Tort, Social Security, and No-Fault Schemes: Lessons from Real-World Experiments

Background Anthropometric measurements are useful in clinical practice since they are non-invasive and cheap. Previous studies suggest that sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) may be a better measure of visceral fat depots. The aim of this study was to prospectively explore and compare how laboratory and anthropometric risk markers predicted subclinical organ damage in 255 patients, with type 2 diabetes, after four years. Methods Baseline investigations were performed in 2006 and were repeated at follow-up in 2010. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was evaluated by ultrasonography and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured with applanation tonometry over the carotid and femoral arteries at baseline and at follow-up in a cohort of subjects with type 2 diabetes aged 55–65 years old. Results There were significant correlations between apolipoprotein B (apoB) (r = 0.144, p = 0.03), C - reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.172, p = 0.009) at baseline and IMT measured at follow-up. After adjustment for sex, age, treatment with statins and Hba1c, the associations remained statistically significant. HbA1c, total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol did not correlate to IMT at follow-up. Baseline body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.130, p = 0.049), waist circumference (WC) (r = 0.147, p = 0.027) and sagittal Abdominal Diameter (SAD) (r = 0.184, p = 0.007) correlated to PWV at follow-up. Challenged with sex, SBP and HbA1c, the association between SAD, not WC nor BMI, and PWV remained statistically significant (p = 0.036). In a stepwise linear regression, entering both SAD and WC, the association between SAD and PWV was stronger than the association between WC and PWV. Conclusions We conclude that apoB and CRP, but not LDL-cholesterol predicted subclinical atherosclerosis. Furthermore, SAD was more independent in predicting arterial stiffness over time, compared with WC, in middle-aged men and women with type 2 diabetes.Funding Agencies|Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden||Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV)||Linkoping University||Futurum||King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria Freemason Foundation||GE Healthcare||Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation||Swedish Research Council Grant|12661|</p

Party building and candidate selection : intraparty politics and promoting gender equality in Myanmar

This study examines why women remain underrepresented in Myanmar politics. It looks at structural and cultural aspects, revealing the dynamics of intraparty politics, especially the role and processes of candidate selection that affect both demand and supply of women candidates at local and national party levels. The findings are based on qualitative analysis of 72 in-depth interviews with members of nine political parties. Results suggest familial succession and family networks are common channels for recruitment. Additionally, those with backgrounds in social or religious groups, or as teachers are more likely to seek office.Knowledge for Democracy Myanma

Revealing the secret garden:The informal dimensions of political recruitment

Candidate selection and recruitment has been notably described as the “secret garden” of politics—an obscure process, often hidden from view, that is regulated largely by internal party rules, informal practices, and power relationships (cf. Gallagher and Marsh 1988). In this contribution, we contend that informal party practices and their gendered consequences are critically important for understanding the continuity of male political dominance and female underrepresentation. Rather than make a strict separation between formal and informal rules in the recruitment process, we argue that gender politics scholars must instead identify and empirically investigate the specific combinations of such rules that impact upon women's and men's political participation in parties. The proposed approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of the bounded nature and variable outcomes of institutional innovation and party change

Разработка конструкции стенда для испытаний системы выгрузки зерна комбайна КЗС-10К

Материалы VIII Междунар. науч.-техн. конф. студентов, магистрантов и молодых ученых, Гомель, 28–29 апр. 2008

The Women’s Equality Party: Emergence, Organisation and Challenges

Women's political parties are designed to increase women's representation in politics. More than thirty have been established in Europe since 1987, yet there has been little systematic analysis of why and when they emerge, how they organize, and what challenges they face. We argue that the study of women's parties can offer insights into questions concerning inter and intra-party power relations and the relationship between social movements and political parties, whilst also contributing to broader debates around the 'big questions' of representation, gender (in)equality, and the dynamics of political inclusion and exclusion. This article explores these issues through a case study analysis of the UK's Women's Equality Party. Drawing upon original empirical research undertaken with party activists and officials, we argue that the party's impact has been constrained by wider organizational logics and an unequal party system, whilst it has so far adhered to traditional (male-dominated) patterns of party organisation

Comparing candidate selection:A feminist institutionalist approach

This contribution evaluates the theoretical and methodological challenges ofresearching the gendered dynamics of candidate selection in comparativeperspective. It argues that comparative studies should take into account not only thegendered nature of political parties and their wider institutional context, but mustalso investigate the informal aspects of the selection process and their genderedconsequences. The article explores these dynamics by revisiting original in-depthresearch on the candidate selection process in two different settings – Thailand andScotland. Using a common analytical framework, the article reflects on this workand points to two key aspects of the interaction between formal and informal rules –the gendered consequences of informal party recruitment and of local influenceover candidate selection – which are critically important for understanding thecontinuity of male political dominance and female under-representation. The articleconcludes by outlining a research agenda for comparative work on gender, institutionsand candidate selection and pointing to future directions for work in this area.Political parties and women’s political representation: The role of bureaucratized candidate selection procedure