Reviews

The Jewish Anti‐Fascist Committee Revisited. Alexander M. Borschtschagowski, Orden für einen Mord: Die Judenverfolgung unter Stalin. Berlin: Propyläen, 1997. Notes. Ind. Glossary. 472pp. ISBN 3–549–05605–2 (hbk)

Arno Lustiger, Rotbuch: Stalin und die Juden. Die tragische Geschichte des Jüdischen Antifaschistischen Komitees und der sowjetischen Juden. With a foreword by Efim Etkind. Berlin: Aufbau‐Verlag, 1998. Bibl. Notes. Ind. Photographs. 429pp. ISBN 3–351–02478–9 (hbk)

A Chicken‐and‐Egg Situation. Charles King and Neil J. Melvin (eds.), Nations Abroad: Diaspora Politics and International Relations in the Former Soviet Union. Boulder, CO/Oxford: Westview Press, 1998. 240 pp. Index. ISBN 0–8133–9015‐X

A Greek Tragedy. Gennady Estraikh, Soviet Yiddish: Language Planning and Linguistic Development. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. x + 217pp. Bibliography. Index. £40. ISBN: 0–19818479–0

Freeze‐Frame Picture. Susanne Marten‐Finnis and Heather Valencia. Sprachinseln. Jiddische Publizistik in London, Wilna und Berlin 1880–1930. Cologne/Weimar/Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 1999. 144pp. Illustrations. Bibliography. ISBN: 3–412–02998‐X     

Are Condorcet procedures so bad according to the reinforcement axiom?

A Condorcet social choice procedure elects the candidate that beats every other candidate under simple majority when such a candidate exists. The reinforcement axiom roughly states that given two groups of individuals, if these two groups select the same alternative, then this alternative must also be selected by their union. Condorcet social choice procedures are known to violate this axiom. Our goal in this paper is to put this important voting theory result into perspective. We then proceed by evaluating how frequently this phenomenon is susceptible to occur.     

On the welfare loss caused by inequality of opportunity

Based on the ethical principle of equality of opportunity, this paper presents a measure of the welfare loss that is caused by an unfair distribution of a particular outcome (income, health, education, etc). The key idea is that a fair society should produce outcomes that depend on individuals’ effort and not on their external circumstances such as gender, socioeconomic background, etc. We propose measuring inequality of opportunity as the welfare loss attributed to the outcome differences among individuals who exert a similar level of effort. Our results are in line with those aspects of fairness literature that give priority to the ex post compensation approach to equality of opportunity. Finally, we present an empirical application for the measurement of the welfare loss in the income distribution in Europe. We have observed a high degree of heterogeneity among European countries. The welfare loss due to inequality of opportunity ranges in those, from basically zero to almost one fifth of their potential welfare.     

Effectiveness of water-based exercise in people living with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review

This systematic review summarizes the relatively scant literature concerning the effectiveness of water-based exercise (WBE) interventions in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PEDro, Scopus, and SportDiscus were searched from the earliest available date to December 2011. Studies had to meet the following selection criteria: (1) the target population was patients with PD; (2) the effects of a WBE intervention (as the primary intervention) were tested; (3) the abstract of the research was available in English. Selected studies were subject to unmasked quality assessment by applying a methodological scoring with a possible maximum score of 15 points. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria, although only three of them achieved a methodological quality score above 10 points. Collectively, the data showed that WBE has some beneficial short-term effects on the impact that PD has on the patients (mainly on their motor symptoms and on their functional mobility), as well as on their quality of life. This review provides evidence that WBE is safe for patients with PD, but there is a lack of hard evidence regarding its beneficial effects. Further randomized and controlled trials with larger sample sizes are required.     

Observing Tacting Increases Uninstructed Tacts in Children with Autism

The effects of observing an adult emitting tacts on children’s rate of uninstructed (i.e., “spontaneous”) tacts were examined in three children diagnosed with autism. Each participant was exposed to two conditions in four settings each: in condition 1, participants received 20 trials of teacher-initiated interactions in which the child was asked to tact 20 objects during 5 min. Condition 2 was identical to condition 1 except that the teacher also tacted 20 objects interspersed with the 20 tact trials. The number of uninstructed tacts was recorded in both conditions. Children emitted between 1.58 and 2.68 times more uninstructed tacts in condition 2 than in condition 1. These results indicate that teachers’ emission of tacts increases the emission of uninstructed tacts in children with autism.     

Urbanization homogenizes the interactions of plant-frugivore bird networks

Urban Ecosystems - Anthropogenic activities are the main cause of habitat loss and fragmentation, which directly affects biodiversity. Disruption in landscape connectivity among populations may...     

Urban or rural fragments: which soil use in forest surroundings induces greater litter deposition?

Urban Ecosystems - The soil use in surroundings of forest remnants, as well as, variations in seasonality and rainfall totals from each year might influence the composition, structure, and...     

Do Cooperatives with Better Economic–Financial Indicators also have Better Socioeconomic Performance?

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The overall performance of cooperatives is related to economic–financial results and actions focused on benefits for...     

Connecting Two Sides: A Qualitative Study on Social Innovation Ventures and Poor Communities in an Emerging Economy

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The relationship between social innovation venture and poor communities has received little attention from studies in the...