El naturalismo científico en la obra de John Tyndall: Fragments of science

El análisis de los ensayos de John Tyndall, Fragments of Science, permite identificar la teoría atómica, el principio de conservación de la energía y el evolucionismo darwinista como los elementos constitutivos del andamiaje teórico del naturalismo científico. Así, en su ensayo “On the Study of Physics” se resumen sus brillantes facetas como educador y divulgador científico, desarrolladas fundamentalmente en el seno de la Royal Institution. En la lectura “On Force”, Tyndall da por finalizada la controversia Joule- Mayer sobre la primacía del descubrimiento del principio de conservación de la energía, a la vez que plantea algunas de las claves de la lucha por el liderazgo en el seno de la comunidad científica. El discurso presidencial ante la British Association de 1874 en Belfast ejemplifica el coraje de Tyndall en su empeño por demarcar los territorios de la ciencia y la religión, a la luz de los nuevos desafíos científicos. En el trasfondo subyacen los procesos de secularización de la sociedad y de profesionalización de una comunidad científica heterogénea. El compromiso cívico que Tyndall demuestra en “The Belfast Address” es digno corolario de una vida y obra que permite situarlo como paradigma de lo que, en la terminología de Turner, se ha dado en denominar científico público.

Report to the Minister for Health and Children: Independent Examination related to the Medical Council and South-Eastern Health Board (Dr John Harding Price)

The Minister for Health and Children has requested that an independent review be carried out of the circumstances surrounding the employment of a UK based Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr John Harding-Price, to a locum psychiatrist position with the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB) while he was suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the United Kingdom and consequently the subject of legal proceedings by the Medical Council in Ireland. The Consultant was continuously registered with the Medical Council since 1968. Download the document here

John Fitzgerald Letter

John Fitzgerald Letter Click here to download PDF 39kb

Methadone maintenance treatment and St. John's Wort - a case report.

St. John's wort, a popular over-the-counter drug for treatment of depression, might reduce concentrations of drugs such as cyclosporin and indinavir and lead to drug resistance and treatment failure. No studies as yet have examined its influence on methadone plasma levels. The trough methadone plasma levels were measured in four patients (2 males, median age: 31 years; range 19 - 40 years) in methadone maintenance treatment just before the introduction of St. John's wort (900 mg/d) and after a median period of 31-day treatment (range 14 - 47). The study was proposed to addict patients about to start an antidepressant therapy. Introduction of St. John's wort resulted in a strong reduction of (R,S)-methadone concentration-to-dose ratios in the four median patients included, with a median decrease to 47 % of the original concentration (range: 19 % - 60 % of the original concentration). Two patients reported symptoms that suggested a withdrawal syndrome. Thus, prescription of St. John's wort might decrease methadone blood levels and induce withdrawal symptoms which, if not correctly identified and handled (by changing the antidepressant or by increasing the methadone dose), might cause unnecessary discomfort to the patient, lead to resumption of illicit drug uses, or be a risk factor for discontinuation of the methadone or antidepressant treatment.

Select works of the emperor Julian, and some pieces of the sophist Libanius, translated from the Greek, with notes from Petau, La Bleterie, Gibbon, etc., to which is added the History of the emperor Jovian from the French of the abbé de La Bleterie, by John Duncombe...

Comprend : The History of the emperor Jovien

Colorectal cancer survival in the USA and Europe: a CONCORD high-resolution study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the extent to which stage at diagnosis and adherence to treatment guidelines may explain the persistent differences in colorectal cancer survival between the USA and Europe. DESIGN: A high-resolution study using detailed clinical data on Dukes' stage, diagnostic procedures, treatment and follow-up, collected directly from medical records by trained abstractors under a single protocol, with standardised quality control and central statistical analysis. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 21 population-based registries in seven US states and nine European countries provided data for random samples comprising 12 523 adults (15-99 years) diagnosed with colorectal cancer during 1996-1998. OUTCOME MEASURES: Logistic regression models were used to compare adherence to 'standard care' in the USA and Europe. Net survival and excess risk of death were estimated with flexible parametric models. RESULTS: The proportion of Dukes' A and B tumours was similar in the USA and Europe, while that of Dukes' C was more frequent in the USA (38% vs 21%) and of Dukes' D more frequent in Europe (22% vs 10%). Resection with curative intent was more frequent in the USA (85% vs 75%). Elderly patients (75-99 years) were 70-90% less likely to receive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Age-standardised 5-year net survival was similar in the USA (58%) and Northern and Western Europe (54-56%) and lowest in Eastern Europe (42%). The mean excess hazard up to 5 years after diagnosis was highest in Eastern Europe, especially among elderly patients and those with Dukes' D tumours. CONCLUSIONS: The wide differences in colorectal cancer survival between Europe and the USA in the late 1990s are probably attributable to earlier stage and more extensive use of surgery and adjuvant treatment in the USA. Elderly patients with colorectal cancer received surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy less often than younger patients, despite evidence that they could also have benefited.