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Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Quantitative MRI for the assessment of bone structure and function,

NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 7 2006
Felix W. Wehrli
Abstract Osteoporosis is the most common degenerative disease in the elderly. It is characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to morbidity and increased fracture risk in the hip, spine and wrist,all sites of predominantly trabecular bone. Bone densitometry, currently the standard methodology for diagnosis and treatment monitoring, has significant limitations in that it cannot provide information on the structural manifestations of the disease. Recent advances in imaging, in particular MRI, can now provide detailed insight into the architectural consequences of disease progression and regression in response to treatment. The focus of this review is on the emerging methodology of quantitative MRI for the assessment of structure and function of trabecular bone. During the past 10 years, various approaches have been explored for obtaining image-based quantitative information on trabecular architecture. Indirect methods that do not require resolution on the scale of individual trabeculae and therefore can be practiced at any skeletal location, make use of the induced magnetic fields in the intertrabecular space. These fields, which have their origin in the greater diamagnetism of bone relative to surrounding marrow, can be measured in various ways, most typically in the form of R2,, the recoverable component of the total transverse relaxation rate. Alternatively, the trabecular network can be quantified by high-resolution MRI (µ-MRI), which requires resolution adequate to at least partially resolve individual trabeculae. Micro-MRI-based structure analysis is therefore technically demanding in terms of image acquisition and algorithms needed to extract the structural information under conditions of limited signal-to-noise ratio and resolution. Other requirements that must be met include motion correction and image registration, both critical for achieving the reproducibility needed in repeat studies. Key clinical applications targeted involve fracture risk prediction and evaluation of the effect of therapeutic intervention. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

SIX CHALLENGES IN DESIGNING EQUITY-BASED PAY

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2003
Brian J. Hall
The past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the equitybased pay of U.S. corporate executives, an increase that has been driven almost entirely by the explosion of stock option grants. When properly designed, equity-based pay can raise corporate productivity and shareholder value by helping companies attract, motivate, and retain talented managers. But there are good reasons to question whether the current forms of U.S. equity pay are optimal. In many cases, substantial stock and option payoffs to top executives,particularly those who cashed out much of their holdings near the top of the market,appear to have come at the expense of their shareholders, generating considerable skepticism about not just executive pay practices, but the overall quality of U.S. corporate governance. At the same time, many companies that have experienced sharp stock price declines are now struggling with the problem of retaining employees holding lots of deep-underwater options. This article discusses the design of equity-based pay plans that aim to motivate sustainable, or long-run, value creation. As a first step, the author recommends the use of longer vesting periods and other requirements on executive stock and option holdings, both to limit managers' ability to "time" the market and to reduce their incentives to take shortsighted actions that increase near-term earnings at the expense of longer-term cash flow. Besides requiring "more permanent" holdings, the author also proposes a change in how stock options are issued. In place of popular "fixed value" plans that adjust the number of options awarded each year to reflect changes in the share price (and that effectively reward management for poor performance by granting more options when the price falls, and fewer when it rises), the author recommends the use of "fixed number" plans that avoid this unintended distortion of incentives. As the author also notes, there is considerable confusion about the real economic cost of options relative to stock. Part of the confusion stems, of course, from current GAAP accounting, which allows companies to report the issuance of at-the-money options as costless and so creates a bias against stock and other forms of compensation. But, coming on top of the "opportunity cost" of executive stock options to the company's shareholders, there is another, potentially significant cost of options (and, to a lesser extent, stock) that arises from the propensity of executives and employees to place a lower value on company stock and options than well-diversified outside investors. The author's conclusion is that grants of (slow-vesting) stock are likely to have at least three significant advantages over employee stock options: ,they are more highly valued by executives and employees (per dollar of cost to shareholders); ,they continue to provide reasonably strong ownership incentives and retention power, regardless of whether the stock price rises or falls, because they don't go underwater; and ,the value of such grants is much more transparent to stockholders, employees, and the press. [source]

Legitimate Authority and "Just War" in the Modern World

PEACE & CHANGE, Issue 1 2002
Laurie Calhoun
Legitimate authority is a widely touted yet rarely analyzed concept in discourse about war. In this essay, I articulate and analyze the schema of just war theory that has dominated philosophical discourse regarding war since the early medieval period. Although the requirements for a "just war" appear to exceed the simple proclamation by a legitimate authority, in fact, all of the other requirements are subject to the interpretation of the legitimate authority. In other words, just war theory reduces, in actual practice, to the requirement of legitimate authority. A consideration of the nature of contemporary warfare further suggests that just war theory is the vestigial idiom of a world that no longer exists. What remains today of just war theory is a dangerous rhetorical weapon, deployed by the leaders of both sides in every belligerent conflict. [source]

The Pennsylvania certified safety committee program: An evaluation of participation and effects on work injury rates

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 8 2010
Hangsheng Liu PhD
Abstract Background Since 1994, Pennsylvania, like several other states, has provided a 5% discount on workers' compensation insurance premiums for firms with a certified joint labor management safety committee. This study explored the factors affecting program participation and evaluated the effect of this program on work injuries. Methods Using Pennsylvania unemployment insurance data (1996,2006), workers' compensation data (1998,2005), and the safety committee audit data (1999,2007), we conducted propensity score matching and regression analysis on the program's impact on injury rates. Results Larger firms, firms with higher injury rates, firms in high risk industries, and firms without labor unions were more likely to join the safety committee program and less likely to drop out of the program. The injury rates of participants did not decline more than the rates for non-participants; however, rates at participant firms with good compliance dropped more than the rates at participant firms with poor compliance. Conclusions Firm size and prior injury rates are key predictors of program participation. Firms that complied with the requirement to train their safety committee members did experience reductions in injuries, but non-compliance with that and other requirements was so widespread that no overall impact of the program could be detected. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:780,791, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]