Is language a barrier for quality care in hospitals? A case series from an Emergency Department of a teaching hospital in Brisbane

Aim: The aim of this pilot study is to describe the use of an Emergency Department (ED) at a large metropolitan teaching hospital by patients who speak English or other languages at home. Methods: All data were retrieved from the Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) of this tertiary teaching hospital in Brisbane. Patients were divided into two groups based on the language spoken at home: patients who speak English only at home (SEO) and patients who do not speak English only or speak other language at home (NSEO). Modes of arrival, length of ED stay and the proportion of hospital admission were compared among the two groups of patients by using SPSS V18 software. Results: A total of 69,494 patients visited this hospital ED in 2009 with 67,727 (97.5%) being in the SEO group and 1,281 (1.80%) in the NSEO group. The proportion of ambulance utilisation in arrival mode was significantly higher among SEO 23,172 (34.2%) than NSEO 397 (31.0%), p <0.05. The NSEO patients had longer length of stay in the ED (M = 337.21, SD = 285.9) compared to SEO patients (M= 290.9, SD = 266.8), with 46.3 minutes (95%CI 62.1, 30.5, p <0.001) difference. The admission to the hospital among NSEO was 402 (31.9%) higher than SEO 17,652 (26.6%), p <0.001. Conclusion: The lower utilisation rates of ambulance services, longer length of ED stay and higher hospital admission rates in NSEO patients compared to SEO patients are consistent with other international studies and may be due to the language barriers.

Language affects length of stay in emergency departments in Queensland public hospitals

BACKGROUND: A long length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department (ED) associated with overcrowding has been found to adversely affect the quality of ED care. The objective of this study is to determine whether patients who speak a language other than English at home have a longer LOS in EDs compared to those whose speak only English at home. METHODS: A secondary data analysis of a Queensland state-wide hospital EDs dataset (Emergency Department Information System) was conducted for the period, 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010. RESULTS: The interpreter requirement was the highest among Vietnamese speakers (23.1%) followed by Chinese (19.8%) and Arabic speakers (18.7%). There were significant differences in the distributions of the departure statuses among the language groups (Chi-squared=3236.88, P<0.001). Compared with English speakers, the Beta coeffi cient for the LOS in the EDs measured in minutes was among Vietnamese, 26.3 (95%CI: 22.1–30.5); Arabic, 10.3 (95%CI: 7.3–13.2); Spanish, 9.4 (95%CI: 7.1–11.7); Chinese, 8.6 (95%CI: 2.6–14.6); Hindi, 4.0 (95%CI: 2.2–5.7); Italian, 3.5 (95%CI: 1.6–5.4); and German, 2.7 (95%CI: 1.0–4.4). The fi nal regression model explained 17% of the variability in LOS. CONCLUSION: There is a close relationship between the language spoken at home and the LOS at EDs, indicating that language could be an important predictor of prolonged LOS in EDs and improving language services might reduce LOS and ease overcrowding in EDs in Queensland's public hospitals.

Language use at home and performance in English composition in multilingual Ghana

Ghana has witnessed a recurrent debate on the usefulness of indigenous Ghanaian languages in childhood education. It is assumed that using the mother tongue as a Medium of Instruction (MOI) during the early years improves children’s ability to acquire knowledge and other languages. Not everybody subscribes to this view though. There are those who feel that a solid start in English offers children a better chance of succeeding in school and in their careers. Presently, some parents who subscribe to the latter view have taken the extra step of stopping the use of indigenous Ghanaian languages at home. This paper presents the results of our investigation into whether the home language practices of Ghanaian students have any impact on their performance in English written argumentative discourse. The results are based on an analysis of an assigned essay of 92 students from one of Ghana’s best senior high schools. We then correlated their per¬formance with responses they gave to a questionnaire interrogating their background and language use at home. While some speak the native language at home, others grew up speaking exclusively English. We show that students who combine English and native Ghanaian languages at home performed better than those who used only English or only Ghanaian languages.

Vocabulary of the language spoken by the aborigines of the Southern and Eastern portions of the settled districts of South Australia, viz., by the tribes in the vicinity of Encounter Bay, and (with slight variations) by those extending along the coast to the Eastward around Lake Alexandrina and for distance up the River Murray: preceded by a grammar, showing the construction of the language as far as at present known,

Mode of access: Internet.

A Grammar of Tajio. A Language Spoken in Central Sulawesi

This work is a description of Tajio, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It covers the essential aspects of Tajio grammar without being exhaustive. Tajio has a medium sized phoneme inventory consisting of twenty consonants and five vowels. The language does not have lexical (word) stress; rather, it has a phrasal accent. This phrasal accent regularly occurs on the penultimate syllable of an intonational phrase, rendering this syllable auditorily prominent through a pitch rise. Possible syllable structures in Tajio are (C)V(C). CVN structures are allowed as closed syllables, but CVN syllables in word-medial position are not frequent. As in other languages in the area, the only sequence of consonants allowed in native Tajio words are sequences of nasals followed by a homorganic obstruent. The homorganic nasal-obstruent sequences found in Tajio can occur word-initially and word-medially but never in word-final position. As in many Austronesian languages, word class classification in Tajio is not straightforward. The classification of words in Tajio must be carried out on two levels: the morphosyntactic level and the lexical level. The open word classes in Tajio consist of nouns and verbs. Verbs are further divided into intransitive verbs (dynamic intransitive verbs and statives) and dynamic transitive verbs. Based on their morphological potential, lexical roots in Tajio fall into three classes: single-class roots, dual-class roots and multi-class roots. There are two basic transitive constructions in Tajio: Actor Voice and Undergoer Voice, where the actor or undergoer argument respectively serves as subjects. It shares many characteristics with symmetrical voice languages, yet it is not fully symmetric, as arguments in AV and UV are not equally marked. Neither subjects nor objects are marked in AV constructions. In UV constructions, however, subjects are unmarked while objects are marked either by prefixation or clitization. Evidence from relativization, control and raising constructions supports the analysis that AV and UV are in fact transitive, with subject arguments and object arguments behaving alike in both voices. Only the subject can be relativized, controlled, raised or function as the implicit subject of subjectless adverbial clauses. In contrast, the objects of AV and UV constructions do not exhibit these features. Tajio is a predominantly head-marking language with basic A-V-O constituent order. V and O form a constituent, and the subject can either precede or follow this complex. Thus, basic word order is S-V-O or V-O-S. Subject, as well as non-subject arguments, may be omitted when contextually specified. Verbs are marked for voice and mood, the latter of which is is obligatory. The two values distinguished are realis and non-realis. Depending on the type of predicate involved in clause formation, three clause types can be distinguished: verbal clauses, existential clauses and non-verbal clauses. Tajio has a small number of multi-verbal structures that appear to qualify as serial verb constructions. SVCs in Tajio always include a motion verb or a directional.

Trends in demographic, health behaviour factors, and self-perceived weight status : influences on obesity in Australia from 1995 to 2005

Overweight and obesity are two of the most important emerging public health issues in our time and regarded by the World Health Organisation [WHO] (1998) as a worldwide epidemic. The prevalence of obesity in the USA is the highest in the world, and Australian obesity rates fall into second place. Currently, about 60% of Australian adults are overweight (BMI „d 25kg/m2). The socio-demographic factors associated with overweight and/or obesity have been well demonstrated, but many of the existing studies only examined these relationships at one point of time, and did not examine whether significant relationships changed over time. Furthermore, only limited previous research has examined the issue of the relationship between perception of weight status and actual weight status, as well as factors that may impact on people¡¦s perception of their body weight status. Aims: The aims of the proposed research are to analyse the discrepancy between perceptions of weight status and actual weight status in Australian adults; to examine if there are trends in perceptions of weight status in adults between 1995 to 2004/5; and to propose a range of health promotion strategies and furth er research that may be useful in managing physical activity, healthy diet, and weight reduction. Hypotheses: Four alternate hypotheses are examined by the research: (1) there are associations between independent variables (e.g. socio -demographic factors, physical activity and dietary habits) and overweight and/or obesity; (2) there are associations between the same independent variables and the perception of overweight; (3) there are associations between the same independent variables and the discrepancy between weight status and perception of weight status; and (4) there are trends in overweight and/or obesity, perception of overweight, and the discrepancy in Australian adults from 1995 to 2004/5. Conceptual Framework and Methods: A conceptual framework is developed that shows the associations identified among socio -demographic factors, physical activity and dietary habits with actual weight status, as well as examining perception of weight status. The three latest National Health Survey data bases (1995 , 2001 and 2004/5) were used as the primary data sources. A total of 74,114 Australian adults aged 20 years and over were recruited from these databases. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses (One -Way ANOVA tests, unpaired t-tests and Pearson chi-square tests), and multinomial logistic regression modelling were used to analyse the data. Findings: This research reveals that gender, main language spoken at home, occupation status, household structure, private health insurance status, and exercise are related to the discrepancy between actual weight status and perception of weight status, but only gender and exercise are related to the discrepancy across the three time point s. The current research provides more knowledge about perception of weight status independently. Factors which affect perception of overweight are gender, age, language spoken at home, private health insurance status, and diet ary habits. The study also finds that many factors that impact overweight and/or obesity also have an effect on perception of overweight, such as age, language spoken at home, household structure, and exercise. However, some factors (i.e. private health insurance status and milk consumption) only impact on perception of overweight. Furthermore, factors that are rel ated to people’s overweight are not totally related to people’s underestimation of their body weight status in the study results. Thus, there are unknown factors which can affect people’s underestimation of their body weight status. Conclusions: Health promotion and education activities should provide education about population health education and promotion and education for particular at risk sub -groups. Further research should take the form of a longitudinal study design ed to examine the causal relationship between overweight and/or obesity and underestimation of body weight status, it should also place more attention on the relationships between overweight and/or obesity and dietary habits, with a more comprehensive representation of SES. Moreover, further research that deals with identification of characteristics about perception of weight status, in particular the underestimation of body weight status should be undertaken.

Health status of Thai migrants in Brisbane : findings from a cross-sectional investigation

Australia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country with a long history of migration. In 2006, 22% of the population was born overseas. Thai migrants accounted for 0.2% of the population at this time, with a nearly 40% increase from around 19,000 in 1996 to 30,555 in 2006.1 Despite this, little is known about the health of this migrant group. We investigated the health status and health service utilisation of a Thai community through a cross-sectional postal survey conducted from May to September 2010. Participants were members of a Brisbane Thai temple, aged 18 years and older, who self identified as being Thai. Current health status was assessed using the SF-36v22 and self-report of diagnosed medical conditions. Use of health services was assessed using questions adapted from the Welsh Health Survey.3 Socio-demographic variables included gender, age, language spoken at home, year of arrival in Australia and type of health care insurance.

The influence of families on early adolescent school connectedness : evidence that this association varies with adolescent involvement in peer drinking networks

School connectedness is central to the long term well-being of adolescents, and high quality parent-child relationships facilitate school connectedness. This study examined the extent to which family relationship quality is associated with the school connectedness of pre- and early teenagers, and how this association varies with adolescent involvement in peer drinking networks. The sample consisted of 7,372 10-14 year olds recruited from 231 schools in 30 Australian communities. Participants completed the Communities that Care youth survey. A multi-level model of school connectedness was used, with a random term for school-level variation. Key independent variables included family relationship quality, peer drinking networks, and school grade. Control variables included child gender, sensation seeking, depression, child alcohol use, parent education, and language spoken at home. For grade 6 students, the association of family relationship quality and school connectedness was lower when peer drinking networks were present, and this effect was nonsignificant for older (grade 8) students. Post hoc analyses indicated that the effect for family relationship quality on school connectedness was nonsignificant when adolescents in grade 6 reported that the majority of friends consumed alcohol. The results point to the importance of familyschool partnerships in early intervention and prevention.

Asuntopolitiikka ja vieraskielisen väestön alueellinen keskittyminen Helsingissä vuosina 1992-2005

The aim of the thesis was to study the extent of spatial concentration of immigrant population in Helsinki and to analyse the impact of housing policy on ethnic residential segregation in 1992-2005. For the purpose of the study, immigrant population was defined based on the language spoken at home. The theory of residential segregation by Andersson and Molina formed the main theoretical framework for the study. According to Andersson and Molina ethnic residential segregation results from different dynamic intra-urban migration processes. Institutionally generated migration, i.e. migration patterns generated by various housing and immigrant policies and procedures, is one of the central factors in the development of ethnic segregation. The data of the study consisted of population and housing statistics and housing and immigrant policy documents of Helsinki municipality. Spatial concentration of immigrant population was studied both at district and building levels using GIS-methods and statistical methods. The housing policy of Helsinki municipality was analysed using a method created by Musterd et al. Musterd et al. categorise two types of policy approaches to residential segregation: spatial dispersion policy and compensating policy. The housing policy of Helsinki has a strong focus on social mixing and spatial dispersion of housing stock. Ethnic segregation is regarded as a threat. The importance of ethnic communities and networks is, however, acknowledged and small-scale concentration is therefore not considered harmful. Despite the spatial dispersion policy, the immigrant population is concentrated in the eastern, north-eastern and north-western suburbs of Helsinki. The spatial pattern of concentration was formed already at the beginning of the 1990's when immigration to Finland suddenly peaked. New immigrant groups were housed in the neighbourhoods where public housing was available at the time. Housing policy, namely the location of new residential areas and public housing blocks and the policies of public housing allocation were key factors influencing the residential patterns of immigrant population in the 1990's. The immigration and refugee policies of the state have also had an impact on the development. The concentration of immigrant population has continued in the same areas in the beginning of the 2000's. Dispersion to new areas has mainly taken place within the eastern and north-eastern parts of the city or in the adjacent areas. The migration patterns of native population and the reasonably rapid changes in the housing market have emerged as new factors generating and influencing the ethnic residential segregation in Helsinki in the 2000's. Due to social mixing and spatial dispersion policies, ethnic segregation in Helsinki has so far been fairly small-scale, concentrated in particular housing blocks. The number of residential buildings with a high share of immigrant population is very modest. However, the number of such buildings has doubled between 1996-2002. The concentration of immigrant population concerns mainly the public housing sector. The difference in the level of concentration between the public housing sector and privately owned housing companies is remarkable.

La transmission de la langue maternelle aux enfants : le cas des couples linguistiquement exogames du Québec

Le nombre d'unions où les deux conjoints n'ont pas la même langue maternelle est en augmentation depuis les dernières décennies au Québec. Sachant que les enfants issus de ces unions gravitent dans un univers familial plurilingue, l'objectif de ce mémoire est de connaître les langues qui leur sont transmises. En utilisant les données du questionnaire long du recensement canadien de 2006, nous avons procédé à différentes analyses descriptives nous permettant de cerner les langues maternelles véhiculées aux enfants issus d'une union mixte, de vérifier si ces enfants héritent davantage de la langue maternelle de leur mère ou de leur père et s'ils opèrent des substitutions linguistiques avant l'âge de 18 ans, c'est-à-dire si leur langue maternelle diffère de leur langue d'usage. De plus, par le biais de régressions logistiques, nous avons étudié les déterminants contextuel, ethno-culturel et socio-économique les plus susceptibles d'expliquer le choix de la langue transmise aux enfants. Les résultats obtenus démontrent la place prédominante des langues officielles canadiennes, au détriment des langues non officielles, chez les familles exogames. De plus, le choix de la langue maternelle transmise s'avère principalement conditionné par le lieu de résidence, le parcours migratoire des parents et le pays de naissance des enfants.

Diplômés du collège et de l’université : une comparaison des immigrants et natifs au Québec en 2006.

Les données du recensement de 2006 de Statistique Canada ont été utilisées afin d’étudier les immigrants diplômés ou certifiés au collégial ou à l’universitaire, tout en essayant de les comparer aux natifs du Québec et du reste du Canada. En fait, nous avons expliqué le fait de détenir un titre postsecondaire du système éducatif québécois chez l’ensemble de la population et chez les différentes générations d’immigrants selon les régions de naissance ou d’origine des individus. De plus, nous avons examiné l’effet de l’âge à l’immigration, de la langue d’usage à la maison et de la période d’arrivée sur le fait de détenir un diplôme ou un certificat postsecondaire du système éducatif québécois. Pour réaliser cette étude, nous avons donc utilisé une analyse bivariée et multivariée axée sur des variables socio-économiques, démographiques, ethnoculturelles et contextuelles. Nous avons trouvé que les natifs du Québec ont des chances supérieures aux autres groupes étudiés (immigrants des diverses régions et natifs du reste du Canada) d’avoir un titre collégial. Cependant, les immigrants, surtout ceux de l’Afrique et de l’Asie de l’Est ou du Sud-est, et les natifs du reste du Canada ont des chances nettement supérieures de détenir un titre universitaire que les natifs du Québec. Les immigrants nés aux États-Unis et en Afrique sont plus souvent diplômés de l’université que ceux nés en Asie de l’Est et du Sud-est. Les Latino-américains de première génération sont plus susceptibles d’avoir un diplôme ou un certificat collégial que les Asiatiques de l’Est ou du Sud-est. Les immigrants de deuxième génération dont la mère est née dans les Caraïbes ou au Québec ont plus de chance de détenir un diplôme ou certificat du collège que les immigrants de deuxième génération dont la mère est née en Asie de l’Est ou du Sud-est. Les enfants qui migrent au Québec ou au Canada avant 10 ans ont des chances nettement plus élevées d’avoir un titre collégial que de ne pas en avoir, en comparaison à ceux arrivés après cet âge. Un immigrant dont la langue d’usage à la maison n’est ni le français ni l’anglais réussit bien au collégial, mais détient moins souvent un titre universitaire. Enfin, la cohorte d’immigrants arrivée durant la période 2000-2006 a significativement plus de chances de détenir un titre universitaire que les autres cohortes étudiées.

The construction of national identity as a developmental process from childhood to adolescence in Catalonia

La idea que per entendre alguna cosa hem d'entendre el procés pel qual s'ha produït va ser assumida des de l'origen de l'estudi "La construcció de la identitat nacional com a procés de desenvolupament des de la infància a l'adolescència a Catalunya". Per tal d'estudiar el procés de desenvolupament relacionat amb la construcció de la identitat nacional, no és suficient considerar-lo en el seu context social, sinó que és necessari considerar la seva construcció social. Tres objectius principals van orientar el nostre estudi . Primer, indagar si els processos de categorització, identificació, coneixement, imatge, avaluació i afecte són també elements implicats en la construcció de la identitat nacional des de la infància a l'adolescència. Segon investigar el procés de desenvolupament d'aquests elements des dels 6 anys fins als 15 anys per contribuir amb dades a I'explicació sobre com es desenvolupa del coneixement social. Tres són les explicacions principals; la primera que es basa en processos cognitius d'inclusió-decentració; la segona, si aquest desenvolupament es dóna en cercles concèntrics des de I'interior (contextos quotidians) fins a l'exterior (amb intercanvis més amples i una educació formal envers la vida social); i la tercera, si el desenvolupament del coneixement social d'allò més immediat i directe es reorganitzat i adquireix nous significats per la integració dels elements més generals i abstractes. Tercer, donat el fet que el 50% de les famílies tenen el català com a llengua materna, hem estudiat la influència de la llengua o llengües utilitzades en el context familiar en el procés de construcció de la identitat nacional. Es va dissenyar una entrevista individual seguint una estructura amb les parts següents: identificació subjectiva i identificació nacional; coneixement dels països; estereotips, avaluació i sentiments, i entorn social. La mostra del present estudi va estar formada per 495 nens i adolescents de 6, 9, 12 i 15 anys d'edat. Es va utilitzar per cada grup un número similar de nens i nenes. La mostra es va dividir en tres grups segons la o les llengües utilitzades pel nen o nena en el seu context familiar. Tres van ser les categones lingüístiques utilitzades: castellà, nens que només utilitzin el castellà a casa; català, nens que només usen el català en el context familiar; i bilingües, nens que utilitzin tots dos idiomes a casa. Aquestes categories lingüístiques s'han utilitzat com a indicador dels contextos familiars. Dues conclusions principals es poden extreure d'aquest estudi. Primer, I'ús de categories nacionals no és una conseqüència del procés cognitiu d'inclusió-decentració ni en cercles concentrics (concret/abstracte). La idea d'un procés del món en paral·lel, d'un coneixement que integra simultàniament creences i sentiments de l'ambient concret o proper i de l'abstracte o llunyà pot explicar millor els nostres resultats. Els nens aprenen i pensen sobre la vida quotidara, les característiques de l'ambient, la informació circulant en el seu entom social i la importància o els diferents nivells de coneixement depenent del context. Els nens integren la informació que està circulant en el seu ambient i construeixen un món que necessàriament no ha de coincidir amb el món deis adults, però que els ajuda a comunicar-se i a entendre les situacions en les quals estan immersos. Els nens més joves són capaços d'utilitzar categories nacionals de manera similar als adolescents. Segon, la identitat nacional a Catalunya es construeix al voltant del nucli de la llengua parlada a casa. A través de tot I'estudi es pot veure un resultat consistent i reiterat. Els infants d'un entom familiar en què s'usa només el castellà s'identifiquen com a pertanyents a tots dos grups nacionals, Espanyol i Català. Els infants d'un entom familiar que utilitzen només el català s'identifiquen com a pertanyents només al grup Català. Aquestes identificacions guien com aquests nens avaluen i senten envers el propi grup nacional i els altres. A més, sembla que el context sòcio-polític és un vehicle important en la transmissió de les estructures de semblances i que I'estructura d'afecte es transmet principalment a través de I'entom familiar.

Parental acculturation and adolescent HPV uptake among Hispanics: Results from the California Health Interview Survey

Background. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Cancer Society (ACS), and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) all recommend the HPV vaccine for girls 11-12. The vaccine has the potential to reduce cervical cancer disparities if it is used by populations that do not participate in screening. Evidence suggests that incidence and mortality are higher among Hispanic women compared to non-Hispanic white women because they do not participate in screening. Past literature has found that acculturation has a mixed effect on cervical cancer screening and immunization. Little is known about whether parental acculturation is associated with adolescent HPV vaccine uptake among Hispanics and the mechanisms through which acculturation may affect vaccine uptake.^ Aims. To examine the association between parental acculturation and adolescent HPV uptake among Hispanics in California and test the structural hypothesis of acculturation by determining if socioeconomic status (SES) and health care access mediate the association between acculturation and HPV vaccine uptake.^ Methods. Cross-sectional data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were used for bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The sample used for analysis included 1,090 Hispanic parents, with a daughter age 11-17, who answered questions about the HPV vaccine. Outcome variable of interest was HPV vaccine uptake (≥1dose). Independent variables of interest were language spoken at home (a proxy variable for acculturation), household income (percent of federal poverty level), education level, and health care access (combined measure of health insurance coverage and usual source of care).^ Results. Parents who spoke only English or English and Spanish in the home were more likely to get the HPV vaccine for their daughter than parents who only spoke Spanish (Odds Ratio [OR]: 0.55, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.31-0.98). When SES and health care access variables were added to the logistic regression model, the association between language acculturation and HPV vaccine uptake became non-significant (OR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.35-1.29). Both income and health care access were associated with uptake. Parents with lower income or who did not have insurance and a usual source of care were less likely to have a vaccinated daughter.^ Discussion. Socioeconomic status and health care access have a more proximal effect on HPV vaccine uptake than parental language acculturation among Hispanics in California.^ Conclusion. This study found support for the structural hypothesis of acculturation and suggest that interventions focus on informing low SES parents who lack access to health care about programs that provide free HPV vaccines.^

Ethnic comparisons of adolescent sexual risk -taking and preventive behavior

For adolescents, unprotected sexual intercourse is the primary cause of sexually transmitted disease (STD), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (virus which causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)), and pregnancy. Although many studies on adolescent sexual behavior have addressed racial/ethnic differences, few studies have examined the relation between race/ethnicity while controlling for other sociocultural and psychosocial variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between racial/ethnic categories and selected sociocultural and psychosocial variables, with reported adolescent sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior.^ A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 3132 students in a Texas school district (Section 3.5.2). The instrument contained approximately 100 questions on demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, and psychosocial determinants of sexual behavior. Based on the findings of this study, the following major conclusions are made: (1) There are differences in reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior among Black, Hispanic and White adolescents in this study. The stratified analysis by gender further suggests significant gender differences in reported sexual behavior among the three racial/ethnic groups. (2) Gender, living arrangement, academic grades, and language spoken at home modified the association between reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior and race/ethnicity in this study. This suggests that these sociocultural variables should be considered in future research and practice involving multicultural populations. (3) There are differences in selected psychosocial determinants among the three racial/ethnic groups and between males and females. These differences were consistent with the reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behaviors among race/ethnicity and gender for adolescents in this study. The findings support the consideration of psychosocial determinants in research and interventions addressing adolescent sexual behavior among different racial/ethnic groups.^ Based on the results of this study, two recommendations for practice are made. First, health professionals developing interventions for adolescents from different cultural backgrounds and gender need to be familiar with the specific sociocultural and psychosocial factors which will reduce risky sexual behavior, and promote protective behavior. Second, the need for immediate, realistic, and continuous HIV/STD and pregnancy prevention programs for children and adolescents should be considered. ^

Automatic spoken language identification utilizing acoustic and phonetic speech information

Automatic spoken Language Identi¯cation (LID) is the process of identifying the language spoken within an utterance. The challenge that this task presents is that no prior information is available indicating the content of the utterance or the identity of the speaker. The trend of globalization and the pervasive popularity of the Internet will amplify the need for the capabilities spoken language identi¯ca- tion systems provide. A prominent application arises in call centers dealing with speakers speaking di®erent languages. Another important application is to index or search huge speech data archives and corpora that contain multiple languages. The aim of this research is to develop techniques targeted at producing a fast and more accurate automatic spoken LID system compared to the previous National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Language Recognition Evaluation. Acoustic and phonetic speech information are targeted as the most suitable fea- tures for representing the characteristics of a language. To model the acoustic speech features a Gaussian Mixture Model based approach is employed. Pho- netic speech information is extracted using existing speech recognition technol- ogy. Various techniques to improve LID accuracy are also studied. One approach examined is the employment of Vocal Tract Length Normalization to reduce the speech variation caused by di®erent speakers. A linear data fusion technique is adopted to combine the various aspects of information extracted from speech. As a result of this research, a LID system was implemented and presented for evaluation in the 2003 Language Recognition Evaluation conducted by the NIST.