Polymorphism-screening: genetic testing for predisposition—guidance for technology assessment

Health policy is increasingly confronted with the demand for financing genetic testing on inherited susceptibility to disease. Tests on polymorphism/SNP associated with multicausal and chronic conditions are already offered in private commercial institutions or in academic hospitals. The increasing pressure on public health services to offer SNP testing leads to first methodological approaches for a generally valid regulatory framework applicable for inclusion or refusal of genetic tests into the public health services. Systematic search in Medline, Embase and the Web for methodological papers or guidelines for the assessment of polymorphism-screening. Since genetic testing has not only clinical and economic effects on health care, but also primarily ethical consequences by profiling our understanding of “health” and “disease”, this paper gives an overview of relevant aspects and background information to consider in the assessment of genetic tests. Although 2–3 million SNPs are identified and the journals are full of reported “significant” associations between disease and mutation, only a few can be replicated unequivocally. The ACCE (Analytic and Clinical Validity, Clinical utility; Ethical, legal and social implications)-framework was developed by the Center of Disease Control for the assessment of genetic testing. This standardised appraisal approach proposes collecting and evaluating: (a) Prevalence, genotype-/phenotype-relation. (b) Clinical presentation: natural history; the different expressions of disease. (c) Performance of the genetic test. (d) Implications for therapy and prevention. (e) Conclusion for clinical applications of risk-profiling of health on their susceptibility to disease and/or for clarification of disease for therapy planning. Since genetic testing is urging its way into the health care system, the actual danger is, that population screening starts before valid evidence from big prospective studies have been carried out and delivered proofs of direct causal associations. Before diffusing into the health care system we are suggesting to take a cautious and standardised approach.     

Who is mommy tonight? Lesbian parenting issues

Developing an identity as mother and establishing what it means to mother is a task not defined by sexual orientation. Both heterosexual and homosexual women encounter role models and the dictates of society when mothering (Nelson, 1996). The present study explores how 18 lesbian adoptive parents, 49 lesbian parents who formed their families biologically, and 44 heterosexual adoptive parents experience and perceive their parenting role, how they respond when their children seek them or their partner for particular nurturing, and how the parents negotiate the cultural expectation of a primary caregiver. Lesbian couples were more equal in their division of childcare than heterosexual parents, and lesbian adoptive parents were the most egalitarian. In all types of dual parent families, parents were sought by their child for different activities. In heterosexual adoptive and lesbian biological families, the child's parental preference was rarely a source of conflict between partners. Lesbian adoptive parents were more likely to report that this preference caused occasional conflict. Reasons for this conflict are discussed in light of societal expectations of women and the role of mother.     

Headed Toward Equality? Housework Change in Comparative Perspective

This paper examines gendered housework in the larger context of comparative social change, asking specifically whether cross‐national differences in domestic labor patterns converge over time. Our analysis of data from 13 countries (N = 11,065) from the 1994 and 2002 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) confirmed that social context matters in shaping couples' division of labor at home, but also showed that context affects patterns of change. Our results suggested that, compared to the most egalitarian countries, the shift in housework patterns was greatest among the most traditional countries. This provides support for the thesis of cultural convergence, but the evidence did not suggest that such convergence will lead to complete equality in the foreseeable future.     

Social Participation, Sense of Community and Social Well Being: A Study on American, Italian and Iranian University Students

Aim of the study was to assess the relationship between social participation and Sense of Community in a sample of University students and the impact of such variables on Social well being. A further aim was to assess the generality of the relationships between these constructs across different countries, and specifically, the USA, Italy and Iran. The sample includes 200 Italian, 125 American and 214 Iranian University students, male and female. Results show higher levels of social participation, Sense of Community and Social well being among American students. Sense of Community is positively correlated with social participation in all three samples; however, only among Italian students social participation positively predicts Social well being. Implications of results will be discussed.     

The flood algorithm—a multivariate, self-organizing-map-based, robust location and covariance estimator

Self-organizing maps (SOMs) introduced by Kohonen (Biol. Cybern. 43(1):59–69, 1982) are well-known in the field of artificial neural networks. The way SOMs are performing is very intuitive, leading to great popularity and numerous applications (related to statistics: classification, clustering). The result of the unsupervised learning process performed by SOMs is a non-linear, low-dimensional projection of the high-dimensional input data, that preserves certain features of the underlying data, e.g. the topology and probability distribution (Lee and Verleysen in Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction, Springer, 2007; Kohonen in Self-organizing Maps, 3rd edn., Springer, 2001).     

Confronting collinearity in environmental regression models: evidence from world data

Statistical Methods & Applications - Despite the evidence, the correlation between environmental impact factors has mostly been neglected in econometric environmental models or treated with...     

Effects of international student exchange on pre-service teachers: a quasi-experimental study

This contribution provides empirical answers to the question of how teaching-specific competencies develop during participation in an international student exchange programme. The quantitative analyses of this quasi-experimental study suggest that, generally speaking, no specific developments occur during an exchange experience. These findings contradict the majority of existing literature. Possible reasons for this divergence are discussed. The interpretation of the results suggests future research should focus on the key question of pre-conditions for productive exchange experiences.     

Rights or Identity? Naturalization Processes among “Labor Migrants” in Germany

The determinants of the decision to naturalize for first and second generation “labor migrants” in Germany are examined. We assume that Turkish migrants' comparatively high naturalization rate cannot be explained by the legal advantages they gain by naturalizing. We argue instead that naturalization offers an opportunity for individual upward mobility to Turkish migrants who have achieved a high level of individual assimilation. Using data from the GSOEP, we show that individual assimilation does in fact promote naturalization for Turkish migrants, but not for members of other ethnic groups, which generally have higher status within German society.     

Team factors that predict to sustainability indicators for community-based prevention teams

Because they often set out with a guarantee of only short-term funding, many community partnerships will face a threat to their sustainability almost as soon as the first money runs out. Research into the factors that enable some coalitions and partnerships to meet the challenge when others fail is limited. This study begins to fill this gap in our understanding by examining influences on the process of sustainability planning in the context of a collaborative partnership focused on youth development. We report on a longitudinal examination of the quality of planning and attitudes underpinning the sustainability of PROSPER community prevention teams whose members implement evidence-based programs designed to support positive youth development and reduce early substance use and other problem behaviors. The current research concentrates on a particular dimension of partnership effectiveness to establish whether perceptions about team functioning in play at 6 and 18 months predict the quality of sustainability planning at 36 and 48 months. How well teams functioned in the early stages was found to be strongly related to the quality of their later preparations for sustainability. Recruitment and integration of new team members, and the encouragement they subsequently received were also found to be key factors. The results strengthen the argument for providing technical assistance to meet the needs of those who promote prevention partnerships, and they provide longitudinal empirical data to support the hypotheses of other researchers who have similarly found a correlation between effective sustainability and early planning and support.