Migration and social gender relations: the anthropological perspective

"This article reviews Mexican research of female migration. An analysis is made of socio-demographic and anthropological studies that cover the relations between inequality among the genders, the causes and features of migration, and the work performed by female migrants in their places of origin and destination. The paper responds to the growing interest shown in international literature [on] migration in order to determine the influence of gender identity in the motivations and features of the migration of women, as well as the consequences of spatial mobility on their social conditions and their autonomy." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Must the show go on? The case for Theatre For Development

This article discusses the reasons for use and nonuse of folk theater for communicating development messages. Theater for Development (TFD) is a tool used by development agencies for improving the quality of life among vulnerable populations. TFD uses fiction and the "safe space" of performance to comment on reality and offer alternatives. The medium offers the opportunity to explore roles that would normally be denied in real life and to explore a community's developmental aspirations. Most TFD draws on talent from the dramatic arts that is unfamiliar with development perspectives. TFD is finally being recognized as important for cultural expression suitable for self-development. Communication is the single most important aspect in the process of development. The constraints to TFD are lack of inclusion within development policy, the lack of development artists, and most importantly, time. Groups with a history of silence, oppression, and marginalization need facilitators. The Freirean model is a consciousness raising one. Participatory theater is centuries old. The most vigorous, sustained TFD theaters are in places with deprivation, poverty, disease, and hunger. These situations are well suited to TFD as a critical intervention for change. An example from the Nigerian Popular Theater Alliance is used to illustrate consciousness raising about government provision of services. TFD allows communities to draw agendas of their own. India has a substantial tradition of Social Action Groups and street theater. TFD can reverse power relations, is not dependent on literacy, and offers an entertaining way of spreading information.     

Congress advances on health care reform: one step at a time

In adopting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Congress made a series of small but significant steps toward improving access to health care benefits. The Act's centerpiece is its new requirements for group health plans and for the health insurance industry for assuring portability, access, and renewability of health insurance coverage. Of nearly equal importance is the pilot program established for testing the viability of medical savings accounts. Other health-related changes include adjustments in the rules governing duplication and coordinating of Medicare-related plans, recommendations with respect to privacy of health information of employees, an increase in the deduction for health insurance costs for self-employed individuals, and permission for unemployed persons to make withdrawals from IRAs and other qualified plans for certain medical services' costs. This article summarizes these and other key provisions of HIPAA.     

Herzl on discrimination in Der Judenstaat

Theodor Herzl published his programmatic book The Jewish State in February 1896. Central to it was the discrimination (and hatred) commonly known as anti-Semitism. Herzl viewed anti-Semitism as the heart of the Jewish Question but also as the potential motivator for Jews to achieve a Jewish state. Herzl's analysis of anti-Semitic discrimination is in many aspects similar to present sociological theories of middle-class minorities. His discussion of the economic aspects is compared with Gary Becker's theory of discrimination, and similarities as well as differences are pointed out.     

An in vitro study of the accuracy and precision of Breathalyzer models 900, 900A, and 1000

Ninety Breathalyzer instruments (Model 1000) and twenty instruments (Models 900, 900A) were studied using a protocol described by the Department of Transportation's "Standard for Devices to Measure Breath Alcohol." Although the mean of each of three concentrations tested (0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 g/210 L) compared favorably in both series, the standard deviation was consistently higher for the Model 1000 instruments. The Model 1000 instruments also produced a significant number of test results which exceeded the normally expected scientific deviation.     

Fatal decompression sickness following therapeutic hyperbaric environment (author's transl)

In Hannover/Germany in 1976 a so called "Society for Regenerative Hyperbaric Therapy" (Gesellschaft für Regenerative Uberdruck-Therapie) subjected 20 patients within two coupled multi-place chambers to a simulated hyperbaric environment, equivalent to a maximum of 4 ata, followed usually by gradual reductions of the pressure. The patients were of an average age of 67.2 years and were afflicted by various disorders. During one of the "dives" a patient developed air embolism of the central nervous system. During ensuing confusion of the chamber was opened suddenly, with resultant explosive reduction of the high pressure. This resulted in five letal accidents of decompression sickness. Post mortem examination revealed diffuse distribution of gas bubbles throughout the entire body. By elecronmicroscopy each bubble was covered by an osmiophilic coat. Post mortem findings are discussed and correlated with well-known and new clinical symptomes. These observations present for the first time fatal accidents of decompression sickness in humans, associated with hyperbaric air-therapy.     

Heroin abuse and a gas chromatographic method for determining illicit heroin samples in Singapore.

The abuse of heroin (diacetylmorphine) in Singapore escalated sharply in 1975 and 1976, as indicated by the 35-fold increase in the number of heroin seizures and the 20-fold increase in the urine samples containing morphine since 1974. A rapid and simple GC method has been described to estimate diacetylmorphine (and caffeine). Monoacetylmorphine and acetylcodeine may be ascertained by an additional step involving acetylation. All gas chromatograms of a large number of samples analyzed consistently had the same pattern, indicating that they possibly had a common origin. This GC "fingerprint," together with the quantitative data, appears to be characteristic of the illicit Asian or Chinese type of heroin found in Singapore. The proportions of the four major ingredients in some twelve typical samples have been tabulated. Statistical data confirming the accuracy and reproducibility of the analytical method have also been presented.