Of worms, flies, dwarfs, and things that go bump in the night

Studies over the past several years have found that antagonism of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway increases life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila. However, a persistent problem in these studies is the fact that the genetic mutation has effects on the development of the organism as well as on reproductive function. These effects act as potential confounding variables that complicate the interpretation of results. Kenyon and colleagues circumvent these issues by suppressing the insulin/IGF-1-like daf-2 signaling pathway at specific stages in the life-span of C. elegans. The results of their investigation challenge our understanding of the evolution of aging and provide opportunities for future studies in mammalian models.     

BUSINESS RESOURCES AND TAXATION: A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Many writers have speculated about the connection between economic resources of corporations and their ability to dominate politics in democratic societies with advanced capitalist economies. Using a cross-sectional analysis of business taxes in the American states, this study examines the political impact of four economic resources that are plausibly related to heightened business political influence. With seven factors held constant, I find that states with larger enterprises are most likely to have lower taxes on manufacturing, but concentrated sales do not have any effect on these taxes. The degree to which the organizational efforts of firms are handicapped because industry products are diverse also has an independent relationship with state and local taxes paid by manufacturers, but this relationship does not hold when the least industrial states are excluded from the equations. I also find that where competition between political parties is most intense, tax policies will be less likely to favor business interests. It follows that the evidence in this study is consistent with a hypothesis that firms can translate their formidable economic resources into political influence at the state and local level.     

Book reviews

Qualitative Sociology -     

The cost effectiveness of hepatitis immunization for US college students

Hepatitis B immunization is recommended for all American children, and hepatitis A immunization is recommended for children who live in areas with elevated disease rates. Because hepatitis A and B occur most commonly in young adults, the authors examined the cost effectiveness of college-based vaccination. They developed epidemiologic models to consider infection risks and disease progression and then compared the cost of vaccination with economic, longevity, and quality of life benefits. Immunization of 100,000 students would prevent 1,403 acute cases of hepatitis A, 929 cases of hepatitis B, and 144 cases of chronic hepatitis B. Hepatitis B vaccination would cost the health system $7,600 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained but would reduce societal costs by 6%. Hepatitis A/B vaccination would cost the health system dollar 8,500 per QALY but would reduce societal costs by 12%. Until childhood and adolescent vaccination can produce immune cohorts of young adults, college-based hepatitis immunization can reduce disease transmission in a cost-effective manner.     

Is the Person-Affecting Intuition Paradoxical?

This article critically examines some of the inconsistency objections that have been put forward by John Broome, Larry Temkin and others against the so-called "person-affecting," or "person-based," restriction in normative ethics, including "extra people" problems and a version of the nonidentity problem from Kavka and Parfit. Certain Pareto principles and a version of the "mere addition paradox" are discussed along the way. The inconsistencies at issue can be avoided, it is argued, by situating the person-affecting intuition within a non-additive form of maximizing consequentialism – a theory which then competes with such additive, or aggregative, forms of maximizing consequentialism as "totalism" and "averagism."     

Parents of psychiatrically hospitalized children: A decade of changing perceptions

Psychiatric hospitals for children have changed dramatically during the last decade. The lengths of hospitalizations have been shortened; the psychopathology of children qualifying for admission is more severe, often with neurological or biochemical components. In some hospitals, there has been an increasing emphasis on research. All of these changes have affected the staff's perceptions of the children's parents; these changes appear to have resulted in a more supportive, less critical attitude toward these parents. This may be significant in increasing parents' confidence in coping with their child's illness and their family's stress. The need for empirical, longitudinal research is emphasized.The research mentioned in this article was funded by the American Cancer Society.