Informed consent for research on stored blood and tissue samples: a survey of institutional review board practices

Numerous position papers have outlined informed consent recommendations for the collection, storage, and future use of biological samples; however, there currently is no consensus regarding what kinds of information should be included in consent forms. This study aimed to determine whether institutional review boards (IRBs) vary in their informed consent requirements for research on stored biological samples, and whether any variation observed could be correlated to factors such as volume of work, IRB members' familiarity with ethical issues in genetic research, and IRBs' use of either of two policy guidelines as resources. A brief survey was mailed to all IRB chairpersons on a mailing list obtained from the Office for Human Research Protections. Survey questions included whether consent forms for the collection of biological samples for future use address each of six provisions recommended in current guidelines and position statements, and whether IRBs used the Office for Protection from Research Risks' 1993 Protecting Human Research Subjects: Institutional Review Board Guidebook, chapter 5 (hereinafter IRB Guidebook) or the National Bioethics Advisory Commission's 1999 Research Involving Human Biological Materials: Ethical Issues and Policy Guidance, Volume I (hereinafter Report) in their deliberations. Despite a low response rate (22%, 427 respondents), results indicate that IRB practices vary substantially. The degree to which the provisions were included in consent forms was found to correlate positively with IRBs that review a greater volume of protocols annually, those that use the National Bioethics Advisory Commission Report in their deliberations, and those that draw on both the Report and the IRB Guidebook.     

A Label Superiority Effect in Children's Categorization of Facial Expressions

In three studies (N's = 360, 68, 160), children (2 to 7 years of age) were asked to categorize various facial expressions. The emotion category was specified to the child by its label (such as happy), its facial expression (such as a smile), or both. From the youngest to the oldest children and for all 3 emotion categories examined (happiness, anger, and sadness), results showed a Label Superiority Effect: emotion labels resulted in more accurate categorization than did the corresponding facial expression. Errors conformed to a structural model emphasizing the dimension of pleasure‐displeasure.     

Stigmatizing Indebtedness: Implications for Labeling Theory

Given the low visibility of indebtedness and normative expectations regarding the use of credit and the accrual of debt, questions arise as to whether or not being unable to manage one's finances responsibly should necessarily lead a person to feel shame. Findings from a study, based on forty‐six interviews with members of Debtors Anonymous (DA), exploring the relevance of labeling theory to individual perceptions of one's indebtedness as shameful are presented. Shame is revealed to be a key element in the labeling process. How stigmatized labels arise in interaction, how such labels affect a person's thoughts, feelings, and actions, and how gender affects labeling experiences are discussed. Insights into the interconnections between labeling and shame show the labeling process to be considerably more complex than suggested in the original version of labeling theory.     

Flexibility and regularity properties of the asymptotically ideal production model

This paper uses simulations to investigate the ability of the Asymptotically Ideal Model(AIM) to approximate unknown technologies. AIM was proposed by Barnett and Jonas (1983) as an expansion which could approximate any indirect utility or cost function arbitrarily well at all prices. By applying AIM to simulated data, we fmd a significant improvement in prediction by higher orders of AIM relative to the generalized Leontief and the translog. The largest error in approximating some CES technologies with AIM is 125 times smaller than that of the generalized Leontief and we find a translog approximation error 1000 times that of AIM in others. We also fmd that non-negativity constraints used by Barnett, Geweke, and Wolfe (1991) to impose concavity on the model greatly restrict the flexibility of AIM, even when all the inputs are substitutes.     

DISCRIMINATION, BAYESIAN UPDATING OF EMPLOYER BELIEFS, AND HUMAN CAPITAL ACCUMULATION

This article proposes a dynamic labor market discrimination model based on Bayesian updating of beliefs by the employer. The employer forms initial beliefs of worker ability conditional on group and updates his beliefs each period based on observed output. Inaccurate initial priors lead to diminished human capital investment among members of the undervalued group and may generate inequities lasting many periods or even permanently. Statistical discrimination models in which differing variances drive the inequity are special cases of the model.     

Where do Americans live abroad?

"This article examines the factors that influence emigration of U.S. citizens. Data from a 1993 survey administered by the U.S. Department of State as part of an evacuation requirements report form the basis for the empirical analysis. The empirical analysis explains the distribution of U.S. citizens residing in 65 foreign countries in terms of economic and political characteristics of the foreign states. The study finds that U.S. citizens are more likely to reside in rich and close countries than in distant and poor countries and that the foreign country's ties to the U.S. immigrant population and the use of the English language are important determinants of where Americans settle abroad. Political conditions and U.S. military presence also influence the choice of foreign residence."     

The Impact of the Labor Market on Health Insurance

This paper examines the impact of labor market conditions on employer-sponsored health insurance (ESHI). Unique data from the Louisiana Health Insurance Surveys linked to unemployment data and the Louisiana Job Vacancy Surveys prior to and after Hurricane Katrina provide very large variation in the job vacancy and unemployment rates, our measures of labor market conditions. Results suggest a significant relationship between both unemployment and industry specific job vacancy rates and ESHI.