Engineering advice in policy-making: a new domain of inquiry in evidence and policy

Background. Academic research on technical advice to policy commonly focuses on social and related policy areas such as health, education and crime (Oliver et al. 2014) and disciplinary advice from science disciplines (Jasanoff 1994; Millstone and van Zwanenberg 2001). Little or no prior research in the social sciences have explored engineering expertise in policy domains where such advice is critical (e.g. energy policy). Aims and objectives. We aim to establish ‘engineering advice’ as a new domain of inquiry by showing how civil servants view it as distinctive (from ‘science advice’), important and similar to policy making – implying it can clash or complement it. Methods. 18 qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of officials across a UK ministry were conducted by the authors (all but one of whom were civil servants) in 2012. The qualitative data were thematically coded to address the study aims. Findings. A majority of officials spontaneously identified engineering expertise as both distinctive and important for their work. There was clear evidence that it both complemented and clashed with policymaking. Discussion. We identified a range of interactions that imply a need to consider styles of management internal deployment of experts within policy organisations as well as the implications for policy making and engineering expertise given the way practices overlap. Conclusions. Further research on the ontological, epistemological nature of engineering as it relates to policy making is needed if governments and therefore society are to fully benefit from engineering advice

Nutritive value of cereals grown in Apulian places

AbstractThe new EU Common Agricultural Policy by the de-coupling measure provides the same subsidy for any crop which respects good economic and environmental conditions; hence the need to identify crop systems which give a better yield in relation to the soil fertility, climatic conditions and species adaptability. The aim of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition and the nutritive value of cereals such as spelt (cultivar Davide), durum wheat (cultivar Portobello), rye (cultivar Askari) and two cultivars of barley, Dasio and Otis. The cereals were grown in 3 Apulian places: Gravina di Puglia (BA), Monopoli (BA) and Monteroni (LE), very different among each other for the climatic conditions and pedological features of soil (fertility, texture and composition). In vitro gas production was assessed by the Menke and Steingass (1988) technique, checked until 72 h and expressed as ml/g DM. The metabolizable energy (ME; MJ/kg DM) was calculated as: 1.06 + 0.157GP + 0.084CP + 0.22CF - 0.081CA, where ..

Analysis of the Autonomic Regulation in a Case of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy after Ken Ware Treatment

Abstract This is a study on autonomic neuroscience. In a previous paper in [1], we studied a subject affected from facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy before and after Ken Ware treatment (NPT). Using the non linear methodology of the Generalized Mutual Information (GMI) analysis of Sensory Motor Rhythm, we produced detailed results evidencing that the mentioned NPT treatment involved a net improvement of the patient under his subjective psychological condition, and in particular, under the neurological and sensory motor profile. We quantified with accuracy the improvement that the subject realized during such treatment. Of course, previous studies of several authors have evidenced that muscular dystrophies are strongly linked to a profound ANS disfunction. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the ANS of the subject before and after the treatment. We performed analysis in time as well as in frequency domain and by using non linear methods. The basic result of the paper was that, according to our analysis, the subjects started with a serious ANS disfunction before the NPT treatment and that a net improvement was obtained after this therapy. All the examined parameters resulted strongly altered before the treatment and all they returned in the normal range after the NPT

Muscle Tissue Damage Induced by the Venom of Bothrops asper: Identification of Early and Late Pathological Events through Proteomic Analysis

Citation: Herrera C, Macêdo JKA, Feoli A, Escalante T, Rucavado A, Gutiérrez JM, et al. (2016) Muscle Tissue Damage Induced by the Venom of Bothrops asper: Identification of Early and Late Pathological Events through Proteomic Analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(4): e0004599. doi:10.1371/journal. pntd.0004599The time-course of the pathological effects induced by the venom of the snake Bothrops asper in muscle tissue was investigated by a combination of histology, proteomic analysis of exudates collected in the vicinity of damaged muscle, and immunodetection of extracellular matrix proteins in exudates. Proteomic assay of exudates has become an excellent new methodological tool to detect key biomarkers of tissue alterations for a more integrative perspective of snake venom-induced pathology. The time-course analysis of the intracellular proteins showed an early presence of cytosolic and mitochondrial proteins in exudates, while cytoskeletal proteins increased later on. This underscores the rapid cytotoxic effect of venom, especially in muscle fibers, due to the action of myotoxic phospholipases A2, followed by the action of proteinases in the cytoskeleton of damaged muscle fibers. Similarly, the early presence of basement membrane (BM) and other extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in exudates reflects the rapid microvascular damage and hemorrhage induced by snake venom metalloproteinases. The presence of fragments of type IV collagen and perlecan one hour after envenoming suggests that hydrolysis of these mechanically/structurally-relevant BM components plays a key role in the genesis of hemorrhage. On the other hand, the increment of some ECM proteins in the exudate at later time intervals is likely a consequence of the action of endogenous matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) or of de novo synthesis of ECM proteins during tissue remodeling as part of the inflammatory reaction. Our results offer relevant insights for a more integrative and systematic understanding of the time-course dynamics of muscle tissue damage induced by B. asper venom and possibly other viperid venoms.Universidad de Costa Rica/[741-B4-660]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[741-B6-125]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP

An innovative pattern to design new business models in the machine tool industry

Since some years, European machine tool companies are facing a turbulent market, where Asiatic competitors are becoming more and more aggressive. In such context, technology improvement is not anymore sufficient to preserve their market position: the evolution of their business model towards the offer of value added services will be a fundamental key for future success. This paper, realised within “Next Generation Production Systems” FP6 European Project, proposes an innovative operative pattern guiding machine tool companies in the business model innovation decisions

GROWTH AND NEUROLOGICAL OUTCOME IN ELBW PRETERMS FED WITH HUMAN MILK AND EXTRA-PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION AS ROUTINE PRACTICE: DO WE NEED FURTHER EVIDENCE?

Extremely-low-birth-weight infants (ELBW) should be given nutrients to enable them to grow at the same rate as foetuses of the same gestational age, and lean body components, particularly the brain, are dependent on protein intake. Fortified human milk remains the best food for these preterms. Two groups of preterm infants weighing 580\u20131250 g and with a gestational age of 23\u201332 weeks were fed with different protein intakes in fortified human/ maternal milk (3.5 g kg−\ub9 per day and 4.8 g kg−\ub9 per day in the control and extra-protein groups, respectively). The tolerance, intrahospital growth, neurological outcome and anthropometric data until 9 months corrected age were evaluated. The extraprotein regime showed an intrahospital growth advantage (mostly in growth of head circumference, p 0.02, and length, p 0.04) only in the preterms weighing 580\u2013980 g and aged 23\u201330 weeks. In the same preterms, the Griffith Development Mental Score at 3 months corrected age showed higher scores than in the control group (p 0.04). Growth during the post-discharge period for the experimental group at 9 months corrected age showed mean z-score values for length higher than those in the control group (p 0.