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Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. Approximately 14% of those who use alcohol meet criteria during their lifetime for alcohol dependence, which is characterized by tolerance, withdrawal, inability to stop drinking, and continued drinking despite serious psychological or physiological problems. We explored genetic influences on alcohol dependence among 1,897 European-American and African-American subjects with alcohol dependence compared with 1,932 unrelated, alcohol-exposed, nondependent controls. Constitutional DNA of each subject was genotyped using the Illumina 1M beadchip. Fifteen SNPs yielded P < 10⁻⁵, but in two independent replication series, no SNP passed a replication threshold of P < 0.05. Candidate gene GABRA2, which encodes the GABA receptor α2 subunit, was evaluated independently. Five SNPs at GABRA2 yielded nominal (uncorrected) P < 0.05, with odds ratios between 1.11 and 1.16. Further dissection of the alcoholism phenotype, to disentangle the influence of comorbid substance-use disorders, will be a next step in identifying genetic variants associated with alcohol dependence.

Asbestos describes a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral compounds that have been associated with a number of respiratory maladies, including mesothelioma and lung cancer. In addition, based primarily on epidemiologic studies, asbestos has been implicated as a risk factor for laryngeal and pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The main objective of this work was to strengthen existing evidence via empirical demonstration of persistent asbestos fibers embedded in the tissue surrounding laryngeal and pharyngeal SCC, thus providing a more definitive biological link between exposure and disease. Six human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative laryngeal ( n  = 4) and pharyngeal ( n  = 2) SCC cases with a history working in an asbestos-exposed occupation were selected from a large population-based case–control study of head and neck cancer. A laryngeal SCC case with no history of occupational asbestos exposure was included as a control. Tissue cores were obtained from adjacent nonneoplastic tissue in tumor blocks from the initial primary tumor resection, and mineral fiber analysis was performed using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDXA). Chrysotile asbestos fiber bundles were identified in 3/6 of evaluated cases with a history of occupational asbestos exposure. All three cases had tumors originating in the larynx. In addition, a wollastonite fiber of unclear significance was identified one of the HPV-negative pharyngeal SCC cases. No mineral fibers were identified in adjacent tissue of the case without occupational exposure. The presence of asbestos fibers in the epithelial tissue surrounding laryngeal SCC in cases with a history of occupational asbestos exposure adds a key line of physical evidence implicating asbestos as an etiologic factor.

Child poverty rates exceed those of elderly people in almost all Western nations. Moreover, it can be expected that the presently young generation (and yet unborn) will (far) less benefit from the welfare state than the elderly generation does and will continue to do. These inequalities between age groups and intergenerational inequities are, to a large extent, the result of the increasing numerical weight of elderly voters among the electorate to which political parties and governments respond. Giving voting rights to minor children, albeit vicariously exercised by parents, is one, repeatedly proposed approach to strengthening pro-family politics against the threat of gerontocratic politics (recently: Ringen 1997; van Parijs 1999). In the paper the pros and cons of this proposal are analyzed from two very different perspectives: (1) consequentialist arguments, i.e. those related to the desired/feared effects of enfranchising children on welfare state policy, intergenerational relations etc.; (2) deontological arguments, i.e. reasons whether or not an extension of voting rights ought to materialize. Dans presque tous les pays occidentaux, le taux d'enfants vivant au-dessous du seuil de pauvreté est supérieur à celui des personnes âgées. On peut supposer que les générations montantes et celles à naître bénéficieront moins du soutien de l'État Providence que les générations passées. Ces inégalités entre générations et classes d'âge résultent pour une large part d'une pression croissante des personnes âgées dans l'électorat, pression à laquelle les partis politiques et les gouvernements sont attentifs. Accorder le droit de vote aux enfants mineurs serait une façon de rééquilibrer des politiques qui favorisent par trop les personnes âgées. Nous analysons quels seraient les avantages et les inconvénients d'une telle mesure, de deux points de vue différents: d'un point de vue conséquentialiste, nous examinons quels seraient les effets désirables ou indésirables de donner la parole aux enfants sur les questions de politique sociale. D'un point de vue déontologique, nous mesurons quels seraient les arguments qui conduiraient à favoriser une extension du droit de vote ou au contraire à l'écarter. In fast allen westlichen Ländern ist der Anteil der unter dem Armutsniveau lebenden Kinder größer als der der Erwachsenen. Die heranwachsende Generation und die kommenden werden aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach, weniger vom Sozialstaat unterstützt werden als die vorhergehenden Generationen. Diese Ungerechtigkeit zwischen Generationen und Altersgruppen hat ihren Ursprung in dem steigenden Druck, den ältere Personen über ihre Wählerstimme ausüben, Druck, dem die Parteien und Regierungen Rechnung tragen. Minderjährigen Kindern das Wahlrecht zu geben, wäre eine Möglichkeit die altenfreundliche Politik zu korrigieren. Wir untersuchen die Vor- und Nachteile einer solchen Maßnahme aus zwei Standpunkten heraus: die Folgeerscheinungen, wir analysieren die erwünschten und unerwünschten Auswirkungen auf die Sozialpolitik. Die Grundeinstellung, wobei wir bestimmen wollen, welche Argumente dazuführen könnten, dass eine Ausweitung des Wahlrechts akzeptiert oder abgelehnt würde.

No detailed description available for \"Society and History\".

This paper represents a case study in welfare state expansion. It takes an actor-centered point of view and reconstructs the long process which has ultimately led to a compromise solution to the problem of providing long-term care, especially for the elderly. It describes the previously means-tested arrangement of long-term care provision and its shortcomings. Furthermore, it sketches the different stages through which the political debate on this issue has passed during the last twenty years: from the initial phase of defining the “social problem”, to the final stage when the approval of the compromise package became a question of “all or nothing”. The analysis of the politics of long-term care insurance reveals that the difficulties of reaching an agreement mainly resulted from the complex decision-making situation. It was in essence a problem of decision-making under conditions of general uncertainty.

Central to this paper is the question of whether the actors dealing with working time policy are in the position to adopt a policy of working time reduction when unemployment becomes acute and to make it an effective strategy for improving the employment situation. Particularly relevant to this question are the intraorganisational problems of unions reaching a consensus on this issue. Unions' strategic problems are analysed as well as the preconditions for aiming at compromises with the other collective actors involved (employers' associations and the state). Empirically, this is demonstrated by evaluating the recent working time reductions in France, the Netherlands and West Germany. In all three countries this policy has not attained the originally desired goal of reducing unemployment.

Recent British & West German working hour campaigns are discussed, using the social action approach for the analysis of class action. Central to the trade union policies are proposals to cut working hours & ensure that reductions are used to create new jobs for the unemployed. These policies are seen as inherently class-oriented, in that existing jobs are treated as \"class property\" rather than the individual property of their holders. The progress of these campaigns is traced to show their limited success; apprarently the labor movements have little ability to mobilize workers for concerted class action. Problems of class action include the cost-benefit structure associated with working-time policy, the decline of class solidarity among employees in the two countries, & the limited value of loyalty to the unions. It is concluded that current policies might gain support only if employees can assume a strong class identity including commitment to distributive justice, or through intrinsic demand for leisure. It is suggested that developments in both countries could become class-divisive, if the employed gain additional leisure & preserve their real income, while the unemployed gain no advantage. 61 References. K. Carande