5,017 research outputs found
In Search of an Effective Model:A Comparative Outlook on Administrative Silence in Europe
Public administration inactivity, or in other words the excessive length of administrative proceedings, is not a new phenomenon; however, it appears to be of limited interest for comparative law, and it occurred particularly as attempts to develop a European convergence in administrative procedural law in a pro-business paradigm. In this context, there were initiatives at the EU level that attributed administrative silence as a positive legal fiction—namely Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market (Service Directive). The tension between silence as rejection (negative) and silence as approval (positive) is to be found not only at the level of the EU procedural law, but also at the level of the national administrative law of the Member States. In this chapter, we critically synthesize the main aspects discussed in the following chapters that deal with this topic in national setting, trying to find a red line or identify common trends among the studied jurisdictions
Does low-energy sweetener consumption affect energy intake and body weight? A systematic review, including meta-analyses, of the evidence from human and animal studies
By reducing energy density, low-energy sweeteners (LES) might be expected to reduce energy intake (EI) and body weight (BW). To assess the totality of the evidence testing the null hypothesis that LES exposure (versus sugars or unsweetened alternatives) has no effect on EI or BW, we conducted a systematic review of relevant studies in animals and humans consuming LES with ad libitum access to food energy. In 62 of 90 animal studies exposure to LES did not affect or decreased BW. Of 28 reporting increased BW, 19 compared LES with glucose exposure using a specific ‘learning’ paradigm. Twelve prospective cohort studies in humans reported inconsistent associations between LES use and Body Mass Index (-0.002 kg/m2/year, 95%CI -0.009 to 0.005). Meta-analysis of short- term randomized controlled trials (RCTs, 129 comparisons) showed reduced total EI for LES- versus sugar-sweetened food or beverage consumption before an ad libitum meal (-94 kcal, 95%CI -122 to -66), with no difference versus water (-2 kcal, 95%CI -30 to 26). This was consistent with EI results from sustained intervention RCTs (10 comparisons). Meta-analysis of sustained intervention RCTs (4 weeks to 40 months) showed that consumption of LES versus sugar led to relatively reduced BW (nine comparisons; -1.35 kg, 95%CI –2.28 to - 0.42), and a similar relative reduction in BW versus water (three comparisons; -1.24 kg, 95%CI –2.22 to -0.26). Most animal studies did not mimic LES consumption by humans, and reverse causation may influence the results of prospective cohort studies. The preponderance of evidence from all human RCTs indicates that LES do not increase EI or BW, whether compared with caloric or non-caloric (e.g., water) control conditions. Overall, the balance of evidence indicates that use of LES in place of sugar, in children and adults, leads to reduced EI and BW, and possibly also when compared with water
Sweet taste exposure and the subsequent acceptance and preference for sweet taste in the diet : systematic review of the published literature
Background: There are consistent, evidence-based global public health recommendations to reduce intakes of free sugars. However, the corresponding evidence for recommending reduced exposure to sweetness is less clear. Objective: Our aim was to identify and review the published evidence investigating the impact of dietary exposure to sweet-tasting foods or beverages on the subsequent generalized acceptance, preference, or choice of sweet foods and beverages in the diet. Design: Systematic searches were conducted to identify all studies testing relations of variation in exposure to sweetness through foods and beverages with subsequent variation in the generalized acceptance, preference, or choice of sweetened foods or beverages, in humans aged >6 mo. Results: Twenty-one studies met our inclusion criteria, comprising 7 population cohort studies involving 2320 children and 14 controlled trials involving 1113 individuals. These studies were heterogeneous in study design, population, exposure, and outcomes measured, and few were explicitly designed to address our research question. The findings from these were inconsistent. We found equivocal evidence from population cohort studies. The evidence from controlled studies suggests that a higher sweet taste exposure tends to lead to reduced preferences for sweetness in the shorter term, but very limited effects were found in the longer term. Conclusions: A small and heterogeneous body of research currently has considered the impact of varying exposure to sweet taste on subsequent generalized sweet taste preferences, and this evidence is equivocal regarding the presence and possible direction of a relation. Future work should focus on adequately powered studies with well-characterized exposures of sufficient duration.Peer reviewe
Calabi-Yau cones from contact reduction
We consider a generalization of Einstein-Sasaki manifolds, which we
characterize in terms both of spinors and differential forms, that in the real
analytic case corresponds to contact manifolds whose symplectic cone is
Calabi-Yau. We construct solvable examples in seven dimensions. Then, we
consider circle actions that preserve the structure, and determine conditions
for the contact reduction to carry an induced structure of the same type. We
apply this construction to obtain a new hypo-contact structure on S^2\times
T^3.Comment: 30 pages; v2: typos corrected, presentation improved, one reference
added. To appear in Ann. Glob. Analysis and Geometr
Mitochondrial Oxygen Monitoring During Surgical Repair of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia or Esophageal Atresia: A Feasibility Study
Current monitoring techniques in neonates lack sensitivity for hypoxia at cellular level.
The recent introduction of the non-invasive Cellular Oxygen METabolism (COMET)
monitor enables measuring in vivo mitochondrial oxygen tension (mitoPO2), based
on oxygen-dependent quenching of delayed fluorescence of 5-aminolevulinic acid
(ALA)-enhanced protoporphyri
Amblyopia and quality of life: a systematic review
Background/Aims
Amblyopia is a common condition which can affect up to 5% of the general population. The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) implications of amblyopia and/or its treatment have been explored in the literature.
Methods
A systematic literature search was undertaken (16th-30th January 2007) to identify the HRQoL implications of amblyopia and/or its treatment.
Results
A total of 25 papers were included in the literature review. The HRQoL implications of amblyopia related specifically to amblyopia treatment, rather than the condition itself. These included the impact upon family life; social interactions; difficulties undertaking daily activities; and feelings and behaviour. The identified studies adopted a number of methodologies. The study populations included; children with the condition; parents of children with amblyopia; and adults who had undertaken amblyopia treatment as a child. Some studies developed their own measures of HRQoL, and others determined HRQoL through proxy measures.
Conclusions
The reported findings of the HRQoL implications are of importance when considering the management of cases of amblyopia. Further research is required to assess the immediate and long-term effects of amblyopia and/or its treatment upon HRQoL using a more standardised approach
Actief randenbeheer Drenthe lijkt effect te hebben
Via monitoring inzicht krijgen in het effect van actief randenbeheer op de oppervlaktewaterkwaliteit en de biodiversiteit in het landelijk gebied en op de inpasbaarheid op de agrarische bedrijven in een bepaald gebied. Dat was het doel van het pilotprogramma ‘Actief Randenbeheer Drenthe’: een initiatief van de Provincie Drenthe, LTO-Noord en de waterschappen Hunze en Aa’s en Velt en Vecht, in het zuidoostelijk deel van Drenthe. Uitvoerende partijen zijn Royal Haskoning, Praktijkonderzoek Plant & Omgeving van Wageningen UR en enkele agrarische bedrijven. Het programma begon in januari 2006 en is in november 2008 afgesloten. De totale duur van de meetperiode bedroeg 27 maande
Density functional electronic spectrum of the cluster and possible local Jahn-Teller distorsions in the La-Ba-Cu-O superconductor
We present a density functional theory (DFT) calculation in the generalized
gradient approximation to study the possibility for the existence of
Jahn-Teller (JT) or pseudo Jahn-Teller (PJT) type local distortions in the
La-Ba-Cu-O superconducting system. We performed the calculation and
correspondingly group theory classification of the electronic ground state of
the CuO elongated octahedra cluster, immersed in a background
simulating the superconductor. Part of the motivation to do this study is that
the origin of the apical deformation of the CuO cluster is not
due to a pure JT effect, having therefore a non {\it a priori} condition to
remove the degeneracy of the electronic ground state of the parent regular
octahedron. We present a comparative analysis of the symmetry classified
electron spectrum with previously reported results using unrestricted
Hartree-Fock calculations (UHF). Both the DFT and UHF calculations produced a
non degenerate electronic ground state, not having therefore the necessary
condition for a pure JT effect. However, the appearance of a degenerate E
state near to the highest occupied molecular orbital in the DFT calculation,
suggests the possibility for a PJT effect responsible for a local distortion of
the oxidized CuO cluster.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, submitted to International Journal of Modern
Physics B (IJMPB
Local excision of rectal cancer afterchemoradiation: feasibility depends on the primary stage
Item does not contain fulltext1 september 201
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