1,369 research outputs found
Asterixis.
Adams and Foley described asterixis in the 1940s in patients with hepatic encephalopathy, but it has since been associated with a wide range of potential causes, both in neurology and general medicine. Here, we review the history, characteristics and clinical significance of this important clinical sign
Thinking beyond the hybrid:âactually-existingâ cities âafter neoliberalismâ in Boyle <i>et al.</i>
In their article, âThe spatialities of actually existing neoliberalism in Glasgow, 1977 to presentâ, Mark Boyle, Christopher McWilliams and Gareth Rice (2008) usefully problematise our current understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Our response is aimed at developing a sympathetic but critical approach to Boyle et al's understanding of neoliberal urbanism as illustrated by the Glasgow example. In particular, the counterposing by Boyle et al of a 'hybrid, mutant' model to a 'pure' model of neoliberalism for us misrepresents existing models of neoliberalism as a perfectly finished object rather than a roughly mottled process. That they do not identify any âpureâ model leads them to create a straw construct against which they can claim a more sophisticated, refined approach to the messiness of neoliberal urbanism. In contrast, we view neoliberalism as a contested and unstable response to accumulation crises at various scales of analysis
Creating citizen-consumers? Public service reform and (un)willing selves
About the book: Postmodern theories heralded the "death of the subject", and thereby deeply contested our intuition that we are free and willing selves. In recent times, the (free) will has come under attack yet again. Findings from the neuro- and cognitive sciences claim the concept of will to be scientifically untenable, specifying that it is our brain rather than our 'self' which decides what we want to do. In spite of these challenges however, the willing self has come to take centre stage in our society: juridical and moral practices ascribing guilt, or the organization of everyday life attributing responsibilities, for instance, can hardly be understood without taking recourse to the willing subject.
In this vein, the authors address topics such as the genealogy of the concept of willing selves, the discourse on agency in neuroscience and sociology, the political debate on volition within neoliberal and neoconservative regimes, approaches toward novel forms of relational responsibility as well as moral evaluations in conceptualizing autonomy
The open source guild: creating more sustainable enterprise?
© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project with two emergent micro-businesses that explored how their business model connected with the principles of open source. Design/methodology/approach: The authors first gained initial qualitative data to establish the core values of each micro-business, which the authors then explored in the context of open source and business models in two design workshops with each organisation. Findings: The authors developed the open source guild business model, which has the elements of: building a focal micro-business with resources secured through the guild, promoting learning and development through apprenticeship, promoting shared values through a commons of experience and capturing value by protecting key intellectual property. Research limitations/implications: This research was undertaken with two emergent micro-businesses in the North West of England. Further research will be needed to establish the wider applicability of the open source guild model. Practical implications: The open source guild model can be a mechanism for an emergent micro-business to create a community around their values and grow their business without conventional external investment of resources. Originality/value: This research contributes to the literature on business models based on open source and how these models can be sustainable in terms of the quadruple bottom line, which extends the triple bottom line to include personal values and meaning
Characteristics of individuals presenting to treatment for primary alcohol problems versus other drug problems in the Australian patient pathways study
Background: People seeking treatment for substance use disorders often have additional health and social issues.
Although individuals presenting with alcohol as the primary drug of concern (PDOC) account for nearly half of all
treatment episodes to the Australian alcohol and other drug (AOD) service system, previous treatment cohort
studies have focused only on the profile of Australian heroin or methamphetamine users. While studies overseas
indicate that clients seeking treatment primarily for their drinking are less likely to experience social and economic
marginalisation than those seeking treatment primarily for illicit or pharmaceutical drug use, very little research has
directly compared individuals presenting with alcohol as the PDOC to those primarily presenting with other drugs
as their PDOC.
Methods: Seven hundred and ninety-six participants were recruited at entry to specialist AOD treatment in Victoria
and Western Australia, and completed measures of demographic and social factors, substance use, quality of life,
service use, and criminal justice involvement. We compared those with alcohol as their PDOC to those with other
drugs as their PDOC using Pearson chi-square and MannâWhitney U tests.
Results: Rates of social disadvantage, poor quality of life, high severity of substance dependence, and past-year
AOD, mental health, acute health, and social service use were high in all groups. However, participants with alcohol as
the PDOC were older; more likely to have an educational qualification; less likely to report criminal justice involvement,
housing/homelessness service use, tobacco smoking, or problems with multiple substances; and reported better
environmental quality of life; but were more likely to have used ambulance services, than those with other drugs
as their PDOC.
Conclusions: While those seeking treatment primarily for alcohol problems appear less likely to suffer some forms of
social and economic disadvantage or to use multiple substances than those with a primary drug problem, they
experience similarly high levels of substance dependence severity and mental health and AOD service use. These
findings reinforce the need for AOD services to integrate or coordinate care with programs that address the many
complexities clients frequently present with, while also acknowledging differences between those seeking treatment
for alcohol versus other drug problems
Remote control of glucose homeostasis in vivo using photopharmacology
Photopharmacology describes the use of light to precisely deliver drug activity in space and time. Such approaches promise to improve drug specificity by reducing off-target effects. As a proof-of-concept, we have subjected the fourth generation photoswitchable sulfonylurea JB253 to comprehensive toxicology assessment, including mutagenicity and maximum/repeated tolerated dose studies, as well as in vivo testing in rodents. Here, we show that JB253 is well-tolerated with minimal mutagenicity and can be used to optically-control glucose homeostasis in anesthetized mice following delivery of blue light to the pancreas. These studies provide the first demonstration that photopharmacology may one day be applicable to the light-guided treatment of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disease states in vivo in humans
Accuracy of the short-form Montreal Cognitive Assessment: systematic review and validation
Introduction:
Shortâform versions of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (SFâMoCA) are increasingly used to screen for dementia in research and practice. We sought to collate evidence on the accuracy of SFâMoCAs and to externally validate these assessment tools.
Methods:
We performed systematic literature searching across multidisciplinary electronic literature databases, collating information on the content and accuracy of all published SFâMoCAs. We then validated all the SFâMoCAs against clinical diagnosis using independent stroke (n = 787) and memory clinic (n = 410) data sets.
Results:
We identified 13 different SFâMoCAs (21 studies, n = 6477 participants) with differing test content and properties. There was a pattern of high sensitivity across the range of SFâMoCA tests. In the published literature, for detection of post stroke cognitive impairment, median sensitivity across included studies: 0.88 (range: 0.70â1.00); specificity: 0.70 (0.39â0.92). In our independent validation using stroke data, median sensitivity: 0.99 (0.80â1.00); specificity: 0.40 (0.14â0.87). To detect dementia in older adults, median sensitivity: 0.88 (0.62â0.98); median specificity: 0.87 (0.07â0.98) in the literature and median sensitivity: 0.96 (range: 0.72â1.00); median specificity: 0.36 (0.14â0.86) in our validation. Horton's SFâMoCA (delayed recall, serial subtraction, and orientation) had the most favorable properties in stroke (sensitivity: 0.90, specificity: 0.87, positive predictive value [PPV]: 0.55, and negative predictive value [NPV]: 0.93), whereas Cecato's âMoCA reducedâ (clock draw, animal naming, delayed recall, and orientation) performed better in the memory clinic (sensitivity: 0.72, specificity: 0.86, PPV: 0.55, and NPV: 0.93).
Conclusions:
There are many published SFâMoCAs. Clinicians and researchers using a SFâMoCA should be explicit about the content. For all SFâMoCA, sensitivity is high and similar to the full scale suggesting potential utility as an initial cognitive screening tool. However, choice of SFâMoCA should be informed by the clinical population to be studied
Towards a synthesized critique of neoliberal biodiversity conservation
During the last three decades, the arena of biodiversity conservation has largely aligned itself with the globally dominant political ideology of neoliberalism and associated governmentalities. Schemes such as payments for ecological services are promoted to reach the multiple âwinsâ so desired: improved biodiversity conservation, economic development, (international) cooperation and poverty alleviation, amongst others. While critical scholarship with respect to understanding the linkages between neoliberalism, capitalism and the environment has a long tradition, a synthesized critique of neoliberal conservation - the ideology (and related practices) that the salvation of nature requires capitalist expansion - remains lacking. This paper aims to provide such a critique. We commence with the assertion that there has been a conflation between âeconomicsâ and neoliberal ideology in conservation thinking and implementation. As a result, we argue, it becomes easier to distinguish the main problems that neoliberal win-win models pose for biodiversity conservation. These are framed around three points: the stimulation of contradictions; appropriation and misrepresentation and the disciplining of dissent. Inspired by Bruno Latourâs recent âcompositionist manifestoâ, the conclusion outlines some ideas for moving beyond critique
Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is
derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the
calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and
compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at
centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009
and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter
response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged
pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo
predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by
propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles
to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3%
for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table,
submitted to European Physical Journal
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