Insuring Against Losses from Transgenic Contamination: The Case of Pharmaceutical Maize

Concerns about the risk of food supply contamination and the resulting financial losses have limited the development and commercialization of certain pharmaceutical plants. This article develops an insurance pricing model that helps translate these concerns into a cost-benefit analysis. The model first estimates the physical dispersal of maize pollen subject to a number of weather parameters. This distribution is then validated with the limited amount of currently available field trial data. The physical distribution is then used to calculate the premium for a fair-valued insurance policy that would fund the destruction of possibly contaminated fields. The flexible framework can be readily adapted to other crops, management practices, and regions

Assessing outcomes of alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD): What should we be measuring?

The recent move towards outcomes-focused assessment in health and social care has made it important to identify which outcomes are relevant to alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD). Clinical outcomes guidance for ARBD is currently absent from policy documentation. Thus, the aim of this review is to evaluate the current evidence base to determine recommendations for the measurement of ARBD outcomes. A total of 71 separate references were identified through a systematic online database and hand search. The screening and exclusion strategy left 7 articles to be included in this review. The findings indicate that research into ARBD has focussed on a number of outcome domains, including type of accommodation and provision of support; drinking status; employment status; number of deaths; mental health and psychiatric symptoms; activities of daily living; social functioning; and cognitive functioning. The identified outcomes suggest that practitioners should focus on a comprehensive range of clinical outcomes for ARBD service users. Nevertheless, the paucity of the existing evidence base makes it difficult to make clinical recommendations for the measurement of ARBD outcomes. Further research is necessary to shed light on long term outcomes for people with ARBD and to increase the strength of the evidence in this area

Step based physical activity guidelines for preschool-aged children

OBJECTIVE Public health organizations recommend that preschool-aged children accumulate at least 3h of physical activity (PA) daily. Objective monitoring using pedometers offers an opportunity to measure preschooler's PA and assess compliance with this recommendation. The purpose of this study was to derive step-based recommendations consistent with the 3h PA recommendation for preschool-aged children. METHOD The study sample comprised 916 preschool-aged children, aged 3 to 6years (mean age=5.0+/-0.8years). Children were recruited from kindergartens located in Portugal, between 2009 and 2013. Children wore an ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer that measured PA intensity and steps per day simultaneously over a 7-day monitoring period. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify the daily step count threshold associated with meeting the daily 3hour PA recommendation. RESULTS A significant correlation was observed between minutes of total PA and steps per day (r=0.76, p/=3h of total PA was 9099 steps per day (sensitivity (90%) and specificity (66%)) with area under the ROC curve=0.86 (95% CI: 0.84 to 0.88). CONCLUSION Preschool-aged children who accumulate less than 9000 steps per day may be considered Insufficiently Active

Towards evidence-based marketing: The case of childhood obesity

Contentious commodities such as tobacco, alcohol and fatty foods are bringing marketing under scrutiny from consumers and policymakers. Yet there is little agreement on whether marketing is harmful to society. Systematic review (SR), a methodology derived from clinical medicine, offers marketers a tool for providing resolution and allowing policymakers to proceed with greater confidence. This article describes how SR methods were applied for the first time to a marketing problem -- the effects of food promotion to children. The review withstood scrutiny and its findings were formally ratified by government bodies and policymakers, demonstrating that SR methods can transfer from clinical research to marketing

Impact of Chlamydia trachomatis in the reproductive setting: British Fertility Society Guidelines for practice

Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the genital tract is the most common sexually transmitted infection and has a world-wide distribution. The consequences of infection have an adverse effect on the reproductive health of women and are a common cause of infertility. Recent evidence also suggests an adverse effect on male reproduction. There is a need to standardise the approach in managing the impact of C. trachomatis infection on reproductive health. We have surveyed current UK practice towards screening and management of Chlamydia infections in the fertility setting. We found that at least 90% of clinicians surveyed offered screening. The literature on this topic was examined and revealed a paucity of solid evidence for estimating the risks of long-term reproductive sequelae following lower genital tract infection with C. trachomatis. The mechanism for the damage that occurs after Chlamydial infections is uncertain. However, instrumentation of the uterus in women with C. trachomatis infection is associated with a high risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, which can be prevented by appropriate antibiotic treatment and may prevent infected women from being at increased risk of the adverse sequelae, such as ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertility. Recommendations for practice have been proposed and the need for further studies is identified

Inspection of the Children's Society post adoption, care counselling and research project 17th/24th July 1995

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:GPC/07689 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Inspection of Orchard Lodge secure accommodation April 1998

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPE/4310 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo