This paper introduces a men’s studies approach to Vietnamese gender studies. It explains the value of incorporating studies of men’s lives and experiences into gender and women’s studies. It argues that the study of gendered conflict and power is necessary to understanding Vietnamese gender relations. This understanding must be contextualized within the social processes of negotiation, cooperation, and reconciliation that are so essential to the cultural fabric of Vietnamese social life. This approach, which integrates women and men’s studies, can have effective theoretical and practical consequences for changing men’s relationships to men and women in both private and public spheres. It integrates men as partners in a movement for social change that seeks expanded roles for women in all sectors of the society, expanded roles for men in family life, and includes men as critical participants in solving current gender and social problems.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) must be classified into primary pulmonary hypertension and PAH related to other diseases such as collagen vascular diseases, HIV infection or portal hypertension. PAH must also be differentiated from other entities, in particular pulmonary hypertension secondary to thromboembolic diseases, requiring specific approaches. All PAH results in similar histological remodelling of pulmonary arteries, with thickening of the intima, proliferation of the media and plexogenic lesions. Today the physiopathology of these lesions is much better understood and has resulted in new therapies involving substances such as prostacyclins, endothelin receptor antagonists or phosphodiesterase inhibitors, aimed not only at dilating arteries but also at preventing their remodelling. Thromboendarterectomy, septostomy and transplantation remain the only option where medical treatment has failed.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has often been misdiagnosed in the past, due to the poor specificity of symptoms early in the disease until the appearance of right heart failure. Although primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) remains a rare disease, in recent times PAH related to other diseases has been better recognised. These forms are related to systemic connective tissue diseases, thromboembolic disease, congenital heart disease, portal hypertension or HIV infection, or are secondary to the use of drugs as anorexigens. They all result in an indistinguishable histological picture [1, 2].
Some important markets feature intermediaries who offer a network of upstream suppliers to downstream consumers. Examples include general contractors, who assemble networks of skilled craftsmen and subcontractors, business-to-business web sites, which assemble networks of parts suppliers, and managed care organizations, which assemble networks of hospitals and physicians. These intermediaries take advantage of their expertise and purchasing economies to identify superior suppliers and to extract better terms than could consumers shopping on their own. In some cases, such as managed care, they also provide insurance against the risk of needing the network’s services.
Sometimes, consumers may know their specific needs at the time they select their intermediary. For example, homeowners may have detailed architectural plans at the time they select their building contractors. In other situations, consumers may select their intermediary prior to knowing their specific needs. Insurance markets are an important example. Automobile owners often commit to a network of auto repair shops at the time they purchase collision insurance, even though they do not know, in advance, what kinds of repairs their car might require. Similarly, patients commit to a network of medical providers at the time they purchase their health insurance, but before they know their specific medical needs. Non-insurance examples include manufacturers who sign long-term contracts with suppliers, which in turn outsource specific manufacturing tasks as the need arises. Following Dranove and White (1996), we call these option demand markets (or OD markets). In OD markets, consumers commit to a potentially restricted network of sellers prior to knowing their needs fully, but retain the option to visit any seller in the network once their needs are known. The value that any one consumer places on a given network depends on his expectation of how well the network’s members will be able to meet his needs. This contrasts with direct purchase markets in which consumers do not eliminate any potential sellers prior to learning their needs.
