China vs. United States: A Cosmopolitan Copyright Comparison

China has a notorious reputation for infringing on intellectual property, especially copyrights. Despite making substantial improvements in its copyright laws over the years, China continues to be haunted by this reputation. But is it really true? By analyzing China’s Copyright Law, this piece explores whether the assumption that China is a notorious infringer is valid. By comparing the copyright laws of the United States to those of China, and by comparing the number of litigated copyright cases that have recently occurred in both countries, this Article concludes that unfortunately Chinese citizens are still severely infringing on international copyrights. Such infringement harms not only foreign copyright owners, but Chinese citizens as well. Notwithstanding this dire conclusion, there is still hope. This paper posits three possible resolutions to help cure China’s reputational ills and weighs each solution's effectiveness

Chinese Contract Formation: The Roles of Confucianism, Communism, and International Influences

China has opened its doors to the world so understanding Chinese contract law is crucial to succeeding in international business transactions. The United States and China are both signatories to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), and both nations have declared that neither are bound under Article 1(1)(b), which means that if a contractual conflict arises, the domestic law of either nation may apply when interpreting the contract. China only requires offer and acceptance whereas the United States requires mutual assent and consideration, so contract interpretation may be problematic. Beyond offer and acceptance, Chinese contract formation law has also been heavily influenced by Confucianism, Communism, and China\u27s desire to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article addresses the background and impact of past, present, and future influences in Chinese contract law and discusses several imminent problems that still exist with Chinese law on contract formation

Chinese Contract Formation: The Roles of Confucianism, Communism, and International Influences

China has opened its doors to the world so understanding Chinese contract law is crucial to succeeding in international business transactions. The United States and China are both signatories to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), and both nations have declared that neither are bound under Article 1(1)(b), which means that if a contractual conflict arises, the domestic law of either nation may apply when interpreting the contract. China only requires offer and acceptance whereas the United States requires mutual assent and consideration, so contract interpretation may be problematic. Beyond offer and acceptance, Chinese contract formation law has also been heavily influenced by Confucianism, Communism, and China\u27s desire to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article addresses the background and impact of past, present, and future influences in Chinese contract law and discusses several imminent problems that still exist with Chinese law on contract formation

Sexual communal motivation in couples coping with low sexual interest/arousal: Associations with sexual well-being and sexual goals

Women coping with female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD) report lower sexual and relationship satisfaction compared to healthy controls. In community samples, high sexual communal strength (i.e., the motivation to meet a partner’s sexual needs) is associated with higher sexual desire and satisfaction, but high unmitigated sexual communion (i.e., the prioritization of a partner’s needs to the exclusion of one’s own needs) is associated with lower sexual satisfaction. People higher in sexual communal strength report engaging in sex for approach goals (i.e., to enhance intimacy in their relationship), but not for avoidance goals (i.e., to avert conflict or a partner’s disappointment) and this is one reason why they report greater sexual desire. In the current sample of 97 women diagnosed with FSIAD and their partners we investigated the association between sexual communal strength and unmitigated sexual communion and sexual well-being (i.e., sexual desire, sexual satisfaction and sexual distress) and sexual goals (i.e., approach and avoidance goals). Women who reported higher sexual communal strength were more likely to pursue sex for approach goals and their partner reported greater sexual satisfaction. When partners reported higher sexual communal strength, they reported higher sexual desire, but when they reported higher unmitigated sexual communion, they reported higher sexual distress. Additional associations emerged for couples who engage in sex more (compared to less) frequently. Our findings demonstrate that being motivated to meet a partner’s sexual needs is associated with greater sexual well-being for couples coping with FSIAD, but when this motivation involves neglecting one’s own needs, people do not report greater sexual well-being and instead, partners report higher sexual distress.York University Librarie

Podcasts Episode 04: Dr. Sandra Rosen

In the fourth episode of the podcast for SPED 510 (Orientation & Mobility Methods), Prof. Amy Parker talks with Dr. Sandra Rosen. Dr. Rosen is an expert on orientation and mobility -- helping people with visual impairments develop the skills needed for safe, independent travel. Image credit: Graduate College of Education - San Francisco State Universityhttps://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/sped_podcast/1005/thumbnail.jp

Sustained Use of Patient Portal Features and Improvements in Diabetes Physiological Measures

BACKGROUND: Personal health records (PHRs) have the potential to improve patient self-management for chronic conditions such as diabetes. However, evidence is mixed as to whether there is an association between PHR use and improved health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between sustained use of specific patient portal features (Web-based prescription refill and secure messaging-SM) and physiological measures important for the management of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort design, including Veterans with diabetes registered for the My Health e Vet patient portal who had not yet used the Web-based refill or SM features and who had at least one physiological measure (HbA1c, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, blood pressure) in 2009-2010 (baseline) that was above guideline recommendations (N=111,686), we assessed portal use between 2010 and 2014. We calculated the odds of achieving control of each measure by 2013 to 2014 (follow-up) by years of using each portal feature, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics associated with portal use. RESULTS: By 2013 to 2014, 34.13% (38,113/111,686) of the cohort was using Web-based refills, and 15.75% (17,592/111,686) of the cohort was using SM. Users were slightly younger (P \u3c .001), less likely to be eligible for free care based on economic means (P \u3c .001), and more likely to be women (P \u3c .001). In models adjusting for both features, patients with uncontrolled HbA1c at baseline who used SM were significantly more likely than nonusers to achieve glycemic control by follow-up if they used SM for 2 years (odds ratio-OR=1.24, CI: 1.14-1.34) or 3 or more years (OR=1.28, CI: 1.12-1.45). However, there was no significant association between Web-based refill use and glycemic control. Those with uncontrolled blood pressure at baseline who used Web-based refills were significantly more likely than nonusers to achieve control at follow-up with 2 (OR=1.07, CI: 1.01-1.13) or 3 (OR=1.08, CI: 1.02-1.14) more years of Web-based refill use. Both features were significantly associated with improvements in LDL cholesterol levels at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Although rates of use of the refill function were higher within the population, sustained SM use had a greater impact on HbA1c. Evaluations of patient portals should consider that individual components may have differential effects on health improvements

Performance of statistical models to predict mental health and substance abuse cost

BACKGROUND: Providers use risk-adjustment systems to help manage healthcare costs. Typically, ordinary least squares (OLS) models on either untransformed or log-transformed cost are used. We examine the predictive ability of several statistical models, demonstrate how model choice depends on the goal for the predictive model, and examine whether building models on samples of the data affects model choice. METHODS: Our sample consisted of 525,620 Veterans Health Administration patients with mental health (MH) or substance abuse (SA) diagnoses who incurred costs during fiscal year 1999. We tested two models on a transformation of cost: a Log Normal model and a Square-root Normal model, and three generalized linear models on untransformed cost, defined by distributional assumption and link function: Normal with identity link (OLS); Gamma with log link; and Gamma with square-root link. Risk-adjusters included age, sex, and 12 MH/SA categories. To determine the best model among the entire dataset, predictive ability was evaluated using root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute prediction error (MAPE), and predictive ratios of predicted to observed cost (PR) among deciles of predicted cost, by comparing point estimates and 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. To study the effect of analyzing a random sample of the population on model choice, we re-computed these statistics using random samples beginning with 5,000 patients and ending with the entire sample. RESULTS: The Square-root Normal model had the lowest estimates of the RMSE and MAPE, with bootstrap confidence intervals that were always lower than those for the other models. The Gamma with square-root link was best as measured by the PRs. The choice of best model could vary if smaller samples were used and the Gamma with square-root link model had convergence problems with small samples. CONCLUSION: Models with square-root transformation or link fit the data best. This function (whether used as transformation or as a link) seems to help deal with the high comorbidity of this population by introducing a form of interaction. The Gamma distribution helps with the long tail of the distribution. However, the Normal distribution is suitable if the correct transformation of the outcome is used

Evaluation of complication rates after coronary artery bypass surgery using administrative data

Our objectives were (1) to determine if studying hospital complication rates after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery provides information not available when only mortality is studied, and (2) to reexplore the utility of ICD-9-CM administrative data for CABG outcomes assessment. Using data from Massachusetts, we identified CABG cohorts from 1990 and 1992 to respectively develop and validate multivariate risk adjustment models predicting in-hospital mortality and complications. The resulting models had good discrimination and calibration. In 1992, adjusted hospital complication rates ranged widely from 13.0% to 57.6%, while mortality rates ranged from 1.4% to 6.1%. Hospitals with high complication rates tended to have high mortality (r = 0.74, p = 0.006), but 2 of the 12 hospitals studied ranked quite differently when judged by complications rather than mortality. We conclude that (1) complications after CABG occur frequently and may provide information about hospital quality beyond that obtained from hospital mortality rates, and that (2) administrative data continue to be a promising resource for outcomes research