Effect of intergenerational educational mobility on health of Indian women.

Abstract: The considerable increase of non-standard labor contracts, unemployment and inactivity rates raises the question of whether job insecurity and the lack of job opportunities affect physical and mental well-being differently from being employed with an open-ended contract. In this paper we offer evidence on the relationship between Self Reported Health Status (SRHS) and the employment status in Italy using the Survey on Household Income and Wealth; another aim is to investigate whether these potential inequalities have changed with the recent economic downturn (time period 2006-2010). We estimate an ordered logit model with SRHS as response variable based on a fixed-effects approach which has certain advantages with respect to the random-effects formulation and has not been applied before with SRHS data. The fixed-effects nature of the model also allows us to solve the problems of incidental parameters and non-random selection of individuals into different labor market categories. We find that temporary workers, unemployed and inactive individuals are worse off than permanent employees, especially males, young workers, and those living in the center and south of Italy. Health inequalities between unemployed/inactive and permanent workers widen over time for males and young workers, and arise in the north of the country as well.

Abstract: A child’s access to health care and minimum nutrition should not depend on circumstances such as caste, religion, gender, place of birth, or other parental characteristics, which are beyond the control of a child. This paper uses two rounds of Indian National Family Health Surveys and concepts of Inequality of Opportunity and Human Opportunity Indices to measure inequality arising out of unequal access to full immunization and minimum nutrition for Indian children. The results suggest overall high level of inequality of opportunity with substantial geographical variations. Changes in inequality of opportunity in the two services during 1992-93 to 2005-06 were mixed with some geographical regions outperforming others. The findings also call for substantial policy revisions if the goal of universal access to full immunization and minimum nutrition has to be achieved.

Abstract: The hypothesis that increases in the schooling of women enhance the human capital of the next generation and thus make a unique contribution to economic growth is assessed on the basis of data describing green revolution India. Estimates are obtained that indicate that a component of the significant and positive relationship between maternal literacy and child schooling in the Indian setting reflects the productivity effect of home teaching and that the existence of this effect, combined with the increase in returns to schooling for men, importantly underlies the expansion of female literary following the onset of the green revolution.

Abstract: Non-structural protein 4 (nsP4) polymerase of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has a crucial role in genome replication and hence could act as a promising target for novel therapeutics. Though, nsP4 is important in viral life cycle, but it is less explored as therapeutic target. The catalytic core of nsP4 Polymerase includes conserved GDD motif which is present not only across different CHIKV strains but also across other Alphaviruses. This emphasizes the uniqueness and importance of this motif in the functioning of nsP4 polymerase and hence, we focused on GDD motif for docking of drug molecules. Herein, a model of nsP4 polymerase was developed using Swiss Model, validated by Ramachandran plot and molecular dynamic simulation. Molecular docking was performed using LeadIT FlexX flexible docking module with FDA approved drug molecule library. On the basis of flexX score, top 5 leads with flexX scores − 33.7588, − 30.2555, − 29.6043, − 28.916 and − 28.5042 were selected. The bonding pattern of these leads were analysed in discovery studio and were further screened on the basis of molecular dynamic simulation studies. Simulation analysis revealed that only the top lead, Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride which is an anticancer drug and is currently indicated in leukemias and lymphomas interacted favourably and stably with nsP4. Our findings suggest that Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride can be a potential novel inhibitor of CHIKV polymerase and should be further validated by in vitro assays.

Abstract: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a widespread problem against children in India. Data suggest that every hour four children are being sexually abused in the country. In this context, the current...

Abstract: We examine the growing number of studies of survey respondents' global self-ratings of health as predictors of mortality in longitudinal studies of representative community samples. Twenty-seven studies in U.S. and international journals show impressively consistent findings. Global self-rated health is an independent predictor of mortality in nearly all of the studies, despite the inclusion of numerous specific health status indicators and other relevant covariates known to predict mortality. We summarize and review these studies, consider various interpretations which could account for the association, and suggest several approaches to the next stage of research in this field.

Abstract: Recent scientific work has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence for a causal impact of social relationships on health. Prospective studies, which control for baseline health status, consistently show increased risk of death among persons with a low quantity, and sometimes low quality, of social relationships. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies of humans and animals also suggest that social isolation is a major risk factor for mortality from widely varying causes. The mechanisms through which social relationships affect health and the factors that promote or inhibit the development and maintenance of social relationships remain to be explored.

Abstract: The Global Burden of Disease Study, a comprehensive regional and global assessment of mortality and disability from 107 diseases and injuries and 10 risk factors, is an example of an evidence-based input to public health policy debate. The study, which includes projections of the burden through the year 2020, uses the disability-adjusted life year as a composite measure of years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability. Future patterns of death and disability are likely to change dramatically because of aging of the world9s population, the epidemic of tobacco-related disease, the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic, and the likely reduction in death rates from communicable diseases in children.

Abstract: If household income is pooled and then allocated to maximize welfare then income under the control of mothers and fathers should have the same impact on demand. With survey data on family health and nutrition in Brazil, the equality of parental income effects is rejected. Unearned income in the hands of a mother has a bigger effect on her family's health than income under the control of a father; for child survival probabilities the effect is almost twenty times bigger. The common preference (or neoclassical) model of the household is rejected. If unearned income is measured with error and income is pooled then the ratio of maternal to paternal income effects should be the same; equality of the ratios cannot be rejected. There is also evidence for gender preference: mothers prefer to devote resources to improving the nutritional status of their daughters, fathers to sons.

Abstract: BACKGROUND. Socioeconomic status (SES) is usually measured by determining education, income, occupation, or a composite of these dimensions. Although education is the most commonly used measure of SES in epidemiological studies, no investigators in the United States have conducted an empirical analysis quantifying the relative impact of each separate dimension of SES on risk factors for disease. METHODS. Using data on 2380 participants from the Stanford Five-City Project (85% White, non-Hispanic), we examined the independent contribution of education, income, and occupation to a set of cardiovascular disease risk factors (cigarette smoking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol). RESULTS. The relationship between these SES measures and risk factors was strongest and most consistent for education, showing higher risk associated with lower levels of education. Using a forward selection model that allowed for inclusion of all three SES measures after adjust...