Maternal Employment: Does it Affect the Children When They Grow Up?

Using data on a random sample of young adults in Melbourne, this paper examines the effects of maternal employment during their childhood and adolescence on their educational attainment, relationship with their parents, premarital sexual behaviour, and attitude towards working mothers. Maternal employment has little effect on the characteristics of the son, although men whose mothers work during their adolescence were more likely to have had premarital sex than those whose mothers did not work. Maternal employment has more effect on daughters but the effects were mainly positive rather than negative.     

Decision theory,linear partial information and statistical dominance

The paper deals with decision making under conditions of linear partial information, i.e. when probabilities of states of nature are not known precisely, but are subject to linear constraints. Conditions ensuring strict and weak statistical dominance of one strategy over another are derived. It is also shown that weak dominance in terms of payoffs is equivalent to weak dominance in terms of regrets. The new results are more general than those obtained by Fishburn and by Kmietowicz and Pearman for weak and strict ranking of probabilities, and include them as special cases. The new results can be employed in practical decision making in several ways.     

Long-term low-dose dehydroepiandrosterone replacement therapy in aging males with partial androgen deficiency

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) age-related withdrawal is very likely to be involved in the aging process and the onset of age-related diseases, giving rise to the question of whether preventing or compensating the decline of these steroids may have endocrine and clinical benefits. The aim of the present trial was to evaluate the endocrine, neuroendocrine and clinical consequences of a long-term (1 year), low-dose (25?mg/day) replacement therapy in a group of aging men who presented the clinical characteristics of partial androgen deficiency (PADAM). Circulating DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione, total testosterone and free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, allopregnanolone, estrone, estradiol, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), cortisol, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels were evaluated monthly to assess the endocrine effects of the therapy, while β-endorphin values were used as a marker of the neuroendocrine effects. A Kupperman questionnaire was performed to evaluate the subjective symptoms before and after treatment.

The results showed a great modification of the endocrine profile; with the exception of cortisol levels, which remained unchanged, DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione, total and free testosterone, DHT, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, estrone, estradiol, GH, IGF-1 and β-endorphin levels increased significantly with respect to baseline values, while FSH, LH and SHBG levels showed a significant decrease. The Kupperman score indicated a progressive improvement in mood, fatigue and joint pain.

In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that 25?mg/day of DHEA is able to cause significant changes in the hormonal profile and clinical symptoms and can counteract the age-related decline of endocrine and neuroendocrine functions. Restoring DHEA levels to young adult values seems to benefit the age-related decline in physiological functions but, however promising, placebo-controlled trials are required to confirm these preliminary results.     

The Racial Discrimination Act 1975: Provisions and the Receipt and Outcome of Complaints

Focussing upon the function of complaint investigation and conciliation, the paper reviews the provisions and operation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Between 31 October 1975 and 10 December 1981 a total of 5,383 complaints were received by the Commissioner for Community Relations, with Aboriginals markedly over-represented among the complainants. For reasons associated with a complaint-based procedure, the number of complaints received cannot be treated as a true indication of the extent of racial discrimination. Despite shortcomings of the Act, some of which stein from amendments to the Bill in 1975, it does provide a check upon the actions of major ‘gatekeepers’ and a viable source of redress for discrimination in certain spheres of life. It is noted that effective implementation of the Act has been hampered by various obstacles, in particular by a shortage of staff and financial resources.