Sticks and stones will break my bones -- and words will harm too: Australia's provision of education for asylum seeker children in detention

No abstract

Will chymase inhibitors be the next major development for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders?

Chymase is contained in the secretory granules of mast cells. In addition to the synthesis of angiotensin II, chymase is involved in transforming growth factor-beta activation and cleaves Type I procollagen to produce collagen. NK301 and BCEAB are orally-active inhibitors of chymase. NK301 was tested in a dog model of vascular intimal hyperplasia after balloon injury and shown to reduce the increased chymase activity in the injured arteries and prevent intimal thickening. In a hamster model of cardiac fibrosis associated with cardiomyopathy, BCEAB reduced the increased cardiac chymase activity in cardiomyopathy and reduced fibrosis. Chymase inhibitors may be an important development for the treatment of cardiovascular injury associated with mast cell degranulation.

The state of history and the empire of metaphysics [Review]

One of the curious things about this challenging book is that its ostensible subject— the Saxon medical and political scientist Hermann Conring (1606–1681)— is not mentioned in the title. Constantin Fasolt argues that we cannot know what Conring really thought or meant in his writings, which means that his topic cannot be Conring as such and must instead be that which occludes our knowledge of him, the titular limits of history. Given that we do in fact learn a good deal about Conring from Fasolt’s book, we can only hope that the decapitation of its subject will be rectified in a subsequent edition, or perhaps by the restorative work of librarians putting together subject headings. And yet Fasolt’s decision is understandable, for Conring is indeed a stalking-horse for a much bigger quarry: historiography and the historical consciousness. By “history” Fasolt understands a way of imposing intelligibility on the world, which is founded on the twin assumptions that the past is gone and unchangeable, and that the meaning of texts can be determined by placing them in their historical contexts (ix). In challenging this mode of intelligibility, Fasolt is not attempting to improve professiona history—it’s already as good as it can be—but to displace it. He regards his work as a declaration of “independence from historical consciousness” (32). At the same time, Fasolt insists that he is not simply jumping from historiography to philosophy, or attempting to preempt history with ontology (37-39). That has been tried by Nietzsche and Heidegger, who have been tainted by Nazism (Fasolt thinks unfairly). It has also been attempted by modern philosophers from Gadamer to Foucault and Charles Taylor who, in failing to address the “violence” that its mode of intelligibility does to the world, have not succeeded in outflanking history. Perhaps, Fasolt wonders, it is only the personal experience of those who have been subject to this violence—the experience of those who have been subject to historical examination—that can break the spell of history. Fasolt’s disclaimer notwithstanding, in the course of these remarks I shall argue that he is indeed jumping from history to philosophy, or attempting to outflank history by subjecting it to a particular metaphysical understanding. I shall do so in part by sketching the recent intellectual history of this move—a historical examination that I hope inflicts as little violence as possible on Fasolt’s argument.

Who will see me? The impact of type of audience on willingness to display group-mediated attitude-intention consistency

The present study examined the role that group norms, group identification, and imagined audience (in-group vs. out-group) play in attitude-behavior processes. University students (N = 187) participated in a study concerned with the prediction of consumer behavior. Attitudes toward drinking their preferred beer, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, group norm, and group identification were assessed. Intentions and perceived audience reactions to consumption were assessed. As expected, group norms, identification, and imagined audience interacted to influence likelihood of drinking one's preferred beer and perceived audience reactions. High identifiers were more responsive to group norms in the presence of an in-group audience than an out-group audience. The present results indicate that audience concerns impact upon the relationship between attitude., and behavior.

The prediction of disease risk in genomic medicine

In recent years, the phrase 'genomic medicine' has increasingly been used to describe a new development in medicine that holds great promise for human health. This new approach to health care uses the knowledge of an individual's genetic make-up to identify those that are at a higher risk of developing certain diseases and to intervene at an earlier stage to prevent these diseases. Identifying genes that are involved in disease aetiology will provide researchers with tools to develop better treatments and cures. A major role within this field is attributed to 'predictive genomic medicine', which proposes screening healthy individuals to identify those who carry alleles that increase their susceptibility to common diseases, such as cancers and heart disease. Physicians could then intervene even before the disease manifests and advise individuals with a higher genetic risk to change their behaviour - for instance, to exercise or to eat a healthier diet - or offer drugs or other medical treatment to reduce their chances of developing these diseases. These promises have fallen on fertile ground among politicians, health-care providers and the general public, particularly in light of the increasing costs of health care in developed societies. Various countries have established databases on the DNA and health information of whole populations as a first step towards genomic medicine. Biomedical research has also identified a large number of genes that could be used to predict someone's risk of developing a certain disorder. But it would be premature to assume that genomic medicine will soon become reality, as many problems remain to be solved. Our knowledge about most disease genes and their roles is far from sufficient to make reliable predictions about a patient’s risk of actually developing a disease. In addition, genomic medicine will create new political, social, ethical and economic challenges that will have to be addressed in the near future.