Union-Management Cooperation

[Excerpt] As unions and management work together on cooperative programs, this cooperation not only reduces the emotional heat in their collective bargaining; it encourages them to experiment with new ways of resolving problems

Resources for Workplace Diversity: An Annotated Practitioner Guide to Information

[Excerpt] We are pleased to offer this updated edition of Resources for Workplace Diversity: An Annotated Practitioner Guide to Information, a unique offering of The Workplace Diversity Network. Our goal is to assemble a selected, annotated list of compelling and useful resources available to help diversity practitioners create organizations that are diverse and productive. As a working group, we agreed that useful resources would include newly published books as well as historic, seminal works that provide insight and illumination irrelevant of their age. In the updated edition, we’ve expanded existing sections, added new ones and referenced online access where possible. Designed with practitioner needs in mind, Resources for Workplace Diversity is meant to be an evolving document, one that will grow according to the needs and recommendations of its users. To capture the advantage of networking, we invite you to suggest additional resources that you have found to be valuable

The Future of Women\u27s Studies: Focus on the State University of New York

One of the most distinguished programs in women\u27s studies was begun on the Buffalo campus of the State University of New York in 1970, another in 1969 at Cornell University, an institution affiliated with SUNY. At SUNY/College at Old Westbury, a Women\u27s Studies Program was written into the innovative curriculum planned more than four years ago, and that institution has been host to The Feminist Press and the Clearinghouse on Women\u27s Studies since that time. Newer programs have developed at Albany, Brockport and New Paltz, while SUNY/Binghamton\u27s women\u27s history program is the first in the nation to grant the doctorate. Similarly, SUNY/Buffalo was one of the first campuses to offer an M.A. degree in women\u27s studies, and it is the only campus with a student-initiated Women\u27s Studies College. Still, given the fact that SUNY contains some 73 institutions of higher learning, the state-wide record was, until recently, not impressive

Interventions for preventing weight gain after smoking cessation

BACKGROUND: Most people who stop smoking gain weight, on average about 7 kg in the long term. There are some interventions that have been specifically designed to tackle smoking cessation whilst also limiting weight gain. Many smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and other interventions may also limit weight gain. OBJECTIVES: This review is divided into two parts. (1) Interventions designed specifically to aid smoking cessation and limit post-cessation weight gain (2) Interventions designed to aid smoking cessation that may also plausibly have an effect on weight SEARCH STRATEGY: Part 1: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group's Specialized Register which includes trials indexed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, SciSearch and PsycINFO, and other reviews and conference abstracts. Part 2: We searched the included studies of Cochrane smoking cessation reviews of nicotine replacement therapy, antidepressants, nicotine receptor partial agonists, cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonists (rimonabant), and exercise interventions, published in Issue 4, 2008 of The Cochrane Library. SELECTION CRITERIA: Part 1: We included trials of interventions designed specifically to address both smoking cessation and post-cessation weight gain that had measured weight at any follow-up point and/or smoking six months or more after quitting.Part 2: We included trials from the selected Cochrane reviews that could plausibly modify post-cessation weight gain if they had reported weight gain by trial arm at end of treatment or later. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We extracted data in duplicate on smoking and weight for part 1 trials, and on weight only for part 2. Abstinence from smoking is expressed as a risk ratio (RR), using the most rigorous definition of abstinence available in each trial, and biochemically validated rates if available. The outcome is expressed as the difference in weight change between trial arms from baseline. Where appropriate, we performed meta-analysis using the Mantel-Haenszel method for smoking and inverse variance for weight using a fixed-effect model. MAIN RESULTS: We found evidence that pharmacological interventions aimed at reducing post-cessation weight gain resulted in a significant reduction in weight gain at the end of treatment (dexfenfluramine (-2.50kg [-2.98kg to -2.02kg], fluoxetine (-0.80kg [-1.27kg to -0.33kg], phenylpropanolamine (PPA) (-0.50kg [-0.80kg to -0.20kg], naltrexone (-0.76kg [-1.51kg to -0.01kg])). No evidence of maintenance of the treatment effect was found at six or 12 months.Among the behavioural interventions, only weight control advice was associated with no reduction in weight gain and with a possible reduction in abstinence. Individualized programmes were associated with reduced weight gain at end of treatment and at 12 months (-2.58kg [-5.11kg to -0.05kg]), and with no effect on abstinence (RR 0.74 [0.39 to 1.43]). Very low calorie diets (-1.30kg (-3.49kg to 0.89kg] at 12 months) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (-5.20kg (-9.28kg to -1.12kg] at 12 months) were both associated with improved abstinence and reduced weight gain at end of treatment and at long-term follow up.Both bupropion (300mg/day) and fluoxetine (30mg and 60mg/day combined) were found to limit post-cessation weight gain at the end of treatment (-0.76kg [-1.17kg to -0.35kg] I(2)=48%) and -1.30kg [-1.91kg to -0.69kg]) respectively. There was no evidence that the weight reducing effect of bupropion was dose-dependent. The effect of bupropion at one year was smaller and confidence intervals included no effect (-0.38kg [-2.001kg to 1.24kg]).We found no evidence that exercise interventions significantly reduced post-cessation weight gain at end of treatment but evidence for an effect at 12 months (-2.07kg [-3.78kg, -0.36kg]).Treatment with NRT resulted in attenuation of post-cessation weight gain (-0.45kg [-0.70kg, -0.20kg]) at the end of treatment, with no evidence that the effect differed for different forms of NRT. The estimated weight gain reduction was similar at 12 months (-0.42kg [-0.92kg, 0.08kg]) but the confidence intervals included no effect.There were no relevant data on the effect of rimonabant on weight gain.We found no evidence that varenicline significantly reduced post-cessation weight gain at end of treatment and no follow-up data are currently available. One study randomizing successful quitters to 12 more weeks of active treatment showed weight to be reduced by 0.71kg (-1.04kg to -0.38kg). In three studies, participants taking bupropion gained significantly less weight at the end of treatment than those on varenicline (-0.51kg [-0.93kg to -0.09kg]). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Behavioural interventions of general advice only are not effective and may reduce abstinence. Individualized interventions, very low calorie diets, and CBT may be effective and not reduce abstinence. Exercise interventions are not associated with reduced weight gain at end of treatment, but may be associated with worthwhile reductions in weight gain in the long term, Bupropion, fluoxetine, nicotine replacement therapy, and probably varenicline all reduced weight gain while being used. Although this effect was not maintained one year after quitting for bupropion, fluoxetine, and nicotine replacement, the evidence is insufficient to exclude a modest long-term effect. The data are not sufficient to make strong clinical recommendations for effective programmes

Concepto moderno de un dispensario de higiene infantil

BACKGROUND: St John's wort is an effective antidepressant that can reduce tobacco withdrawal symptoms, but it is not known whether it assists cessation. Chromium assists weight loss and might limit post cessation weight gain. METHODS: In a factorial design, we randomised smokers stopping smoking to 900 mg St John's wort (SJW) active or placebo and also randomised them to 400 microm chromium or placebo daily. Treatment started 2 weeks prior to quit day and continued for 14 weeks. Participants and researchers were blind to treatment allocation. All participants received weekly behavioural support. The primary endpoints were biochemically confirmed prolonged abstinence and mean weight gain in abstinent smokers 4 weeks after quitting. RESULTS: 6/71 (8.5%) participants on active SJW and 9/72 (12.5%) on placebo achieved prolonged abstinence at 4 weeks, an odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval) of 0.65 (0.22-1.92). At 6 months, 3 (4.2%) SJW active and 6 (8.3%) SJW placebo participants were still abstinent, an OR of 0.49 (0.12-2.02). Among these participants, the mean difference in weight gain between active chromium and placebo was -0.8 1kg (-3.79 to 2.18) at 4 weeks and -3.88 kg (-12.13 to 4.38) at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Taking together the absolute quit rates, the small difference between active and placebo, and lack of effects on withdrawal shows that SJW is ineffective for smoking cessation. Insufficient people stopped smoking to properly test the efficacy of chromium in preventing weight gain, but the point estimate indicates a potentially worthwhile benefit