Total testosterone levels are correlated to metabolic syndrome components

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of interrelated risk factors of metabolic origin. Some studies suggest a possible link between low total testosterone (TT) levels and the presence of MetS.

Aim: To analyze the strength and independence of associations between TT and MetS components in non-diabetic men.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 143 non-diabetic men older than 40 were analyzed.

Main outcomes measure: Blood samples were collected to evaluate metabolic profile and TT levels. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more of the following characteristics: fasting blood glucose levels?≥?100?mg/dL, triglyceride?≥?150?mg/dL, HDL-c??102?cm.

Results: Mean age of the study population was 61.5?±?8.61 years old. MetS was present in 47.9% of the individuals. Thirty-four men had low TT and MetS was observed in 23 (70%) against 50 (46%) in those with normal TT (≥?300?ng/dL) (OR 4.94, p?p?=?0.03) and HDL-c (Beta: 0.19; p?=?0.04) remained significantly correlated with TT levels.

Conclusions: Low TT levels were associated with MetS diagnosis. Abdominal obesity was the MetS component independently correlated to low TT levels.     

The East German Wage Structure in the Transition to a Market Economy

ABSTRACT: An important question for the development of the East German labour market in the transition to a market economy is whether wage differentials by qualification, industry or region (which were relatively small in the former GDR) adjust to those in market economies which are more in line with differences in productivities and economic conditions. We estimate empirical earnings functions to quantify the contribution of various important factors shaping the earnings distribution in the East German transition process. Estimation is based on the first six waves of the Labour Market Monitor which is a representative panel data set of the East German working-age population covering the period 1990 to 1992. The specification of the estimated earnings functions is motivated by the various hypotheses of the development of the East German wage structure in the transformation process. Although we find some similarities with the existing wage structure in West Germany, the East German wage structure still differs in some important dimensions.     

Self‐Esteem,the Fear of Crime,and the Decision to Protect Oneself From Victimization

This research extends prior work that examines self‐esteem as an outcome of protective behaviors against crime victimization by focusing instead on the moderating influence of self‐esteem on the relationship between the fear of crime and the decision to protect oneself from victimization. The fear of crime is conceptualized as two separate components (fear of victimization and perceived risk) in accordance with prior work. Self‐esteem is conceptualized as three separate components (worth, efficacy, and authenticity), and measured with a recently designed instrument for capturing each aspect of self‐esteem separately. Data are collected through surveys of a population at high risk for victimization (undergraduate college students). Logistic regression analyses demonstrate that self‐esteem does play a role for deciding whether to engage in protective behaviors, and that the specific components of self‐esteem moderate defensive behavioral outcomes differently. Specifically, the self‐worth, self‐efficacy, and authenticity components of self‐esteem influence the decision to carry protection, but not the decision to take a self‐defense class. Implications for both the fear of crime and self‐esteem literatures are addressed.     

CONSISTENT RANKINGS BASED ON TOTAL AND DIFFERENTIAL AMOUNTS UNDER UNCERTAINTY*

Rankings of decision alternatives based on total and on differential monetary amounts may in general be inconsistent under uncertainty. In the following cases, either approach is valid and hence yields consistent rankings: (i) with expected values, provided that the differential amounts have been coherently determined and are constant within states (but may differ across states); (ii) with exponential utility functions if the shared and differential amounts are statistically independent; or (iii) in a market valuation context, assuming diversification and implicit separate market values for differential and shared amounts.     

The new class of chief executive officer

This article summarizes the results of research into the ways in which environmental forces are changing the management task of chief executive officers of large corporations. The article comments on the changing business environment; on the time spent by managers on environmental forces; changes in the basic strategies of managers concerned with major social and political environmental forces; the characteristics which chief executive officers believe their successors must have to be effective managers; major ways in which the impact of environment on the CEO is changing the infra-structure and decision-making process; and, finally, a brief look at the future.     

Pitfalls in multi-national long-range planning

The authors of this article argue that too many companies are not getting the benefits which should be produced by their long-range planning systems. Of the many possible explanations for this, the authors concentrate on the major pitfalls which should be avoided in order to ensure good results. The article is based upon the results of a survey of planning pitfalls among corporations in six industrialized countries.     

Adorno und die autoritäre Persönlichkeit

“The Authoritarian Personality” is a milestone study in social science research. Based on a series of research and investigations, the study, conducted in 1945/46, had to pass controversies and delays until its publication in 1950. Theodor W. Adorno’s involvement in this research appears to be less central than has frequently been assumed. Gradually, the importance of Erich Fromm’s contribution to the theoretical foundation and methodology of the study was recognized. Nevertheless, in many publications it is still acceptable to neglect the major contribution of Erich Fromm and Adorno’s further co-authors, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson and R. Nevitt Sanford. During the fifties, the Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung (IfS) conducted only two large-scale interview-and questionnaire-based studies pertaining to authoritarian personality issues. However, in further studies innovative research perspectives were not evident, and the most obvious task, to investigate former perpetrators and supporters of National Socialism, was not realized. The most probable of these deficit motives were based on Adorno’s dismissive view of empirical social psychology and differential psychology. However, the expertise of both are indispensable for such research programs. This historical review of “The Authoritarian Personality” demonstrates why there has been so little innovative and comprehensive research on the subject in postwar Germany.     

Just-in-time scheduling with controllable processing times on parallel machines

We study scheduling problems with controllable processing times on parallel machines. Our objectives are to maximize the weighted number of jobs that are completed exactly at their due date and to minimize the total resource allocation cost. We consider four different models for treating the two criteria. We prove that three of these problems are NP\mathcal{NP} -hard even on a single machine, but somewhat surprisingly, the problem of maximizing an integrated objective function can be solved in polynomial time even for the general case of a fixed number of unrelated parallel machines. For the three NP\mathcal{NP} -hard versions of the problem, with a fixed number of machines and a discrete resource type, we provide a pseudo-polynomial time optimization algorithm, which is converted to a fully polynomial time approximation scheme.