Search

The author uses data from annual wage surveys conducted in 1994 and 1995 by Medical Economics Research Group to study differences in pay and productivity between male and female veterinarians in the wage-salary sector. The gender gap in average earnings was 15%. When controls for various observable characteristics are added to the analysis, the earnings gap narrows to 9%, based on the most conservative estimates. Using unique revenue production measures in an analysis holding other factors constant, the author finds that women's productivity was not statistically different from men's. Together, the findings of gender differences in earnings but not in productivity are consistent with the presence of wage discrimination, but the author explores other possible explanations as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including Roma migrations within the European Union, administration of welfare benefits and services, and labour market transformations.

Introduction During cancer progression, more than half of patients develop renal insufficiency, including chronic kidney disease. The primary and secondary objectives of this study were to estimate healthcare resource use and costs, respectively, associated with renal impairment in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors in the United States. Methods and materials This was a retrospective, observational cohort study conducted using administrative claims data for individuals with solid tumors and bone metastases. Control patients were matched to renal impairment patients using propensity scores (ratio up to 3:1) based on demographics, clinical characteristics, and baseline costs. Average per-patient per-year healthcare resource utilization and costs (total costs and cost components; 2013 dollars) were reported. Results In total, 2616 renal impairment patients were matched to 7211 control patients. Renal impairment patients had greater healthcare resource use compared with controls, including a greater mean number of hospital admissions (4.4 versus 2.1), longer average stay per hospital admission (7.4 versus 6.5 days), as well as greater mean number of physician office visits (22.9 versus 18.8), emergency department visits (3.1 versus 2.0), and hospital-based outpatient visits (18.8 versus 16.0) compared with control patients. Total costs were > $50,000 higher among renal impairment patients ($142,267 versus $88,839; P < 0.001), with hospital costs accounting for $72,557 for renal impairment patients, and $27,858 for control patients (P < 0.001). Conclusion The healthcare resource use and costs associated with renal impairment in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors is high; efforts to reduce renal impairment in this population, including the potential avoidance of nephrotoxic agents, are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (TTDM) is characterized by progressive loss of glucose control through multifactorial mechanisms. The search for an understanding of TTDM has relied on animal models since the realization of the importance of the pancreas in controlling plasma glucose concentration. Rodent models of TTDM are developed to express hyperglycemia and not islet degeneration per se. Degeneration of the islets of Langerhans with β-cell loss is secondary to insulin resistance and is regarded as the more important lesion. Despite this, differences between models are seen in the development and progression of islet degeneration. Assessing the differences between the models is important to appreciate the various aspects of TTDM and understand their advantages as well as their deficiencies. Relevant animal models of TTDM provide opportunities to investigate important physiological and cell biological processes that may ultimately lead to development of targeted therapies. This article reviews the importance, advantages, and limitations of rodent models of TTDM in relation to the histopathological changes that characterize islet degeneration. Pathophysiological mechanisms that contribute to islet degeneration are also discussed and are placed into the context of changes in islet histological appearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the morality of place. The definition of bounding of places may involve inclusion or exclusion of particular kinds of persons and practices. The difference between private places and the public arena beyond is of special relevance of the issue of exclusion and inclusion. Private space permits practices that might not withstand critical public analysis involve definition of private and public.

Argues the bases and points of social justice in line with human territoriality. Principles of formulation from social justice theorist David Harvey; Recognition of human equality; Conception of social justice through egalitarianism; Observations and reasons for endorsing social justice.

Reports on a study on the perceived peer and parental influences on youth behavior and social values. Method of the study; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Provides an anglophone readership, an account of a francophone perspective on the analysis of social relation, as it relates to the study of grass-roots democracy. Relationship between citizens in democratic societies; Review of participatory conceptualizations of democracy; Involvement of citizens in planning.

Attempts to integrate the notion of social justice with concepts of the good life. Egalitarian formulation of distributive justice; Postapartheid South Africa as an example; Interdependence of distributional and relational aspects of justice as a central feature of a good life.

Argues that the concept of youth culture has become unproductive in the development of an adequate sociology of youth. Details of the concept of subculture; Relationship of the youth culture to the sociological definitions of concept subculture; Failure of subcultural theory to cope up with the available empirical evidence of youth culture.

Discusses issues concerning the field of social geography. Trends that can be detected in the development of social geography after 1960; Impact of behavioral approach in social geography; Description of factorial ecology; Influences on contemporary social geography.

In a recent article, the author developed a model of the process by which adults stereotype adolescents. The research findings reported here are intended to illuminate certain aspects of that model. This article is concerned first with whether or not it can be demonstrated that significant numbers of adults hold stereotypical attitudes, and secondly with how these adults differ from those who do not hold such attitudes. The evidence presented here is regarded as tentative and its purpose is to suggest ways in which future research might be developed. The sample used in this study derives from a panel study ongoing at Aberdeen University, and consists of 544 women who have children aged fourteen years old attending Aberdeen schools. The way in which stereotypes are derived and maintained cannot be determined from the data available here. However, it is interesting to speculate on the extent to which respondents tended to operate on stereotypes relating to sub-groups of adolescents. Respondents who gave a mixed response to the question about their attitude to adolescents clearly did not hold a stereotype of adolescents as a deviant group.

The purpose of this paper is to consider stereotyping procedures in relation to another substantive area: that of adolescence. The main conclusions which can be drawn from empirical studies of racial stereotypes is that stereotypes have a considerable ability to resist change and to remain unaffected by new information. There can be little doubt as to the tenacity of racial stereotypes. However to argue that they are never subject to change in any degree is to misunderstand the import of empirical findings. The definition of adolescence cannot be divorced from those of childhood and adulthood. People process through each status over time. Since the procession is a temporal one there tends to be an association between each status and a particular age-range. In societies with instituted rites de passage the relationship between age and status is formally defined. The status of adolescence has important implications for the kinds of roles which are appropriate for actors. Adult status is characterized by the adoption of responsible roles. On the other band both children and adolescents are expected to play roles which are not responsible. However the status of children is such that they are not expected to play adult roles at all.

At the cellular level, many neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), often considered proteinopathies, are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded and damaged proteins into large insoluble aggregates. Prominent species that accumulate early and play fundamental roles in disease pathogenesis are amyloid β (Aβ) and tau in Alzheimer disease, α-synuclein (α-syn) in Parkinson disease, and polyQ-expanded huntingtin (Htt) in Huntington disease. Although significant efforts have focused on how the cell deals with these protein aggregates, why is it that these misfolded proteins are not degraded normally in the first place? A vast body of literature supports the notion that the cell's protein degradation system for individual proteins—the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS)—does not function sufficiently in many NDs. The proteasome itself has received significant focus for years due to its obvious failure to degrade misfolded proteins in ND, but no general mechanism has been uncovered. We have recently found that specific pathologically relevant oligomers can potently and directly inhibit the proteasome. What is most interesting is that the misfolded protein's primary amino acid sequence was irrelevant to its ability to inhibit. Instead, the culprit is the 3-dimensional shape of the misfolded oligomers. It turns out that many misfolded proteins in ND can take on this proteasome-impairing shape suggesting that there could be a common mechanism for UPS impairment in many NDs. The proteasome is already an important target for treating cancer, could it also be targeted to broadly treat ND? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the gender differences on a respiratory-resistance detection task. Resistance to breathing; Methodology; Conclusions.

Examines the diversity of disciplinary engagement with ethics in human geography. Definition of development ethics; Distinction between ethics wide and ethics narrow; Engagement of other disciplines with moral philosophy.