“Should parental refusals of newborn screening be accepted?”

For over four decades, knowledge that symptoms of some inherited diseases can be prevented or reduced via early detection and treatment in newborns has underpinned state-funded screening programs in most developed countries. 1 Conditions for which newborn screening is now a recognized preventative public health initiative include phenylketonuria (PKU), congenital hypothyroidism (CHT), and, more recently, cystic fibrosis (CF) and sickle cell disorder (SCD). The use of tandem mass spectrometry to detect conditions such as amino-acidopathies and fatty-acid oxidation defects is also becoming increasingly prevalent. 2 The early identification of children who are at risk for these conditions can have very positive implications. To take the most significant example, a child born with mutations that would otherwise lead to symptoms of PKU will have a vastly different kind of life if the condition is detected in early infancy rather than later. The introduction of a modified diet at this time, although cumbersome, will prevent the onset of severe mental impairment, allowing the child to lead a virtually normal life. 3 Although clinical indications are sometimes more contentious when justifying screening for other conditions, by and large newborn screening is clinically valid and carries only minimal risk. However, it is sometimes declined by parents, presenting healthcare professionals with an ethical, legal, and practical dilemma. Consider the following scenario: Emma and Tom both work as pediatricians in a large city hospital. They have recently had their third child, a daughter named Clare. During a postnatal visit to their home by a midwife, Emma indicates that she and Tom do not want Clare to have any newborn screening. Emma reports there is no family history of any of the diseases being screened for, and she feels strongly that the probability Clare will have any of the conditions is so low that it cannot justify subjecting her to an invasive test. This scenario gives rise to three issues, each addressed below. First, is Emma and Tom’s refusal of newborn screening for Clare justifiable? Second, should the law ever mandate newborn screening over parental objections? Third, howshould such refusals be managed in practice? Using the example of PKU screening, it is argued that although refusals are often difficult to defend, legal intervention is unjustified as a means of compelling parents to allow their infant to be screened. Nevertheless, the state may be justified in exercising some degree of “influence” over parental decisionmaking, via the practices of health professionals involved in newborn screening.This article was written by Dr Ainsley Newson during the time of her employment with the University of Bristol, UK (2006-2012). Self-archived in the Sydney eScholarship Repository with permission of Bristol University, Sept 2014

The use of implicit evidence for relevance feedback in web retrieval

In this paper we report on the application of two contrasting types of relevance feedback for web retrieval. We compare two systems; one using explicit relevance feedback (where searchers explicitly have to mark documents relevant) and one using implicit relevance feedback (where the system endeavours to estimate relevance by mining the searcher's interaction). The feedback is used to update the display according to the user's interaction. Our research focuses on the degree to which implicit evidence of document relevance can be substituted for explicit evidence. We examine the two variations in terms of both user opinion and search effectiveness

Chess endgames: 6-man data and strategy

While Nalimov’s endgame tables for Western Chess are the most used today, their Depth-to-Mate metric is not the most efficient or effective in use. The authors have developed and used new programs to create tables to alternative metrics and recommend better strategies for endgame play

Monkey see, monkey do: truth-telling in matching algorithms and the manipulation of others

We test the effect of the amount of information on the strategies played by others in the theoretically strategy-proof Top Trading Cycles (TTC) mechanism. We find that providing limited information on the strategies played by others has a negative and significant effect in truth-telling rates. Subjects report truthfully more often when either full information or no information on the strategies played by others is available. Our results have potentially important implications for the design of markets based on strategy-proof matching algorithms

Анализ эффективности зарезки боковых стволов на скважинах Катыльгинского нефтегазового месторождения (Томская область)

Работа посвящена анализу эффективности зарезки боковых стволов как самому эффективному методу по увеличению нефтеотдачи на Катыльгинском месторождении и рекомендована к применению в дальнейшем. В paбoте пpиведены cведения o геoлoгo-физичеcкoй и геoлoгo-пpoмыcлoвoй хapaктеpиcтике меcтopoждения, aнaлиз paзpaбoтки меcтopoждения, пoкaзaтели текущегo cocтoяния paзpaбoтки и востоновления скважин разными методами. Пpедcтaвленa cтpуктуpa фoндa cквaжин, oбopудoвaнных электpoцентpoбежными нacocaми. Пpoделанные paбoты пoкaзaли, чтo внедpение данного метода (закрезки боковых стволов) пoзвoляет увеличить дoбычу нефти из бездействующих скважин пpи cнижении ее cебеcтoимocти.The work is devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness of sidetracking as the most effective method for increasing oil recovery at the Katylginskoye field and is recommended for use in the future. The work contains information on the geological, physical, and geochemical properties of the site, the analysis of the location of the site, the indicators of the current state of the development and the development of wells in various ways. The structure of the wells is presented, which are equipped with electric centrifugal pumps. The completed works showed that the introduction of this method (sidetracking) allows increasing the oil output from idle wells while reducing its self-sufficiency