885 research outputs found
The social negotiation of fitness for work: tensions in doctor-patient relationships over medical certification of chronic pain
The UK government is promoting the health benefits of work, in order to change doctors' and patients' behaviour and reduce sickness absence. The rationale is that many people 'off sick' would have better outcomes by staying at work; but reducing the costs of health care and benefits is also an imperative. Replacement of the 'sick note' with the 'fit note' and a national educational programme are intended to reduce sickness-certification rates, but how will these initiatives impact on doctor-patient relationships and the existing tension between the doctor as patient advocate and gate-keeper to services and benefits? This tension is particularly acute for problems like chronic pain where diagnosis, prognosis and work capacity can be unclear. We interviewed 13 doctors and 30 chronic pain patients about their experiences of negotiating medical certification for work absence and their views of the new policies. Our findings highlight the limitations of naïve rationalist approaches to judgements of work absence and fitness for work for people with chronic pain. Moral, socio-cultural and practical factors are invoked by doctors and patients to contest decisions, and although both groups support the fit note's focus on capacity, they doubt it will overcome tensions in the consultation. Doctors value tacit skills of persuasion and negotiation that can change how patients conceptualise their illness and respond to it. Policy-makers increasingly recognise the role of this tacit knowledge and we conclude that sick-listing can be improved by further developing these skills and acknowledging the structural context within which protagonists negotiate sick-listin
Behaviour change interventions for the management of Raynaud's phenomenon : a systematic review protocol
Introduction Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) describes excessive peripheral vasospasm to cold exposure and/or emotional stress. RP episodes are associated with digital colour changes, pain and reduced quality of life. Pharmacological interventions are of low to moderate efficacy and often result in adverse effects such as facial flushing and headaches. Recommended lifestyle and behavioural interventions have not been evaluated. The objectives of the proposed systematic review are to assess the comparative safety and efficacy of behaviour change interventions for RP and identify what we can learn to inform future interventions. Methods and analysis Studies eligible for inclusion include randomised controlled trials testing behaviour change interventions with a control comparator. A comprehensive search strategy will include peer review and grey literature up until 30 April 2017. Search databases will include Medline, Embase, PsychINFO and Cochrane. Initial sifting, eligibility, data extraction, risk of bias and quality assessment will be subject to review by two independent reviewers with a third reviewer resolving discrepancies. Risk of bias assessment will be performed using Cochrane risk of a bias assessment tool with quality of evidence assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation(GRADE). A meta-analysis will be performed if there are sufficient data. Two subgroup analyses are planned: primary versus secondary RP outcomes; comparison of theoretically informed interventions with pragmatic interventions. Ethics and dissemination This review does not require ethical approval as it will summarise published studies with non-identifiable data. This protocol complies with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed articles and reported according to PRISMA. This review will make a significant contribution to the management of RP where no review of behaviour-change interventions currently exist. The synopsis and protocol for the proposed systematic review is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (registration number CRD42017049643)
The Occurrence of Bioactive Micromonosporae in Aquatic Habitats of the Sunshine Coast in Australia
Screening strategies based on the ecological knowledge of antibiotic producing microorganisms and their roles in the natural environment are being increasingly employed in the search for novel antibiotic agents. Micromonosporae are common inhabitants of aquatic habitats and have proved to be a continuing source of novel bioactive compounds including antibacterial and antitumor agents. The ecological distribution and frequency of bioactive micromonosporae in Sunshine Coast region aquatic habitats were studied through a range of selective isolation procedures designed to negatively select against the isolation of unwanted microbial taxa commonly associated with marine environments. It was revealed that bioactive compound producing species of micromonosporae were present in the aquatic habitats of the Sunshine Coast region in Australia
Pathologies in International Policy Transfer:The Case of the OECD Tax Transparency Initiative
ABSTRACT The importance of international organizations to the development and diffusion of
international policy norms is widely recognized but is increasingly tempered by an appreciation of
the pathologies of policy transfer. Using a case study of the OECD’s campaign to promote
transparency in global tax affairs, this paper identifies a new and relatively distinctive form of
dysfunctional policy transfer. Specifically it argues that international organizations face bureaucratic
incentives to promote weak or lowest common denominator standards in order to maximize
their prospects of brokering successful international agreements. However the paper also notes that
while international organizations may have a short-term interest in promoting weak standards, their
longer-term legitimacy is often tied to the effectiveness of the standards they promote. It is argued
that this dynamic often leads to incremental policy change
Phases of two coupled Luttinger liquids
A model of two interacting one--dimensional fermion systems (``Luttinger
liquids'') coupled by single--particle hopping is investigated. Bosonization
allows a number of exact statements to be made. In particular, for forward
scattering only, the model contains two massless boson sectors and an Ising
type critical sector. For general interactions, there is a spin excitation gap
and either s-- or d--type pairing fluctuations dominate. It is shown that the
same behavior is also found for strong interactions. A possible scenario for
the crossover to a Fermi liquid in a many chain system is discussed.Comment: revised version, some changes, 11 pages, no figures, RexTeX3.
Spin Dynamics in the Magnetic Chains Arrays of Sr14Cu24O41: a Neutron Inelastic scattering Investigation
Below about 150 K, the spin arrangement in the chain arrays of Sr14Cu24O41 is
shown to develop in two dimensions (2D). Both the correlations and the
dispersion of the observed elementary excitations agree well with a model of
interacting dimers. Along the chains, the intra- and inter-dimer distances are
equal to 2 and about 3 times the distance (c) between neighboring Cu ions.
While the intra-dimer coupling is J about 10 meV, the inter-dimer couplings
along and between the chains are of comparable strenght, J// about -1.1 meV and
Jperp about 1.7 meV, respectively. This remarkable 2D arrangement satisfies the
formal Cu valence of the undoped compound. Our data suggest also that it is
associated with a relative sliding of one chain with respect to the next one,
which, as T decreases, develops in the chain direction. A qualitative analysis
shows that nearest inter-dimer spin correlations are ferromagnetic, which, in
such a 2D structure, could well result from frustration effects.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.B, date of receipt 29 June
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