How Will the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 Affect Young Adults?

Summarizes how healthcare reform provisions including the expansion of dependent coverage, subsidies for insurance premiums, and penalties for opting out of coverage will affect young adults ages 19-29 by income level and gender

Diagnosis of pancreatic disease in feline platynosomosis

Objectives: Platynosomum species are cat-specific parasitic trematodes that parasitize the biliary ducts and gall bladder. Due to the common connection to the major duodenal papilla of the pancreas and common bile ducts in addition to the periductal proximity of the pancreas, it is possible that platynosomosis could cause pancreatitis. The objective of this study was to determine whether platynosomosis, a commonly diagnosed parasitic disease in cats on St Kitts, has any association with pancreatic disease. Methods: To investigate this possibility, the pancreas of free-roaming cats with naturally acquired platynosomosis were evaluated via ultrasound, serum concentrations of feline pancreatic lipase (fPL), cobalamin, folate and feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity (fTLI) and histopathology. Twenty free-roaming, young adult, feral cats, positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, and diagnosed with Platynosomum species infection via fecal analysis were recruited. The liver, biliary system and pancreas were evaluated via ultrasonography during a short duration anesthesia. Serum concentrations of fPL, fTLI, folate and cobalamin were measured. Sections of the right limb, left limb and body of the pancreas were evaluated histopathologically using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain. Results: None of the cats had sufficient criteria to fulfill the ultrasonographic diagnosis of pancreatitis. One cat had an elevated fPL concentration in the range consistent with pancreatitis. Four cats had cobalamin deficiencies and 11 had abnormal folate concentration. The fTLI concentration was equivocal for the diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in one cat. With a single exception, histopathology changes, when present (n = 12), were mild, non-specific and predominantly characterized by lymphocytic infiltrates and fibrosis. The exception was a cat that presented a chronic interstitial and eosinophilic pancreatitis of slightly increased severity, likely the result of platynosomosis. Conclusions and relevance: The results of this study suggest that platynosomosis rarely induces pancreatic damage in cats. With only one exception, chronic pancreatitis diagnosed in cats with fluke-induced cholangitis and cholangiohepatitis was subtle and interpreted as an incidental background lesion unrelated to platynosomosis

The Contrasting Image of Italian Women Under Fascism in the 1930’s

The Fascist regime in Italy lasted twenty years, deeply influencing the Italian population and the Italian culture during that time period. Although Fascism tried to control the public and private life of Italians, it was unsuccessful because of the strong presence of the Catholic Church and because ofItaly’s difficult history prior to unification. What the regime did accomplish, however, was the quasi complete consent of the masses because of the numerous activities and organizations it created for them. A particular group on which Fascism focused was women, understanding how central their role was within the family, and wanting to gain their support as well. What I decided to focus on was the somewhat contradictory role that Fascism wanted women to play. On one hand they were supposed to be loving mothers and wives, and obedient daughters, while on the other hand they were asked to embody the “new Italian woman,” a modern figure who, in Fascist ideology, was able to break away from the more traditional past and to embrace the more developed future. During the Fascist ventennio (twenty years) women were pushed outside of their homes to become an active part of the new Fascist state, but they were quickly sent back to their hearth when the regime felt it needed them and their offspring. The question is: How did women at the time deal with such a contradiction? Did they feel as torn as we present-day people might think, or was it ordinary for them? Because of the need for support and participation the regime created a vast number of organizations and associations that women could be a part of, something that in the previous years had only been attempted by the Catholic Church. Despite there being no perfect answer or solution to the contradicting aspects of Fascism in regards to women, I have tried to explain the various points of view, by enumerating both the negative aspects of the regime, and the positive innovations as well. Mussolini did create a dictatorship, and it would be incorrect to try and justify its darkest actions; however, what I tried to understand was why so many people accepted it, and why most of its events were characterized by massive participation. It was pivotal to my thesis to try and understand why the regime gave so much importance to women, and why it dedicated so much time to improve their lives as mothers and workers. Not only was welfare introduced, but the regime also created organizations for working mothers to ease their labor and allow them more time to take place in the numerous activities organized by the regime. I have used a number of different sources for my thesis – both primary and secondary, including scholarly books and essays; various movies (two of which were shot during the Fascist ventennio, and others that depict that time period, but were made years after Fascism collapsed); personal interviews with four people who were alive during the Fascist regime and who were willing to share their memories with me; novels which were written at the time and that either directly or indirectly give an idea of what life under Fascism meant; personal speeches written and given by Mussolini; written memories of his wife, Rachele Mussolini; and lastly images, which were a very powerful tool because they allowed me to visualize what at times our imaginations does not allow us to do. In conclusion, my thesis tries to give an idea of what Fascism did for women – although oftentimes not denying its misogynistic attitude, and in what way many of its decisions regarding the female gender presented an inner contradiction. These clashes between what the regime wanted women to be and how women really were, were not always as visible as one might think, and that is perhaps why those inner contradictions did not bring the regime down. Women were experiencing freedom for the first time, and although it cannot be comparable to the freedom that women had in theUnited Statesor inGreat Britain, it was certainly a breath of fresh air for Italian women of the time. This is, in my opinion, one of the main reasons for which most Italian women did not oppose the regime, and why in many cases they did not feel the oppression that the regime was creating. Propaganda and the new organizations gave women something different, something that the Liberal regime in the past had been unable to give them, and this along, in many cases, represented the strongest support that the regime could ask for

Has foreign bank entry led to sounder banks in Latin America?

Policymakers continue to debate the merits of opening emerging market financial sectors to foreign ownership. A comparison of the 1995-2000 performance of foreign and domestic banks in select Latin American countries reveals that while foreign banks differed little from their domestic counterparts in overall financial condition, they showed more robust loan growth, a more aggressive response to asset quality deterioration, and a greater ability to absorb losses_characteristics that could help to strengthen the financial systems of their host countries.Banks and banking - Latin America ; Banks and banking, Foreign ; Economic development - Latin America

Bringing It Home: A Study of the Incentives Surrounding the Repatriation of Foreign Earnings Under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (the Act) creates a temporary tax holiday that effectively reduces the U.S. tax rate on repatriations from foreign subsidiaries from 35% to 5.25%. Firms receive the reduced tax rate by electing to take an 85% dividends received deduction on repatriations in 2004 or 2005. This paper investigates the characteristics of firms that repatriate under the Act and how they use the repatriated funds. We find that firms that repatriate under the Act have lower investment opportunities and higher free cash flows than nonrepatriating firms. Further, we find that repatriating firms increase share repurchases during 2005 by approximately $60 billion more than nonrepatriating firms, an amount that cannot be explained by differences in earnings between the two groups of firms. This increase represents about 20$291.6 billion repatriated by our sample firms under the Act

Misoprostol in the management of the third stage of labour in the home delivery setting in rural Gambia: a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of 600 microg oral misoprostol on postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and postpartum anaemia in a low income country home birth situation. DESIGN: Double blind randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Twenty-six villages in rural Gambia with 52 traditional birth attendants (TBAs). SAMPLE: One thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine women delivering at home under the guidance of a trained TBA. METHODS: Active management of the third stage of labour using three 200-microg misoprostol tablets and placebo or four 0.5-mg ergometrine tablets (standard treatment) and placebo. Tablets were taken orally immediately after delivery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measured blood loss, postpartum haemoglobin (Hb), difference between Hb at the last antenatal care visit and three to five days postpartum. RESULTS: The misoprostol group experienced lower incidence of measured blood loss > or =500 mL and postpartum Hb or = 2 g/dL was 16.4% with misoprostol and 21.2% with ergometrine [relative risk 0.77; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.60-0.98; P= 0.02]. Shivering was significantly more common with misoprostol, while vomiting was more common with ergometrine. Only transient side effects were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Six hundred micrograms of oral misoprostol is a promising drug to prevent life-threatening PPH in this setting

Preference-for-Solitude and Adjustment Difficulties in Early and Late Adolescence

Social withdrawal has been associated with adjustment difficulties across development. Although much is known about shyness, little is known about preference-for-solitude; even less is known about its relations with adjustment across different periods of adolescence. We examined whether preference-for-solitude might be differentially associated with adjustment difficulties in early and late adolescence. Self- and parent-reports of withdrawal motivations and adjustment were collected from 234 eighth graders (113 boys; M age = 13.43) and 204 twelfth graders (91 boys; M age = 17.25). Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that above and beyond the effects of shyness, preference-for-solitude was more strongly associated with adjustment difficulties in 8th grade than in 12th grade. Preference-for-solitude was associated with greater anxiety/depression, emotion dysregulation, and lower self-esteem in 8th grade; these relations were not found in 12th grade. Although preference-for-solitude was associated with lower social competence in both 8th and 12th grades, this relation was significantly stronger in 8th grade than in 12th grade. Findings suggest preference-for-solitude has closer ties to maladjustment in early adolescence than in late adolescence. Interventions targeting preferred-solitary youth in early adolescence may be particularly fruitfu

What have we learned about CO2 leakage from field injection tests?

Legislation and guidelines developed for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) have set performance requirements to minimize leakage risk, and to quantify and remediate any leaks that arise. For compliance it is necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the possible spread, fate and impacts of any leaked CO2, and also the ability to detect and quantify any leakage. Over the past decade, a number of field scale CO2 release experiments have been conducted around the world to address many of the uncertainties regarding the characteristics of near-surface expression of CO2 in terms of the impact and quantitation of CO2 leaks. In these experiments, either free phase or dissolved CO2 is injected and released into the shallow subsurface so as to artificially simulate a CO2 leak into the near-surface environment. The experiments differ in a number of ways, from the geological conditions, surface environments, injection rates and experimental set-up - including the injection and monitoring strategy. These experiments have provided abundant information to aid in the development of our scientific understanding of environmental impacts of CO2 while assessing state of the art monitoring techniques. We have collated a global dataset of field-scale shallow controlled release experiments that have released CO2 at depths shallower than 25 m. The dataset includes 14 different field experiment locations, of which nine intended to release CO2 to surface, and the remaining sites intended for CO2 to remain in the shallow subsurface. Several release experiments have been conducted at half of these sites, and so in total, 42 different CO2 release tests have taken place at the 14 sites we examine. These experiments and their results are scrutinised to establish: (i) the range of experimental approaches and environments explored to date (such as the environment, subsurface conditions, injection strategy and whether gaseous or dissolved CO2 were injected and in what quantities); (ii) the range of CO2 injection and surface release rates at these experiments; (iii) the collective learnings about the surface and subsurface manifestation of the CO2 release, the spread and fate of the CO2, rates of CO2 flux to surface, and methods of measuring these; (iv) how successfully current approaches can detect and quantify CO2. This allows us to highlight where uncertainties remain and identify knowledge gaps that future experiments should seek to address. We also draw on the collective experiences to identify common issues or complications, and so recommend ‘best practice’ guidelines for experiment design and reporting at future CO2 release experiments