Belief in sexism shift: Defining a new form of contemporary sexism and introducing the belief in sexism shift scale (BSS scale).

The belief that the target of sexism has shifted from women to men is gaining popularity. Yet despite its potential theoretical and practical importance, the belief that men are now the primary target of sexism has not been systematically defined nor has it been reliably measured. In this paper, we define the belief in sexism shift (BSS) and introduce a scale to measure it. We contend that BSS constitutes a new form of contemporary sexism characterized by the perception that anti-male discrimination is pervasive, that it now exceeds anti-female discrimination, and that it is caused by women's societal advancement. In four studies (N = 666), we develop and test a concise, one-dimensional, 15-item measure of BSS: the BSS scale. Our findings demonstrate that BSS is related to, yet distinct from other forms of sexism (traditional, modern, and ambivalent sexism). Moreover, our results show that the BSS scale is a stable and reliable measure of BSS across different samples, time, and participant gender. The BSS scale is also less susceptible to social desirability concerns than other sexism measures. In sum, the BSS scale can be a valuable tool to help understand a new and potentially growing type of sexism that may hinder women in unprecedented ways

STARTVerso1: A randomized trial of faldaprevir plus pegylated interferon/ribavirin for chronic HCV genotype-1 infection

BACKGROUND & AIMS The efficacy and tolerability of faldaprevir, a potent hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor, plus peginterferon and ribavirin was assessed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study of treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype-1 infection. METHODS Patients were randomly assigned (1:2:2) to peginterferon/ribavirin plus: placebo (arm 1, n=132) for 24 weeks; faldaprevir (120 mg, once daily) for 12 or 24 weeks (arm 2, n=259); or faldaprevir (240 mg, once daily) for 12 weeks (arm 3, n=261). In arms 2 and 3, patients with early treatment success (HCV RNA <25 IU/mL at week 4 and undetectable at week 8) stopped all treatment at week 24. Other patients received peginterferon/ribavirin until week 48 unless they met futility criteria. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12). RESULTS SVR12 was achieved by 52%, 79%, and 80% of patients in arms 1, 2, and 3, respectively (estimated difference for arms 2 and 3 versus arm 1: 27%, 95% confidence interval 17%-36%; and 29%, 95% confidence interval, 19%-38%, respectively; P<.0001 for both). Early treatment success was achieved by 87% (arm 2) and 89% (arm 3) of patients, of whom 86% and 89% achieved SVR12. Adverse event rates were similar among groups; few adverse events led to discontinuation of all regimen components. CONCLUSIONS Faldaprevir plus peginterferon/ribavirin significantly increased SVR12, compared with peginterferon/ribavirin, in treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype-1 infection. There do not seem to be any differences in responses of patients given once-daily 120 or 240 mg faldaprevir