Keys to unblocking multilateral nuclear arms control

Includes bibliographical references (p. 9.) "July 2002"This article outlines the activities that must be undertaken and the issues that must be addressed in order for multilateral arms control to succeed in the 21st century, given the current US opposition to most international agreements.unpublishednot peer reviewe

The new nuclear arms control environment : trip report and project conclusions

Includes bibliographical references. "July 2002"This paper reports the results of 9 conference, workshops and private meetings held on the current diplomatic and security problems associated with nuclear arms control, both before and after September 11. Appendixes include participants and questions.unpublishednot peer reviewe

A reflective analysis of burn wound care: The Australian burns nurse\u27 perspective

The purpose of this historiographical nursing study was to explore Australian Burn Wound Care from a nursing perspective, at two periods of time. It was the intention of the author to explore practices at the inception of specialised burns units, from the 1950\u27s, presenting an historical perspective, and at the present time, May 1995. Eleven burns units across Australia participated in the study. There were 22 participants in the research sample. Each burns unit identified the first Charge Nurse (n =11) and the current Clinical Nurse Specialist (n =11), to be involved in the data collection process. The conceptual framework for this study incorporates the Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988) succinctly incorporating the \u27who\u27, \u27where\u27, \u27why\u27, \u27when\u27 and \u27what\u27 aspects of the historical method of inquiry. An interview guide, used in conjunction with three photographs depicting burn wounds, provided interview structure for the data collection. A variety of historical data were gathered and analysed. These included scientific medical and nursing texts, foundation minutes, reports and conference papers of Australian and New Zealand Bums Association, to gain perspective of Australian Bum Wound Care. However, the data collated from 1950 to 1996 uncovered no written material on bum wound care. The information available was obtained exclusively from the indepth interviews. The data collated for the current perspective included hospital/ burns unit protocols and indepth interviews with key nursing personnel. A field trip facilitated the data collection, enabling semi-structured, audiotaped interviews in person and the opportunity to visit hospital libraries. The findings of the study have been organised to show bum wound care practices endorsed by Australian burns units, at the inception of specialised facilities, and at the present time

International Law—Act of State Doctrine—First National City Bank v. Banco Nacional de Cuba, 406 U.S. 759 (1972)

International comity demands that one sovereign ordinarily recognize the legitimacy of the acts of another, questioning their validity under neither internal nor international law. A challenge to the legality of the acts of another nation-state may entail serious international repercussions; such challenges thus have been considered grave matters of national diplomatic policy within the exclusive competency of the political branches of government. Judicial recognition of this fact is reflected in the act of state doctrine—the refusal of the courts of one nation-state to investigate the legality of official governmental acts performed in another. This doctrine, accepted in varying degrees by many nations, had its origin in the United States in Underhill v. Hernandez. Underhill held that the doctrine barred an action in American courts against the Venezuelan government for wrongful imprisonment, but the doctrine has been. most commonly utilized in the area of foreign expropriations. In that context; the United States Supreme Court reexamined the validity and scope of the doctrine in First National City Bank v. Banco Nacional de Cuba

The Political Determinants Of Food Security: Democracy, Decentralization, And Federalism

Food security is partially determined by politics. This dissertation examines three political determinants of food security: democracy, decentralization, and federalism. Each one is operationalized and tested quantitatively against food security using a dataset of all countries from 1990 to 2011, although each model employs a different subset of the dataset. Democracy is divided along two dimensions: political rights and civil liberties. Both are significant positive predictors of food security. Increases in civil liberties are more consistently and strongly associated with food security than increases in political rights. Decentralization is assessed along three dimensions: fiscal, administrative, and political. Fiscal and administrative decentralization, when measured as factor scores, were significantly associated with higher food security. In fact, the strongest predictor of food security in any model (even compared to economic and geographic factors) was fiscal decentralization, when measured as a factor score. However, direct measures of fiscal and administrative decentralization were not significantly associated with food security. Finally, federalism has a consistently strong and negative effect when significant, but it is not significant in all models. This dissertation contributes to the burgeoning literature on democracy and social welfare, particularly because multiple imputation was used to correct for sample bias and the effects remained significant and positive. In addition, it provides a nuanced view of the characteristics of democracy that produce better social welfare. It contributes to the literature on decentralization and social welfare, a subject often viewed through the lens of qualitative case studies, by providing a cross-national quantitative study of the subject. Finally, it contributes to the literature on federalism by testing theories about the difficulties of redistribution under federalism. Avenues of future research are suggested

Methods for identifying surgical wound infection after discharge from hospital: a systematic review.

Background: Wound infections are a common complication of surgery that add significantly to the morbidity of patients and costs of treatment. The global trend towards reducing length of hospital stay post-surgery and the increase in day case surgery means that surgical site infections (SSI) will increasingly occur after hospital discharge. Surveillance of SSIs is important because rates of SSI are viewed as a measure of hospital performance, however accurate detection of SSIs post-hospital discharge is not straightforward. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of methods of post discharge surveillance for surgical wound infection and undertook a national audit of methods of post-discharge surveillance for surgical site infection currently used within United Kingdom NHS Trusts. Results: Seven reports of six comparative studies which examined the validity of post-discharge surveillance methods were located; these involved different comparisons and some had methodological limitations, making it difficult to identify an optimal method. Several studies evaluated automated screening of electronic records and found this to be a useful strategy for the identification of SSIs that occurred post discharge. The audit identified a wide range of relevant post-discharge surveillance programmes in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; however, these programmes used varying approaches for which there is little supporting evidence of validity and/or reliability. Conclusion: In order to establish robust methods of surveillance for those surgical site infections that occur post discharge, there is a need to develop a method of case ascertainment that is valid and reliable post discharge. Existing research has not identified a valid and reliable method. A standardised definition of wound infection ( e. g. that of the Centres for Disease Control) should be used as a basis for developing a feasible, valid and reliable approach to defining post discharge SSI. At a local level, the method used to ascertain post discharge SSI will depend upon the purpose of the surveillance, the nature of available routine data and the resources available

Curriculum Reform in Turkish Teacher Education: Attitudes of Teacher Educators towards Change in an EU Candidate Nation

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Educational development is one way through which Turkey enhances progress towards its social goals and prepares itself for European Union membership. A major effort to upgrade the Turkish educational system was made through a multi-phased comprehensive reform of the sector introduced during the 1990s. One part of this reform, perhaps most crucial to the long-term effectiveness of other developments in education, was a transformation of the approach to teacher education. This paper utilizes recently conducted research to assess the nature and extent of that reform as well as identifying the factors which enhanced its effectiveness

Automated methods for surveillance of surgical site infections.

Automated data, especially from pharmacy and administrative claims, are available for much of the U.S. population and might substantially improve both inpatient and postdischarge surveillance for surgical site infections complicating selected procedures, while reducing the resources required. Potential improvements include better sensitivity, less susceptibility to interobserver variation, more uniform availability of data, more precise estimates of infection rates, and better adjustment for patients' coexisting illness

On Dittmer\u27s Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Identity as a classroom resource

In this intervention, four geographers, all of whom have used Jason Dittmer\u27s book, Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Identity, in their classes, assess its status as a teaching resource. All have had considerable success using Dittmer\u27s book, alongside other resources, to cultivate critical thinking and critical knowledge production in a wide range of classes