Televised Court Proceedings: The Relationship between the Media, Punitive Public Perceptions and Populist Policy

This essay won a Con Marinos Essay Prize at Flinders University in 2010. It has been peer‐reviewe

System-related errors associated with the long-term use of electronic medication management

Background: Electronic medication management (EMM) systems can facilitate system-related errors; errors that were less likely with the use of paper-based medication charts. Little is known about the types of system-related errors that persist or emerge with routine system use. This thesis aimed to identify and classify long-term system-related errors, determine contributing factors and compare errors over time. Methods: Research was conducted at three hospitals with the same EMM system in place for different durations. A narrative review was followed by mixed methods research, including an analysis of EMM-related incident reports, interviews with stakeholders and a review of documents detailing EMM system enhancements at the three sites. Long-term system-related errors were examined in terms of error types, contributing factors, consequences, and strategies for detection and mitigation. Analysis of each data source considered the element of time since EMM system implementation. Results: System-related errors were found to persist with long-term EMM system use. Factors related to the EMM system design, user and organisation contributed to system-related errors in varying degrees over time, however certain factors were consistently associated with errors. System-related errors resulted in medication errors, but also impacted the user, and documentation within the EMM system. Detection of system-related errors relied heavily on clinicians, while mitigation strategies targeted the EMM system and the context in which the system was used. Conclusion: This program of research highlighted how system-related errors develop over time. The findings emphasise that system-related errors result from a combination of different factors, and therefore mitigation strategies should be multilayered. Future research should investigate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at minimising system-related errors, particularly as EMM systems are increasingly implemented and improved

Renewable Natural Resources (RNR)Research Programme in Bhutan : An Overview

The objective of this paper is to give an overview of how the Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) research is being implemented in Bhutan. The RNR sector comprises mainly of agriculture, livestock and forestry sectors. Agriculture research in Bhutan initially started in early 1960s through the introduction of new crop and fruit varieties from Indian Agriculture Research Institutes. Thereafter, livestock and forestry research started in livestock farms and forestry research institutes, respectively. The first Agriculture Research Institute in Bhutan was established in 1982 which underwent various changes culminating into the present Council for RNR Research of Bhutan (CoRRB) in 2003. The Council is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and the Director of CoRRB functions as the member Secretary of the Council. Four research centres with national and regional mandates located at strategic locations of the country were established to cater to the research and development needs of the farmers living in different agro-ecological zones. These centres are mandated to carry out research in the field of agriculture, horticulture, livestock, forestry and other cross cutting sectors of soils, plant protection, water management, meteorology, socio-economic studies. Apart from the Regional centres of research, there are sub centres where ever the area to be covered by the centre is large. The different departments also conduct research in consultation with CoRRB to avoid duplication of efforts. The main objectives of the RNR Research are to generate relevant technologies for the farming communities for ensuring food security and enhancement of rural income. These technologies are packaged as extension materials,news letters and journals for dissemination to farmers and all concerned stakeholders.Article信州大学農学部紀要. 46(1-2): 139-153 (2010)departmental bulletin pape

A Method for Assessing Food Security Information System

This paper develops a method for assessing food security information system with respect to its structure, connectedness and performance. The paper illustrates how to set up an operational food security information system, identify its leverage components and pathways of information flow, and qualitatively measure its performance in terms of utility obtained from the information. Both a workshop and a questionnaire are designed as means of gathering the data required for the measurement of the performance. The workshop identifies priority information flow patterns and the associated utilities, while the questionnaire gathers the data for the estimation of the organizational learning and information dissemination capacities. Finally, the evaluation of the system is put in perspective by integrating the traditional structure-conduct-performance approach into the method developed

A Methodology for Information System Formation and Performance

This study seeks to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing information system formation and performance. Our conceptual framework incorporates three complementary methods, which constitute the methodology developed. The first method proposes an approach to analyze the effects on the information system formation and performance of macro-level institutions that directly or indirectly shape information activities; the second method, to characterize system linkages and identify critical, causal information flow patterns at the meso-level; and the third method, to assess the effectiveness of these linkages and flow patterns considering the organization-level learning and dissemination capacities. With the design of a workshop and a questionnaire, the study fully operationalizes the methodology. The workshop aims to identify priority information flow patterns, while the questionnaire seeks to qualitatively measure the organizational learning and dissemination capacities. Finally, we present a roadmap for a full-fletch assessment of information system. This map puts the assessment in perspective, linking the findings from the three methods with the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) approach. This way, the proposed methodology incorporates the SCP approach that allows the assessment of system performance

The Effect of Salsalate Therapy on Endothelial Function in a Broad Range of Subjects

Background: Inflammation is fundamental to the development of atherosclerosis. We examined the effect of anti‐inflammatory doses of salicylate on endothelium‐dependent vasodilation, a biomarker of cardiovascular risk, in a broad range of subjects. Methods and Results: We performed a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled crossover trial evaluating the effects of 4 weeks of high‐dose salsalate (disalicylate) therapy on endothelium‐dependent flow‐mediated and endothelium‐independent vasodilation. Fifty‐eight subjects, including 17 with metabolic syndrome, 13 with atherosclerosis, and 28 healthy controls, were studied. Among all subjects, endothelium‐dependent flow‐mediated vasodilation decreased after salsalate compared with placebo therapy (P=0.01), whereas nitroglycerin‐mediated, endothelium‐independent vasodilation was unchanged (P=0.97). Endothelium‐dependent flow‐mediated vasodilation after salsalate therapy was impaired compared with placebo therapy in subjects with therapeutic salicylate levels (n=31, P0.2). Conclusions: Salsalate therapy, particularly when therapeutic salicylate levels are achieved, impairs endothelium‐dependent vasodilation in a broad range of subjects. These data raise concern about the possible deleterious effects of anti‐inflammatory doses of salsalate on cardiovascular risk. Clinical Trial Registration URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifiers: NCT00760019 and NCT00762827

Activation of native TRPC1/C5/C6 channels by endothelin-1 is mediated by both PIP3 and PIP2 in rabbit coronary artery myocytes

We investigate activation mechanisms of native TRPC1/C5/C6 channels (termed TRPC1 channels) by stimulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptor subtypes in freshly dispersed rabbit coronary artery myocytes using single channel recording and immunoprecipitation techniques. ET-1 evoked non-selective cation channel currents with a unitary conductance of 2.6 pS which were not inhibited by either ET(A) or ET(B) receptor antagonists, respectively BQ-123 and BQ788, when administered separately. However, in the presence of both antagonists, ET-1-evoked channel activity was abolished indicating that both ET(A) and ET(B) receptor stimulation activate this conductance. Stimulation of both ET(A) and ET(B) receptors evoked channel activity which was inhibited by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor chelerythrine and by anti-TRPC1 antibodies indicating that activation of both receptor subtypes causes TRPC1 channel activation by a PKC-dependent mechanism. ET(A) receptor-mediated TRPC1 channel activity was selectively inhibited by phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI-3-kinase) inhibitors wortmannin (50 nm) and PI-828 and by antibodies raised against phosphoinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP(3)), the product of PI-3-kinase-mediated phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). Moreover, exogenous application of diC8-PIP(3) stimulated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. These results indicate that stimulation of ET(A) receptors evokes PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity through activation of PI-3-kinase and generation of PIP(3). In contrast, ET(B) receptor-mediated TRPC1 channel activity was inhibited by the PI-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) inhibitor U73122. 1-Oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG), an analogue of diacylglycerol (DAG), which is a product of PI-PLC, also activated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. OAG-induced TRPC1 channel activity was inhibited by anti-phosphoinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) antibodies and high concentrations of wortmannin (20 μm) which depleted tissue PIP(2) levels. In addition exogenous application of diC8-PIP(2) activated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. These data indicate that stimulation of ET(B) receptors evokes PKC-dependent TRPC1 activity through PI-PLC-mediated generation of DAG and requires a permissive role of PIP(2). In conclusion, we provide the first evidence that stimulation of ET(A) and ET(B) receptors activate native PKC-dependent TRPC1 channels through two distinct phospholipids pathways involving a novel action of PIP(3), in addition to PIP(2), in rabbit coronary artery myocytes

Attitudes of developing world physicians to where medical research is performed and reported

Background: Little is known about the influence of the site of research or publication on the impact of the research findings on clinical practice, particularly in developing countries. The International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) is dedicated to improving the quality of health research in the Developing World through institutional capacity building for evidence based medicine, and provided the opportunity to examine the likely impact of research location and journal location on physicians\u27 practice in a number of the participating countries. Methods: Physicians from secondary and tertiary hospitals in six cities located in China, Thailand, India, Egypt and Kenya were enrolled in a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The primary outcome measures were scores on a Likert scale reflecting stated likelihood of changing clinical practice depending on the source of the research or its publication. Results: Overall, local research and publications were most likely to effect change in clinical practice, followed by North American, European and regional research/publications respectively, although there were significant variations between countries. The impact of local and regional research would be greater if the perceived research quality improved in those settings. Conclusion: Conducting high quality local research is likely to be an effective way of getting research findings into practice in developing countries