JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 1 2006
Kyle Swan
ABSTRACT John Hare has proposed "prescriptive realism" in an attempt to stake out a middle-ground position in the twentieth century Anglo-American debates concerning metaethics between substantive moral realists and antirealist-expressivists. The account is supposed to preserve both the normativity and objectivity of moral judgments. Hare defends a version of divine command theory. The proposal succeeds in establishing the middle-ground position Hare intended. However, I argue that prescriptive realism can be strengthened in an interesting way. [source]

CRITICAL PRICE NEAR MATURITY FOR AN AMERICAN OPTION ON A DIVIDEND-PAYING STOCK IN A LOCAL VOLATILITY MODEL

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2005
Etienne ChevalierArticle first published online: 10 JUN 200
We consider an American put option on a dividend-paying stock whose volatility is a function of the stock value. Near the maturity of this option, an expansion of the critical stock price is given. If the stock dividend rate is greater than the market interest rate, the payoff function is smooth near the limit of the critical price. We deduce an expansion of the critical price near maturity from an expansion of the value function of an optimal stopping problem. It turns out that the behavior of the critical price is parabolic. In the other case, we are in a less regular situation and an extra logarithmic factor appears. To prove this result, we show that the American and European critical prices have the same first-order behavior near maturity. Finally, in order to get an expansion of the European critical price, we use a parity formula for exchanging the strike price and the spot price in the value functions of European puts. [source]

R&D AND BUYERS' WAITING OPTION,

THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2006
EIRIK GAARD KRISTIANSEN
Anticipation of technological progress may induce buyers to delay the adoption of new technologies. We analyze how buyers' waiting option may feed back into firm's timing of innovations. Buyers are shown to have inefficiently weak incentives to wait for potentially better products. This induces firms to accelerate the introduction of new products. Furthermore, buyers' inclination to adopt new technologies prematurely expands firms' scope for preemption of potential rivals. The analysis sheds light on R&D competition in durable goods markets such as the market for aircraft. [source]

RETAIL PRICE REGULATION AND THE OPTION TO DELAY

ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2009
Fernando T. Camacho
ABSTRACT,:,This paper examines a two-period model of an investment decision in a network industry characterized by demand uncertainty, economies of scale and sunk costs. In the absence of regulation we identify the market conditions under which a monopolist decides to invest early as well as the underlying overall welfare output. In a regulated environment, we consider a monopolist who faces no downstream (final good) competition but is subject to retail price regulation. We identify the welfare-maximizing regulated prices when the unregulated market outcome is set as the benchmark. We show that if the regulator can commit to ex post regulation , that is, regulated prices that are contingent to future demand realization , then regulated prices that allow the firm to recover its total costs of production are welfare-maximizing. Thus, under ex post price regulation there is no need to compensate the regulated firm for the option to delay that it foregoes when investing today. We argue, however, that regulators cannot make this type of commitment and, therefore, price regulation is often ex ante , that is, regulated prices are not contingent to future demand. We show that the optimal ex ante regulation, and the extent to which regulated prices need to incorporate an option to delay, depend on the nature of demand uncertainty. [source]

Rapid and sustained improvement in bone and cartilage turnover markers with the anti,interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor tocilizumab plus methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis patients with an inadequate response to methotrexate: Results from a substudy of the multicenter double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of tocilizumab in inadequate responders to methotrexate alone,

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 1 2010
Patrick Garnero
Objective To investigate the effects of tocilizumab (TCZ) added to a stable dosage of methotrexate (MTX) on biochemical markers of bone and cartilage metabolism in patients in the multicenter double-blind, placebo-controlled OPTION (Tocilizumab Pivotal Trial in Methotrexate Inadequate Responders) study who have moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to MTX. Methods Included in this study were 416 of the 623 patients with active RA enrolled in the OPTION study. Patients were randomized to receive TCZ (4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg) or placebo intravenously every 4 weeks, with MTX continued at the stable prestudy doses (10,25 mg for 20 weeks, with a final followup at week 24). Serum biochemical markers of bone formation (osteocalcin, N-terminal propeptide of type I collagen [PINP]), bone resorption (C-terminal crosslinking telopeptide of type I collagen [CTX-I] and C-terminal crosslinking telopeptide of type I collagen generated by matrix metalloproteinases [ICTP]), cartilage metabolism (N-terminal propeptide of type IIA collagen [PIIANP]), collagen helical peptide [HELIX-II]), and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3) were measured at baseline and at weeks 4, 16, and 24. Results TCZ induced marked dose-dependent reductions in PIIANP, HELIX-II, and MMP-3 levels at week 4 that were maintained until week 24, an effect associated with increased levels of bone formation markers that were significant as compared with placebo only for PINP and only at 4 weeks (P < 0.01 for both TCZ doses). TCZ induced significant decreases in the bone degradation markers CTX-I and ICTP, providing initial evidence of a beneficial effect on bone turnover. TCZ-treated patients who met the American College of Rheumatology 50% improvement criteria (achieved an ACR50 response) or achieved clinical remission (as determined by a Disease Activity Score in 28 joints <2.6) at week 24 had greater reductions in ICTP, HELIX-II, and MMP-3 levels as compared with ACR50 nonresponders. Conclusion TCZ combined with MTX reduces systemic bone resorption, cartilage turnover, and proteolytic enzyme MMP-3 levels, which provides evidence of a limitation of joint damage and possible beneficial effects on skeletal structure in patients with established moderate-to-severe RA. [source]

A SANCTUARY IN POST-CONFLICT SPACE: THE BAPTIST CHURCH AS A ,MIDDLE OPTION' IN BANOVINA, CROATIA

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2009
Reinhard Henkel
ABSTRACT. One of the observable aspects of social change during the transition period in most post-socialist countries is the revival of religion. The resurgence of churches has accompanied national revival and in some countries it is also connected to a growing post-socialist nationalism. This article focuses on the development of different ,,transnational', religious options in an area of ethnic conflict by presenting a case study of the post-war growth of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region in Croatia, close to the Bosnian border. Research results are based on halfstructured interviews with church representatives and members. The research shows that there has been a considerable post-war expansion of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region, and that it is mainly ethnic Serbs and people from mixed marriages who have joined the Church. Many of them have a background as communists. For them, neither the Catholic Church, which is regarded as a Croatian church, nor the Serbian Orthodox Church are viable religious options. Instead, there are three factors that make the ,Baptist option' attractive. First, it is grounded in the historical tradition of the Baptist Church in this region and on memories and myths activated in the war and post-war periods. Second, the Baptist Church has made a middle transnational option available in an ethnically mixed area. As such it attracts those who are searching for a niche of neutrality in an ethnically strongly divided region characterized by conflict. Third, the considerable humanitarian work and help of organizations related to the Baptist Church during and after the war not only added in the eyes of many people in need to its image elements of existential shelter, but also brought the Church out of the shadows and made it more ,visible', thereby improving its former reputation as an obscure sect. [source]

Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Response Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin Type A in Subjects with Crow's Feet

DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 3 2005
Nicholas J. Lowe MD
Background Published evidence suggests that botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) is an effective treatment for crow's feet. However, few dose-ranging studies have been performed. Objectives To assess the safety and efficacy of a single treatment with one of four doses of BTX-A (Botox/Vistabel, Allergan Inc) compared with placebo for the improvement of crow's feet. Methods Subjects received a single bilateral treatment of 18, 12, 6, or 3 U of BTX-A or placebo injected into the lateral aspect of the orbicularis oculi muscle (parallel-group, double,blind design). Investigators and subjects rated crow's feet severity at maximum smile on day 7 and at 30-day intervals from days 30 to 180. Results As observed by both investigators and subjects, all doses of BTX-A resulted in improvements in crow's feet severity when compared with placebo. A dose-dependent treatment effect for efficacy was observed, with higher doses having an increased magnitude and duration of effect. However, a clear differentiation between the 18 U and 12 U doses was not apparent. Few adverse events were reported, with no statistically significant differences between BTX-A and placebo in the incidence of subjects experiencing adverse events. Conclusion BTX-A is safe and effective in decreasing the severity of crow's feet, with 12 U per side suggested as the most appropriate dose. THIS STUDY WAS FUNDED BY ALLERGAN, WHICH WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN AND CONDUCT OF THE STUDY; COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA; AND PREPARATION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL OF THE MANUSCRIPT. DRS. LOWE AND FRACZEK ARE PAID CONSULTANTS FOR ALLERGAN, DRS. KUMAR AND EADIE ARE EMPLOYEES OF ALLERGAN, AND DRS. LOWE AND KUMAR HOLD STOCK OPTIONS. [source]

POLICY OPTIONS FOR ALCOHOL PRICE REGULATION: RESPONSE TO THE COMMENTARIES

ADDICTION, Issue 3 2010
PETRA SYLVIA MEIER
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

DOESN'T ETHICS REQUIRE KEEPING ALL OPTIONS OPEN IN THE NAME OF PERSONAL AUTONOMY?

ADDICTION, Issue 6 2009
ARTHUR CAPLAN
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Guidelines Abstracted from the Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Stroke Rehabilitation

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2006
Miriam Rodin MD
OBJECTIVES: To assist facilities in identifying those evidence-based processes of poststroke care that enhance measurable patient outcomes. The guideline(s) should be used by facilities (hospitals, subacute-care units and providers of long-term care) to implement a structured approach to improve rehabilitative practices and by clinicians to determine best interventions to achieve improved patient outcomes. OPTIONS: The guideline considers five elements of poststroke rehabilitation care: interdisciplinary teams; use of standardized assessments; intensity, timing, and duration of therapy; involvement of patients' families and caregivers in decision-making; and educational interventions for patients, families, and caregivers. Evidence, benefits, harms, and recommendations for each of the five designated elements and specific annotated recommendations for poststroke managements are presented separately. OUTCOMES: The overall guideline considers improvement in functional status measures as the primary outcome. Achieving community-dwelling status and preventing complications, death, and rehospitalization are also important outcomes. Costs are not specifically addressed. PARTICIPANTS: The Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) Stroke Rehabilitation Working Group consisted of 28, largely VA and military hospital, representatives of medical and allied professions concerned with stroke diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation. Nine additional members with similar credentials served as the editorial committee. Technical consultation was contracted from ACS Federal Health Care, Inc., and the Center for Evidence-Based Practice, State University of New York,Upstate Medical University, Department of Family Medicine conducted evidence appraisal. Consensus was achieved over several years of facilitated group discussion and iterative evaluation of draft documents and supporting evidence. SPONSOR: The guideline was prepared under the auspices of the VA/DoD. No other source of support was identified in the document, or supporting documents. [source]

TRANSFERABLE STOCK OPTIONS (TSOS) AND THE COMING REVOLUTION IN EQUITY-BASED PAY

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 1 2004
Brian J. Hall
The dominant form of equity pay in the U.S. will change dramatically when accounting rules are changed (most likely in 2005) to require companies to charge the cost of their stock option plans on their income statements. Many companies are already switching from stock options to other forms of equity pay, especially restricted stock. The most notable switcher was Microsoft, the world's largest user of stock option pay. In July 2003, partnering with J.P. Morgan, Microsoft created a onetime transferable stock option (TSO) program that allowed holders of underwater Microsoft options to sell their options to J.P. Morgan in return for restricted shares. But the most important consequence of this transaction may not be a widespread shift by corporate America to restricted shares, but rather the creation of a more costeffective kind of stock option. By clearing the potentially messy hurdles involving taxes, accounting, SEC rules, and "transaction mechanics," Microsoft has opened the door for TSOs to be considered as an ongoing equitypay instrument, perhaps replacing standard stock options (which are not transferable). TSOs share the key advantages of restricted stock in terms of providing robust retention and ownership incentives and higher valuecost efficiency, while maintaining the key "leverage" advantage of options. In so doing, they create significant upside (and downside) while largely avoiding the "pay for pulse" problem of restricted stock. They also introduce the discipline of competitive pricing by third-party bidders. The bid prices of investment banks create nearly all of the information required for accurate estimates of option cost, which should foster greater board accountability and improved corporate governance. [source]

THE PROMISE OF REAL OPTIONS

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2000
Aswath Damodaran
In recent years, both practitioners and academics have argued that traditional discounted cash flow models do a poor job of capturing the value of the options embedded in many corporate actions. This paper shows how option pricing models used in valuing financial assets can be used to value three kinds of real options that are often built into corporate projects: the option to delay, the option to expand, and the option to abandon. As a number of examples in this paper suggest, corporate investments that would be rejected using conventional DCF analysis can sometimes be justified by the value of the strategic options they provide. As the illustrations also show, however, the pricing of real options is considerably more difficult than the pricing of financial options and adjustments must often be made to capture the complexity of real investments. [source]

REAL OPTIONS AND PATENT DAMAGES: THE LEGAL TREATMENT OF NON-INFRINGING ALTERNATIVES, AND INCENTIVES TO INNOVATE

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 4 2006
Jerry Hausman
Abstract Patent litigation has become an increasingly important consideration in business strategy. Damage awards in patent litigation are supposed to compensate the patent owner for economic harm created by infringement and are therefore important for protecting returns to innovation. We analyze the effects that a recent court decision in the United States, called Grain Processing, has had on the incentives of potential infringers to infringe and innovators to innovate. We find that Grain Processing has decreased the expected value of damages awards in patent cases by conferring a ,free option' on infringers. Grain Processing also concluded that the patent owner in the case did not suffer lost profits due to the infringement because the infringer would have adopted an (inferior) non-infringing technology had it not infringed. We demonstrate that this conclusion is inconsistent with standard economic models. [source]

OPTIONS FOR DENTIN/ENAMEL BONDING: PART III

JOURNAL OF ESTHETIC AND RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY, Issue 3 2010
Associate Editor Edward J. Swift Jr. DMD, Author
Four categories of resin-based dentin/enamel adhesives are currently available. These include the three-step etch-&-rinse, "one-bottle" etch-&-rinse, two-step self-etch primer systems, and "all-in-one" self-etch adhesives. In consecutive issues of the Journal, the Critical Appraisal series is presenting salient publications on research in each of the categories. The first two installments focused on the etch-&-rinse systems. The series continues with this review of papers on the two-step self-etch primer systems. [source]

OPTIONS FOR DENTIN/ENAMEL BONDING: PART II

JOURNAL OF ESTHETIC AND RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2010
Associate Editor, Edward J. Swift Jr., MS Author
Four categories of resin-based dentin/enamel adhesives are currently available. These include the three-step etch-and-rinse, "one-bottle" etch-and-rinse, two-step self-etch primer systems, and "all-in-one" self-etch adhesives. In consecutive issues of the journal, the Critical Appraisal series will present salient publications on research in each of the categories. The first installment focused on the three-step etch-and-rinse systems and the series continues with this paper on the one-bottle etch-and-rinse systems. [source]

OPTIONS FOR DENTIN BONDING

JOURNAL OF ESTHETIC AND RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2006
Claus-Peter Ernst Prof. Dr. med. dent.
First page of article [source]

HEDGING STRATEGIES AND MINIMAL VARIANCE PORTFOLIOS FOR EUROPEAN AND EXOTIC OPTIONS IN A LÉVY MARKET

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 4 2010
Wing Yan Yip
This paper presents hedging strategies for European and exotic options in a Lévy market. By applying Taylor's theorem, dynamic hedging portfolios are constructed under different market assumptions, such as the existence of power jump assets or moment swaps. In the case of European options or baskets of European options, static hedging is implemented. It is shown that perfect hedging can be achieved. Delta and gamma hedging strategies are extended to higher moment hedging by investing in other traded derivatives depending on the same underlying asset. This development is of practical importance as such other derivatives might be readily available. Moment swaps or power jump assets are not typically liquidly traded. It is shown how minimal variance portfolios can be used to hedge the higher order terms in a Taylor expansion of the pricing function, investing only in a risk-free bank account, the underlying asset, and potentially variance swaps. The numerical algorithms and performance of the hedging strategies are presented, showing the practical utility of the derived results. [source]

PRICING AND HEDGING AMERICAN OPTIONS ANALYTICALLY: A PERTURBATION METHOD

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2010
Jin E. Zhang
This paper studies the critical stock price of American options with continuous dividend yield. We solve the integral equation and derive a new analytical formula in a series form for the critical stock price. American options can be priced and hedged analytically with the help of our critical-stock-price formula. Numerical tests show that our formula gives very accurate prices. With the error well controlled, our formula is now ready for traders to use in pricing and hedging the S&P 100 index options and for the Chicago Board Options Exchange to use in computing the VXO volatility index. [source]

DEFAULTABLE OPTIONS IN A MARKOVIAN INTENSITY MODEL OF CREDIT RISK

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 4 2008
Tomasz R. Bielecki
This paper is a follow-up to "Valuation and Hedging of Defaultable Game Options in a Hazard Process Model" by the same authors. In the present paper we give user friendly assumptions ensuring that the general conditions in the previous paper are satisfied. We also give a systematic procedure to construct suitable intensity models of credit risk, and, in the Markovian case, we provide a variational inequality approach to the pre-default pricing problem. We finally illustrate our results on a study of defaultable convertible bonds. [source]

OPTIMAL MULTIPLE STOPPING AND VALUATION OF SWING OPTIONS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2008
René Carmona
The connection between optimal stopping of random systems and the theory of the Snell envelop is well understood, and its application to the pricing of American contingent claims is well known. Motivated by the pricing of swing contracts (whose recall components can be viewed as contingent claims with multiple exercises of American type) we investigate the mathematical generalization of these results to the case of possible multiple stopping. We prove existence of the multiple exercise policies in a fairly general set-up. We then concentrate on the Black,Scholes model for which we give a constructive solution in the perpetual case, and an approximation procedure in the finite horizon case. The last two sections of the paper are devoted to numerical results. We illustrate the theoretical results of the perpetual case, and in the finite horizon case, we introduce numerical approximation algorithms based on ideas of the Malliavin calculus. [source]

CALLABLE PUTS AS COMPOSITE EXOTIC OPTIONS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 4 2007
Christoph Kühn
Introduced by Kifer (2000), game options function in the same way as American options with the added feature that the writer may also choose to exercise, at which time they must pay out the intrinsic option value of that moment plus a penalty. In Kyprianou (2004) an explicit formula was obtained for the value function of the perpetual put option of this type. Crucial to the calculations which lead to the aforementioned formula was the perpetual nature of the option. In this paper we address how to characterize the value function of the finite expiry version of this option via mixtures of other exotic options by using mainly martingale arguments. [source]

OPTIONS AND EFFICIENCY IN MULTIDATE SECURITY MARKETS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 4 2005
Alexandre M. Baptista
This paper extends the work of Ross (1976; Q. J. Econ. (90)1, 75,89) to multidate security markets. First, we show that if a primitive security separates states at the terminal date, then there exist multiperiod European options on that security generating dynamically complete markets. Second, we show that if a primitive security conditionally separates states at the terminal date, then there exist multiperiod European options on that security generating generically dynamically complete markets provided that certain conditions hold. Third, we show that there are economies for which the minimum number of multiperiod European options on a primitive security generating generically dynamically complete markets is relatively large. Finally, we show that in these economies, a relatively small number of multiperiod European options on possibly different portfolio strategies of primitive securities generates generically dynamically complete markets. [source]

A NEW METHOD OF PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2005
Peter Buchen
A new method for pricing lookback options (a.k.a. hindsight options) is presented, which simplifies the derivation of analytical formulas for this class of exotics in the Black-Scholes framework. Underlying the method is the observation that a lookback option can be considered as an integrated form of a related barrier option. The integrations with respect to the barrier price are evaluated at the expiry date to derive the payoff of an equivalent portfolio of European-type binary options. The arbitrage-free price of the lookback option can then be evaluated by static replication as the present value of this portfolio. We illustrate the method by deriving expressions for generic, standard floating-, fixed-, and reverse-strike lookbacks, and then show how the method can be used to price the more complex partial-price and partial-time lookback options. The method is in principle applicable to frameworks with alternative asset-price dynamics to the Black-Scholes world. [source]

IMPACT OF DIVIDEND-PROTECTED EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTIONS ON PAYOUT POLICIES: EVIDENCE FROM TAIWAN

PACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2008
Ming-Cheng Wu
Abstract. This study used a sample of 1035 Taiwanese firms to examine the impact of dividend protected employee stock options on stock repurchase and cash dividend policies from 2000 to 2005. This study finds a positive relationship between cash dividends and executive options, implying that executives holding stock options might prefer to distribute cash dividends to boost the stock price. This result, unlike in earlier studies, arises from the dividend protected characteristic of Taiwanese employee stock options. Finally, free cash flow, firm profitability, level of debt, investment opportunities and firm size are found to considerably influence payout decisions. [source]

OUT-OF-THE-MONEY: THE IMPACT OF UNDERWATER STOCK OPTIONS ON EXECUTIVE JOB SEARCH

PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
BENJAMIN DUNFORD
The need for future leadership in organizations is widely recognized, and often addressed through leadership development, succession planning, and building a top talent pipeline among existing employees. Equally important is retaining talented executives. Executive retention has become a concern for organizations as plunging stock prices have led to vastly devalued stock options, perhaps causing executives to look elsewhere for more lucrative stock option portfolios. Yet, there has been little research on the relationship between stock option value and executive retention. In a cross-company, cross-industry sample of 610 U.S. executives, we explored the relationship between underwater stock options and job search. We found a positive association between the percentage of underwater stock options in executives' portfolios and job search. This relationship was moderated as predicted, by executives' perceptions of alternative employment and money inadequacy beliefs. [source]

TESTING THE NET BUYING PRESSURE HYPOTHESIS DURING THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS: EVIDENCE FROM HANG SENG INDEX OPTIONS

THE JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006
Kam C. Chan
Abstract We investigate net buying pressure in the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index options market during the Asian financial crisis from July 1997 to August 1998. Our findings suggest that during this period, the dramatic changes in volatility overwhelmed the dynamics of supply and demand in the options market. The extremely high realized volatility drove market participants' expectations about future market volatility in the early months of the crisis. Findings during the late-crisis, pre-crisis, and post-crisis periods are consistent with the net buying pressure hypothesis. [source]

ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF DELIVERY OPTIONS IN FUTURES CONTRACTS

THE JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2005
Jana Hranaiova
Abstract We analyze the effect various delivery options embedded in commodity futures contracts have on the futures price. The two embedded options considered are the timing and location options. We show that early delivery is always optimal when only a timing option is present, but not so when joint options are present. The estimates of the combined options are much smaller than the comparable estimates for the timing option alone. The average value of the joint option is about 5% of the average basis on the first day of the maturity month. This suggests that joint options can increase deliverable supplies while potentially having only a small effect on basis behavior. [source]

ALTERNATIVE CURRICULAR OPTIONS IN RURAL NETWORKS (ACORNS): IMPACT OF EARLY RURAL CLINICAL EXPOSURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WEST AUSTRALIA MEDICAL COURSE

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 1 2000
June Talbot
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a 4-day rural placement in Western Australia on the interest of fourth year medical students in a career in rural general practice. Students undertaking their Alternative Curricular Options in Rural Networks attachment (ACORNS) completed pre- and post-questionnaires examining their expectations, experiences of, and attitudes to rural general practice. Of the 103 students who participated, 81% expressed an interest in a rural career after the placement, whereas prior to this experience only 48% had been interested. The students also recorded a wide range of learning experiences, both clinical and procedural, and expressed positive attitudes to the variety of experiences and the role of the rural GP. The study concluded that early exposure to rural general practice enhances students' interest in a potential rural practice career and provides them with a broad range of experiences. The role of rural practitioners as role models for students needs to be acknowledged and reinforced. [source]

Letter Regarding: Early Laser Treatment of Periorbital Infantile Hemangiomas May Work, but Is It Really the Best Treatment Option?

DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2010
ROY G. GERONEMUS MD
No abstract is available for this article. [source]