Auditing Economic Policy in the Light of Obligations on Economic and Social Rights

One of the things we have learned so far is that the realization of human rights, especially economic and social rights, requires resources as well as laws. The availability and use of resources is strongly influenced by the type of economic policies that States Parties implement. This paper considers how concerned citizens might audit economic policies from a human rights perspective, with a particular focus on economic and social rights. It draws on an ongoing project, directed by Radhika Balakrishnan, advised by Diane Elson, and funded by the Ford Foundation, on economic policy and economic and social rights in Mexico and the USA. The project brings together human rights experts and activists who are focussing on economic and social rights, and economists who are critical of the neo-liberal economic policies being pursued by so many governments and international economic policy institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank. (Amartya Sen has called these critical economists ?non-conformist economists?, because they do not conform to the currently dominant forms of economic analysis and policy prescription). These economists share the concerns of the human rights community about poverty, deprivation and inequality; and draw on a range of other approaches to economic policy, including Keynesian, human development and feminist economics approaches. The project aims to audit key economic polices in the two countries in the light of human rights obligations, and the analysis produced by ?non-conformist? economists

Stamping it out: Standardisation of book servicing and improvements to processing within Leeds Beckett University Library

This article describes several improvements which were made to the processing of new book stock received at Leeds Beckett University Libraries. It describes the background which necessitated these changes, how they were implemented, and the measured outcomes

Guidance in breast-conserving surgery: tumour localization versus identification

In breast-conserving surgery (BCS), the tumour is removed with the goal of preserving as much healthy breast tissue as possible. Breast conservation comes with a risk of positive resection margins, an independent predictor of ipsilateral tumour recurrence, necessitating reoperation1. Contemporary data from the UK Get it Right First Time1 suggest high average reoperation rates of around 19 %. Current tumour localization techniques can only guide surgeons to the tumour epicentre, but fail to provide identification of the boundary between tumour and normal tissue. Imaging techniques, such as intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS), intraoperative MRI (iMRI) or fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS), enable visualization of the tumour in its entirety and may provide improved operative precision2–5

Formative feedback on a patient-based assessment: comparing student perceptions of two feedback methods

Introduction: Although formative feedback is widely recognized as an essential aid to student learning, there is little evidence regarding effective ways of providing formative feedback on structured clinical exams. This study compares students’ perceptions of immediate, face-to-face feedback with delayed, written on-line faculty feedback on their Obstetrics and Gynecology medical student clerkship patient-based assessment (PBA) at the University of Iowa. Methods: 163 third year medical students performed the PBA between October 2009-10. Students were assigned to immediate face-to-face or delayed, written on-line feedback. Students were then invited to participate in an anonymous web-based survey. Independent samples t-tests were used to determine whether the mean differences between the groups in ratings of commonly accepted characteristics of effective feedback were statistically significant. Results: 97 students responded to the survey. Of the 84 who responded to the questions about feedback quality (face-to-face feedback n=40, web-based feedback n=44), face-to-face feedback generally scored higher than web-based feedback, and received significantly higher ratings in 9 of 11 variables measured (p ≤ 0.05). Qualitative comments indicated preference for two-way interaction with evaluators. Conclusion: Students rate immediate face-to-face feedback more beneficial than delayed, web-based written feedback on a patient-based assessment

Formative feedback on a patient-based assessment: comparing student perceptions of two feedback methods

Introduction: Although formative feedback is widely recognized as an essential aid to student learning, there is little evidence regarding effective ways of providing formative feedback on structured clinical exams. This study compares students’ perceptions of immediate, face-to-face feedback with delayed, written on-line faculty feedback on their Obstetrics and Gynecology medical student clerkship patient-based assessment (PBA) at the University of Iowa. Methods: 163 third year medical students performed the PBA between October 2009-10. Students were assigned to immediate face-to-face or delayed, written on-line feedback. Students were then invited to participate in an anonymous web-based survey. Independent samples t-tests were used to determine whether the mean differences between the groups in ratings of commonly accepted characteristics of effective feedback were statistically significant. Results: 97 students responded to the survey. Of the 84 who responded to the questions about feedback quality (face-to-face feedback n=40, web-based feedback n=44), face-to-face feedback generally scored higher than web-based feedback, and received significantly higher ratings in 9 of 11 variables measured (p ≤ 0.05). Qualitative comments indicated preference for two-way interaction with evaluators. Conclusion: Students rate immediate face-to-face feedback more beneficial than delayed, web-based written feedback on a patient-based assessment

The Dual Feminisation of HIV/AIDS

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Globalizations on 2011, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14747731.2010.49302

Inhibitor regulation of tissue kallikrein activity in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid athritis

Tissue kallikrein (TK) and 1-antitrypsin (AT)/TK complexes can be detected in SF from patients with RA if components of the fluids which interfere with the detection of TK are removed. 2-Macroglobulin (2-M) in SF was demonstrated to contain trapped proteases which were still active in amidase assays. Removal of 2-M from RA SF reduced their amidase activity. However, at least some of the remaining activity was due to TK because it was soya bean trypsin inhibitor resistant and trasylol sensitive and was partly removed by affinity chromatography on anti-TK sepharose. Removal of RF from the fluids reduced the values obtained for TK levels by ELISA. Addition of SF to human urinary kallikrein (HUK) considerably reduced the levels of TK detected suggesting the presence of a TK ELISA inhibitor in the fluids. Removal of components of >300 kDa from SF markedly reduced the TK ELISA inhibitory activity and increased the values for both the TK and l-AT/TK levels in fluids as measured by ELISA. It is considered this novel inhibitor does not bind to the active site of TK but rather binds to the site reactive with anti-TK antibodies