[A new tube for optimizing closed decompression and temporary intestinal splinting in ileus of the small intestine]. / Neue Sonde zur Optimierung der geschlossenen Dekompression und temporären Darmschienung beim Dünndarmileus.

Based on our experience with intestinal splinting in 52 patients, we present a new tube that we regard as having advantages over balloon tubes, thus representing a true alternative.

Entry to lone parenthood: an analysis of marital dissolution in Great Britain.

"This paper examines some...socio-economic determinants of lone parenthood in Great Britain, in an attempt to understand further the reasons behind the rapid growth in lone parenthood. Since divorce and separation are the major 'causes' of lone parenthood, this paper focuses on the determinants of marital dissolution among women with dependent children. The empirical analysis is guided by hypotheses suggested by the 'economic theory of marriage'. Hazard regression equations are estimated with data collected in the 1980 Women and Employment Survey...." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND ITA)

Age at motherhood in Japan.

PIP: This study analyzed the factors influencing maternal age in Japan. Data was obtained from the National Survey on Family Planning (20th round) conducted by the Mainichi Newspapers of Japan in June 1990 and from vital statistics records on first births over a 25-year period. Both time-series and cross-sectional data provided support for the link between educational attainment and wages and the rising age at childbearing. Proportional hazards models and accelerated-failure time models with unobserved heterogeneity of the Heckman and Walker and Greene types were constructed. The median age at first birth was estimated at 26.6 years, based on Kaplan-Meier methods. The log-logistic model with move-stayer heterogeneity (Heckman and Walker) revealed that women with a senior high school education delayed marriage 9 months longer than women with less education. Women with a junior college education had first births 15 months later than high school educated women. Women with a university degree had first births two years later than women with a junior college degree. Urban mothers started childbearing 5 months later than rural mothers. The Weibull model with unobserved heterogeneity indicated that the hazard of a first birth increased with the age of the woman, while the observed hazard in the population increased and then declined. The age pattern of the log-logistic model had a more concentrated hazard rate. The estimated childless rate among women at the age of 40 years was 10.6% in the log-logistic model and 6.9% in the Weibull model. The Cox proportional hazard model supported the findings from the log-logistic and Weibull models and the explanatory importance of childhood residence, recent age, and educational status. All three models showed similar estimates of the impacts of the explanatory variables on age at first marriage. Median first birth interval was found to be shorter among more recent cohorts. Women in arranged marriages were estimated to have a later median age at childbearing by 9 months, and living with husband's parents shortened the median age by about 7 months. Women who married men from large families tended to marry and bear children earlier. The time-series analysis indicated that the decline in first birth rates was related to the decline in traditional values, but when the tradition variable was excluded, wages appeared to be the significant determinant of decline in first birth rates. The findings suggested that other factors were involved in the sharp decline in first birth rates.^ieng

[Technique of dynamic support suture and palisade closure]. / Zur Technik der dynamischen Stütznaht und des Palisadenverschlusses.

In 35 cases a dynamic supporting suture was applied. The technique of a palisade closure and of a dynamic supporting suture is introduced as shown in three cases of complicated abdominal wall conditions. This allows a differentiated operative-tactical procedure in the treatment of complicated laparotomy wounds following peritonitis, re-operation and wound dehiscence.

[Experimental studies on the recovery of anesthetic gases]. / Experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Rückgewinnung von Narkosegasen.

The volatile anesthetic agents halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane are chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and contribute to ozone depletion. Although the contribution is small, its importance is rising, as technical CFCs will be phased out according to the Montreal protocol (1987) and the London conference (1990) by the year 2000. Alternative procedures and CFC-free volatile agents such as des- and sevoflurane do not contribute to depletion of the ozone layer, but will not replace standard methods using volatile anesthetic agents in the near future. METHODS. In an experimental setup, we filtered anesthetic waste gases from scavenging systems of rebreathing circles by activated carbon filters. The filtered substances were desorbed by a heat chamber and condensed in a cold trap. RESULTS. By this method, it was possible to retrieve 50%-60% of the applied gases. Gas chromatographic analysis showed halothane containing traces of pollutants and isoflurane and enflurane as pure substances. DISCUSSION. The retrieval of anesthetic waste gases is easy; no sophisticated technical equipment is necessary. Purity of substances could make recycling possible and offer a method to avoid environmental pollution by volatile anesthetics.

The duration of lone parenthood in Great Britain.

PIP: Proportional hazards model analyses were conducted to examine the duration of lone parenthood among British women in 1980. Marital, demographic, and employment histories for 5320 women were collected from the Women and Employment Survey. A distinction is made between never married and previously married lone parents. Variables that affect the remarriage rate are occupation in last job before 1st birth, number of children at time of marital dissolution, age of youngest child at marital dissolution, period of marital dissolution, age at time of marital dissolution, duration of 1st marriage, work experience at end of 1st marriage, employment some time in the 12 months prior to marital dissolution, and highest educational qualifications. Characteristics that change over time and variables that pertain to the economic environment are also included. The statistical approach was to 1st build a general model with all the detailed variables, current employment status variables, and the macro environmental variables. In this model only women's real wages and real welfare benefits had statistical significance. Further refinements in the model were then made. The log of real welfare benefits as the only macro variable included in the specification revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship to the remarriage rate (x2=1.16). When the log of real wage is included, it has a negative effect which is statistically insignificant (x2=1.25). When both are included in a model, both are significant with opposite signs. The interpretation is that when women earn more in employment, they are less likely to remarry and remain lone parents longer. The duration of lone parenthood has the strongest association with the age of the woman. The type of job she had before becoming a mother and whether she had a job in the year prior to the dissolution of her marriage are strongly associated with the duration of lone parenthood for those previously married mothers. Results also suggest that lone mothers with poorer economic conditions remain lone parents longer. After the Divorce Reform Act, the number of people reentering the marriage market increased and previously married mother's duration of lone parenthood shortened. For previously married mothers, higher welfare payments directly or indirectly prolong the length of lone parenthood.^ieng

[Transanal decompression procedure in acute pseudo-obstruction of the colon]. / Transanales Dekompressionsverfahren bei akuter Pseudoobstruktion des Kolons.

Based on 3 observations the relatively rare pseudo-obstruction of the colon is described. The pathophysiological mechanism is still unknown. In chronic or subacute cases a conservative treatment seems to be justified. However this does not apply to advanced cases or when there is threat of a colon perforation. As a possible alternative to a colostomy for transanal aseptic decompression a new intestinal tube is introduced.

European women's employment and fertility again.

The author examines questions concerning women's employment and fertility in Europe and considers the implications of relevant economic models "for differences in fertility and labour supply patterns between women and for econometric analysis....I review the main economic models...and explore what extensions to these models may be required. The review of models is limited to those which consider both fertility and employment decisions."

Welfare benefits and the duration of single parenthood.

PIP: The authors examine the contention that the provision of welfare benefits to single parents increases the number of single parents and the duration of single parenthood. Data are from the Women and Employment Survey, which collected marital, childbearing, and employment data from 5,320 women aged 16-59 in the United Kingdom in 1980. The results indicate that welfare benefits exercise no significant effect on the duration of single parenthood.^ieng

Purchased child care, optimal family size and mother's employment: theory and econometric analysis.

This paper develops a model of family size decisions in which couples choose explicitly a combination of mother's time and purchased childcare (childminder, nanies) for the care and rearing of children. The theoretical model implies that the impact of the mother's wage on her complete fertility varies with the market price of childcare, and that this effect increases (becoming less negative or more positive) with the level of her wage. Econometric analysis of British micro-data confirms the main predictions of the model.

Intergenerational transfers in industrialised countries: effects of age distribution and economic institutions.

PIP: In Great Britain, using mid 1980s data and assuming no productivity increase over generations thereby making the discount rate and population growth rate 0, the average ages of household consumption and production stood at 46.3 and 41.3 respectively. Further, assuming 2% annual productivity growth and discount rates, the average consumption age was 41.7 and the average production age was 38.7. Therefore, net transfers here passed from the younger to older generations. In Japan, 1985 data shows that, under the same assumptions as Great Britain, the average ages of household consumption and production stood at 50.8 and 44.3 respectively. When assuming 2% annual productivity growth and discount rates, Japan's average consumption age was 41.7 and it's average production age was 38.7. Like Great Britain, Japan's net transfers passed from the younger to older generations. Specifically, production was significantly higher than consumption in the 20-60 year old age group and the reverse occurred in the older age groups. Even though there were similar patterns between the 2 countries, the difference between the average ages of consumption and production for Japan is much larger than for Great Britain. Further, it is even greater than the United States' whose estimates correspond to Japan's and Great Britain's. Specifically, the strength of the transfer effect is higher for Japan than Great Britain or the US because of the longer life expectancy among the Japanese. In addition, due to changes in fertility and mortality, the proportion of the 15 year olds has decreased and the proportion of those or = 65 years old has increased. Therefore net transfers have shifted in favor of the older generations.^ieng

Economic influences on birth rates.

PIP: A researcher uses an econometric analysis to test his theory that economic developments influence birth rates in post World War II in Great Britain. The base of the analysis consists of a group of equilibrium relationships examining the levels of conditional birth rates (at each birth order and each mother's age) and the levels of economic variables, e.g., ratio of women's hourly wage after taxes. The leading cause of a decrease in births, especially after 1974, was an increase in women's net wages in comparison to men's net wages. Additional evidence suggested that higher women's wages increase the cost of an additional child by raising missed earnings, and this higher opportunity cost reduces the chance of another birth. On the other hand, if men's earnings are higher, couples have more children and at a young age. Further, the higher the real house prices the more likely women are to postpone starting a family and, in the case of 20-24 year old women, these high prices also deter them from having a 2nd child. Higher house prices do not affect higher order births, however. When all other things are equal, women from larger families have a tendency to begin having children in their 30s and produce smaller families than those women from smaller families. Large child allowances encourage 3rd-4th births and early motherhood. To increase fertility to replacement level over the long term, the current level of child allowances would have to double costing about 5 billion British pounds or 1.5% of the gross domestic product.^ieng

Economic opportunities, marriage squeezes and the propensity to marry: An economic analysis of period marriage rates in England and Wales.

An economic model of the decision to marry has been developed by Gary Becker and is now part of the 'new home economics'. From it one can deduce that the propensity to marry is a function of the relative earning capacities of men and women, the relative scarcity of unmarried persons of the opposite sex and real income. The effects of changes in these variables on the annual first marriage rates of men aged 16-19, 20-24 and 25-29 and women aged 16-19 and 20-24 respectively are estimated over the post-war period. It is found that women's earning capacity relative to men's has a particularly strong negative effect on marriage rates, and that the decline in first marriage rates during the 1970s was primarily attributable to the growing economic opportunities for women. As demographic studies have suggested, the relative numbers of bachelors and spinsters of particular ages ('marriage squeezes') also have a significant impact, and there is evidence of substitution in the ages of marriage partners in response to such 'squeezes'. The income elasticity of marriage is only found to be significant among men below age 25 and women below age 20, and it increases as we move down the age distribution. This suggests the 'liquidity constraints' influence the timing of marriage among young people. In sum, this economic model is able to account for over 90 per cent of the post-war variation in young persons' marriage rates.

Time costs, aspirations and the effect of economic growth on German fertility.

PIP: Recent research has shown strong support for the model of reproductive behavior derived from the new home economics, and it is shown in this discussion that the evidence from the Federal Republic of Germany is consistent with the new home economics model. There is little support for Easterlin's relative economic hypothesis, but there is limited endorsement for model which adds the influence of experience based material aspirations to the new home economics model. Easterlin's relative income model is reviewed before directing attention to the new home economics model and an explanation of fertility movements in West Germany. The new home economics model focuses on the family division of labor between home activities and work outside the home. The marked decline in German fertility during the 1970s is mostly attributable to factors such as expanding women's earning capacities which increased the importance of 2 earner families, who have a different family division of labor and possibly preferences biased towards "quality" of children rather than numbers. Also, real wage growth lagged behind the growth in experience based aspirations, and this drop in relative income is more dramatic if it is presumed that material aspirations are based upon the family's income experienced by a young adult during his/her adolescence, rather than just the father's earnings. The mother's contribution to family income will contribute to her family's actual standard of living and the desired standard of living of her children. The labor force participation rates of married, middle-aged German women increased markedly during the 1st half of the 1950s, thus tending to enhance the increase in the standard of living desired by the young adults reaching marrying and childbearing ages in the mid-1960s. The analysis indicates that if there is not a substantial reduction in the proportion of young married women in the labor force, fertility will move countercyclically. In that there must be some floor to fertility, one should be cautious of using these parameter estimates considerably outside the 1950-1977 period. Nonetheless, the estimates indicate that economic growth will not bring a substantial rise in German fertility, and, outside the unlikely situation of sustained economic decline, fertility will remain low.^ieng

The Relevance of the 'Easterlin hypothesis' and the 'new home economics' to fertility movements in Great Britain.

Summary The hypothesis that a family's economic status relative to its aspirations (relative economic status) is an important determinant of its fertility behaviour has been developed and applied to the explanation of swings in American fertility by R. A. Easterlin. However, a recent application by Butz and Ward of a model derived from the 'new home economics' (pioneered by Becker and Mincer) strongly suggests that relative economic status is not the dominant factor in explaining fertility movements in the U.S.A. Rather, both current men's and women's wages operate independently in explaining the movement in fertility, and in particular the decline in fertility is attributed to rising women's wages. In this paper we explore the relevance of both the Easterlin hypothesis and the hypotheses derived from the 'new home economics' to the 1955-75 fertility swing in Great Britain. We find that we must reject the Easterlin hypothesis on the basis of the measures of relative economic status suggested by Easterlin and Wachter. A variant of the Easterlin hypothesis suggested by Oppenheimer does receive some support from the available evidence, and the evidence provides strong support for the model of fertility behaviour derived from the 'new home economics', which emphasizes the distinction between the effects of changes in men's and women's real wages on fertility decisions. The cause of the fertility decline is attributed to rising women's wages and employment opportunities through their direct effect on the opportunity cost of time and children among working wives and through their effect on the labour force participation of married women of childbearing age. The test of this model and the estimates of its parameters are not definitive, however, because of deficiencies in the data and problems of statistical estimation. We nevertheless conclude that both this model and the Oppenheimer variant of the Easterlin hypothesis, as well as other elements of a more comprehensive economic theory of fertility, point to a continuation of low fertility and the possibility of a secular decline with fertility approaching some lower asymptote.