The role of art education in adult prisons: The Western Australian experience

Incarceration costs are high; in Australia, for example, each prisoner costs an average of AUD 115,000 per year. Other countries are also feeling the fiscal pinch of high incarceration costs, and a number of jurisdictions are now closing some of their prisons. Most prison costs are non-discretionary (accommodation, meals, etc.). But some of the costs relate to discretionary activities, services and facilities (including schooling). In terms of correctional education, many prison managers try to invest any meagre correctional education resources available to them in those classes and courses which have proven to have the best results, such as improved labour market outcomes and reduced recidivism, minimising subsequent re-imprisonment. Course offers for prisoner-students include vocational training, adult basic education (ABE) and art studies. The two-tiered question this paper asks is: do art classes and courses produce these measurable outcomes and, if not, are there other reasons why they should continue to be funded? Addressing these issues, the authors argue that (1) these measurable outcomes are too narrow and do not reflect the complex but less quantifiable benefits to the individual and the community of studying art in prison, and (2) better measures of all impacts of art studies in prisons are needed, including qualitative and humanitarian aspects

Age-period-cohort modelling of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma incidence in a French region: a period effect compatible with an environmental exposure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has risen steadily during the last few decades in all geographic regions covered by cancer registration for reasons that remain unknown. The aims of this study were to assess the relative contributions of age, period and cohort effects to NHL incidence patterns and therefore to provide clues to explain the increasing incidence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Population and NHL incidence data were provided for the Doubs region (France) during the 1980-2005 period. NHL counts and person-years were tabulated into one-year classes by age (from 20 to 89) and calendar time period. Age-period-cohort models with parametric smooth functions (natural splines) were fitted to the data by assuming a Poisson distribution for the observed number of NHL cases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age-standardised incidence rate increased from 4.7 in 1980 to 11.9 per 100,000 person-years at risk in 1992 (corresponding to a 2.5-fold increase) and stabilised afterwards (11.1 per 100,000 in 2005). Age effects showed a steadily increasing slope up to the age of 80 and levelled off for older ages. Large period curvature effects, both adjusted for cohort effects and non-adjusted (p < 10^-4and p < 10^-5, respectively), showed departure from linear periodic trends; period effects jumped markedly in 1983 and stabilised in 1992 after a 2.4-fold increase (compared to the 1980 period). In both the age-period-cohort model and the age-cohort model, cohort curvature effects were not statistically significant (p = 0.46 and p = 0.08, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The increased NHL incidence in the Doubs region is mostly dependent on factors associated with age and calendar periods instead of cohorts. We found evidence for a levelling off in both incidence rates and period effects beginning in 1992. It is unlikely that the changes in classification (which occurred after 1995) and the improvements of diagnostic accuracy could largely account for the 1983-1992 period-effect increase, giving way to an increased exposure to widely distributed risk factors including persistent organic pollutants and pesticides. Continued NHL incidence and careful analysis of period effects are of utmost importance to elucidate the enigmatic epidemiology of NHL.</p

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pulsatile ocular blood flow in asymmetric age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: Ocular perfusion abnormalities have been proposed in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with differences in pulsatile ocular blood flow (POBF) in eyes with asymmetric AMD in Japanese and Taiwanese patients. The purpose of our study was to observe POBF difference in the fellow eyes of Caucasians with asymmetric AMD. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study comparing POBF in three groups of patients with asymmetric AMD in the fellow eyes: Group 1 (n=21) with drusen and active choroidal neovascularisation (CNV); Group 2 (n=18) with drusen and disciform scar; Group 3 (n=8) with CNV and disciform scar. The POBF was adjusted for intraocular pressure (IOP), pulse rate (PR), and axial length using multiple regression analysis. Generalised estimation equation model was used to include both eyes in each group. RESULTS: The geometric mean (95% confidence interval) POBF values were as follows: Group 1 with drusen 1097.9 microl/min (957.0, 1259.7) in one eye and the fellow eye with CNV 1090.1 microl/min (932.3, 1274.7); Group 2 with drusen 946.0 microl/min (794.2, 1126.7) and disciform scar 966.2 microll/min (780.3, 1196.4); Group 3 with CNV 877.1 microl/min (628.3, 1224.6) and disciform scar 767.2 microl/min (530.5, 1109.7). Adjusting for differences in axial length, pulse rate and intraocular pressure, no statistically significant difference in POBF was found between fellow eyes in the same subject. CONCLUSIONS: POBF is not different between fellow eyes of Caucasian patients with asymmetric AMD

Exporte und Firmenerfolg: Welche Firmen profitieren wie vom internationalen Handel?

Exporte, Firmenerfolg, Niedersachsen, F14, D21,