Evidence Use and the Institutions of the State: The Role of Parliament and the Judiciary

This chapter explores the role of parliaments and the judiciary in shaping evidence use in health policy making. Most analyses of the role of scientific evidence focus on the executive, i.e. national governments and ministries of health, as the key state actors in health policy and health system governance. This chapter shifts attention to the other two powers within the state, the legislative and the judiciary. Using the examples analysed in this book the chapter examines how parliaments can use evidence to inform legislative processes and to hold governments to account, although there are substantial differences between countries and political systems. However, there was little suggestion that such approaches were undertaken systematically. In cases in which policies are brought to court, judges may have to deal with scientific evidence within a country’s legal and constitutional framework, again with significant differences between national legal practices

Beta-lactam antibiotics: from antibiosis to resistance and bacteriology

This review focuses on the era of antibiosis that led to a better understanding of bacterial morphology, in particlar the cell wall component peptidoglycan. This is an effort to take readers on a tour de force from the concept of antibiosis, to the serepidity of antibiotics, evolution of betalactam development, and the molecular biology of antibiotic resistance. These areas of research have culminated in a deeper understanding of microbiology, particularly in the area of bacterial cell wall synthesis and recycling. In spite of this knowledge, which has enabled design of new even more effective therapeutics to combat bacterial infection and has provided new research tools, antibiotic resistance remains a worldwide health care problem

An effect of eyestalk ablation on antennular function in the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus

1. Unilateral removal of the eyestalk (optic ganglia and medulla terminalis) in the Bermuda spiny lobster, Panulirus argus , disrupts normal initiation of feeding activity via chemo-tactile stimulation of the antennule on the side of the ablation. This deficit may be permanent for it has lasted without apparent remission for over five months and two molts. Unilateral eyestalk ablation also produces a temporary increase in antennular cleaning activity directed toward the antennule on the side of the ablation. This effect seems to last for less than 16 days. Unilateral eyestalk ablation does not appreciably disturb spontaneous antennular movements or responses to mechanical stimulation of the antennule on either side. Nor does it destroy the ability of the lobster to give differential responses to mechanical and chemo-tactile stimuli. Most lobsters recover normal sensory and motor functions in antennules that regenerate after amputation of the distal segment and sensory flagellae. In about 1/3 of the animals, however, some form of sensory or motor abnormality is evident in the regenerated antennule. These deficits are ascribed to occasional failure of regenerating neurons to reform appropriate central connections. They do not resemble the deficits following eyestalk ablation. The medulla terminalis is tentatively proposed as the portion of the nervous system critical for normal antennular function that is removed by eyestalk ablation. There seem to be similarities between the effects of eyestalk ablation in the Crustacea as described here and the effects following destruction of portions of the corpora pedunculata in insects. 1. Einseitige Entfernung des Augenstieles (optische Ganglien und Medulla terminalis) bei der Bermuda-Stachellanguste, Panulirus argus , unterbricht auf der operierten Seite den Beginn der normalen Freß-tätigkeit, die durch chemische und taktile Reizung der Antennula eingeleitet wird. Diese Störung kann irreversibel sein, denn sie überdauerte in über 5 Monaten zwei Häutungen.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47096/1/359_2004_Article_BF00340474.pd

The Burden of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Europe.

AbstractInflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic disabling gastrointestinal disorders impacting every aspect of the affected individual's life and account for substantial costs to the health care system and society. New epidemiological data suggest that the incidence and prevalence of the diseases are increasing and medical therapy and disease management have changed significantly in the last decade. An estimated 2.5–3million people in Europe are affected by IBD, with a direct healthcare cost of 4.6–5.6bn Euros/year. Therefore, the aim of this review is to describe the burden of IBD in Europe by discussing the latest epidemiological data, the disease course and risk for surgery and hospitalization, mortality and cancer risks, as well as the economic aspects, patients' disability and work impairment

The New Science of Meaning

We summarize some of the classic theoretical underpinnings of the emerging psychology of meaning, with special emphasis on the existentialist perspective that understood meaning in a way that converges with our present understanding and provides a blueprint for subsequent efforts. As we go on to describe, all of these perspectives intersect at a central understanding of meaning making: the ways that we make sense of ourselves and our environment, the feelings that are aroused when these understandings are constructed or violated, and the common ways in which we respond to these violations. In particular, we focus on a general distinction within the notion of meaning that can often obscure what meaning always is—a sense of what is, and a sense of why this should be so. To a remarkable extent, the chapters that constitute this volume on meaning mirror this distinction, focusing on both the what and the why of sense making. In particular, these chapters also describe a strikingly analogous account of the feelings and behaviors that follow from violations of either the whats or the whys of sense making

Geophysical Investigation of Bedrock Depth at the WRR Superfund Site in Eau Claire, WI

Color poster with text, maps, charts, and images.Near-surface geophysical methods can provide valuable information for understanding the stratigraphy of sites with groundwater contamination. In this study, geophysical data were acquired to delineate the soil-bedrock interface at the Lowes Creek County Park Superfund site in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Sponsored Programs and Research