Sport, policy and politics in Lebanon

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Sport Policy on 26th Jan 2015, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2014.914553.Lebanon offers an interesting context for the study of sport policy as there is a lack of literature on sport policies in developing countries, and particularly, in small- and multi-confessional societies. Hence, the aim of this study was to illustrate how the dynamic of power between the state and the political parties/confessional communities is reflected in the national sport system. In particular the paper seeks to provide some insight into the mechanism in place to implement the concept of ‘balance of power’ or so-called mosaic society within the national sport system, looking specifically at structure and resource allocation

Buried Versus Exposed Kirschner Wires Following Fixation of Hand Fractures: l Clinician and Patient Surveys

Background: Fractures of the metacarpals and phalanges are common. Placement of Kirschner wires (K-wires) is the most common form of surgical fixation. After placement, a key decision is whether to bury the end of a K-wire or leave it protruding from the skin (exposed). A recent systematic review found no evidence to support either approach. The aim of study was to investigate current clinical practice, understand the key factors influencing clinician decision-making, and explore patient preferences to inform the design of a randomized clinical trial. Methods: The steering group developed surveys for hand surgeons, hand therapists, and patients. Following piloting, they were distributed across the United Kingdom hand surgery units using the Reconstructive Surgery Trials Network. Results: A total of 423 hand surgeons, 187 hand therapists, and 187 patients completed the surveys. Plastic surgeons and junior surgical trainees preferred to leave K-wires not buried. Ease of removal correlated with a decision to leave wires exposed, whereas perceived risk of infection correlated with burying wires. Cost did not affect the decision. Hand therapists were primarily concerned about infection and patient-related outcomes. Patients were most concerned about wire-related problems and pain. Conclusion: This national survey provides a new understanding of the use of K-wires to manage hand fractures in the United Kingdom. A number of nonevidence-based factors seem to influence the decision to bury or leave K-wires exposed. The choice has important clinical and health economic implications that justify a randomized controlled trial

Nucleic acid catalysis under potential prebiotic conditions

The cover feature illustrates various environmental factors influencing nucleic acid catalysis on early Earth, including temperature, pH, metal ion composition, dehydration and exposure to UV radiation. In order to explore plausible scenarios for early molecular evolution and to investigate the extent to which nucleic acid enzymes can adapt to non-physiological conditions, it is essential to understand how different environmental conditions both inhibit and potentiate nucleic acid catalysis. More information can be found in the Minireview by Kristian Le Vay, Hannes Mutschler et al

Three-dimensional image segmentation using tissue-like P system

Membrane computing (MC), which abstracts computational models from the structure and functioning of biological cells or population of cells in tissues, has served as a rich framework for handling many problems. Various types of P systems have been proposed in the literature to perform edge-based and region-based segmentation of two-dimensional digital images. However, less attention has been paid to the segmentation of three-dimensional (3D) medical images. Hence, the main contribution of this paper is to propose a tissue-like P system for segmenting 3D medical images. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that practically adapts MC for 3D images. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach in segmenting 3D images, and it has the potential to be used in real-world applications