scholarly journals The Age of Personalized Medicine—From Patients to Consumers

Author(s):  
Andelka M Phillips

How many online contracts have you entered into this year and how many of those did you actually read? This chapter explores the impact that the designed environment of websites and electronic contracts have on the exercise of individual autonomy in the context of the example of direct-to-consumer genetic tests (DTC). DTC tests for health purposes can be viewed as an example of Personalized Medicine, but as the mode of sale usually lacks the involvement of a physician or genetic counsellor and the industry is largely unregulated, companies often rely on their contracts and privacy policies to govern relationships with consumers. This chapter seeks to shed light on the impact that offering these services online and relying on electronic contracts, which people have grown accustomed to ignoring, has on the exercise of autonomy and an individual’s ability to make an informed choice in this context.

Author(s):  
Dianne Toe ◽  
Louise Paatsch ◽  
Amy Szarkowski

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children who use spoken language face unique challenges when communicating with others who have typical hearing, particularly their peers. In such contexts, the social use of language has been recognized as an area of vulnerability among individuals in this population and has become a focus for research and intervention. The development of pragmatic skills intersects with many aspects of child development, including emotional intelligence and executive function, as well as social and emotional development. While all these areas are important, they are beyond the scope of this chapter, which highlights the impact of pragmatics on the specific area of cognition. Cognitive pragmatics is broadly defined as the study of the mental processes involved in the understanding of meaning in the context of a cooperative interaction. This chapter explores how DHH children and young people construe meaning in the context of conversations and expository interactions with their peers. The chapter aims to examine the role played by the cognitive processes of making inferences and comprehending implicature, within the overall display of pragmatic skills. Further, the authors use this lens in the analysis of interactions between DHH children and their peers in order to shed light on the development of pragmatic skills in children who are DHH.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zimmer

Purpose – The US Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 introduced optional prescription drug coverage, beginning in 2006, widely known as Medicare Part D. This paper uses up-to-date nationally representative survey data to investigate the impact of Part D not only on drug spending and consumption, but also on the composition of drug consumption. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, the paper investigates whether Part D impacted the number of therapeutic classes for which drugs were prescribed, and also whether Part D lead to increased usage of drugs for specific medical conditions that typically receive drug-intensive therapies. Findings – In addition to confirming findings from previous studies, this paper shows that Part D increased the number of therapeutic classes to which seniors receive drugs by approximately four classes. Part D also lead to increased usage of drugs used to treat upper respiratory disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Originality/value – While mostly concurring with previous studies on the spending impacts of Part D, this paper is the first to shed light on other impacts of Part D, specifically with respect to its impact on therapeutic classes for which drugs are prescribed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Baker ◽  
Jennifer Robertson-Wilson ◽  
Whitney Sedgwick

The current study examined whether the distribution of published research papers in the field of sport psychology followed the Lotka-Price Law of scientific productivity. All authors who had published articles in five sport psychology journals from 1970 to 2000 were considered. The impact of those authors was determined by the total number of published papers in all journals. Results provided limited support for the Lotka-Price Law; however, it appeared that the field of sport psychology was less elitist than other fields. Although these findings suggest that productivity in this field is similar to that in other fields of science, more research is needed to shed light on the role of the eminent scientist and the average researcher in the advancement of knowledge in sport psychology.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 3790-3796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Perdigão Olivieri ◽  
Vinícius Cotta-de-Almeida ◽  
Tania Araújo-Jorge

ABSTRACT Many studies have shed light on the mechanisms underlying both immunoprotection and immune dysregulation arising after Trypanosoma cruzi infection. However, little is known about the impact of benznidazole (N-benzyl-2-nitroimidazole acetamide), the drug available for clinical treatment of the infection, on the immune system in the infected host. In the present study we investigated the effect of benznidazole therapy on the lymphoid compartment during the course of experimental T. cruzi infection. Although amelioration of a variety of clinical and parasitological signs was observed in treated mice, amelioration of splenocyte expansion was not detected. Interestingly, this sustained splenomegaly observed in benznidazole-treated mice showed a preferential expansion of CD8+ T lymphocytes. Moreover, although benznidazole treatment blocked the expansion of recently activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells seen in infected hosts, benznidazole treatment led to a selective expansion of effector and memory CD8+ T lymphocytes in association with a lower rate of apoptosis. In addition, the surviving treated animals were protected from reinfection. Together, these data suggest that, in addition to its well-known direct role in blocking parasite replication in vivo, benznidazole appears to directly affect immune regulation in T. cruzi-infected hosts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 027347532110351
Author(s):  
Adam C. Merkle ◽  
Linda K. Ferrell ◽  
O. C. Ferrell ◽  
Joe F. Hair

Marketing curricula are experiencing a digital disruption as e-books and other electronic educational resources replace print textbooks. This study investigates student perceptions about the effectiveness of print textbooks and e-books. Specifically, we focus on the perceived effectiveness of e-books and the impact on student engagement. A field-based quasi-experiment was conducted with a sample of 259 students in the Fall semester, and a follow-up sample of 395 students in the Spring semester. The results show a diverse impact of e-books on student engagement. Some aspects of engagement are positively affected while other aspects of student engagement exhibit a neutral or negative leaning impact. The findings also reflect significant variation in e-book effectiveness depending on the course. Finally, we find that e-books moderate the relationship between textbook effectiveness and academic performance engagement. Highly effective e-books result in higher levels of academic performance engagement. Collectively these findings shed light on the current situation and provide a foundation for additional research to further our understanding about e-book effectiveness and its relationship to student engagement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meera Alagaraja ◽  
Kristin Wilson

The Problem In India, more household resources are spent on the education of sons than daughters; access to health and education reflects gender inequalities regardless of caste; poor women in India suffer malnourishment, and under- and unemployment. While there exists a steady stream of research on gender disparities and poverty in India, few studies have focused on gender disparities in wealthier communities. Yet, economic development as a whole will be more equal, more sustainable, and more rapid when gender inequalities are addressed. The Solution We explore gender inequity qualitatively through a single biography of an Indian woman, one of the authors. Using the power of cultural differences between researchers; a U.S. American interviewed the Indian researcher, we make sense of a narrative of an Indian woman caught between her desire to pursue education and career and her family’s and community’s expectation that she marry and start her own family. The study offers insights that extend knowledge about the increasing tensions between individual choice and the collective ethic that are experienced in India as the country transitions into a free market economy. The Stakeholders By focusing on the biography of a woman caught between family and community expectations and her own aspirations for education and career, the article highlights the impact of globalization, and macro- and micro-level economic, and sociocultural, forces that produce unique challenges and tensions in a fast growing market-based economy. Public policy makers play an important role in assessing the impact of national human resource development (NHRD) policies and practices that emphasize equal opportunities for women and other marginalized communities in a country such as India.


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