Investigating the impact of Hurricane Maria on an ongoing birth cohort in Puerto Rico

Population and Environment - Prior to Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico already had 200+ hazardous waste sites, significant contamination of water resources, and among the highest rates of preterm birth...     

Religiosity as a mediator of caregiver well-being: does ethnicity make a difference?

This study used an adaptation of the stress and appraisal model to examine the mediating effects of religiosity on caregiving strain and gain with an ethnically diverse sample of 384 Alzheimer's disease caregivers. While the regression analysis indicated that religiosity did not mediate the stress of providing care for the entire sample, there were significant differences in the use of religiosity depending on the ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, and White non-Hispanic) of the caregiver, as well as significant differences between the three cohorts in the levels of caregiving strain (depression) and gain (self-acceptance). Implications for the use of religiosity as a protective factor for AD caregivers are discussed.     

Manufacturing flexibility and advanced human resource management practices

This article analyses the connection between the use of advanced human resource management (HRM) practices, individually and as a system, with manufacturing flexibility. The results show a positive relationship between the implementation of advanced HRM practices and manufacturing flexibility. While most of the advanced HRM practices analysed show higher levels of implementation in flexible firms, no differences are observed in training efforts. Flexible firms are more prone to implement systems of advanced HRM practices.     

Einfluss der Besteuerung auf die Bewertung ausländischer Kapitalgesellschaften

Zusammenfassung  Der vorliegende Beitrag integriert die Auswirkungen der Regelungen zur Besteuerung von Einkünften aus ausl?ndischen Kapitalgesellschaften in die Discounted Cashflow-Methodik. Bewertungsobjekt ist eine ausl?ndische Kapitalgesellschaft, der von einem inl?ndischen Anteilseigner oder von fremden Dritten Finanzmittel zugeführt werden. Da das Steuerrecht nicht entscheidungsneutral ist, sind die beiden Finanzierungsalternativen Eigen-oder Fremdfinanzierung nicht als gleichwertig zu beurteilen. Unterschiedliche steuerliche Effekte ergeben sich daraus, dass Zinsen bei der Tochterkapitalgesellschaft grunds?tzlich als Betriebsausgaben abzugsf?hig sind, wohingegen Dividenden aus dem bereits versteuerten Einkommen gezahlt werden (sog. Tax Shield). Im grenzüberschreitenden Fall wird mit der Entscheidung für eine Finanzierungsalternative gleichzeitig bestimmt, in welchem Umfang die mit der Finanzierung einhergehenden Kapitalertr?ge der deutschen oder der ausl?ndischen Besteuerung unterworfen werden. Die H?he des Tax Shield h?ngt damit nicht nur von den Abzugsm?glichkeiten der Fremdkapitalzinsen ab, sondern auch vom Steuerniveau im Ausland. Damit müssen in der Unternehmensbewertung die in- und ausl?ndischen Steuervorschriften, die Steuers?tze im In- und Ausland, sowie eventuell bestehende Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen berücksichtigt werden.

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Effects of the tax regulations on the taxation of income from foreign corporations

Summary  The present article integrates the effects of the tax regulations on the taxation of income from foreign corporations in the discounted cash flow method. The item to be assessed is foreign corporation that is allocated funds (equity capital or borrowed capital) by a domestic shareholder or an unaffiliated third party. In this cross-border case, the decision in favor of one financing alternative or the other will at the same time determine the extent to which the capital yields associated with the financing are liable to taxation in Germany or abroad. The amount of the tax shield therefore not only depends on the deductibility of interest payments on debt, it also depends on the rate of tax abroad. When assessing the company it will therefore be necessary to bear in mind both domestic and overseas tax regulations, domestic and overseas tax rates as well as any existing double taxation agreements.

     

An AHP-based evaluation procedure for Innovative Educational Projects: A face-to-face vs. computer-mediated case study

In this paper a procedure to evaluate proposals for Educational Innovation Projects is proposed. This methodology should help the Institute of Educational Sciences of the Politechnical University of Valencia to choose the best Educational Project, the final aim being to provide the Administration with a stringent evaluation methodology, since the current evaluation methodology was found to be neither sufficiently objective nor systematic.     

Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Senior Centers: Comparing Participant Characteristics in More and Less Multicultural Settings

The 2008 Health Indicators Project surveyed a probability sample (N = 1,870) of New York City senior center participants. Attendees of racially and ethnically diverse and nondiverse senior centers were compared across 5 domains: demographics; health and quality of life; social support networks; neighborhood perceptions and engagement; health service access/utilization. Although homogeneous and diverse center participants demonstrate similar health and quality-of-life outcomes, those from diverse centers demonstrate greater risk of social isolation, receive less family support, and more likely seek medical care from hospitals or community clinics. Implications and future directions for research, practice and policy are discussed.     

Vital Satisfaction as a Health Indicator in Elderly Women

The long life expentancy of the elderly motivates interest in their quality of life. Our study analyzes vital satisfaction as a global indicator of the three dimensions (physical, mental, and social) of the quality of life in relation to health. The subjects were 310 women, with an average age of 71.22 years old (SD 6.72), with minimum education, and active aging. The reliability was examined with the COOP-WONCA Charts and the Nottingham Health Profile. The results show that vital satisfaction significantly correlates with the three dimensions of health, in particular with the mental domain.     

What family dimensions are important for health-related quality of life in adolescence?

Adolescence is a relevant life stage in which to study a global well-being measure, health-related quality of life, in order to analyse the impact of important determinants in adolescents' health-related quality of life (e.g., the quality of family relationships). This study aimed to examine the impact of several family dimensions (parental affection, parental promotion of autonomy, family activities, adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation and parental knowledge) on adolescents' health-related quality of life. Additionally, this study investigated whether demographic variables (adolescents' gender and age) influenced health-related quality of life and moderated the relationship between family dimensions and health-related quality of life. The sample was composed of 14,825 adolescents, aged 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18, from the 2006 edition of Spain's Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The results showed that parental promotion of autonomy, family activities and especially parental affection were the most important dimensions influencing health-related quality of life. Boys reported higher health-related quality of life than girls, and younger adolescents reported higher health-related quality of life than older adolescents. The discussion explains how the aforementioned family dimensions encourage better health-related quality of life in adolescents.     

The Correlations of Work Conditions with Unhealthy Lifestyles and Occupational Health Problems of Casino Croupiers in Macau

The Macau economy and employment of residents rely heavily on the gaming industry. It is important that the working conditions in casinos are not harmful to the health of the casino employees. This study examines the correlations between work conditions, unhealthy lifestyles and occupational health problems amongst casino croupiers in Macau. Its findings will provide casino managers and policy makers with evidence and awareness of the workplace health risks for the casino workers. The data were gathered by a questionnaire survey of 1,042 croupiers, which represents roughly 5 % of the croupier population in Macau. Work conditions were measured by worker satisfaction towards the biological, chemical and physical elements in their work environments. Unhealthy lifestyles were measured by practices of excessive drinking, smoking, electronic game playing and addictive substance use as well as gambling. Occupational health problems were measured by experiences of work related illnesses or symptoms. Results showed that high percentages of respondents were dissatisfied with the work conditions. On average each croupier experienced 10 work related health problems in the past 7 days. Over 5 % of the respondents drank more than three glasses of alcohol a day, 24 % smoked cigarettes, 12 % took addictive substances, 14 % gambled in the past 7 days. The analysis showed that dissatisfaction with work conditions did not correlate with unhealthy lifestyles but were strongly and significantly correlated with stress-related occupational health problems (R = 0.377–0.479, P < 0.001) and other occupational health problems (R = 0.348–0.461, P < 0.001). Casino workers in Macau experience a variety of problems associated with their work conditions that can be hazardous to their health. The working conditions in casinos need to be regularly monitored and improvements such as occupational health training and enhanced health related policies can be introduced.