bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Exposure‐Response Method for Assessing the Long Term Health Effects of the Bhopal Gas Disaster
Authors: DHARA V. RAMANA , KRIEBEL DAVID
Published: December 2007

Approximately 200,000 persons were exposed to methyl isocyanate in the Bhopal Gas leak in Bhopal, India. 4037 deaths have resulted and 30 per cent of the population are estimated to be suffering from long‐term health effects. Though inflammatory damage to the eyes and lungs is the main cause of morbidity, other systems are also reported to be affected. For a disaster of this magnitude, there is a relative paucity of medical information. Very little information has been published on the late recovery period, a phase in which the detection of chronic and long‐term effects is vital. Early cross‐sectional studies suffer from a number of defects in study design, including validity and precision of exposure and outcome variables, selection of study and control groups, etc. By using exposure concentrations derived from Singh's analytic dispersion model, this paper outlines a strategy for doing community epidemiology in Bhopal using exposure strata for sampling. Pulmonary dose can be estimated from exposure concentration, duration and activity during exposure. For respiratory end‐points, a sample size of 100/stratum will ensure study power of 90 per cent. Using multiple linear regression, data from the study can be used to build a model for prediction of lung function parameters. Exposure‐stratified sampling techniques may provide valid estimates of exposure‐response without including the total exposed community.
Women at Risk: Gender and AIDS in Africa
Authors: SEIDEL GILL
Published: December 2007

AIDS in Africa is a gender, development and rights issue involving power and differential access to resources. The risk situations for women in stressed development contexts of war, destabilisation and displacement, and the many contexts of transactional sex, are poorly understood by policy makers and the medical community. The dominant epidemiological paradigm has focused on female ‘prostitutes’ in a number of African cities. The limitations of this approach are discussed, as are the different contextualised meanings of sexual exchange. The importance of women's experience of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and their perceptions of risk are stressed, as is the need for non‐judgmental services linked to primary and comprehensive health care, and for sensitive, qualitative research. It is argued that all women who engage in unprotected penetrative sex are at risk. Most health promotion messages, however, construct an image of women as prostitutes (‘Avoid prostitutes’) or seek to mobilise women as carers and educators of families and communities.
Environmental Change in Refugee‐Affected Areas of the Third World: The Role of Policy and Research
Authors: BLACK RICHARD
Published: December 2007

This paper reviews the current nature of policy responses to environmental change in refugee assistance programmes. Based on a review of existing documentary material and a survey of UK‐based NGOs, it is suggested that although refugee assistance agencies are aware of environmental issues, this is rarely translated into effective policy measures to identify and combat environmental degradation. Various existing methods used to calculate environmental impacts are considered, but a number of pitfalls are identified. It is suggested that little is known about the processes that lead to accelerated environmental change in situations of forced displacement, and that research providing deeper understanding of local environments and resource management systems is required for environmental policies to be effective.
Representing Refugees: The Role of Elites in Burundi Refugee Society
Authors: SOMMERS MARC
Published: December 2007

Among Burundi refugees in Tanzania, men who have a university education and know English or French are most likely to represent their concerns to officials, particularly those from UNHCR. Officials consequently learn about the perspectives of refugees from these men. Based upon findings from two years of field, research in Tanzania, the history of relations between ethnic Hutu elites and the peasantry in Burundi is outlined and it is explained why education has assumed such pronounced significance in Burundi refugee society. The use of ethnicity as a political tool for elite refugees is also described. It is concluded that elite refugees may not, as is often claimed, represent the refugee majority.
Nutritional Assessments, Food Security and Famine
Authors: YOUNG HELEN , JASPARS SUSANNE
Published: December 2007

The widely held view that malnutrition is a late indicator of famine is challenged on the basis of evidence that people often deliberately reduce their food intake as an early response to inadequate food security. This broadens the possible interventions in response to high malnutrition rates to include measures to support livelihoods under threat of collapse. In the late stages of famine, social disruption and distress migration often result in a degraded health environment which may raise the threshold of nutritional status associated with an increased mortality risk. It is important to assess the underlying causes of malnutrition and the associated health risks. At present, the main objective of nutrition surveys is usually to obtain a reliable estimate of the prevalence of malnutrition among children under five years of age, with little analysis of the underlying causes of malnutrition. Experience from the 1984‐85 famine in Darfur led to the development of an alternative approach to nutritional assessment which could be applicable elsewhere in Africa. The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was particularly valuable as a means of gaining a wider and deeper understanding of the nature of the nutritional situation.
Errors in Calculating Weight‐for‐Height
Authors: MACFARLANE SARAH B.J.
Published: December 2007

Weight‐for‐height is widely used as an index of recent malnutrition and often forms the basis on which major policy decisions are made about nutrition interventions. This article illustrates potential for error in the calculation of weight‐for‐height. Comparisons are made between results obtained using the international reference figures published by the World Health Organization, the plasticized cards distributed by Teaching‐aids At Low Cost and by using the computer software package Epi Info (versions 5 and 6). An assessment is made of the errors introduced by treating supine measurements incorrectly as stature or by treating stature measurements as supine. Comparisons are also made between the use of standard deviation scores and percentages of the median. It is recommended that the international reference figures be published in a more convenient tabular form and that the plasticized cards and percentages of the median should not be used for studies involving international comparison. Investigators who plan to use Epi Info are advised to take into account the way in which it calculates weight‐for‐height when collecting and analyzing their height measurements.
ENSO and Disaster: Droughts, Floods and El Niño/Southern Oscillation Warm Events
Authors: DILLEY MAXX , HEYMAN BARRY N.
Published: December 2007

The connection between El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and precipitation and temperature variability worldwide is increasingly well understood. ENSO has been linked to droughts and flooding in some regions. This paper uses the disaster history database of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to examine the link between ENSO events and droughts or floods of sufficient magnitude to trigger international disasters. Worldwide, disasters triggered by droughts are twice as frequent during year two of ENSO warm events than during other years. No such relationship is apparent in the case of flood disasters. Drought disasters occur during year two of ENSO warm events significantly more frequently than in other years in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. No regional pattern emerges from a comparable analysis of flood disasters. Those places likely to be affected by ENSO‐triggered droughts can take proactive measures to mitigate the impacts.
The Role of Food Aid in Drought and Recovery: Oxfam's North Turkana (Kenya) Drought Relief Programme, 1992–94
Authors: BUSH JENNIFER
Published: December 2007

Regional droughts carry the seeds of catastrophe: the immediate risk is famine; the long‐term risk is destitution. Preventing both situations is an appropriate, if not essential, goal for relief agencies. In the past, responses to hunger in Turkana District (north‐west Kenya) have taken the form of traditional feeding programmes. A better understanding of the boom/bust cycles in pastoralist systems has, however, produced new relief strategies. A central tenet of these strategies is the acceptance that relief aid should assume two roles: humanitarian—to overcome food deficits—and economic—to overcome ‘income’ deficits. Arguments in favour of a broader role for food aid are tested with a case study of a drought relief programme in north Turkana between 1992–1994. Field studies confirmed that when food aid is integrated as an asset into household resources, it can strengthen economic recovery. Ultimately, the extent to which relief operations are able to protect both people's lives and their livelihoods is the key to more sustainable development in drought‐prone areas.
Rehabilitation Planning for Flood Affected Areas of Thailand: Experience from Phipun District
Authors: WICKRAMANAYAKE EBEL , SHOOK GARY A. , ROJNKUREESATIEN TASSANEE
Published: December 2007

Floods are common in Thailand. A flood in the southern part of the country in 1988 was of unprecedented magnitude. Several villages and vast tracts of agricultural land were covered with mud slides washed away from deforested hills. Rehabilitation of the affected areas, a task which required complex planning, was a challenge for the District Development Committee (DDC), which is the local level planning body. The Committee encountered several problems, including inability to use the existing data base and lack of accurate information, human resources, adequate funds and coordination among agencies. Unable to cope with the new challenges, the DDC resorted to conventional planning which failed to address the problems caused by the flood. Guidelines should be formulated to strengthen district level planning for rehabilitation after a disaster.
Developing Decentralized Capacity for Disaster Prevention: Lessons from Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring in Malawi
Authors: BABU SURESH CHANDRA , MTHINDI G.B.
Published: December 2007

Lack of sufficient analytical capacity in most of the countries of sub‐Saharan Africa has been frequently mentioned as a major factor limiting the effectiveness of drought management interventions. In this article we describe an approach used in Malawi for the past three years to develop a decentralized capacity to analyse drought management and disaster prevention programmes. A conceptual framework is presented which identifies the areas in which capacity strengthening is required and lessons from the Malawi experience are presented. Various issues relating to the efficiency of capacity building programmes are discussed. We argue that continuous dialogue between development researchers and decision‐makers, and between trainers in academic institutions and donor agencies, is essential for achieving the goals of improved capacity for drought management and disaster prevention.
Disaster Management and Government Intervention in PNG: The Case of Lae
Authors: KAITILLA S. , YAMBUI A.
Published: December 2007

This paper describes government intervention in two flood disasters in Lae before and after the establishment of the Papua New Guinea disaster management body. It first describes the objectives behind the establishment of this, and second, it examines the organisational response to the 1983 and 1992 disasters in Lae. Disaster response in terms of relief operations is generally prompt and spontaneous but can at best be described as haphazard, unsystematic and often uncoordinated. Both national and provincial disaster committees are, in many aspects, ill equipped in terms of capabilities, skills and resources. Many disaster operations are unable to ensure an immediate return of the victim's lives to normality – the ultimate objective of any disaster management.
The World Trade Center Bombing: Injury Prevention Strategies for High‐rise Building Fires
Authors: QUENEMOEN LYNN E. , DAVIS YVETTE M. , MALILAY JOSEPHINE , SINKS THOMAS , NOJI ERIC K. , KLITZMAN SUSAN
Published: December 2007

The WTC disaster provided an opportunity to look for ways to prevent morbidity among occupants of high‐rise buildings during fires. This paper first describes the overall morbidity resulting from the explosion and fire, and second, presents the results of a case‐control study carried out to identify risk factors for smoke‐related morbidity. The main ones include: increased age, presence of a pre‐existing cardio‐pulmonary condition, entrapment in a lift and prolonged evacuation time. Study results point to the importance of the following safety systems during high‐rise building fires: smoke‐control systems with separate emergency power sources; lift‐cars, lift‐car position‐monitoring systems, and lift‐car communication systems with separate emergency power sources; two‐way emergency communication systems on all floors and in stairwells; stairwells with emergency lighting and designed for the rapid egress of crowds; evacuation systems/equipment to assist in the evacuation of vulnerable people (elderly, infirm). Also important are evacuation plans that include regularly scheduled safety training and evacuation drills.
Researching Under Fire: Issues for Consideration When Collecting Data and Information in War Circumstances, with Specific Reference to Relief and Reconstruction Projects
Authors: BARAKAT SULTAN , ELLIS SUE
Published: December 2007

The post‐Cold War era has witnessed an increased number of conflicts and higher levels of international intervention by the humanitarian community and the military. Those who undertake to research the actions of relief and development agencies acting in these wars must act within new parameters that require a flexible, innovative and reflective approach. Not much is known about data collection in war. The most relevant publications come from the field of development studies. This paper is a beginning in a much‐needed discourse on researching under fire; it is offered not as a definitive work, but as a starting‐point for discussion.
Historical Roots of Famine Relief Paradigms: Ideas on Dependency and Free Trade in India in the 1870s
Authors: HALL‐MATTHEWS DAVID
Published: December 2007

The principles upon which famine policies are based have changed less than might be expected over the last century. This paper examines the origins of the Indian Famine Codes of the 1880s, which set the administrative and, it is argued, paradigmatic precedent for famine relief in ‘developing’ countries, managed by ‘developed’ ones. In particular, the still‐current questions of avoiding the creation of dependency through over‐generous aid and of relying on free‐market solutions to the problems of food distribution are re‐examined. Although both of these issues are difficult, it is suggested that strong emphasis on their importance has historically been based on wilful misinterpretation of complex situations. The result has been famine relief programmes which served the interests of ’relievers’ (in this case the colonial state) more than the relieved. The nature of famine policy‐making is thus reconsidered, with a call for greater appreciation of the role of influential individuals and hidden state agendas. These are as significant today as ever.
NOTES ON NEW BOOKS
Authors: Hands Various , Bithell J.
Published: December 2007

Social Criticism in the Early Works of Erich Kästner.

Das Verlangen nach der Hölle.

Meister der Komödie von Aristophanes bis G. B. Shaw.

Liebe zum deutschen Gedicht. Ein Begleiter für alle Freunde der Lyrik.

Ruhe auf der Flucht.

The Hazard of Modern Poetry.

A Swedish Reader.

Die Kurzgeschichte in Deutschland.

Studien über sprachökonomische Entwicklungen im Deutschen.

Georg Büchner und der Dandyismus.

Wieviel Mörder gibt es heute?

Bin ich noch in meinem Haus
CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
Authors: Parry Idris
Published: December 2007

Wandellose Götter/Tagebuch aus Italien. By Gottfried Kapp. Dülmen: Laumann. 240 pp.

Werke in zehn Bänden. By Ernst Jünger.

Der graue Regenbogen. By Stefan Andres.

Der Tod des Widersachers. By H. Keilson

Die fremden Jahre: Gedichte aus der Emigration. By Eduard Saenger.

Flucht und Verwandlung. By Nelly Sachs.

Nebelhörner. By Christoph Meckel.

Landessprache. By Hans Magnus Enzensberger.

Mutmassungen über Jakob. By Uwe Johnson.

Der Seelenbräu. By Carl Zuckmayer. Edited by Alan R. Robinson.

Das kalte Licht. By Carl Zuckmayer. Edited by Frank Ryder/
REVIEWS
Authors: Purdie Edna
Published: December 2007

Aspects of the Eighteenth Century. Edited by Earl R. Wasserman.

The Soothsayings of Bakis: Goethe's Tragi‐comic Observations on Life, Time and History. By Harold Jantz.

Der Roman und sein Publikum im früheren 18. Jahrhundert. 1700–1767. (Abhandlungen zur Kunst‐, Musik‐ und Literaturwissenschaft, Bd. 41.) By Marianne Spiegel.
KURT EISNER'S LITERARY REMAINS: A FORGOTTEN CHECK‐LIST FROM THE 1930S
Authors: Sheppard Richard
Published: December 2007

HAUPTINHALT DES LITERARISCHEN NACHLASSES VON KURT EISNER
PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES ‐ THE SIXTEENTH‐CENTURY READER'S DIGEST?
Authors: Simon Anne
Published: December 2007

Die Widmungsvorrede wird im Verlaufe des 16. Jahrhunderts zur festen Einrichtung des Buches und bewegt sich unendlich vielstimmig in den Abstufungen etwa der bedeutsamen Kundgebungen und Bildungsaufrufe eines Erasmus von Rotterdam und der nichtssagenden Lobhudeleien kleiner und kleinster Schreiberlinge. Alles in allem sind diese Zugaben wertvolle kulturge‐schichtliche Zeugnisse, die gute Einblicke in den Geist des zunehmenden Schrifttums jener Zeit gewähren.
SOME RECENT WORKS ON MONASTICISM
Authors: Pantin W. A.
Published: December 2007

English Monastic Finances in the Later Middle Ages. By R. H. Snape

The Constitution of the Dominican Order, 1216 to 1360. By G. R. Galbbaith

Christian Monasticism. By I. C. Hannah
The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Authors: Prestwich Menna
Published: December 2007

De la Révocation de l'Édit de Nantes à la Guerre des Cévennes. By Jules Michelet, edited by P. Viallaneix.

‘Une Foi, Une Loi, Un Roi?’: La Révocation de l'Édit de Nantes. By Elisabeth Labrousse.

L'Édit de Nantes et sa Révocalion: Histoire d'une Intolérance. By Janine Garrisson.

Le Venin de l'Hérésie: Image du Protestantitme et Combat Catholique au XVIIe siècle. By Bernard Dompnier.

La Révocation de l'Édit de Nantes: Protestants et Catholiques Français de 1598 à 1685. By Jean Quéniart.

Croire en Liberté: l'Église Catholique et la Révocation de l'Édit de Nantes. By Jean‐Robert Armogathe.

Le Refuge Huguenot. Edited by M. Magdelaine and R. von Thadden.

Le Refuge Protestant. By Myriam Yardeni. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Terre d'Exil: L'Angleterre et ses Réfugiés Français et Wallons, de la Réforme à la Révocation de l'Édit de Nantes, 1550–1700. By Bernard Cottret, introduction by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie.
Making Things More Complicated: politics and agrarianism in Modem Ireland
Authors: Hoppen K. Theodore
Published: December 2007

Sir William Gregory of Coole: a biography. By Brian Jenkins.

The Plan of Campaign 1886–1891. By Laurence M. Geary.

Ireland and the Death of Kindness: the experience of constructive Unionism 1890–1905. By Andrew Gailey.

Conflict and Conciliation in Ireland 1890–1920: Parnellites and radical agrarians. By Paul Bew.
Schama's Golden Age
Authors: Wright A.D.
Published: December 2007

The Embarrassment of Riches. An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. By Simon Schama
The Cambridge Social History of Britain
Authors: STEVENSON J.
Published: December 2007

The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1850. Edited by F. M. L. Thompson. 3 volumes, Cambridge University Press, 1990. Volume I: Regions and Communities, xv + 588pp. £45.00. Volume II: People and Environment, xv + 373pp. £40.00. Volume III: Social Agencies and Institutions, xiii + 492pp. £40.00.
Thomas Paine
Authors: DICKINSON H. T.
Published: December 2007

Tom Paine: A Political Life. By John Keane. London: Bloomsbury

Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom. By Jack Frucbtman, Jr. New York and London
Actuarial approaches to pension schemes
Authors: Féraud Lucien
Published: December 2007

Do pension schemes which are referred to as “assessment schemes” or, to be more precise, those which provide for and take into account the adjustment of pensions, need the contribution of actuarial science? If so, what is its function?

These questions were raised in the early 1930s by Albert Thomas, Director of the ILO, and his colleagues, especially by Adrien Tixier, Chief of the Social Insurance Section (later a Division). Since then, they have been the subject of extensive and remarkably high‐level discussion. In this article, one of the people who contributed most to this discussion gives his personal answer to this question and bases it on the use of tables showing projections.

Through its Permanent Committee of Actuaries and Statisticians, the ISSA has devoted great efforts to studying “demographic and financial projections in social security”. The subject remains on this Committee's programme of work and in going into it more thoroughly, the Committee proposes to limit itself to the invalidity, old‐age and death risks. The present article forms part of this research work: it concentrates on schemes which provide for the adjustment of pensions.
The economics and politics of retirement incomes policy in Australia
Authors: Borowski Allan
Published: December 2007

The process of adjustment to the changing demographic balance in Australia over recent years has resulted infrequent and complex changes in Australia's retirement income arrangements. Many people have found great difficulty in understanding how these new arrangements are supposed to work. This article describes some of these recent changes and the factors that triggered them. It also examines what the elderly's reactions to these changes indicate about the nature of the “politics of ageing”. Beginning with an overview of population ageing in Australia, it then briefly outlines the major features of the country's retirement income system. This is followed by an examination of the factors that triggered the recent changes in retirement income arrangements. The last section describes the political response of Australia's elderly to these changes.
Financing the statutory pensions insurance scheme in a united Germany
Authors: Schmähl Winfried
Published: December 2007

This article outlines the development of the predominant scheme of old‐age protection in Germany (the statutory pensions insurance scheme) within the framework of the process of unifying the two post‐war German states. The systems of old‐age protection in West and East Germany had evolved very differently after the Second World War, so that a major transformation was needed. The various stages of bringing the schemes together are described, including the conversion of pensions in the German Democratic Republic when the Deutschmark was introduced on 1 July 1990, the raising of pensions, and the considerable further adjustments that took place later. Finally, the process of applying West German pensions legislation to East Germany is described. This legislation resulted from a Pensions Reform Act which was adopted on 9 November 1989 with the purpose of adapting the system of old‐age protection to changing structural conditions affecting the composition of the population, the economy and society as a whole. The article is completed by a look at the evolution of the financial requirements for pensions insurance over the medium and long term.
Financing of health service systems: Recent developments and reforms
Authors: D'Intignano Bétrice Majnoni
Published: December 2007

Health systems everywhere have been undergoing profound changes since 1980. The major OECD countries (with the exception of the United States and France) have brought their health spending under control, modified the methods for determining health sector incomes, and introduced competition and financial incentives. In eastern Europe the question of which new health systems to adopt is firmly on the agenda. In the former USSR there have been experiments similar to those carried out in the United States and the United Kingdom, while France has remained largely on the sidelines. The author considers the various options.
Changing the health care system in the Netherlands: The end of a period of cost containment?
Authors: Naaborg Ronald
Published: December 2007

This paper begins with a global description of the present health care system in the Netherlands and the outstanding reasons why the government wished to restructure it. A brief summary is given of the starting points for government policy and the policy framework for the new system of care, followed by the main characteristics of the new system, indicating the proposed positions of the insured, the providers of care, the insurers and the government. A schedule for implementation describes the gradual implementation of the new system. In addition some possible consequences of implementing the new system are discussed, and finally some conclusions are presented.
From entitlements to incentives: The changing philosophy of social protection
Authors: Gilbert Neil
Published: December 2007

In recent years policies for social protection initially designed for purposes of income maintenance have come to place increasing emphasis on the reintegration of welfare beneficiaries into the labour force. This paper describes a range of initiatives in public assistance, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and public pensions, which link social benefits with incentives to work. These measures are seen as part of a broader pattern of change that seeks to balance social rights and obligations. The reasons for this change are examined in the light of demographic trends, ideological shifts, and unanticipated consequences of past social welfare policies. An analysis of the uncertainties surrounding incentive‐oriented social policies suggests that these measures bear careful monitoring.
The Beveridge Report in its contemporary setting
Authors: Leaper Robert
Published: December 2007

The “contemporary setting” was the midst of total war and its social and economic circumstances. The flavour is recaptured in a 1942 newsreel. The effect on members of the armed forces is examined. The reaction of the coalition government and the responses of the Conservative party and of the Labour party showed divisions within each, documented in archives of party conferences, current periodical articles, and interviews conducted in 1992 with expert witnesses Lord Longford (Frank Pakenham) and Lord Hailsham (Quintin Hogg). Beveridge's Liberal party affiliation is reasserted and reviewed. The report's influence on other European countries merits further investigation, as many governments and forces in exile were in Britain in 1942.
The Beveridge Plan: The main principles
Authors: Perrin †Guy
Published: December 2007

To complete this special issue for the fiftieth anniversary of the Beveridge Plan, we felt it appropriate to reproduce an article written by the late Guy Perrin on the occasion of its fortieth. It seemed to us that his exemplary appraisal, as relevant today as it was then, amply merited republication, testifying as it does to the clearsightedness of its author. Publishing it also enables us to pay discreet homage to a colleague who will be much missed: we have no doubt, for example, that if he were still among us today he would use the Beveridge Report as a torch to illuminate for us the likely trends in social security over the next ten years. In this article, first published in 1983, Guy Perrin outlines the major principles governing the Beveridge Plan, namely those of universality, unity and what he calls integration. The many quotations and references afford an insight into the conditions under which the plan was written, enabling us to measure its impact both at the time of its publication and four decades later. It concludes by declaring that “the enduring topicality of Beveridge still exerts an impact today, in the sense that the time has come to stop following him and start imitating him”. There lies a challenge which, today more than ever, is crucial for the future of social security in the world.
Social protection in the European Community: Towards a convergence of policies
Authors: Chassard Yves , Quintin Odile
Published: December 2007

Systems of social protection in the member states of the European Community differ not only in organization but also occasionally in their conception. Nevertheless, on closer examination this diversity proves to be less significant than it seems. Those systems have, moreover, a series of common problems to confront. Furthermore, the establishment of the single European market will entail a growing and varied mobility of persons and increase the need to move towards standardization of social protection levels. The Community therefore proposes to promote the convergence of member states’policies, while recognizing and respecting the diversity and autonomy of systems. The approach would be essentially flexible and multiform, and based on the principle of subsidiarity.
Social security in central and eastern European countries: Continuity and change
Authors: Voirin Michel
Published: December 2007

Continued social protection in central and eastern Europe is vital in order to compensate for the loss of rights previously provided by the State, to ease the process of economic change and, not least, to maintain social cohesion without altogether subjecting populations to the vagaries of the market economy system. Long steeped in the tradition of social insurance, many of these countries had adapted their systems of protection to the Soviet model, while reflecting certain universal trends of social security policy, with an emphasis on family assistance. More recently, schemes have been complemented by unemployment benefits and by mechanisms to better take inflation into account, without prejudice to the necessary guarantee of a minimum level of assistance. They must still be adapted to facilitate occupational mobility, to promote employment, to involve the people covered by them in their management, and to deal with deteriorating health services, while taking account of problems stemming from resource limitation. Although reform must not obscure the need for continuity, uncertainty remains as to its outcome.
Mutual benefit societies in Hungary, 1830‐1941
Authors: Hitchins Keith
Published: December 2007

In Hungary for most of the nineteenth century mutual benefit societies played a key role in providing various social groups with aid in case of illness, accident, disability or death. The majority were linked to the burgeoning working‐class movement and were voluntary associations whose members had no other recourse in times of adversity. Hungary was undergoing transformation in the nineteenth century. Changes in goods production and the craft guilds accelerated the establishment of workers’benefit societies, and so did the lack of a coherent system of social insurance in the new industrial order. They grew in tandem with the expansion of Hungary's economy and the return of constitutional government in 1867, and flourished from the 1870s to the decade preceding the First World War. Austria and Germany provided theoretical justifications and practical models. By the 1890s voluntary mutual benefit societies faced increasing competition from the State. As the economy and social structures evolved, successive governments sponsored their own insurance programmes. By the turn of the century, private companies were also offering life and accident insurance and the appeal of mutual benefit societies to both workers and the middle class diminished. Between the two world wars, they continued to serve a substantial segment of the population.
Mutualism in the world: Ignorance, inequalities and market pressures
Authors: Dumont Jean‐Pierre
Published: December 2007

Anyone engaged on research who tries to get to know, evaluate and describe the mutual benefit movement in its worldwide context always comes up against the differences in terminology and in constitutions, as well as the disparate nature and unreliability of the financial statements: an international maze in which the observer is completely lost. In spite of the real efforts of the Association internationale de la mutualité (International Association of Mutual Benefit Societies — AIM), the European Community, the International Social Security Association (ISSA), the Institute of International Social Cooperation (ICOSI) and of universities, the history, assessment and evolution — both recent and comparative — of the mutual benefit movement remain largely “terra incognita”.
International comparison of social security and retirement funds from the national savings perspective
Authors: Butare Théopiste
Published: December 2007

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the complex issue of the relationships between social security, national saving and economic development. A description of the wide range of differing practices in the field of social protection constitutes the introductory part of the analysis. This is followed by a discussion of financing techniques and investment possibilities open to social security schemes. The debate on the relationships between social security and saving is illustrated by a survey of various empirical investigations reported in the relevant literature. The discussion ends with some reflections on the role of social security in the development process.
Who is supported? Social security for families with children between family law and social security regulations in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom
Authors: Scheiwe Kirsten
Published: December 2007

Individual and collective welfare lies at the heart of deliberations about contemporary welfare states. It is not always recognized that social security provisions interact closely with systems for the support of families and for labour market participation. This paper focuses on the interaction of institutional arrangements providing social security for families with children. The analytic framework incorporates family and marital law and social security provisions. Three European welfare states, Belgium Germany and the United Kingdom — with divergent systems of family support — are compared in detail. Among the questions to be posed are: How do these societies organize their support and family‐related activities? And what are the rights for individual women, men and children? Among the indicators to be considered are whether the basis for entitlement to social security is individualized or based on a collective unit such as the couple or the household; the extent to which access relates to marriage status or the legitimacy of the children; and the employment‐related or universal nature of benefit. The different family models underlying institutions are analysed.
Vocational rehabilitation of sole mothers who receive income support benefit
Authors: Gordon Dalia , Eliav Tami
Published: December 2007

This evaluative research is intended to follow up an experimental project, conducted in Israel, which aims to encourage sole mothers to work and to cease receiving public support, and to take upon themselves the responsibility of earning a living, by providing them with vocational training. To this end, an experimental group of 400 divorced and single mothers was randomly sampled from four local branches of the National Insurance Institute in the centre of the country and was invited to participate in vocational training. The research goal was to evaluate the sole mothers’willingness to participate in the training and the effect of their acquiring a vocation on their actual going to work and, as a consequence, ceasing to receive income support benefit. It was found that immediately following the vocational training, there was a significantly higher percentage of women from the experimental group who worked (63 per cent) than that from the control group (37 per cent). No significant difference was found in the percentage of women who were working two years later. Accordingly no significant difference was found in the percentage of women from both groups who continued to receive income support benefit at this time
Coordination of social security programmes of developed and developing countries
Authors: Tamagno Edward
Published: December 2007

The pattern of immigration to developed countries has changed dramatically. Immigrants are now predominately from developing countries. However, social security agreements, which coordinate programmes on a bilateral or multilateral basis and are designed to protect the social security rights of migrants, remain primarily restricted to the developed countries. The result is a lack of protection for many migrants. This is one of the major challenges facing social security programmes today, and one which must be addressed. A start to tackling this problem is to analyse the issues in the coordination of social security schemes of developed and developing countries. Four key elements are involved in this analysis: the existence of a technical basis for an agreement; reciprocity; the financial solvency of the schemes concerned; and the administrative capacity of the schemes to carry out the obligations inherent in an agreement.
The 1994 Reform Bill for public pensions in Japan: Its main contents and related discussion
Authors: Takayama Noriyuki
Published: December 2007

In March 1994 the Japanese government submitted a bill to the National Diet to reform the public pension system. It proposes to increase the normal retirement age for the flat‐rate basic benefits for employees from 60 to 65 years of age by stages (between 2001 and 2013 for men), while guaranteeing to pay the earnings‐related benefits for them from age 60 without any reduction. It also proposes a much more generous earnings‐test and an introduction of old‐age employment benefits, both to encourage later retirement. Another main proposal is to switch the benefits indexation from a gross to a net wage basis. This paper gives a detailed explanation of the bill, discussing why such a reform bill is submitted, whether or not it can manage to control the cost of social security in the long term, and whether or not the reform measures can effectively generate jobs for the elderly. Pensions for women, as well as some measures to support both childbirth and childrearing, are also explored.
Élite opinion on retirement pensions
Authors: George Vie
Published: December 2007

This article discusses some of the findings of a European study of the opinions of influential people in welfare. It is divided into five main sections. The first section discusses the aims and the methodology of the study; the second section looks at the issues in pensions as seen by the respondents in the various countries; the third section examines the proposed solutions; the fourth section tries to establish whether political ideology makes a difference in the way respondents perceive the issues and solutions; and the fifth section is the conclusion.
BANGLADESH The Grameen Bank health programme
Authors: Steinert Andrea , Rösner Hans Jürgen
Published: December 2007

In May 1993 the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh ‐ one of the most successful and internationally best‐known self‐help projects ‐ launched a programme to provide poor people in rural areas with basic health care. The first four medical centres were followed by six more by July 1995. The organization and methods of operation of the Grameen Health Programme are based on the tried and tested self‐help principles underlying the loan programme which has been in operation since 1976. The services offered include medical care at reduced fees and free counselling. Target groups are primarily poor women, to whom the programme's women field workers initially give information on simple preventive measures plus advice on avoidance of unwanted pregnancies. This article presents a provisional evaluation based on two primary inquiries conducted in 1994 and 1995. The overall conclusion was that the health programme has still far to go in order to attain the longer‐term objective of becoming self‐financing. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that decentralized access to health services, and preventive healthcare counselling in particular, can be of real assistance to poor people in rural areas.
Gender inequalities in European unemployment benefit systems
Authors: Jepsen Maria , Meulders Danièle
Published: December 2007

The most important structural change which has occurred on the labour market over the past 30 years is the sustained and continued growth of female labour supply. Two‐earner couples have become a majority in most European countries and lone parents, mostly women, are also on the rise. On the other hand, since 1975, labour market policies have altered the quality and nature of employment in Europe by promoting atypical forms of employment where women are overrepresented. The analysis has shown us that atypical employment results in restricted access to unemployment benefits. Moreover, combining the presence of more stringent conditions with derived rights results in more and more women being dependent upon their spouses for financial as well as social protection and can even have a disincentive effect on formal labour market participation.
Early reemployment for dislocated workers in the United States
Authors: Wandner Stephen A.
Published: December 2007

On the basis of data from field experiments, in 1993 the United States enacted legislation requiring that all states implement Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services programmes as part of their employment and training systems. Using statistical models, these programmes identify likely dislocated unemployment insurance claimants and provide them with job search assistance during the early weeks of their unemployment. All states have now implemented these systems, and early implementation results are now available.
LISTENING FOR EYE MOVEMENTS
Authors: Abadi Richard V. , Carden David , Simpson John
Published: December 2007

Abstract A case is made for using an objective method of recording eye movements in routine practice. Accordingly a simple way of monitoring eye movement behaviour using a photo‐electric device is described, Records may he displayed permanently or alternatively it is possible to hear the eye movements if the signal is fed into a loudspeaker. Using this auditory feedback it is also possible to control abnormal fixation and nystagmus.
THE INFLUENCE OF METHOD ON THE STABILITY OF DARK FOCUS POSITION OF ACCOMMODATION
Authors: Heron G. , Smith A. C. , Winn B.
Published: December 2007

Abstract The stability of the dark focus position of accommodation was investigated using a Badal laser optometer. A quick method (double staircase method) and a longer method (method of constant stimuli) were employed. Diurnal, daily and test – rerest data were obtained. A method of limits study was included on a limited number of observers. Method of constant stimuli and method of limits gave small but significantly higher estimates of DFP. The results confirm the conclusions of other workers that the dark focus position of accommodation is a highly stable ‘trait’‐like property of the human visual system. The most efficacious and valid method for measuring dark focus position of accommodation was found to be the double staircase method.
OCULAR DEFOCUS, SPURIOUS RESOLUTION AND CONTRAST REVERSAL*
Authors: Smith G.
Published: December 2007

Abstract With the increasing popularity of periodic gratings in vision research, the effects of ocular defocus, such as spurious resolution and the presence of more than one maximum in the contrast–defocus level function, are very important. Optical transfer function theory is used to develop graphs and formulae that can be used to predict the presence of spurious resolution for given levels of defocus and spatial frequency in any aberration‐free optical system. Geometrical optical approximations are used extensively, as these lead to very simple formulae, These general equations, applying to any optical system, are extended to the particular case of ocular defocus. Formulae are presented that can be used 10 predict the presence of spurious resolution, in terms of such variables as pupil size and longitudinal focus error. Conditions for the observation of spuriously resolved gratings are also discussed. An example is presented for observing spurious resolution and contrast reversal and this example can be presented as a “pseudo” visual illusion.
THE POSSIBLE CORRELATION OF INTRA‐OCULAR PRESSURE AND THE VOLUME OF THE ANTERIOR CHAMBER
Authors: Saunders Harold
Published: December 2007

Abstract All investigation is made into the correlation between anterior chamber volume and intra‐ocular pressure. It is suggested that patients can be screened for possible ocular hypertension by measuring their corneal radii and the depth of their anterior chamber. A nomogram shows which combinations of the parameters may lead to ocular hypertension and thus indicates which patients need to be investigated at greater length.
HUMAN TEAR PROTEIN FRACTIONS DURING WAKING HOURS
Authors: Haggerty C. M. , Larke J. R.
Published: December 2007

Abstract Reliable collection and analysis of human tear proteins presents considerable problems. The volume of unstimulated tear samples is necessarily very small, although stimulated (tears may be easily provoked with a consequent change in composition.

In the present study, 5‐μl samples of human tear fluid were carefully removed, over a 10 min period, from 10 male Caucasian subjects with the aid of a 5‐μl “microcap”. The procedure was repeated at 2‐h intervals between 08.00 and 22.00 hours. The collected samples were individually separated into their major protein fractions using gel column electrophoresis. The separated material was stained and scanned, and the concentration of proteins present estimated by comparison with known protein standards. Consistent values for protein concentrations were recorded for full participating subjects, and no variation during waking hours was demonstrated.
SUCCESS RATE IN THE TREATMENT OF AMBLYOPIA BY CONVENTIONAL METHODS
Authors: Jenkins T. C. A. , Pickwell L. D.
Published: December 2007

Abstract Conventional methods of treatment were given to 50 young amblyopes, with the result that 26% showed no improvement and 50% improved by at least two Snellen lines. A 0.67 correlation coefficient was found between acuity before and after treatment.Whilst there was some difference in approach to convergent squint amblyopes and to non‐squinting amblyopes, the degree of success in the two subdivisions was similar.
OPTHOPTIC TREATMENT IN TEENAGE PATIENTS
Authors: Pickwell L. D. , Jenkins T. C. A
Published: December 2007

Abstract A survey of 100 patients who received orthoptic treatment in the Bradford University. Clinic is examined to see the level of success with the different binocular anomalies, indicating what factors were common in successful cases, and the type of treatment given.

A successful outcome or Worthwhile improvement was achieved in enough cases to conclude that orthoptics in teenage patients is often appropriate, even in strabismus, if the cases are selected carefully. There was no indication that the actual age made any difference once the patient was between 11 and 19 years, but the starting acuity was significant.
DIOPTRON– AND RETINOSCOPY–SUBJECTIVE DISCREPANCIES: EFFECT OF AGE
Authors: French Chris N. , Nixon John A. , Wood Ivan C. J.
Published: December 2007

Abstract It was confirmed that the Dioptron II returned a mean spherical equivalent of the order of one‐tenth of a dioptre more myopic than an independent subjective result. In contrast to data from another objective technique, retinoscopy, we found no evidence from a sample of 379 eyes that this discrepancy varied with age.