Income inequality : a summary of the Bank's 1998 Symposium

Income inequality has become an increasingly important public policy issue in industrialized countries in recent years. Although macroeconomic conditions have been favorable in many of these countries, the distribution of income within and across countries has remained uneven. In fact, in several countries, income inequality has risen. As a result, policymakers have become concerned that large segments of the population are not reaping the benefits of economic growth.> To gain a better understanding of these issues, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City sponsored a symposium titled "Income Inequality: Issues and Policy Options" held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 27-29, 1998. The symposium brought together a distinguished group of public officials, academics, and private-sector representatives. The discussion was far-ranging and insightful. As moderator Alice Rivlin noted toward the end of the conference, while there was a divergence of opinion in several areas, there was a consensus that "poverty, deprivation, and lack of opportunity are things that ought to be of great concern to us."> Weiner and Monto summarize the papers and commentary presented at the symposium. The first section reviews the changes in income inequality patterns over the past two decades. The second explores the reasons for these changes. Monetary policy links and the economic impact of distributional change are taken up in the following two sections. The final section considers policy options and summarizes the remarks of an overview panel.Income ; Income distribution

An Exercise in Gender: The BEM Sex Role Inventory in the Classroom

This manuscript describes a classroom exercise in which students leam about aspects of their own sex role orientation by completing the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). The exercise represents one way in which the themes of clinical sociology can contribute to the teaching of other sociology courses. Specifically, the exercise is 1) interventionist, 2) multidisciplinary, 3) humane, and 4) holistic. The exercise underscores the potential for alternative conceptions of gender without reinforcing traditional stereotypes. This manuscript introduces the Bem Sex Role Inventory, describes its administration in the classroom, provides ideas for incorporating the exercise into sociology courses, and provides an annotated bibliography of some of the relevant research that has made use of the inventory. The manuscript is designed to provide the practical tools for teachers to incorporate the exercise into their own custom-made lessons and to incorporate the themes of clinical sociology into the other sociology courses they teach

Implementasi Nilai-nilai Sosial Budaya Pokadulu (Kerjasama)

Permasalahan dalam penelitian ini adalah: 1) Apa saja nilai-nilai sosial budaya Pokadulu pada masyarakat Desa Warambe Kecamatan Parigi Kabupaten Muna. 2) Bagaimanakah Implementasi budaya pokadulu pada masyarakat Desa Warambe Kecamatan Parigi Kabupaten Muna. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian menejukan bahwa proses pelaksanaan budaya pokadulu dalam aktivitas pertanian melahirkan nilai positif sebagai sistem kerjasama yang sangat bermanfaat bagi kehidupan masyarakat, Implementasi Nilai-nilai sosial Budaya Pokadulu pada masyarakat Desa Warambe diantaranya nilai kebersamaan, persatuan tolong-menolong dan sosialisasi diterapkan dalam kegiatan pertanian yang di mulai pada saat pembukaan dan pembersihan lahan, bercocok tanam hingga panen maupun aktitas sosial lainnya yang masih diterapkan sampai sekarang. Proses pelaksanaan budaya Pokadulu pada masyarakat Desa Warambe tehadap aktifitas pertanian mulai dari pembersihan lahan perkebunan, bercocok tanam samapai pada tahap panen masih eksis atau dipertahankan oleh masyarakat. Hal ini tampak dalam aktivitas pokadulu di bidang pertanian pada masyarakat Desa Warambe . Budaya Pokadulu sebagai salah satu tradisi gotong royong merupakan warisan kekayaan budaya yang patut untuk dilestarikan dimana memiliki nilai-nilai sosial yang tinggi serta sebagai pranata sosial yang mesti dikembangkan untuk menunjang kehidupan bermasyarakat dengan semangat solidaritas yang tinggi antar sesama manusia

Outcomes of interferon alpha and ribavirin treatment for chronic hepatitis C in patients with normal serum aminotransaminases

INTRODUCTION: Information on treatment outcomes with interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients with normal alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) levels is limited. AIM: The aims of this study were to assess outcomes of treatment with interferon plus ribavirin in patients with normal ALT levels (normal ALT group, n=52) compared with those with elevated ALT levels (raised ALT group, n=53), and to document the rate at which patients with normal ALT levels have an apparent worsening of disease, as shown by increases in ALT levels. RESULTS: At the end of treatment (week 48), 31 patients (59.6%) in the normal ALT group and 30 patients (56.6%) in the raised ALT group had undetectable hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA (p=0.75). A sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved in 20 patients (38.5%) in the normal ALT group and in 21 patients (39.6%) in the raised ALT group (p=0.90). Patients were subsequently followed up for a median of 29.8 (interquartile range 25th-75th percentile (IQR) 20.8-36.2) months in the normal ALT group and for a median of 26.1 (IQR 17.7-36.3) months in the raised group (p=0.20) after week 72 of treatment. Among patients without SVR in the normal ALT group, only three patients (9.4%) developed persistently raised ALT levels following therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with interferon plus ribavirin is associated with a similar SVR in patients with normal ALT levels compared with those with elevated ALT levels. In patients with normal ALT levels, virological non-response to therapy results in new elevations in serum ALT levels in a small minority only.published_or_final_versio

Recidivism Among the Customers of Female Street Prostitutes: Do Intervention Programs Help?

Abstract This study examines recidivism among offenders participating in a program designed to discourage re-offending among men arrested for trying to hire street prostitutes. Such programs now exist in San Francisco, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and are being developed in other cities nationwide. Though now defunct, Portland, Oregon's Sexual Exploitation Education Project (SEEP), was one of the first of these programs. This study finds that the rate of recidivism among men participating in the Portland program was low. However, recidivism among men who did not participate in the program was also low. The findings suggest that recidivism may not be a useful measure of effectiveness for programs aimed at men arrested for trying to hire street prostitutes

Coronavirus Occurrence and Transmission Over 8 Years in the HIVE Cohort of Households in Michigan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156082/1/jiaa161.pdfSEL

Canalization of the evolutionary trajectory of the human influenza virus

Since its emergence in 1968, influenza A (H3N2) has evolved extensively in genotype and antigenic phenotype. Antigenic evolution occurs in the context of a two-dimensional 'antigenic map', while genetic evolution shows a characteristic ladder-like genealogical tree. Here, we use a large-scale individual-based model to show that evolution in a Euclidean antigenic space provides a remarkable correspondence between model behavior and the epidemiological, antigenic, genealogical and geographic patterns observed in influenza virus. We find that evolution away from existing human immunity results in rapid population turnover in the influenza virus and that this population turnover occurs primarily along a single antigenic axis. Thus, selective dynamics induce a canalized evolutionary trajectory, in which the evolutionary fate of the influenza population is surprisingly repeatable and hence, in theory, predictable.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, 10 supporting figure