Toward Justice in Tobacco Policymaking: A Critique of Hanson and Logue and an Alternative Approach to the Costs of Cigarettes

Much of tobacco policymaking has been driven by economic and political forces. Professors LeBel and Ausness offer an alternative approach to tobacco policymaking that places justice concerns at the center of the analysis. Their article presents a detailed critique of a significant recent work by Professors Hanson and Logue advocating extensive tobacco industry liability on economic efficiency grounds. Asserting that a “fresh start” is necessary, LeBel and Ausness identify the interests at play in the tobacco policy arena. Instead of an ambiguous interest balancing approach, they construct a policy model that grounds those interests in justice considerations, demonstrating how claims derived from those considerations can be woven into a comprehensive and principled tobacco policy that shifts more of the costs of smoking to the tobacco industry without allowing smokers to recover damages for the harm they have suffered

Enhancing multi-scale Mekong water governance

The CPWF Project PN50 “Enhancing multi-scale water governance” was a flagship activity of the Mekong Program on Water, Environment Resilience (M-POWER). The goal of helping improve livelihood security, human and ecosystem health in the Mekong Region through democratizing water governance was pursued through critical research and direct engagement with stakeholders involved in managing floods, irrigation, hydropower, watersheds, fisheries and urban water works at various scales. We identified commons governance problems and suggested ways that some can be addressed. Often, for example, there are needs to: strengthen local representation, improve the quality of deliberative processes, enhance the interplay between institutions at different levels, and build capacities to handle uncertainties and adapt to changes in flow regimes

Patient Outcomes Significantly Improve When Receiving Treatment by Athletic Therapy Students

Student-run clinics are beneficial and provide interactions between education and community. Treatment outcomes by students are rarely measured. To our knowledge, no studies evaluate student athletic therapist’s rehabilitation outcomes. The purpose of our study was to measure the improvement in function in injured patients seeking treatment at the student-run Athletic Therapy PERFORM Clinic. Main Outcomes and Measures: At baseline and at follow-up, student-treated patients completed one of three questionnaires to assess their injured level of function: Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for low back injuries, Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) for lower extremity injuries and Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) for upper extremity injuries. Results: On average, patients received 4.7 ± 1.8 treatments across 48.8 ± 16.1 days. Overall, patients experienced a statistically significant increase in function between assessment and follow-up (18.8% ± 20.3, p < 0.001). Patients with an acute injury improved more compared to patients with a chronic pain injury (p < 0.001). While there was no significant difference in function at baseline between patients with acute injuries and chronic pain/injuries, there was a trend towards patients with an acute injury being less functional (p = 0.051). Discussion: Improvements in function in injured patients at this student-run clinic are similar to the minimal clinically important difference respective to each questionnaire. The clinic offers an additional benefit to patients with a robust cost-effectiveness ratio. Our results suggest that Athletic Therapy education should investigate the different needs of chronic injury patients in order to maximize improvements in function

Development of white matter microstructure and executive functions during childhood and adolescence: a review of diffusion MRI studies

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides indirect measures of white matter microstructure that can be used to make inferences about structural connectivity within the brain. Over the last decade, a growing literature of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have documented relationships between dMRI indices and cognitive development. In this review, we provide a brief overview of dMRI methods and how they can be used to study white matter and connectivity and review the extant literature examining the links between dMRI indices and executive functions during development. We explore the links between white matter microstructure and specific executive functions: inhibition, working memory and cognitive shifting, as well as performance on complex executive function tasks. Concordance in findings across studies are highlighted, and potential explanations for discrepancies between results, together with challenges with using dMRI in child and adolescent populations, are discussed. Finally, we explore future directions that are necessary to better understand the links between child and adolescent development of structural connectivity of the brain and executive functions

Félix: a Late Pleistocene White Whale (Delphinapterus Leucas) Skeleton From Champlain Sea Deposits at Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Québec

A nearly complete, articulated skeleton of an old white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) from Champlain Sea deposits at Saint-Félix-de-Valois is the best preserved specimen of its kind recorded from North America. It is one of 21 white whale specimens known from Champlain Sea deposits. Collagen from a vertebra yielded an accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon date of 10 700 ± 90 BP, which, with stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental data, is in accord with our knowledge of the past distribution of this species, its known habitat and habits. This study quantitatively traces regional sea-surface temperature, salinity and ice-cover. Dinocysts indicate a change from cold to cool conditions in surface water during that period corresponding to the withdrawal of ice and the beginning of the Holocene.Un squelette presque complet et articulé d’une vieille baleine blanche (Delphinapterus leucas) provenant des dépôts de la mer de Champlain à Saint-Félix-de-Valois représente le spécimen le mieux conservé du genre en Amérique du Nord. Il s’agit de l’un des 21 spécimens de baleine blanche découvert à ce jour dans les dépôts de la Mer de Champlain. Du collagène extrait d’une vertèbre a donné une date radiocarbone par spectrométrie de masse par accélérateur de 10 700 ± 90 BP, laquelle, avec les données stratigraphiques et paléoenvironnementales, est en accord avec nos connaissances actuelles sur la dispersion ancienne de l’espèce, son habitat et son mode de vie. Cette étude livre une esquisse quantitative régionale de la température des eaux de surface, de la salinité et du couvert de glace. Les dinokystes indiquent un changement des conditions de froides à fraîches des eaux de surface durant la période correspondant au retrait glaciaire et au début de l’Holocène

Metabolism, Genomics, and DNA Repair in the Mouse Aging Liver

The liver plays a pivotal role in the metabolism of nutrients, drugs, hormones, and metabolic waste products, thereby maintaining body homeostasis. The liver undergoes substantial changes in structure and function within old age. Such changes are associated with significant impairment of many hepatic metabolic and detoxification activities, with implications for systemic aging and age-related disease. It has become clear, using rodent models as biological tools, that genetic instability in the form of gross DNA rearrangements or point mutations accumulate in the liver with age. DNA lesions, such as oxidized bases or persistent breaks, increase with age and correlate well with the presence of senescent hepatocytes. The level of DNA damage and/or mutation can be affected by changes in carcinogen activation, decreased ability to repair DNA, or a combination of these factors. This paper covers some of the DNA repair pathways affecting liver homeostasis with age using rodents as model systems

Dual mobility hip arthroplasty wear measurement: Experimental accuracy assessment using radiostereometric analysis (RSA)

SummaryIntroductionThe use of dual mobility cups is an effective method to prevent dislocations. However, the specific design of these implants can raise the suspicion of increased wear and subsequent periprosthetic osteolysis.HypothesisUsing radiostereometric analysis (RSA), migration of the femoral head inside the cup of a dual mobility implant can be defined to apprehend polyethylene wear rate.Study objectivesThe study aimed to establish the precision of RSA measurement of femoral head migration in the cup of a dual mobility implant, and its intra- and interobserver variability.Material and methodsA total hip prosthesis phantom was implanted and placed under weight loading conditions in a simulator. Model-based RSA measurement of implant penetration involved specially machined polyethylene liners with increasing concentric wear (no wear, then 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75mm). Three examiners, blinded to the level of wear, analyzed (10 times) the radiostereometric films of the four liners. There was one experienced, one trained, and one inexperienced examiner. Statistical analysis measured the accuracy, precision, and intra- and interobserver variability by calculating Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Concordance Correlation Coefficient (CCC), Intra Class correlation Coefficient (ICC), and Bland-Altman plots.ResultsOur protocol, that used a simple geometric model rather than the manufacturer's CAD files, showed precision of 0.072mm and accuracy of 0.034mm, comparable with machining tolerances with low variability. Correlation between wear measurement and true value was excellent with a CCC of 0.9772. Intraobserver reproducibility was very good with an ICC of 0.9856, 0.9883 and 0.9842, respectively for examiners 1, 2 and 3. Interobserver reproducibility was excellent with a CCC of 0.9818 between examiners 2 and 1, and 0.9713 between examiners 3 and 1.DiscussionQuantification of wear is indispensable for the surveillance of dual mobility implants. This in vitro study validates our measurement method. Our results, and comparison with other studies using different measurement technologies (RSA, standard radiographs, Martell method) make model-based RSA the reference method for measuring the wear of total hip prostheses in vivo.Level of evidenceLevel 3. Prospective diagnostic study