Environmental Risk Explored Through Oil Spills and Hydraulic Fracturing: Attempting Environmental Protection through Policy

History demonstrates the dangers of ignoring the environmental risks that correspond to resource extraction, especially in precarious locations. This project analyzed three cases: (1) the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, (2) the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and (3) the current question of hydraulic fracturing in New York’s Marcellus Shale. The case studies assessed whether policies for protecting the environment from the risks of human activity have improved and whether such policies can be made both economically efficient and environmentally less risky. While the Exxon Valdez case demonstrated the dangers of not planning for disaster, it did result in the 1990 Oil Pollution Act [OPA]. Although OPA is requiring BP to fund cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon spill, OPA alone did little to prevent this event from happening. Using these historical examples, New York now has a chance to put better policies in place for the risk-laden technique of hydraulic fracturing. Economic pressures mean hydraulic fracturing is almost a certainty. This project argues that the State must require that extremely precautionary policies and strict regulations be implemented before drilling

Exercise-based interventions and health-related quality of life in intermittent claudication: a 20-year (1989-2008) review.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic, progressive disease with significant cardiovascular risk. Symptoms include pain in leg muscles on walking, relieved by rest (intermittent claudication). Treatment aims to maintain or improve quality of life (QoL) by minimising ischaemic symptoms and preventing progression to vascular occlusion. Management strategies include exercise-based interventions. Research from 1989 to 2008 was systematically reviewed to identify the QoL impact of exercise-based interventions in patients with intermittent claudication. Twenty-three studies were identified. Five were randomized controlled trials. Studies were summarized in terms of exercise interventions, QoL measures used and QoL findings. The majority used a generic QoL instrument; most commonly the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Eleven studies reported beneficial effects on the SF-36 Physical Functioning scale. Some also reported positive effects on the scales of Bodily Pain, Role-Physical, Vitality, General Health and the Physical Component Score. In seven studies, a disease-specific measure was used. In six of these, both generic and disease-specific questionnaires were used. Disease-specific measures demonstrated greater improvements across a range of QoL domains. Greater use of disease-specific measures and an extended follow-up period may enable a more definitive picture to emerge regarding effects of exercise on QoL in intermittent claudication

Quality of Life and Functional Capacity following Peripheral Arterial Disease Exercise Programme

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a manifestation of generalised atherosclerotic disease in which the arterial lumen becomes progressively narrowed by atherosclerotic plaques. This results in reduced blood flow to the tissues causing pain on exercise, relieved by rest (Intermittent Claudication [IC]). As PAD is a chronic, progressive disease with a significant cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk burden it has a considerable impact on functional capacity and quality of life (QOL). Current evidence suggests that 27 million people in Europe and North America have PAD1. The main aim of treatment is maintenance or improvement in quality of life by eliminating ischaemic symptoms and preventing progression to vascular occlusion. The use of patient-based measures of treatment effect including functional capacity and disease-specific quality of life questionnaires has been recommended

Aus der Vortragsreihe Mein liebster Freud: «Erinnern, Wiederholen und Durcharbeiten» (1914g) oder der «Wolfsmann» zwischen Ödipus und Narziss, Tummelplatz und Krieg

Der Artikel beruht auf einem Vortrag, der in der Reihe «Mein liebster Freud» am 17. April 2014 am PSZ gehalten wurde. Die These lautet, dass Freud in der Abhandlung «Erinnern, Wiederholen und Durcharbeiten» (1914g) in seinem theoretischen Bezugsrahmen an der Neurose und am Modell des Traums orientiert ist, klinisch jedoch in den Bereich der nicht-neurotischen Störungen vorstösst. Das Agieren und Wiederholen in der Übertragung wird zum Äquivalent für das Erinnern von nicht (symbolisch) repräsentierten Erfahrungen, die auf diese Weise zur Darstellung gelangen. Es ergeben sich Anknüpfungspunkte für spätere Autoren wie Winnicott, Bion und Green, die sich mit der frühen Entwicklung befasst haben. Fragen der Entstehung des psychischen Raums und der Differenzierung von Innen und Aussen und dem Zwischen- und Übergangsraum werden erörtert

An exercise programme for patients with intermittent claudication: randomised trial of health outcomes and cost analysis

As peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic, progressive disease with a significant cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk burden, it has a considerable impact on functional capacity and quality of life (QoL). Exercise programmes result in significant improvements in walking distances but these correlate poorly with patient-reported functioning and QoL and the long-term outcomes are unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term (one year) effects of participation in a 12-week supervised exercise programme for patients with intermittent claudication (IC). Primary outcome measures were the effects on disease-specific aspects of quality of life, functional capacity and cardiovascular risk factors. Secondary outcome measures were the effects on generic aspects of quality of life and a cost analysis of the exercise intervention. Patients were recruited from the Vascular Clinics (Beaumont Hospital) and randomly allocated to a Control (n= 16) or an Exercise (n=28) group. Data regarding cardiovascular risk factors, functional capacity (Walking Impairment Questionnaire WIQ), disease-specific QoL (Intermittent Claudication Questionnaire ICQ) and generic QoL (SF-36) were collected at baseline, 12 weeks and one year. Costs of participation in the exercise programme were measured. The final numbers available for analysis at 12 weeks were 31 (Exercise n=17 and Control n=14) and at one year were 30 (Exercise n=17 and Control n=13). At 12 weeks, there was a trend towards improved QoL in both groups, greater in the Exercise group (p=.066) and a trend towards improvement in functional capacity (WIQ Stair-climbing p=.093) in the Exercise group. At one year, improvements in the Exercise group (although reduced from those recorded immediately following completion of the exercise programme) were maintained from baseline. Scores in the Control group at one year reflected a continuing deterioration in QoL and functional capacity. There were no significant changes in cardiovascular risk factors. Cost associated with the exercise intervention were calculated. The implications for clinical practice and service delivery within the Irish healthcare system are discussed

Les femmes et les menstrues : quand le cinéma, les séries télévisées et les publicités dictent les règles

Les tabous demeurent autour de la question des menstruations féminines. Dans les films et les séries télévisées mettant en scène des femmes à divers âges de la vie, les sentiments divergent à propos des règles quand celles-ci sont abordées ; honte et dégoût provoqués par la substance corporelle, gêne ou mesquineries générées par l'expérience menstruelle, inégalités et restrictions entre les genres, sont les manières les plus courantes d'aborder cette expérience féminine naturelle. Comment le traitement de ce sujet dans les films de fiction serait une influence bénéfique ou au contraire défavorable pour les spectatrices ? En quoi l'usage d'une telle thématique dans les récits filmiques répond-il à son époque et met-il en forme les discours sociaux et les problématiques sexuelles qui lui sont propres ? Quelles stratégies - en matière d'évocation des menstrues - les films utilisent-ils afin d'attirer un public cible et essentiellement féminin ? Ce mémoire de maîtrise en recherche-création vise à contribuer à l'avancement de la condition féminine en se penchant sur les menstrues, thème peu - et le plus souvent mal- abordé au cinéma et dans les séries télévisées. L’hypothèse de départ rejoint l'idée selon laquelle le cinéma et les séries ont su exploiter des codes physiques pour représenter les femmes à divers âges de la vie, et a repris des codes sociaux en matière de goût ou de dégoût liés au corps. Pour accompagner et nourrir mes recherches, j'intègrerai un projet de création qui consistera à l'écriture d'une websérie, ayant pour titre « Ces Nobles Règles », organisée sous forme de six épisodes par saison, dont la durée variera entre 2min et 4min. Le récit fictionnel retracera le quotidien de femmes de toutes générations pendant leur période menstruelle.Menstrual taboos continue to exist in society. Many feelings exist around menstruation in movies and TV shows with different types of female characters. When we think about the female period, there’s shame and disgust provoked by the bodily substance, embarrassment or pettiness produced by the menstrual experience, and gender inequalities and restrictions. How is this subject treated for the spectators of fictional films? Are there beneficial or unfavorable aspects for the female public? How does the use of such a theme in film respond to the current era and form social discourse on sexual issues? Which strategies are movies using to attract an essentially feminine public when they address the theme of menstruation? This thesis wants to contribute to the advancement of the female condition by focusing on menstruation. This theme is rarely used and poorly addressed in cinema and television. The initial hypothesis is that cinema and TV shows have exploited physical codes to represent women at different ages and have adopted social codes of lure and disgust related to the body. I’ve also created a webseries script based around this thesis with six episodes per season, each ranging from 2 to 4 minutes. The series, called “Ces Nobles Règles”, is about different female characters during their menstrual period

Accurate Hartree-Fock energy of extended systems using large Gaussian basis sets

Calculating highly accurate thermochemical properties of condensed matter via wave function-based approaches (such as e.g. Hartree-Fock or hybrid functionals) has recently attracted much interest. We here present two strategies providing accurate Hartree-Fock energies for solid LiH in a large Gaussian basis set and applying periodic boundary conditions. The total energies were obtained using two different approaches, namely a supercell evaluation of Hartree-Fock exchange using a truncated Coulomb operator and an extrapolation toward the full-range Hartree-Fock limit of a Pad\'e fit to a series of short-range screened Hartree-Fock calculations. These two techniques agreed to significant precision. We also present the Hartree-Fock cohesive energy of LiH (converged to within sub-meV) at the experimental equilibrium volume as well as the Hartree-Fock equilibrium lattice constant and bulk modulus.Comment: 7.5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B; v2: typos removed, References adde

Recruitment to Exercise Programmes: Challenges in the Peripheral Arterial Disease Population

Current evidence suggests that 27 million people in Europe and North America have peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Although only 3% of patients with intermittent claudication (IC) require amputation, a significant number will require hospital admission and other surgical intervention for IC and associated cardiac and cerebrovascular complications. An important aim of exercise therapy in the peripheral arterial disease population is to decrease cardiovascular risk factors and consequent morbidity and mortality. Several studies have demonstrated that exercise programmes result in significant improvements in walking distances but the long-term benefits are unknown. A randomised controlled trial is currently being conducted in Beaumont Hospital to determine the effects of a supervised exercise programme on quality of life, risk factor modification and morbidity and mortality in patients with PAD