)‐run dialysis units, and Group B (n=311) was undergoing dialysis in a nonprofit hospital setting where no subsidy was given. Those patients of a low socioeconomic status, especially those who are diabetics, have a higher death rate (Group A‐38.1%, Group B‐4.2%) and loss to follow‐up (Group A‐25.9%, Group B‐0.3%) compared with those who are in the middle‐ and high‐income group. Higher EPO use and hence higher hemoglobin levels (Group A‐6.4±1.2, Group B‐8.9±1.5 P<0.001) were observed in those who were in the middle and the higher income group. Lower serum phosphorus level was observed in the low‐socioeconomic group (Group A‐4.7±1.5, Group B‐5.5±1.9, P<0.001). Patients belonging to the middle and higher socioeconomic group undergo more transplantations compared with the lower socioeconomic group (Group A‐2.4%, Group B‐65.6%).     

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF SOYBEAN OIL PRODUCTION

A life cycle assessment (LCA) case study was conducted on the processing of soybeans to soybean oil. Three stages of soybean oil processing are studied in detail: preprocessing, extraction and separation, and postprocessing. For extraction, hexane (current industrial process) and supercritical CO₂ (research and development [R & D ] laboratory‐scale process) methods are compared in detail. The initial life cycle comparison found that the laboratory‐scale CO₂ system was not as good in life cycle impacts as the hexane system. However, reasonable engineering improvements typical of scale‐up practices would make the CO₂ technology better than hexane and eliminate the hexane emissions. Utilization of membrane techniques to separate the small molecular CO₂ from the soybean oil hydrocarbon appears to be a much better R & D direction for development. This article illustrates the ability to use life cycle as an aid to R & D to select more advantageous directions for process improvement.     

Anthocyanin Composition of Red Raspberry Juice: Influences of Cultivar, Processing, and Environmental Factors

The anthocyanin and anthocyanidin pigment profiles of 46 authentic red raspberry juice samples were determined by HPLC. Total anthocyanin pigment content and percent polymeric color were also determined. This generated a database incorporating influences of cultivar, geographic origin, maturity, processing, and mold contamination. Cultivars exhibited characteristic patterns distinguished by quantitative rather than qualitative differences. Total pigment ranged from 4 to 1,102 mg/L. Commercial red raspberry juice concentrates (14) were also analyzed. Two were shown to be adulterated because of the presence of delphinidin glycosides. Three samples contained high amounts of polymerized pigments, indicating a history of processing or storage abuse.     

A NEW NEW ORLEANS? UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF HISTORY AND THE STATE–LOCAL RELATIONSHIP IN THE RECOVERY PROCESS

ABSTRACT: Two years after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the city still struggles to rebuild and recover. In this article, we examine how deeply rooted historical patterns of state–local conflict reasserted themselves even after the terrible destruction of Katrina and the redemptive promise of a new beginning. We also explain how state government, some city leaders, and most New Orleanians took advantage of the opportunities presented by Hurricane Katrina to change certain aspects of governance in New Orleans. This research highlights the importance of the state–local relationship in understanding urban affairs and the critical nature of historical patterns and their persistence. State–local conflicts over finances, control of local politics, and cultural differences have plagued New Orleans for decades, and they continue to do so in the post‐Katrina era.     

INTERCITY RENT DIFFERENTIALS IN THE U.S. HOUSING MARKET 2000: UNDERSTANDING RENT VARIATIONS AS A SOCIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

ABSTRACT: This study extends the intercity rent differentials investigation by Gilderbloom and Appelbaum (1988) in relatively independent housing markets to see how it can be replicated using U.S. census data from the year 2000 against the 1970 and 1980 models with the addition of several new variables to measure its impact on intercity rents. We find that region, race, and climate no longer explain rent differentials in 2000 as it did in the 1980 research, while affirming that a large percentage of old houses and small mom‐and‐pop landlords causes rents to fall. We find that both the cost of homeownership and the level of household income remain critical factors in explaining the level of median rent across cities. We also find a strong correlation between cities with extensive anti‐war activity in the late 1960s and same sex households having higher rents, although more research needs to be done before we argue a causal relationship. We contend that sociology needs to be put back into the equation in order to understand how rents vary from city to city. Our explanation of rent variations adds a social dimension that most other researches miss. We also show how the amount of explanatory power is increased significantly by adding in a sociological dimension.     

DRIVING RECORD OF NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS.

DRIVING RECORDS WERE OBTAINED FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES FOR ALL PATIENTS ADMITTED TO THE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC WARDS OF A VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL WITH ACTIVE DRIVERS LICENSES IN THEIR POSSESSION. THE 165-PATIENT SAMPLE HAD ACCIDENT AND VIOLATION RECORDS WHICH DID NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE CALIFORNIA MALE DRIVING POPULATION. 80% OF THE SAMPLE HAD NO ACCIDENTS AND MORE THAN 3 OF THE SAMPLE HAD NO MORE THAN 1 DRIVING VIOLATION DURING THE 3 YR. PRECEDING HOSPITALIZATION. THERE WAS NO CLEAR-CUT DIFFERENCE IN NEGLIGENT-OPERATOR POINT COUNT BETWEEN THE PATIENT GROUP AND THE CALIFORNIA MALE DRIVING POPULATION EXCEPT AT THE HIGH END OF THE POINT-COUNT DISTRIBUTION FOR A VERY SMALL PROPORTION OF PATIENTS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A GEOGRAPHY‐SPECIFIC APPROACH TO ESTIMATING THE DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACT OF HIGHWAY TOLLS: AN APPLICATION TO THE PUGET SOUND REGION OF WASHINGTON STATE

ABSTRACT: This study contributes to the debate about tolls’ equity impacts by examining the potential economic costs of tolling for low‐income and non‐low‐income households. Using data from the Puget Sound metropolitan region in Washington State and geographic information systems methods to map driving routes from home to work, we examine car ownership and transportation patterns among low‐income and non‐low‐income households. We follow standard practice of estimating tolls’ potential impact only on households with workers who would drive on tolled and nontolled facilities. We then redo the analysis including broader groups of households. We find that the degree of regressivity is quite sensitive to the set of households included in the analysis. The results suggest that distributional analyses of tolls should estimate impacts on all households in the relevant region in addition to impacts on just users of roads that are currently tolled or likely to be tolled.