Population level survival of patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia in Germany compared to the US in the early 21st century

INTRODUCTION: The advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors has produced 5-year survival of 90 + % for chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) patients in clinical trials. However, population level survival has been lower, especially in older patients. Here, we examine survival of patients with CML in Germany and compare it to survival of patients in the United States (US). METHODS: Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database in the US and 11 cancer registries in Germany. Patients 15–69 years old diagnosed with CML were included in the analysis. Period analysis for 2002–2006 was used to provide the most up-to-date possible estimates of five-year relative survival. RESULTS: Five-year relative survival was 68.7% overall in Germany and 72.7% in the US. Survival was higher in the US for all age groups except for ages 15–39 years, but the difference was only statistically significant for ages 50–59 years (at 67.5% vs 77.7% in Germany and the US, respectively). Survival decreased with age, ranging from 83.1% and 81.9%, respectively, in Germany and the US for patients 15–39 years old to 54.2% and 54.5%, respectively, in patients 65–69 years old. Survival increased between 2002 and 2006 by 12.0% points in Germany and 17.1% points in the US. CONCLUSIONS: Five-year survival estimates were higher in the US than in Germany overall, but the difference was only significant for ages 50–59 years. Survival did not equal that seen in clinical trials for either country, but strong improvement in survival was seen between 2002 and 2006

BUDGET BALANCE THROUGH SPENDING CUTS OR TAX ADJUSTMENTS?

This article explores the causal (lead/lag) relation between government spending and taxation in two developing countries (Lebanon and Tunisia). Both countries have suffered from large budget deficit and/or national debt problems, particularly since the early 1990s. Empirical results deduced from a battery of tests suggest that decisions to spend and tax are significantly interdependent in both countries. Moreover, the evidence is consistent with the notion that raising taxes (working primarily through aroused public awareness) provokes spending cuts. Thus, higher taxes seem an optimal resolution to the deficit predicament in both countries. Copyright 2002 Western Economic Association International.

262 Brief report Rare

variants analysis of neurexin-1b in autism reveals a novel start codon mutation affecting protein levels at synapse

Les figures de l'ordre juridique dans les relations entre le droit et son environnement

La question posée est celle des interfaces entre le système juridique et la société. Le contexte social du droit n’est pas pris ici comme surdéterminant, le droit se développant de manière autoréférentielle, dans une mesure, certes limitée, limites qu’il convient précisément d’analyser. Il y a entre le système social et le système juridique une circulation constante d’informations, qui passent par ce que nous appelons les figures juridiques. Celles-ci—le législateur, le juge ou le sujet de droit—sont en situation de choisir dans le contexte social ce qu’elles décident d’y prendre pour lui donner statut de norme. En cela, la figure juridique fait acte politique: elle ne prend pas le contexte auquel elle fait face comme un donné «naturel» qui s’imposerait à elle univoquement, mais elle choisit dans la complexité de ce contexte ce qui lui semble correspondre à l’univers juridique auquel elle appartient. Cela est possible de par sa position même dans chacun des deux univers—c’est sa véritable situation—d’un côté comme fonction juridique et de l’autre, mais en même temps, comme acteur social: elle a à dire ce qui peut passer de l’un à l’autre, elle ne répète pas ce que l’un ou l’autre dit; elle se trouve en situation parce qu’elle est le lieu de passage entre deux mondes non concomitants dans leur existence propre, mais entre lesquels elle a à faire correspondre un discours qui donne et prenne sens

Perceived Out-Group (Dis)Continuity and Attribution of Responsibility for the Lebanese Civil War Mediate Effects of National and Religious Subgroup Identification on Intergroup Attitudes

Successful reconciliation between groups following a violent conflict requires psychological change. We test a model predicting intergroup attitudes towards Muslims in Lebanon among Maronite (Christian) Lebanese youths. Identification with both their religious subgroup and with the superordinate national group predicted attitudes towards Muslims, in opposite directions. These effects of levels of identification on intergroup attitudes were mediated by attributions of responsibility for the war (Muslim responsibility) and perception that the current generation of out-group members is different from the war generation (perceived out-group discontinuity). Identification with Lebanon fosters positive attitudes towards Muslims by lowering Muslim responsibility for the war, and by increasing perceptions of foreign responsibility and perceived out-group discontinuity. In contrast, increased identification with their own religious subgroup undermines attitude change by increasing Muslim responsibility for the war and lessening perception of out-group discontinuity. Representations of the past have implications for attitudes towards former enemies and reconciliation in the present.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe