Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in

Incorporating dynamic motion in PENELOPE

POSTER DISCUSSION: YOUNG SCIENTISTS 6: DOSIMETRY, DOSE CALCULATIONS AND QAInternational audiencePurpose/Objective: The traditional way to take time into account in Monte Carlo (MC) simulations is to simulate individual static component fields separately and integrate the results. This method can be very efficient but leads to a high demand of phase space file storage. To avoid this, the position probability sampling (PPS) method, in which the position of a geometrical object is treated as a random variable during the simulation, has been developed. We aim here to incorporate this method in Penelope in the case of a virtual wedge

Identification of compatible and incompatible interactions between Arabidopsis thaliana and Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and characterization of the hypersensitive response

Both compatible and incompatible interactions between Arabidopsis thaliana and Xanthomonas campestris have been identified and, for the first time, a strong hypersensitive response has been characterized. A highly reproducible mass spray inoculation protocol has been established and was used together with the more commonly used infiltration inoculation procedure to study the defense responses occurring in mature A. thaliana plants. A series of bacterial strains have been tested on A. thaliana ecotype Columbia (Col-O). X. c. pv. campestris was the most effective pathogen in these tests and was used for further detailed analysis. Several X. c. pv. campestris isolates were tested on A. thaliana Col-O, and one particular X. c. pv. campestris strain (147) was tested on 27 Arabidopsis ecotypes. Symptom development of compatible and incompatible interactions, including the hypersensitive response, was extensively characterized in A. thaliana Col-O. Lesion structure, bacterial distribution, accumulation of polyphenolic compounds, and the deposit of callose in inoculated leaves were documented by microscopic analysis. Activation of the defense-associated genes coding for phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), beta-1, 3-glucanases, chitinases, and peroxidases was evaluated by Northern blot analysis

Costs and Cost-Effectiveness of Training Traditional Birth Attendants to Reduce Neonatal Mortality in the Lufwanyama Neonatal Survival Study (LUNESP)

The Lufwanyama Neonatal Survival Project (“LUNESP”) was a cluster randomized, controlled trial that showed that training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to perform interventions targeting birth asphyxia, hypothermia, and neonatal sepsis reduced all-cause neonatal mortality by 45%. This companion analysis was undertaken to analyze intervention costs and cost-effectiveness, and factors that might improve cost-effectiveness.We calculated LUNESP's financial and economic costs and the economic cost of implementation for a forecasted ten-year program (2011–2020). In each case, we calculated the incremental cost per death avoided and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted in real 2011 US dollars. The forecasted 10-year program analysis included a base case as well as ‘conservative’ and ‘optimistic’ scenarios. Uncertainty was characterized using one-way sensitivity analyses and a multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis. The estimated financial and economic costs of LUNESP were $118,574 and$127,756, respectively, or $49,469 and$53,550 per year. Fixed costs accounted for nearly 90% of total costs. For the 10-year program, discounted total and annual program costs were $256,455 and$26,834 respectively; for the base case, optimistic, and conservative scenarios, the estimated cost per death avoided was $1,866,$591, and $3,024, and cost per DALY averted was$74, $24, and$120, respectively. Outcomes were robust to variations in local costs, but sensitive to variations in intervention effect size, number of births attended by TBAs, and the extent of foreign consultants' participation.Based on established guidelines, the strategy of using trained TBAs to reduce neonatal mortality was ‘highly cost effective’. We strongly recommend consideration of this approach for other remote rural populations with limited access to health care

Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.

Can working with the private for-profit sector improve utilization of quality health services by the poor? A systematic review of the literature

BACKGROUND: There has been a growing interest in the role of the private for-profit sector in health service provision in low- and middle-income countries. The private sector represents an important source of care for all socioeconomic groups, including the poorest and substantial concerns have been raised about the quality of care it provides. Interventions have been developed to address these technical failures and simultaneously take advantage of the potential for involving private providers to achieve public health goals. Limited information is available on the extent to which these interventions have successfully expanded access to quality health services for poor and disadvantaged populations. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by presenting the results of a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of working with private for-profit providers to reach the poor. METHODS: The search topic of the systematic literature review was the effectiveness of interventions working with the private for-profit sector to improve utilization of quality health services by the poor. Interventions included social marketing, use of vouchers, pre-packaging of drugs, franchising, training, regulation, accreditation and contracting-out. The search for published literature used a series of electronic databases including PubMed, Popline, HMIC and CabHealth Global Health. The search for grey and unpublished literature used documents available on the World Wide Web. We focused on studies which evaluated the impact of interventions on utilization and/or quality of services and which provided information on the socioeconomic status of the beneficiary populations. RESULTS: A total of 2483 references were retrieved, of which 52 qualified as impact evaluations. Data were available on the average socioeconomic status of recipient communities for 5 interventions, and on the distribution of benefits across socioeconomic groups for 5 interventions. CONCLUSION: Few studies provided evidence on the impact of private sector interventions on quality and/or utilization of care by the poor. It was, however, evident that many interventions have worked successfully in poor communities and positive equity impacts can be inferred from interventions that work with types of providers predominantly used by poor people. Better evidence of the equity impact of interventions working with the private sector is needed for more robust conclusions to be drawn