Does a simple educational exercise influence practice in acute tonsillitis in children?

Aim: To assess the concordance of treatment of children attending with tonsillitis in Paediatric Accident and Emergency with established guidelines, and subsequent review of the management of this condition after a simple educational exercise. Methods: An audit on children with tonsillitis was carried out amongst doctors working in the Paediatric Accident and Emergency Department during a three month period in 2009. Eleven doctors completed an anonymous questionnaire requesting details on presentation, symptoms, investigations and treatment of children presenting with acute tonsillitis. The results obtained from this questionnaire were compared to NICE guidelines and modified Centor (McIsaac) criteria, and fed back to the participating doctors together with copies of these guidelines via a simple, structured educational exercise. Three months later, a second identical questionnaire was again completed by the same cohort of doctors. Results: The first questionnaire showed that there was a tendency towards unnecessary prescription of antibiotics and investigations in children with acute tonsillitis, when compared to recommendations in the guidelines. Following educational feedback, the second questionnaire showed a reduction in antibiotic prescriptions by 9% (p=0.5) and investigations by 37% (p=0.1). Compliance with guidelines had improved significantly with regard to non-prescribing of antibiotics with a fever of 1cm and presence of underlying disease although these changes were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Although doctors were initially only partly compliant with established guidelines for children with acute tonsillitis, compliance improved significantly after a simple educational exercise.peer-reviewe

A resistant case of Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile illness of childhood of unknown origin which may cause coronary arteritis and death. The Maltese incidence has been calculated at 3.2/100,000 population 4 years of age, similar to that reported in European communities and far lower than that reported in Asian countries. The use of steroids in this condition remains contentious. We report a resistant case of KD who required two doses of pulsed steroids in addition to standard treatment with aspirin and immunoglobulin.peer-reviewe

Spectral diffusion of single semiconductor nanocrystals: the influence of the dielectric environment

We have explored the influence of different matrices on the emission line shape of individual homogeneously coated CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanocrystals. The results obtained corroborate previous observations of a correlation between blinking events and spectral diffusion but in addition we have found that the extent of spectral diffusion is almost independent of the dielectric environment of the NC. Additionally, we report the observation of a correlation between the line width and emission energy which is not expected to occur in the spherical - symmetric NCs employed in this work. The implications of these results are discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Professor Charles McBurney

Dedication to the life of Charles McBurney

Turning the Tide Ending Overfishing in North-western Europe (English Overview)

The seas of north-western Europe—the North, Irish, and Celtic seas, and the waters west of Scotland and Ireland—boast a rich and diverse mix of environments and wildlife that have shaped the cultures along their shores. For millennia, the natural bounty of these waters has spurred development of coastal communities and enabled the expansion of fisheries in pursuit of food and profit. In recent decades, however, the scale of that expansion has increased dramatically. Calls by scientists and environmentalists to reduce fishing pressure have been ignored too often by politicians who put short-term economic and political gains ahead of long-term sustainability. As a consequence, many fish stocks collapsed throughout the region, leaving fishing communities devastated. In response, the European Union (EU) recently agreed to a reform of its fisheries management, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), that should prove a successful first step in restoring and maintaining the health of fisheries and fish stocks, and of the communities and marine ecosystems that depend on them. This report takes an in-depth look at the seas in north-western Europe, their characteristics, their histories and the roles that their fisheries have played in the booms and busts of communities at the water's edge. An understanding of these distinct regions—and the critical part played by their fish stocks —emphasizes the importance of effective implementation of the reformed CFP, which requires an end to overfishing throughout Europe where possible by 2015 and at the latest by 2020. Now is the time to start making sure the policy goals move from rhetoric to reality

For what it's worth: an examination of the persistent devaluation of "women's work" in capitalism and considerations for feminist politics

"Der Beitrag untersucht die Entwicklung der geschlechtlichen Arbeitsteilung im Kapitalismus und skizziert die Transformation von 'Frauenarbeit' von Fordismus zum Postfordismus und der gegenwärtigen Reproduktionskrise. Mit Rückgriff auf die Arbeit früher marxistischer Feministinnen, die die Produktivität von weiblicher Reproduktionsarbeit im Haushalt aufgezeigt haben, fragt er nach den Mechanismen, die zur anhaltenden Abwertung von Frauenarbeit und zur geschlechtlichen Arbeitsteilung beitragen, die dazu führt, dass Frauen weiterhin die Verantwortung für un- und unterbezahlte Pflege- und Reproduktionsarbeit übertragen wird. Die vorliegende Analyse kommt zu dem Schluss, dass der analytische Rahmen marxistischer Feministinnen, der die Beziehung zwischen Arbeit und Wert fokussiert, nicht als alleinige Erklärungsgrundlage für das Fortbestehen von geschlechtsspezifischer ökonomischer Ungleichheit herangezogen werden kann. Geschlecht muss auch als weiter gefasste soziale Institution über Arbeitsbeziehungen hinaus in den Blick genommen werden, in der Frauen als den Männern unterlegen definiert werden. Ansätze zur Aufwertung von Frauenarbeit sind nur dann erfolgsversprechend, wenn sie mit Bemühungen zur Emanzipation von Frauen verbunden werden." (Autorenreferat)"This article examines the gender division of labour as it has developed under capitalism, sketching the transformation of 'women's work' from Fordism to post-Fordism and the pending crisis of social reproduction of the present. Drawing on the work of early Marxist feminists who revealed the productivity of women’s reproductive labour in the home, it investigates the mechanisms that contribute to the persistence of the devaluation of women's work and the gender division of labour which continues to hold women responsible for unpaid and underpaid care and reproductive labour. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the analytical framework of the Marxist feminists, which focuses on the relation between labour and value, cannot fully account for the persistence of gender economic equality. Attention must also be given to the broader social institution of gender beyond labour relations, which defines women as inferior to men. Thus, efforts to valorize women’s work will only succeed in combination with struggles to liberate women." (author's abstract

The axe had never sounded

‘This book meets well the triple promise of the title – the inter-connections of place, people and heritage. John Mulvaney brings to this work a deep knowledge of the history, ethnography and archaeology of Tasmania. He presents a comprehensive account of the area’s history over the 200 years since French naval expeditions first charted its coastlines. The important records the French officers and scientists left of encounters with Aboriginal groups are discussed in detail, set in the wider ethnographic context and compared with those of later expeditions. ‘The topical issues of understanding the importance of Recherche Bay as a cultural landscape and its protection and future management inform the book. Readers will be challenged to consider the connections between people and place, and how these may constitute significant national heritage.’ Professor Isabel McBryde, AO, FRAI, FAHA, FSA The Australian National Universit