Who lives, who dies, who cares? Valuing life through the disability-adjusted life year measurement

Agamben's work on bare life, sovereignty and spaces of exception is widely drawn upon by those seeking to understand the topologies of abandonment within contemporary society. While the majority of work has focused on the spectacular forms of violence and extraordinary spaces of exception, neoliberal ideology has been germinating a new version of biopolitics and as such creating new sacred populations, new camps and new sovereign powers. This paper brings Agamben out from the battlefield, to employ his thinking as a means to understand the systemic violence conducted through a biopolitical regime increasingly governed by the logic of profit accumulation. Focusing on vector-borne diseases, the paper demonstrates a perpetual devaluation of lives within a prevailing economic system that searches out, and targets, ‘profitable’ populations, as exemplified by the current pharmaceutical industry and supporting apparatus that pursues the protection of profits over the preservation of lives. This abandonment within economic markets has spilled over into the arena of global health where equity is increasingly superseded by a goal of efficiency. Through a critique of the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) measurement (a calculation drawn upon to justify interventions, and frequently invoked under the rubric of ‘cost-effectiveness’), this paper argues that DALYs are symptomatic of a wider shift within global health governance and constitutive of a new biopolitical regime – where the body is incorporated within political and economic systems – by judging an individual's ‘worth’ through their economic productivity

On Editing

Covering the changes in Shakespeare editorial theory and practice over the decades between the publication of the Oxford Shakespeare (1986) and the New Oxford Shakespeare (2016), this article surveys a range of modern texts with different rationales and aimed at different readerships. The article has three sections: the imagery associated with editorial activity, issues of authorship and collaboration, and the place of performance in editions. We trace the conceptual changes between the Textual Companion that accompanied the 1986 edition, and the Authorship Companion that is the equivalent for the 2016 edition, discussing the role of quantitative and qualitative approaches to questions of authorship and collaboration. We pay particular attention to the metaphors and tropes that shape editorial discourse, finding their echoes in early modern paratextual material. Pervasive anthropomorphic textual imagery tends implicitly to feminize texts (and masculinize editors), and we discuss the changing demands on editors and the continued dominance of male editors, particularly for Shakespeare’s tragedies and histories. A final section discusses Arden editorial generations of Hamlet alongside the play’s own telos of interrupted succession and its preoccupation with ghosts and the past

Patient-Reported Variables Associated with the Success of Behavioral Intervention for Patients with Chronic Cough

Chronic cough is a common condition that persists for more than eight weeks and accounts for millions of visits to physicians each year. Approximately 10-20% of patients with chronic cough do not respond to medical treatment. These patients, said to have refractory chronic cough (RCC), often respond to behavioral cough suppression therapy (BCST), provided by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The purpose of this study was to determine if common factors exist that distinguish patients with RCC, who benefit from BCST from those who don’t benefit from BCST. The long-term goal of this research is to create a screening tool that physicians can use to identify candidates for BCST. Forty three adults referred for BCST completed an enrollment survey at the beginning of therapy. The survey consisted of 52-items pertaining to cough onset factors, cough symptoms, and personality traits. Participants also completed the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), a validated measurement for assessing cough-related quality of life. A follow- up survey with similar questions regarding their cough status and changes in treatment was administered 3-4 weeks after beginning BCST. Thirty participants were satisfied following BCST (BCST-S); 13 were not satisfied (BCST-NS). There were significant differences between the two groups on: cough productivity, tight-throat feeling, symptoms of reflux, and stress as a cough trigger. Additionally patients in the BCST-S group described themselves as significantly more anxious and stressed than the patients in the BCST-NS group. The LCQ confirmed a significant improvement in the BCST-S group, but not the BCST-NS group. The study indicates potential to create a valid screening tool that would assist with the identification of candidates for BCST. Such a tool could save considerable time and money for patients with RCC

Blueprint for a National Food Strategy: Evaluating the Potential for a National Food Strategy in the United States

Eating is a fundamental human need, and the food and agriculture system is vital to the American economy. Yet, our food system often works at cross-purposes, providing abundance while creating inefficiencies, and imposing unnecessary burdens on our economy, environment, and overall health. Many federal policies, laws, and regulations guide and structure our food system. However, these laws are fragmented and sometimes inconsistent, hindering food system improvements. To promote a healthy, economically viable, equitable, and resilient food system, the United States needs a coordinated federal approach to food and agricultural law and policy – that is, a national food strategy.A national food strategy has the potential to offer a comprehensive, coordinated path forward to improve the food system. Specifically, it could help leaders and members of the public understand how various aspects of food and agriculture connect and are interdependent. The process of developing a strategy could clarify where agencies and legislators currently undertake overlapping or conflicting activities. In addition, the process could provide opportunities for soliciting and incorporating public and stakeholder input. Ultimately, a national food strategy could harmonize law and policymaking around food and agriculture, providing a mechanism for legislators and agencies to establish, prioritize, and pursue common goals.This report provides a roadmap for the process to develop a national food strategy. Consequently, it focuses primarily on process rather than policy, because an effective process is a critical foundation to any coordinated strategy. In developing this blueprint, this report examines several models, which collectively may chart a path for such a strategy. First, several nations have developed national food strategies that may inform American efforts. These countries generally have food system challenges similar to those in the United States – e.g., maintaining or improving the success and resilience of the food and agricultural sectors, ensuring access to healthy food, promoting sustainable food production, and harmonizing the work of numerous agencies. Their strategies also illustrate a range of methods that can be used to engage agencies, diverse stakeholders, and the general public in strategy creation.The United States also serves as a model for this blueprint, as there are many domestic national strategies addressing a range of topics. This report explores select U.S. national strategies on diverse issues from the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic to environmental justice. These strategies serve to illustrate the legal and policy mechanisms employed by domestic efforts to address important and complex social issues in need of federal coordination. Regardless of the motivation, these domestic strategies share key components and characteristics, including utilizing an organizing authority, incorporating stakeholder and public engagement, enshrining goals in a written document, and ensuring periodic updating. These mechanisms demonstrate the capacity of the U.S. political system to address complex issues, and these key components provide a framework for the features that should structure a national food strategy.Presently, our food system struggles to serve the needs and interests of all Americans. The piecemeal policy and regulatory framework pertaining to food and agriculture also fails to accomplish needed improvements. Yet, the United States possesses the tools needed to address this vital system. A comprehensive and coordinated federal approach to law and policymaking is critical to an economically viable, resilient, equitable and food secure future for America. To that end, this report identifies four major principles to guide the creation of a national food strategy in the United States. Each principle describes the findings supporting it and includes a set of recommendations to lay the foundation for an effective comprehensive national strategy

The Electronic Monitoring of Offenders in Context: From Policy to Political Logics

The electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders is a subject that has been researched widely within criminology. Theoretical engagement with this instrument has been limited, however. The criminological literature, in fact, has focused primarily on empirical assessments of EM’s financial and technical aspects, as well as on the legal implications of EM and its impact on reoffending. Against this backdrop, this article provides a critical examination of EM, focussing on how policy construes this penal measure, using Scotland as an example. In addition, drawing on Foucault’s notion of governmentality, this article explores and problematizes the political logics (neoliberal, nationalist and techno-communitarian) which inform EM policy in the context of Scotland. The final section shifts the focus from exposing the political milieu within which EM policy emerges to contesting its possible effects, thereby extending the political critique of EM policy. The overarching aim is to contribute toward a nuanced political assessment of EM, while presenting directions for future engagement with this subject

Time-Resolved in situ Raman Spectroscopic Observations of a Biomineralization Model System

The mechanisms underlying the formation of nanocrystalline apatite in vertebrate hard tissues (i.e. bones and teeth) remain nebulous. The long-held view of biomineralization via “classical crystallization theory”, or ion-by-ion addition from solution, is challenged by “non-classical” theories in which the pathway proceeds through transient precursor phases [1]. The presence of an amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) mineral precursor has been observed during the formation of zebrafish fin bones and dental enamel [2, 3]. However, the sample preparation necessary for electron microscopy and ethical considerations inherent to vertebrate samples preclude in situ observations of apatite mineralization

Accelerated Long Term Forgetting in patients with focal seizures: Incidence rate and contributing factors

Background: Accelerated Long Term Forgetting (ALF) is usually defined as a memory impairment that is seen only at long delays (e.g., after days or weeks) and not at shorter delays (e.g., 30 min) typically used in clinical settings. Research indicates that ALF occurs in some patients with epilepsy, but the incidence rates and underlying causes have not been established. In this study, we considered these issues. Methods: Forty-four patients with a history of focal seizures were tested at 30 min and 7 day delays for material from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and Aggie Figures Test. Recently published norms from a matched group of 60 control subjects (Miller et al., 2015 ) were used to determine whether patients demonstrated ALF, impairment at 30 min or intact memory performance. Results: The incidence of ALF in the epilepsy patients (18%) was > 3 times higher than normal on the RAVLT, but no different (7%) from the incidence in normal subjects on the Aggie Figures. A different, but again significantly high, proportion of patients (36%) showed shorter-term memory deficits on at least one task. ALF was found mainly in patients with temporal-lobe epilepsy, but also occurred in one patient with an extratemporal seizure focus. Presence of a hippocampal lesion was the main predicting factor of ALF. Conclusions: Many patients with a focal seizure disorder show memory deficits after longer delays that are not evident on standard assessment. The present study explored the factors associated with this ALF memory profile. These new findings will enhance clinical practice, particularly the management of patients with memory complaints

Stereopsis in end-stage renal disease (ESRD)

We investigated an effect of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on the visual system by measuring the ability of 21 patients to perceive depth in the random dot stereograms and circles of the Randot Test. To control for other factors which might influence performance on the tests of stereopsis, patients were compared with healthy controls matched for age, years of education, IQ, and general cognitive ability. Vernier acuity (thought to reflect mainly central processing) and Landolt acuity (more sensitive to retinal and optical abnormalities) were also measured, but the study did not include a formal ophthalmological examination. All controls could perceive depth in random dot stereograms, whereas 9/21 patients could not. Patients who could perceive depth had worse stereoacuity than did their matched controls. The patient group as a whole had worse Vernier and Landolt acuities than the controls. The stereoblind patient subgroup had similar Vernier acuity to the stereoscopic subgroup, but worse Landolt acuity, and were more likely to have peripheral vascular disease. We conclude that ESRD had affected structures both within the eye, and within the visual brain. However, the similarity of Vernier acuity and difference of Landolt acuity in the stereoblind and stereoscopic patient subgroups suggest that the differences in stereoscopic ability arise from abnormalities in the eyes rather than in the brain