Human Amniotic Allograft in Hand Surgery.

Amnion epithelial and mesenchymal cells have been shown in vitro to contain a variety of regulatory mediators that result in the promotion of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and epithelialization and the inhibition of fibrosis, immune rejection, inflammation, and bacterial invasion. Amniotic membrane-based products are approved for use as human cells, tissues, and cellular- and tissue-based products through Sections 361 or 351 of the Food and Drug Administration. Previously reported clinical applications of human amniotic membranes include nerve repair, tendon injury, joint and cartilage damage, and wound management. Although there is some evidence regarding the use of amniotic allografts in animals, there is a paucity of literature regarding their use in treating pathology of the hand and wrist. Further investigation is necessary to determine their effectiveness and therapeutic value in the upper extremity.

The Prisoner Who Cried Wolf, and Then Swallowed a Sprinkler Head.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old man presented from jail reporting foreign body ingestion of a sprinkler head. While initial radiography did not reveal the foreign body, subsequent imaging with computed tomography demonstrated the sprinkler head. When confronted with this discrepancy the patient admitted to having the sprinkler head in his possession and choosing to swallow it after his initial radiography. DISCUSSION: This case demonstrates the importance of maintaining a high threshold for real illness in situations where there is suspected malingering, a situation not infrequently encountered in the emergency department.

Crossing Boundaries: "Some College," Schools, and Educational Assortative Mating.

As more Americans delay marriage and meet partners online, schools may be less important for educational assortative mating. At the same time, social ties formed during college may continue to shape partner choice later in adulthood. This study focuses on young adults with "some college, no degree" to see what, if any, marriage-market benefit is gained from exposure to highly-educated social networks in college. Using data from National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, including newly collected postsecondary transcripts, the author finds young adults with "some college" are more likely than their less educated peers to marry a college graduate, especially if they attended a 4-year school. But young adults with bachelor's degrees still hold an advantage, even after controlling for duration of schooling. The results support the role of schools in shaping opportunities to meet partners but highlight the value of college degrees on the marriage market.

Religion, Marriage Markets, and Assortative Mating in the United States.

As interfaith marriage has become more common, religion is thought to be less important for sorting partners. However, prior studies on religious assortative mating use samples of prevailing marriages, which miss how local marriage markets shape both partner selection and marriage timing. Drawing on search theory and data from 8,699 young adults (ages 18-31) in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, the author examined the association between the concentration of co-religionists in local marriage markets and marriage timing and partner selection using event history methods. Religious concentration is associated with higher odds of transitioning to marriage and religious homogamy (conditional on marriage) for women and men at older ages (24-31) but not at younger ages (18-23). The association was also stronger for non-Hispanic Whites compared to other race-ethnic groups. The findings indicate that religion remains relevant in sorting partners for many young adults in today's marriage market.

When people shed religious identity in Ireland and Austria: Evidence from censuses.

BACKGROUND: Disaffiliation from religion is an important factor behind the rapid rise in persons claiming no religious affiliation in many advanced industrial countries. Scholars typically think of disaffiliation as a life course process that is confined to young adults, with little change occurring among older adults, yet few studies have examined this assumption outside the United States and Great Britain. OBJECTIVE: We evaluate whether the young-adult model of disaffiliation from religion applies in Ireland and Austria, two historically Catholic-majority countries with different levels of non-affiliation growth. METHODS: We use census data on religious affiliation in Ireland (1971-2011) and Austria (1971-2001) to track aggregate changes in the percentage reporting no religious affiliation over the life course for successive birth cohorts. RESULTS: We find support for the young-adult model in Ireland. However, recent cohorts in Austria exhibit a distinct pattern of disaffiliation that continues into middle adulthood. Our analysis suggests that mid-life disaffiliation in Austria is connected to a religious tax, which we argue spurs nominally affiliated adults to disaffiliate themselves, as their income rises and the costs of religious affiliation increase. CONCLUSION: Our findings offer insight into some of the social factors behind recent religious change across Europe and highlight the need for more cross-national research on the age and cohort dimensions of this change.

Opportunities to meet: occupational education and marriage formation in young adulthood.

Explanations for the positive association between education and marriage in the United States emphasize the economic and cultural attractiveness of having a college degree in the marriage market. However, educational attainment may also shape the opportunities that men and women have to meet other college-educated partners, particularly in contexts with significant educational stratification. We focus on work-and the social ties that it supports-and consider whether the educational composition of occupations is important for marriage formation during young adulthood. Employing discrete-time event-history methods using the NLSY-97, we find that occupational education is positively associated with transitioning to first marriage and with marrying a college-educated partner for women but not for men. Moreover, occupational education is positively associated with marriage over cohabitation as a first union for women. Our findings call attention to an unexplored, indirect link between education and marriage that, we argue, offers insight into why college-educated women in the United States enjoy better marriage prospects.

It's Not Business, It's Personal: Implicit Religion in the Corporate Personhood Debate.

Debate surrounding the United States Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC is ostensibly about the legal rights of corporations. However, I argue that the debate about corporate personhood is infused with religious concerns, rooted in the Protestant Reformation, about the proper identification of agentive subjects and the consequences of misidentification for human personhood. Focusing on the language used by opponents and defenders in the popular media, I show how both sides are animated by Protestant notions of human agency and share similar anxieties about the threats to that agency posed by abstract corporate or governmental entities. Attending to this fundamentally religious dimension not only improves our understanding of the moral stakes in the debate over corporations' legal rights but it also illuminates the implicit religious underpinnings of American political discourse.