Epidemiology and Genetic Epidemiology of the Liver Function Test Proteins

The liver function test (LFT) is among the most commonly used clinical investigations to assess hepatic function, severity of liver diseases and the effect of therapies, as well as to detect drug-induced liver injury (DILI)

Collecting flooding and vulnerability information in informal settlements : the governance of knowledge production

It is well documented that informal settlement residents are particularly vulnerable to flooding, and many suggest improved collaboration is needed to improve the situations. Reason being, that sustainable change will require a varied set of knowledge. This means that stakeholders from different spheres with different economic and political interests are likely to be involved. This paper will look into processes of knowledge production by applying a nodal governance framework to analyse the interaction between researchers, local communities, local government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the production of survey data/GIS knowledge of two specific informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, prone to flooding. The production of knowledge at a local scale is critical to effective governance, but the gathering of this data is a complex process ‘flavoured’ with the differing perspectives and objectives of the various ‘actors’ involved. This shapes the outcomes of knowledge production and needs to be carefully considered in the survey process

WP2 Case study: Neonicotinoid insecticides

This case will focus on neonicotinoid insecticides (in short: neonics), and how the Precautionary Principle has been applied, and contested, in the regulation of these insecticides. In the context of increasing pest resistance to established Plant Protection Products, the industry argued that the invention of neonicotinoids signified a new and innovative era of pest management. However, some years after the introduction of neonics on the European market in the 1990s and 2000s, monitoring assessments and studies started to connect the use of neonics to large-scale bee deaths. Thus, the Precautionary Principle (PP) was applied to restrict neonics in some European countries. As studies and risk assessments accumulated, the PP was also applied by the European Commission (EC) to ban three neonics (imidacloprid, thiametoxam, clothianidin) in 2013 and again in 2018. The reasoning behind applying the PP was the seriousness of the possible irreversible damaging effects of neonics on important ecosystem services such as pollinating insects. The EC ban of the three neonics caused much controversy, and three agrochemical companies filed court cases against the ban. In this case, we will outline scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators (but also other species), in addition to the diverging perceptions of the role of the PP that became particularly evident in the court case proceedings. Further, we will discuss how innovation and precaution may interact. We find that a narrow framing of innovation and scientific certainty seem to conflate the PP and the Prevention Principle. However, with a broader framing of innovation, one could find possibilities for balancing precautionary regulations of neonics with innovations that are more line with an Integrated Pest Management approach

WP2 Case study: Neonicotinoid insecticides

This case will focus on neonicotinoid insecticides (in short: neonics), and how the Precautionary Principle has been applied, and contested, in the regulation of these insecticides. In the context of increasing pest resistance to established Plant Protection Products, the industry argued that the invention of neonicotinoids signified a new and innovative era of pest management. However, some years after the introduction of neonics on the European market in the 1990s and 2000s, monitoring assessments and studies started to connect the use of neonics to large-scale bee deaths. Thus, the Precautionary Principle (PP) was applied to restrict neonics in some European countries. As studies and risk assessments accumulated, the PP was also applied by the European Commission (EC) to ban three neonics (imidacloprid, thiametoxam, clothianidin) in 2013 and again in 2018. The reasoning behind applying the PP was the seriousness of the possible irreversible damaging effects of neonics on important ecosystem services such as pollinating insects. The EC ban of the three neonics caused much controversy, and three agrochemical companies filed court cases against the ban. In this case, we will outline scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators (but also other species), in addition to the diverging perceptions of the role of the PP that became particularly evident in the court case proceedings. Further, we will discuss how innovation and precaution may interact. We find that a narrow framing of innovation and scientific certainty seem to conflate the PP and the Prevention Principle. However, with a broader framing of innovation, one could find possibilities for balancing precautionary regulations of neonics with innovations that are more line with an Integrated Pest Management approach