Exploring the Relationship Between Self-Employment and Health Among Blacks.

Purpose: There is some evidence that self-employment may improve measures of cardiovascular and general health among the general population; however, no studies have examined this relationship among Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs). Studying the health implications of self-employment among NHBs is important because of the disparities that persist in both cardiovascular health and self-employment rates between NHBs and other racial/ethnic subgroups. Methods: A pooled cross-sectional analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2000 to 2014) was used to explore the association between self-employment and the following self-reported outcomes: "no exercise," fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, days of alcohol consumption, fair or poor health, hypertension, poor mental health days, and poor physical health days among the total population of NHBs and across gender/income subgroups. Results: We find favorable associations between self-employment and several measures of cardiovascular health (increased fruit and vegetable consumption, reduced reports of "no exercise," and reduced reports of hypertension) and positive associations between self-employment, poor mental health days, and days of alcohol consumption among the total population. The nature of these associations varies across gender/income subgroup. Conclusions: Given the disparities between racial/ethnic subgroups with respect to adverse cardiovascular outcomes and the well-documented roles of exercise and blood pressure control in limiting cardiovascular disease, it is important to probe the relationship between self-employment and health among NHBs further

Contemplative Practices: A Strategy to Improve Health and Reduce Disparities.

Health has many dimensions, and intolerance and lack of compassion may contribute to the poor health and disparities in our nation. Tolerance can convey an inherent paradox or dissonance that can be associated with stress. However, tolerance has a dimension of acceptance, an acknowledgement and acceptance of what "is" at the present moment, that can relieve tension associated with differing beliefs and practices. Compassionate consideration of others can be combined with acceptance to create harmony within and across individuals. In this article, we explore how contemplative practices can cultivate tolerance and compassion and contribute to improvements in individual and population health

Psychometric Properties of the Altarum Consumer Engagement (ACE) Measure of Activation in Patients with Prediabetes.

BackgroundPatient activation is associated with better outcomes in chronic conditions.ObjectiveWe evaluated the psychometric properties of the 12-item Altarum Consumer Engagement™ Measure (ACE-12) in patients with prediabetes.ParticipantsACE-12 was administered to patients in the Prediabetes Informed Decisions and Education Study.Main measuresWe conducted an exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analytic models. We evaluated item response categories using item characteristic curves. Construct validity was assessed by examining correlations of the ACE-12 scales with education, depressive symptoms, self-rated health, hemoglobin A1c, body mass index, and weight loss.Key resultsParticipants (n = 515) had a median age of 58; 56% were female; 17% Hispanic; 54% were non-White. The scree plot and Tucker and Lewis reliability coefficient (0.95) suggested three factors similar to the original scales. One item loaded on the navigation rather than the informed choice scale. Ordinal alpha coefficients for the original scales were commitment (0.75); informed choice (0.71); and navigation (0.54). ICCs indicated that one or more of the response categories for 5 of the 12 items were never most likely to be selected. Patients with lower education were less activated on the commitment (r = - 0.124, p = 0.004), choice (r = - 0.085, p = 0.009), and overall score (r = - 0.042, p = 0.011). Patients with depressive symptoms had lower commitment (r = - 0.313, p ≤ 0.001) and overall scores (r = - 0.172, p = 0.012). Patients with poorer health scored lower on the Commitment (r = - 0.308, p ≤ 0.001), Navigation (r = - 0.137, p ≤ 0.001), and overall score (r = - 0.279, p ≤ 0.001).ConclusionThe analyses provide some support for the psychometric properties of the ACE-12 in prediabetic patients. Future research evaluating this tool among patients with other chronic conditions are needed to determine whether Q1 (I spend a lot of time learning about health) should remain in the informed choice or be included in the navigation scale. Additional items may be needed to yield acceptable reliability for the navigation scale

Further insights into aspects of the EU illicit drugs market: summaries and key findings

This publication presents key findings and summaries of selected reports from the study ‘Further insights into aspects of the EU illicit drugs market’ (Trautmann, Kilmer and Turnbull, forthcoming 2013), which provides an analysis of characteristics and operations of the EU’s illicit drugs market, as called for by the European Commission. This study is a follow-up of the earlier European Commission study, which presented an analysis of the developments of the global illicit drug markets, the drug problems and drug policy responses in the period 1998-2007 (Reuter and Trautmann 2009). The discussions of that study resulted in a number of further research questions. Some of the questions considered most important by the European Commission have been put together in a call for a further analysis of the EU illicit drugs market and responses to it, focusing on a number of aspects in the following four areas: A. An analysis of specific characteristics, mechanisms and factors that govern the EU illicit drugs market, including a conceptual framework for thinking about the structure of drug suppliers in the EU, an assessment whether there have been significant shifts in how drugs are supplied in the EU and an assessment of the extent to which drug suppliers are involved in different drugs and other criminal activities. B. A detailed analysis of the size and share of the EU illicit drug market, providing an estimate of the volume of the ‘EU market’ in illicit drugs (production and trafficking), providing an estimate of the profits generated by this market, analysing whether the EU drugs market is more supply or demand driven and exploring various aspects of drug use: user types, availability and consumption estimates. C. A detailed analysis of a number of potential policy impacts on the EU drug market(s) in recent years, assessing the impact of opioid substitution treatment (OST) on the European heroin market and the impact of policy changes on two EU drug markets. D. Scanning the future – trends in the market and policy responses, exploring expert views on future key trends of the illicit drug markets and policy responses in the EU

Keeping up with revolutions: evolution of higher education in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan's higher education system has undergone some dramatic changes in the past century, evolving from largely traditional religious colleges to fully state-funded communist-atheist institutions. Since the end of the communist administration and subsequent market-oriented reforms, the institutions of higher education (IHE) in Uzbekistan have had to reinvent and reform themselves again, as the demand for different kind of education increased. This paper puts the current changes and trends in IHEs into an historical perspective and highlights some important effects of the market reforms on the educational scene

Quarantined histories: Sindh and the question of historiography in colonial India‐ Part I

This essay examines histories of colonial British India and the annexation of Sindh in 1843 from two perspectives. The first is the colonial historiographic project that frames the history of Islam in India, creates an archive for its study and produces the political and military dominance of Sindh. Fundamentally, it argues that Muslims in India cannot produce their own histories for they lack the language and archives for scientific objectivity. In response, a set of Indian intellectuals take on the project of writing histories of Sindh from 1890 to 1950s. These histories are written in direct dialogue with the colonial archive and insist on their engagement with social scientific methodologies and tools. In rethinking this past, the essay argues that that Urdu historiography was itself deemed unscientific by modern South Asian historians and abandoned as not “proper history.” This essay thus asks that we incorporate such histories in our genealogies of anticolonial past