The charismatic leadership of the ECB presidency:A language-based analysis

There is little doubt that the European Central Bank (ECB), and in particular its presidency, has taken the lead in tackling the euro crisis. But can this leadership be also characterised as charismatic? This article answers the question by focusing on language – a key component as well as a reliable indicator of charisma. By means of a software‐assisted content analysis of the entire corpus of ECB presidential speeches, it is found that the crisis has indeed led to the emergence of the Bank's presidency as a charismatic euro leader. This in turn confirms the recent politicisation of the ECB, but at the same time might be seen as mitigating the problems related to the Bank's democratic deficit, to the extent that charisma can be seen, from a Weberian standpoint, as an alternative source of political legitimacy

A comparison of diagnostic tests for lactose malabsorption - which one is the best?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Perceived milk intolerance is a common complaint, and tests for lactose malabsorption (LM) are unreliable. This study assesses the agreement between diagnostic tests for LM and describes the diagnostic properties of the tests.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients above 18 years of age with suspected LM were included. After oral intake of 25 g lactose, a combined test with measurement of serum glucose (s-glucose) and hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) in expired air was performed and symptoms were recorded. In patients with discrepancies between the results, the combined test was repeated and a gene test for lactose non-persistence was added. The diagnosis of LM was based on an evaluation of all tests. The following tests were compared: Increase in H2, CH4, H2+CH4 and H2+CH4x2 in expired air, increase in s-glucose, and symptoms. The agreement was calculated and the diagnostic properties described.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty patients were included, seven (12%) had LM. The agreement (kappa-values) between the methods varied from 0.25 to 0.91. The best test was the lactose breath test with measurement of the increase in H2 + CH4x2 in expired air. With a cut-off level < 18 ppm, the area under the ROC-curve was 0.967 and sensitivity was 100%. This shows that measurement of CH4 in addition to H2 improves the diagnostic properties of the breath test.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The agreement between commonly used methods for the diagnosis of LM was unsatisfactory. A lactose breath test with measurement of H2 + CH4x2 in expired air had the best diagnostic properties.</p

Active Intestinal Chloride Secretion in Human Carriers of Cystic Fibrosis Mutations: An Evaluation of the Hypothesis That Heterozygotes Have Subnormal Active Intestinal Chloride Secretion

To explain the very high frequency of cystic fibrosis (CF) mutations in most populations of European descent, it has been proposed that CF heterozygotes have a survival advantage when infected with Vibrio cholerae or Escherichia coli, the toxins of which induce diarrhea by stimulation of active intestinal chloride secretion. Two assumptions underlie this hypothesis: (1) chloride conductance by the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is the rate-limiting step for active intestinal chloride secretion at all levels of expression, from approximately zero in patients with CF to normal levels in people who are not carriers of a mutation; and (2) heterozygotes have smaller amounts of functional intestinal CFTR than do people who are not carriers, and heterozygotes therefore secrete less chloride when exposed to secretagogues. The authors used an intestinal perfusion technique to measure in vivo basal and prostaglandin-stimulated jejunal chloride secretion in normal subjects, CF heterozygotes, and patients with CF. Patients with CF had essentially no active chloride secretion in the basal state, and secretion was not stimulated by a prostaglandin analogue. However, CF heterozygotes secreted chloride at the same rate as did people without a CF mutation. If heterozygotes are assumed to have less-than-normal intestinal CFTR function, these results mean that CFTR expression is not rate limiting for active chloride secretion in heterozygotes. The results do not support the theory that the very high frequency of CF mutations is due to a survival advantage that is conferred on heterozygotes who contract diarrheal illnesses mediated by intestinal hypersecretion of chloride