Law School\u27s Pro Bono Role: A Duty to Require Student Public Service

The immense legal needs of the indigent are not being met. Pro bono work is the responsibility of every lawyer, but most lawyers do not do any pro bono work. The author argues that law schools have a responsibility not only to nurture student interest in pro bono work but also to develop students’ abilities to provide legal services to the indigent. The author proposes that law schools require students to participate in programs that provide legal services to the poor, either through a private organization or through a clinical program. The author contends that the latter method would be better

ECONOMIC BURDEN OF SALMONELLA INFECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

The aim of this study is to evaluate medical expenditures and lost productivity associated with burden of Salmonella infections. We used laboratory confirmed number of Salmonella cases and corresponding multipliers to estimate the burden of illness using the method adopted by Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The medical costs estimates are retrospective analysis of reimbursement records from MarketScan data. We identified patients with a diagnosis of salmonellosis using ICD-9 CM codes from the MarketScan 1993-2001 databases. Productivity loss from the nonfatal cases of Salmonella was calculated using the distributions of lost workdays and household services due to the illness. Statistical value of life approach was used to estimate the costs due to premature deaths. We also compared the costs for the gastrointestinal salmonellosis to the cost for the invasive salmonellosis. Confidence intervals around the cost estimates were calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation technique. Estimated average economic burden due to Salmonella was $210 per outpatient,$5,797 per inpatient with gastrointestinal infection, $16,441 per impatient with invasive infection and$4.63 million per premature death. Total economic buren due to Salmonella in the United States was estimated at $2.8 billion (95$1.6 to $5.3 billion) annually, which is approximately$2,472 per case of Salmonella infection. The cost estimate is largely driven by the number of premature deaths followed by average cost of hospitalization. Defining the risk factors for fatal outcomes may help target treatment and preventive strategies.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Shot Noise in Gravitational-Wave Detectors with Fabry-Perot Arms

Shot-noise-limited sensitivity is calculated for gravitational-wave interferometers with Fabry–Perot arms, similar to those being installed at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Italian–French Laser Interferometer Collaboration (VIRGO) facility. This calculation includes the effect of nonstationary shot noise that is due to phase modulation of the light. The resulting formula is experimentally verified by a test interferometer with suspended mirrors in the 40-m arms

Antibiotic prescribing on two medical wards at St Luke’s Hospital : what scope for improvement?

Antibiotics are frequently prescribed drugs and form a significant part of the hospital budget. The literature suggests that prescribing is not without problems and may need constant review. We have no data relating to our hospital. This study aims to explore some aspects of antibiotic use in our setting. Records of all patients prescribed antibiotics on two medical wards over a 4 month period were analysed for indication, choice of antibiotic, outcome and cost. There were 126 patients: 54% males; 75.4%, >60 years old; 62% were admitted because of infection. Of the whole group, 8.7% received antibiotics with no evidence of infection and no indication for prophylaxis. There were 118 infections, 64% respiratory, 13.5% urinary and the rest of miscellaneous sites; 14% of infections were nosocomial. Microbiological studies were available in only 29% of infections. For 6 patients, the antibiotics prescribed were relatively contraindicated because of impaired hepatic and renal function. There was one adverse drug reaction. The total drug cost was Lm2181.79; i.v. treatment accounted for 93% of this cost and ceftazidime for 60%. There is room for improvement in the selection of antibiotics and their route of administration. The hospital microbiologists and the Antibiotic Policy should be consulted more often. Laboratory diagnosis of infection and biochemical patient monitoring are inadequate. Restricting i.v. treatment could reduce cost very substantially.peer-reviewe

The Use of Science in Theology: Case Studies of Thomas F. Torrance and Langdon B. Gilkey

Problem . The purpose of this dissertation is to address the problem of the use of science in theology in the writings of Thomas F. Torrance and Langdon B. Gilkey. Chapter 1 introduces the problem in terms ofdefinitions of science and theology, and thehistory of the use of science in theology. Attention is given to definitions of science as exclusive or inclusive of theology; and to definitions of theology as the study of God and/or the study of divine revelation. Thehistorical background to the problem is surveyed in terms of premodern, modern, and postmodern shifts in science and in the use of scientific theory and method in theology. Methodology . Chapters 2 and 3 analytically describe Torrance\u27s and Gilkey\u27s models for the use of science in theology. The following questions are addressed. Who are Torranceand Gilkey? Do they propose models for the use of science in theology? Are their models responsive to the postmodern shift in science, theology, and the use of science in theology? Are their models Christocentric, bibliocentric, or cosmocentric? Is a dialogical or dialectic/correlational model indicated intheir references to the uses and the limits of the use of science in theology? Are thepostmodern, dialogical, and dialectical elements of their models controlled by theChristocentric and cosmocentric structure oftheir models? Chapter 4 compares and contrasts their models. Chapter 5 summarizes the dissertation, its conclusions, and recommendations for further study. Conclusions . In response to the postmodern shift, Torrance proposes a Christocentric-dialogical model for the use of science in theology while Gilkey proposes a cosmocentric-dialectical model. There is comparison and contrast between the models in each area evaluated in this study. From each other\u27s perspectives, contrasting elements and elements of comparison may indicate non-viability or viability of parts oftheir models. Another perspective would result from the use of a comprehensively revelational model based on biblical revelation. Such a model could provide a biblical interpretation of divine revelation inChrist and the cosmos and also be responsive to the postmodern shift in the use of science in theology

Hierarchical testing using the power-divergence family of statistics

Methodology for discrete multivariate data based on the loglikelihood ratio statistic G[superscript]2, and Pearson\u27s statistic X[superscript]2 is extended to the power-divergence family of goodness-of-fit statistics (Cressie and Read, 1984), which is indexed by the parameter [lambda] (-[infinity] \u3c [lambda] \u3c [infinity]). This family includes G[superscript]2, X[superscript]2, the Freeman-Tukey statistic, the modified loglikelihood ratio statistic, and the Neyman-modified chi-squared statistic;Ideas employed by Watson and Nguyen (1985) and Watson (1987) to plot confidence regions in a ternary diagram, based on Pearson\u27s X[superscript]2, are extended to the power-divergence family. This results in confidence regions of diverse shapes and sizes. Also, a comparison based on the accuracy of confidence level and the area of confidence region finds the family members [lambda] = 2/3 and [lambda] = 1/2 to be the best performers;Maximum likelihood methods (e.g., Bishop, Fienberg, and Holland, 1975, Chapters 4 and 14) for testing hierarchical parametric models are extended to the power-divergence family. It is shown that, under Birch\u27s conditions (Birch, 1964), an analysis of divergence is possible with the power-divergence family, analogous to the usual partitioning of G[superscript]2 given, e.g., in Fienberg (1980, pp. 58-59). Further, an algorithm similar to iterative proportional fitting, for finding cell probability estimates, is given. To illustrate these ideas loglinear models are fit to several data sets and analyses of divergence are carried out;Methodology for hierarchically assessing homogeneity in product-multinomial distributions, based on the power-divergence statistics, is developed. It is shown that, under mild assumptions, an analysis of divergence for the power-divergence statistics is possible. To demonstrate this methodology, a data set is considered and an analysis of divergence is performed