T-CIA: investigating T cells in aging

Over the past few decades it has become clear that the immune system and especially T cells are instrumental in achieving a long and healthy life. The European Union (EU) previously supported several pan-European research projects coordinated from Tuebingen, Germany, aimed at providing a better understanding of immunosenescence. For 3 years, until the end of 2005, the EU is supporting a project called T cells in aging (T-CIA). The aim of T-CIA is to spy out and combine current efforts in immunology, molecular biology, and gerontology for a better understanding of why the elderly often have dysregulated immune responses and are more susceptible to infections and cancer.     

Capabilities and Well-Being: Evidence Based on the Sen–Nussbaum Approach to Welfare

One of the most significant theoretical contributions to welfare analysis across a range of disciplines has been the development of the capabilities framework by Sen and others. Motivated by the claim that freedom should play a key role in social evaluation, the capabilities framework suggests that we consider what it is that people are free to do, as well as what they actually do. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey in conjunction with a list of substantial values posited by Martha Nussbaum, we contribute to the operationalisation and testing of this approach. Specifically, we suggest that commonly used secondary data sources do provide some information about the capabilities people have and that this can be incorporated into models of (subjective) well-being such as those used by a growing number of labour and health economists. We find evidence that a wide range of capabilities exhibit statistically significant relations to well-being that the relations are complex and slightly different for men and women, and conclude with suggestions for future developments.     

Interpreting and defensively responding to threat: examining appraisals and coping with acquaintance sexual aggression

Resistance and prevention programming aimed at strengthening women's ability to protect themselves against acquaintance sexual aggression has lacked attention to the cognitive and emotional processes women engage in when encountering such threats. Building upon current theory related to cognitive appraisal and coping processes, this study applies a theoretical model of how women evaluate and respond to sexual aggression by male acquaintances. Two hundred and two college women who had been sexually victimized by male acquaintances responded to a questionnaire that assessed their cognitive appraisals of and emotional and behavioral responses to the incident, in addition to aggression characteristics. Path analytic regression analyses examined theorized relationships among primary and secondary appraisal and emotional response variables in addition to their collective prediction of behavioral responding. The hypothesized model accounted for significant variance in behavioral responding and indicated different patterns of appraisals, emotions, and aggression characteristics predicting women's assertive and diplomatic behavioral responses to their assaults. These findings are consistent with research and theory related to individuals' appraisal of and coping with threatening events. Theoretical and intervention implications for resistance and prevention efforts are discussed.     

Family Therapy and the Family Doctor − 1

The author shows that the family doctor's burden of responsibility in the area of psychological dysfunction in the community is immense. Traditionally he has little training, limited knowledge, and a paucity of skills, in the areas of counselling and psychotherapy. The author argues that structural and strategic family therapy skills may be applicable to family practice and of benefit to the family doctor. A brief introductory course and subsequent feedback are described.     

The Process of Passing for White in South Africa: A Study in Cumulative Ad Hoc-ery*

Des observations faites à Capetown, quant au com-portement d'éléments de la population mixte qui tente de passer pour blanche, indi-quent l'existence dans les relations intergroupes d'un processus au cours duquel ces éléments multiplient la nécessité pour les autorités de prendre d'innombrables décisions ad hoc á leur sujet. Tous les membres d'autres groupes qui aspirent à une promotion sociale collective se comportent, vraisemblable-ment, de la sorte. Ces décisions cumulatives facilitent le passage de la catégorie mixte á celle de la race blanche.     

Perceived Sex Knowledge,Exposure to Eroticism,and Premarital Sexual Behavior: the Impact of Dating*

The antecedents of premarital sexual behavior are examined using interview data from a national probability sample of 1,177 American college students. I hypothesize that a positive relationship exists between perceived sex knowledge, exposure to eroticism, dating experiences, and premarital sexual behavior. Dating frequency, intimacy, and related circumstances are proposed as powerful explanatory variables in understanding the developmental process leading to increased socio-sexual involvement. Data are provided which confirm the hypotheses and lend support to the theory that a complex social-psychological network of variables, centering around the opportunity and pressures associated with dating and peer group experiences, influences premarital sexual behavior.     

Operating the production calculus: ordering a production system in the print industry

The topic of shop-floor work has been extensively examined within sociology. However, the organizational structures within which this work takes place have, in the most part, been taken as unexamined givens. Yet, their operation is also the shop-floor work of some people. This paper examines the way in which the stable organizational structures within which shop-floor work takes place are achieved. It is based upon a fieldwork investigation of a large commercial printer and focuses upon the collaborative work of those who are involved in scheduling the production of a job and their use of 'the production calculus' in planning the work of the site. The print industry is undergoing considerable technological change and scheduling technologies have been developed to automate this work. However, there has been little take up of these technologies and the paper also considers how the characteristics of operating the production calculus in practice may account for this.