UA10/1 CEC Newsletter

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex

Why Risk Models should be Parameterised

Risk models using fault and event trees can be extended with explicit factors, which are states of the system, its users or its environment that influence event probabilities. The factors act as parameters in the risk model, enabling the model to be re-used and also providing a new way to estimate the overall risk of a system with many instances of the risk. A risk model with parameters can also be clearer

Distinct genetic basis of common epilepsies and structural magnetic resonance imaging measures

Focal and generalized epilepsies are associated with robust differences in MRI measures of subcortical structures, grey matter and white matter. However, it is unknown whether such structural brain differences reflect the cause or consequence of epilepsy or its treatment. Analyses of common genetic variants underlying both common epilepsy and variability in structural brain measures can give further insights, since such inherited variants are not influenced by disease or treatment. Here, we performed genetic correlation analyses using data from the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) on common epilepsy (n=27,559 cases and 42,436 controls) and GWAS on MRI measures of white (n=33,292) or grey matter (n=51,665). We did not detect any significant genetic correlation between any type of common epilepsy and any of 280 measures of grey matter, white matter or subcortical structures. These results suggest that there are distinct genetic bases underlying risk of common epilepsy and for structural brain measures. This would imply that the genetic basis of normal structural brain variation is unrelated to that of common epilepsy. Structural changes in epilepsy could rather be the consequence of epilepsy, its comorbidities or its treatment, offering a cumulative record of disease

The Accommodation of religious diversity in prisons and hospitals in Spain

The religious sphere in Spain is changing substantially, becoming simultaneously more diverse and more secular. However, empirical research on the processes of adaptation and response of public institutions to the new religious environment is still very scarce. This paper analyses the ways in which public institutions respond to transformations in the religious sphere, and how the Catholic legacy is negotiated within such contexts. By combining a legal and policy perspective with an ethnographic approach to everyday practices within hospitals and prisons in two Spanish regions, we shed light on the institution-specific and the contextual factors that condition the de-confessionalization and the accommodation of religious diversity in Spanish institutions. The findings show some internal incoherence in the implementation of legal-political measures and in the attitude of the Catholic Church

Public perceptions of a radioactively contaminated site: concerns, remediation preferences, and desired involvement.

A public attitudes survey was conducted in neighborhoods adjacent to a radioactively contaminated site whose remediation is now under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The survey's purpose was to ascertain levels of actual and desired public involvement in the remediation process; to identify health, environmental, economic, and future land-use concerns associated with the site; and to solicit remediation strategy preferences. Surface water and groundwater contamination, desire for public involvement, and potential health risks were found to be the most highly ranked site concerns. Preferred remediation strategies included treatment of contaminated soil and excavation with off-site disposal. Among on-site remediation strategies, only institutional controls that leave the site undisturbed and do not require additional excavation of materials were viewed favorably. Cost of remediation appeared to influence remediation strategy preference; however, no strategy was viewed as a panacea. Respondents were also concerned with protecting future generations, better assessment of risks to health and the environment, and avoiding generation of additional contaminated materials