International Reflections for United States Health Care Improvements

In 2000, the World Health Organization ranked 151 countries based on the quality of their health care systems. Those rankings found the United States of America to be ranked thirty-seventh on the list of countries. The top three ranked countries include France, Italy, and San Marino, respectively. The bottom three countries include the Central African Republic, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone, respectively (Tandon et al., 2000). By looking the health care systems of these countries, it is easy to see what makes a health care system good, or bad. The health care system of the United States of America currently has aspects of both the higher and lower ranked countries. By using the rankings and understanding the health care systems of the other countries, there are some recommendations that can be made in order to improve the current health care system of the United States of America

The Role of Information and Incentives in Voluntary Corporate Provision of Public Goods

More than ever, corporations face pressure to act beyond their fiduciary duties to shareholders and regulatory requirements to reduce their environmental impact and improve social conditions, yet frequently produce empty symbolic measures with no benefit to societal welfare or their own financial performance. This research program examines both external incentives for firms to engage in strategic provision of social and environmental goods and information strategies to harness sustainability motivations and influence perceptions among employees and other stakeholder groups. The dissertation consists of four chapters, each comprising a standalone empirical research study grounded in strategic management, economics, and behavioral theories. The first two studies use field experimental methods to examine the tendency for individuals to alter attitudes and behavior in response to information about relevant peers; the first study in a residential community and the second in a corporate workplace. The third study extends these behavioral phenomena to corporations, evaluating the degree to which more profitable or more rivalrous industry peers influence firms’ engagement in corporate social responsibility initiatives. The final study examines microdata contained within a prominent third-party corporate greenhouse gas emissions disclosure program, finding evidence of widespread reporting inconsistencies that suggest systematic efforts by companies to mislead stakeholders about actual carbon management performance. The outcomes of this research program inform corporate strategies for leveraging social and environmental goods for improved financial performance --- the triple bottom line --- and policy prescriptions to enhance incentives for companies to provide truthful disclosures of environmental performance

Peer communication improves environmental employee engagement programs: Evidence from a quasi-experimental field study

Environmental employee engagement programs promise to raise employee morale, improve social and environmental conditions and strengthen companies' financial performance. Such programs, however, sometimes fail to improve employee engagement, often because employees do not believe in the program's authenticity. This study evaluates peer communication as a mechanism for improving the credibility of employee engagement programs. We use a quasi-experimental research design in which employees from different regional offices of a single company were placed in either a treatment group that experienced a peer communication program or a control group that did not. Pre- and post-test surveys measured employees' affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement with their work. Treatment group employees showed increases in pride in the company's environmental initiatives and accomplishments, confidence in discussing its environmental record with external stakeholders, and awareness of and participation in its employee environmental programs. These changes were significantly greater than what occurred in the control groups, suggesting that the peer communication program was generally effective at improving employee engagement. These results demonstrate new modes of internal communication that can strengthen companies' environmental performance and improve employee-related outcomes

Reversible and Irreversible Protein Glutathionylation: Biological and Clinical Aspects

INTRODUCTION: Depending in part on the glutathione:glutathione disulfide ratio, reversible protein glutathionylation to a mixed disulfide may occur. Reversible glutathionylation is important in protecting proteins against oxidative stress, guiding correct protein folding, regulating protein activity and modulating proteins critical to redox signaling. The potential also exists for irreversible protein glutathionylation via Michael addition of an -SH group to a dehydroalanyl residue, resulting in formation of a stable, non-reducible thioether linkage. AREAS COVERED: This article reviews factors contributing to reversible and irreversible protein glutathionylation and their biomedical implications. It also examines the possibility that certain drugs such as busulfan may be toxic by promoting irreversible glutathionylation. The reader will gain an appreciation of the protective nature and control of function resulting from reversible protein glutathionylation. The reader is also introduced to the recently identified phenomenon of irreversible protein glutathionylation and its possible deleterious effects. EXPERT OPINION: The process of reversible protein glutathionylation is now well established but these findings need to be substantiated at the tissue and organ levels, and also with disease state. That being said, irreversible protein glutathionylation can also occur and this has implications in disease and aging. Toxicologists should consider this when evaluating the possible side effects of certain drugs such as busulfan that may generate a glutathionylating species in vivo

Chemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of a traditional herbal medicine containing garlic and black cumin

A combination of crushed garlic (Allium sativum) and black cumin seeds (Nigelia sativum) has been used as a traditional remedy for urinary tract infections. In-vitro antimicrobial testing suggested that the mixture of two spices in the ratio of 1:1 has antimicrobial effects on both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli species. Analyses of the extract of garlic and black cumin by GC-MS as well as LC–MS & MS2 confirmed that the main components of garlic were allicin, γ-glutamyl-S-allylcysteine and allicin transformed products such as diallyldisulfide and vinyldithiins. Components of black cumin were thymoquinone, p-cymene, p-tert-butylcatechol, and pinene. Isolated samples of allicin by preparative HPLC from garlic extract and reference samples of diallyldisulfide and thymoquinone were tested individually and in combination for their antimicrobial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. All of these compounds showed modest antimicrobial effects individually (except diallyldisulfide against E. coli) and in combination. Keywords: garlic, black cumin, diallyldisulfide, thymoquinone, antimicrobial activity African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 3(2) 2006: 1-