Context Physicians are regularly confronted with research that is funded or presented by industry. Objective To assess whether physicians discount for conflicts of interest when weighing evidence for prescribing a new drug. Design and setting Participants were presented with an abstract from a single clinical trial finding positive results for a fictitious new drug. Physicians were randomly assigned one version of a hypothetical scenario, which varied on conflict of interest: ‘presenter conflict’, ‘researcher conflict’ and ‘no conflict’. Participants 515 randomly selected (...) Fellows in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network; 253 surveys (49%) were returned. Main object measures The self-reported likelihood that physicians would prescribe the new drug as a first-line therapy. Results Physicians do not significantly discount for conflicts of interest in their self-reported likelihood of prescribing the new drug after reading the single abstract and scenario. However, when asked explicitly to compare conflict and no conflict, 69% report that they would discount for researcher conflict and 57% report that they would discount for presenter conflict. When asked to guess how favourable the results of this study were towards the new drug, compared with the other trials published so far, their perceptions were not significantly influenced by conflict of interest information. Conclusion While physicians believe that they should discount the value of information from conflicted sources, they did not do so in the absence of a direct comparison between two studies. This brings into question the effectiveness of merely disclosing the funding sources of published studies. (shrink)

SummarySon preference has been considered as a determinant of women's risk of intimate partner violence experience in India, although quantitative evidence from large nationally representative studies testing this relationship is limited. This study examines the association between husband's son preference, sex composition of children and risk of physical and sexual IPV victimization among wives. Information was collected for 26,284 couples in the nationally representative 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey of India. The exposures were husband's son preference measured as husband's desire (...) for one or more sons greater than the number of daughters and sex composition of the household: only sons, only daughters and mixed. Outcome included past year physical and/or sexual IPV. The results showed that husband's reported son preference and sex composition of children were not associated with risk for IPV victimization in the models adjusted for socio-demographic factors. The findings from this first population-based study of socio-cultural norms around son preference and married Indian women's risk for IPV victimization indicate that cultural preference for sons does not influence women's risk for IPV victimization. (shrink)

Offering a detailed study of early 20th-century essayist, poet, novelist, political campaigner, and theologian G.K. Chesterton, author Stephen R.L. Clark ...

2011 Reprint of 1943 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "St. Thomas Aquinas" is enriched by the author's unique ability to see the world through the saint's eyes, a fresh and animated view that shows us Aquinas as no other biography has. Acclaimed as the best book ever written on Aquinas by such outstanding Thomists as Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson, and Anton Pegis, this brilliant biography will completely capture the reader and leave him (...) desirous of reading Aquinas' own monumental work. (shrink)

In 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered some lectures on Christology at the University of Berlin. They were later reconstructed by his students and finally published in 1960 in Germany. This book is the English translation of that reconstruction. The book contains an introduction and sections on "The Present Christ--The 'Pro me'," and "The Historical Christ." Underlying these are the valid questions Bonhoeffer thought Christology should answer: who? and where? rather than the invalid traditional question: how? Who is Jesus Christ? These questions lead (...) to the answer of His presence in the Church in his pro me structure as Word, as sacrament, and as community. The question, Where is Jesus Christ? receives three answers: Jesus Christ is at the border of my existence; Jesus Christ is the center and meaning of history; Jesus Christ is the heart of nature. Somewhat difficult, the book is not for those uninitiated in theology. Yet, since Christology is the key to Bonhoeffer's whole thought, the translation is an important contribution to Bonhoeffer scholarship in the English-speaking world.--R. G. K. (shrink)

This is a collection of four essays by Tillich emphasizing in various ways the basic point that the future of man must involve the religious dimension and perspective. It includes his last public lecture, "The Significance of the History of Religions for the Systematic Theologian," in which he rejects the reductionism both of orthodoxy, which locates revelation only in its own religion, and of a theology of the secular, which has no room for the sacred. He favors instead a "dynamic-typological" (...) approach to the theology of the history of religions that discovers elements in the experience of the Holy in all religions, whose unity and telos will be in a "Religion of the Concrete Spirit." The three other lectures complement the thrust of this lecture. In "The Decline and Validity of the Idea of Progress," Tillich finds the proper perspective toward history and progress in kairoi, moments of partial but creative fulfillment. In "Frontiers" he speaks of crossing and reversing boundaries as the way to peace. And in "The Effects of Space Exploration on Man's Condition" he notes the emergence of a new ideal of human existence and affirms it doesn't change the divine-human relationship. The book also includes tributes by Jerald C. Brauer, Wilhelm Pauck, and Mircea Eliade, and a set of photographs by Archie Lieberman.--R. G. K. (shrink)

The central issues of regnum versus sacerdotium have been obscured by a concentration on personalities and a murder in a cathedral. Cantor is also concerned with personalities, but in this thorough study of church-state relations in Anglo-Norman England, he goes behind the legend and ably demonstrates that the controversies which were dramatized in blood in 1170 had already been settled by politico-ecclesiastical negotiations more than half-a-century earlier. The main interest of the study is in Cantor's discussion of St. Anselm as (...) an aging ecclesiastical statesman trying to avoid the extremes of that "fanatical high Gregorian" Paschal II, while insisting on the ending of lay investiture despite Henry I's opposition.--H. G. K. (shrink)

One of the areas of concern raised by cross-border reproductive travel regards the treatment of women who are solicited to provide their ova or surrogacy services to foreign consumers. This is particularly troublesome in the context of developing countries where endemic poverty and low standards for both medical care and informed consent may place these women at risk of exploitation and harm. We explore two contrasting proposals for policy development regarding the industry, both of which seek to promote ethical outcomes (...) and social justice: While one proposal advocates efforts to minimize cross-border demand for female reproductive resources through the pursuit of national self-sufficiency, the other defends cross-border trade as a means for meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Despite the conflicting objectives of the proposed strategies, the paper identifies common values and points of agreement between the two, including the importance of regulations to safeguard those providing ova or surrogacy services. (shrink)

This book consists of a significant and valuable reappraisal of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit by a number of outstanding, international Hegel scholars. Key questions and issues are discussed. No other book on the Phenomenology brings together penetrating articles by renowned Hegel scholars, and no previous book has included responses to articles by equally celebrated scholars. The result is that this book is unique in providing a wealth of insights into the Phenomenology of Spirit from a variety of perspectives. Among the (...) crucial issues of interpretation which are tackled in this book are Hegel's concept of truth, the relationship between the Phenomenology and Hegel's system, the master-slave dialectic, the unhappy consciousness and conscience. Experienced Hegel scholars and students new to Hegel will benefit from the format of the book in which distinguished scholars comment upon the key and contentious aspects of the main articles. Crucial issues of interpretation are highlighted clearly. (shrink)