The influence of posterior corneal surface astigmatism on residual astigmatism

It has often been found that corneal astigmatism exceeds the amount exhibited by the eye as a whole. This difference is usually referred to as residual astigmatism. Scrutiny of the studies of corneal astigmatismreveal that what has actually been measured is the astigmatic contributionof the anterior corneal surface alone. This anterior surface is easily measured whereas measurement of the posterior corneal surface is much more difficult. A method was therefore developed to measure the radius and toricity of the posterior corneal surface. The method relies upon photography of the first and second Purkinje images in three fixed meridians. Keratometry, comparison of anterior and posterior corneal Purkinje images and pachometricdata were applied to three meridional analysis equations, allowing the posterior corneal surface to be described in sphero-cylindrical form. Measurements were taken from 80 healthy subjects from two distinct age groups. The first consisted of 60 young subjects, mean age 22.04 years and the second consisted of 20 old subjects, mean age 74.64 years. The young group consisted of 28 myopes, 24 emmetropes and 8 hyperopes. The old group consisted of 6 myopes and 14 hyperopes. There was an equal number of males and females in each group. These groupings allowed the study of the effects of age, ametropia and gender on the posterior corneal toricity. The effect of the posterior corneal surface on residual astigmatism was assessed and was found to cause an overall reduction. This reduction was due primarily to the posterior corneal surface being consistently steeper relative to the anterior surface in the vertical meridian compared to the horizontal meridian.

Combining temporal and spectral information with spatial mapping to identify differences between phonological and semantic networks:a magnetoencephalographic approach

Early, lesion-based models of language processing suggested that semantic and phonological processes are associated with distinct temporal and parietal regions respectively, with frontal areas more indirectly involved. Contemporary spatial brain mapping techniques have not supported such clear-cut segregation, with strong evidence of activation in left temporal areas by both processes and disputed evidence of involvement of frontal areas in both processes. We suggest that combining spatial information with temporal and spectral data may allow a closer scrutiny of the differential involvement of closely overlapping cortical areas in language processing. Using beamforming techniques to analyze magnetoencephalography data, we localized the neuronal substrates underlying primed responses to nouns requiring either phonological or semantic processing, and examined the associated measures of time and frequency in those areas where activation was common to both tasks. Power changes in the beta (14-30 Hz) and gamma (30-50 Hz) frequency bandswere analyzed in pre-selected time windows of 350-550 and 500-700ms In left temporal regions, both tasks elicited power changes in the same time window (350-550 ms), but with different spectral characteristics, low beta (14-20 Hz) for the phonological task and high beta (20-30 Hz) for the semantic task. In frontal areas (BA10), both tasks elicited power changes in the gamma band (30-50 Hz), but in different time windows, 500-700ms for the phonological task and 350-550ms for the semantic task. In the left inferior parietal area (BA40), both tasks elicited changes in the 20-30 Hz beta frequency band but in different time windows, 350-550ms for the phonological task and 500-700ms for the semantic task. Our findings suggest that, where spatial measures may indicate overlapping areas of involvement, additional beamforming techniques can demonstrate differential activation in time and frequency domains. © 2012 McNab, Hillebrand, Swithenby and Rippon.

Talking at cross-purposes? The missing link between feminist linguistics and translation studies

Following decades of feminist linguistic activism, and as a result of a greater awareness of the vital role that non-sexist language plays in achieving social equality, different campaigns were launched in many countries leading to a more frequent use of so-called inclusive language. Bringing this together with current theoretical approaches to translation studies which have been defining translation as an ideological act of intercultural mediation since the 1990s, this article seeks to examine to what extent feminist linguistics have had any influence on translation studies. My purpose is to assess whether particular feminist linguistic interventions in vogue when writing ‘original’ texts within the realm of the source language are also adopted when (re)writing ‘translated’ texts in the target language, bearing in mind the double (con)textual responsibility that translators have towards the source and the target (con)texts. I will examine the arguments for and against the use of inclusive language in (literary) translation through an analysis of the ‘ideological struggle’ that emerged from two ideologically disparate rewritings of gender markers into Galician of the British bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (2003), focusing on the ideological, poetic and economic pressures that (still) define the professional practice of translation. It is my contention that the close scrutiny of these conflicting arguments will shed light not only on the existing gap between the theory and practice of translation, but may be also indicative of a possible ‘missing link’ between feminist approaches to linguistics and to translation studies.

Did mass privatisation really increase post-communist male mortality?

A recent article in the Lancet, by David Stuckler, Larry King and Martin McKee, investigated anew the fluctuations in adult male mortality rates that have come to characterise the so-called post-communist mortality crisis. Adopting a cross-country, time-series perspective the authors examined how the economic policy strategies of the 1990s impacted upon observed fluctuations in mortality. They conclude that the adoption of a strategy of rapid (mass) privatisation contributed to the adverse mortality trends. We subject that finding to closer scrutiny using the same data from which the Stuckler et al claim stems. We find that their claim that mass privatisation adversely affected male mortality trends in the post-Communist world does not stand up to closer examination. It is not supported empirically and is at odds with what we know about both transition in the post-communist world and about health trends over time in this region.

Glycaemic control and cardiovascular outcome trials in type 2 diabetes

Large prospective trials designed to assess the relationship between metabolic control and CV outcomes in type 2 diabetes have entered a new phase of scrutiny due to strict requirements imposed by the FDA to assess new anti-diabetic agents. So what have we learned from recently completed trials and what do we expect to learn from on-going trials?

The scrutinized priest:women in the Church of England negotiating professional and sacred clothing regimes

This article examines the integration of women priests in the Church of England through the lens of dress. Clothing is a salient dynamic in occupational cultures, particularly in relation to the regulation of gendered bodies. Women's ordination to the priesthood was only sanctioned in 1992. Complex clothing regimes are negotiated, for ordination bestows upon the priest certain clothing rights and responsibilities. However, such attire has traditionally been associated only with the male body, creating tension in relation to women's appropriation of this sacred and professional dress. Based on in-depth interviews with 17 Anglican clergy women, this article will focus both on the scrutiny the women experienced in relation to their clothing choices, as well as the relationship the women themselves negotiated with their clothes. It will be argued that as representatives of both a sacred and professional domain, clothing had to be carefully managed by clergy. Dress functioned as a key test in women's integration into the organization, often operating as a constraining and exclusionary mechanism. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Is the French model giving way to a new 'Logic of Appropriateness'? Lessons from urban waste management

Processes of European integration and growing consumer scrutiny of public services have served to place the spotlight on the traditional French model of public/private interaction in the urban services domain. This article discusses recent debates within France of the institutionalised approach to local public/private partnership, and presents case study evidence from three urban agglomerations of a possible divergence from this approach. Drawing on the work of French academic, Dominique Lorrain, whose historical institutionalist accounts of the French model are perhaps the most comprehensive and best known, the article develops two hypotheses of institutional change, one from the historical institutionalist perspective of institutional stability and persistence, and the other from an explicitly sociological perspective, which emphasises the legitimating benefits of following appropriate rules of conduct. It argues that further studying the French model as an institution offers valuable empirical insight into processes of institutional change and persistence. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Regulating audit beyond the crisis:a critical discussion of the EU green paper

With the European Commission making global leadership claims in the field of audit regulation, the content of its 2010 Green Paper on ‘Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis’ warrants careful scrutiny. Important issues raised in the Green Paper include regulatory oversight, competition in the audit market, the dangers of having very few firms with the capacity to audit global transnational corporations, professional judgement, innovative audit practices and, last but not least, social responsibility. This article analyses the principal perspectives and assumptions underpinning the construction of the Green Paper. The aims are threefold: to enhance understanding of the contemporary regulatory mindset of the European Commission, contribute to policy debate and inspire future research.

"Customer" knowledge management in healthcare

This paper reports on a work-in-progress project on the management of patient knowledge in a UK general hospital. Greater involvement of patients is generally seen as crucial to the effective provision of healthcare in the future. However, this presents many challenges, especially in the light of the ageing population in most developed countries and the consequent increasing demand for healthcare. In the UK, there have been many attempts to increase patient involvement by the systematisation of patient feedback, but typically they have not been open to academic scrutiny or formal evaluation, nor have they used any knowledge management principles. The theoretical foundations for this project come first from service management and thence from customer knowledge management. Service management stresses the importance of the customer perspective. Healthcare clearly meets the definitions of a service even though it may also include some tangible elements such as surgery and provision of medication. Although regarding hospital patients purely as "customers" is a viewpoint that needs to be used with care, application of the theory offers potential benefits in healthcare. The two main elements we propose to use from the theory are the type of customer knowledge and its relationship to attributes of the quality of the service provided. The project is concerned with investigating various knowledge management systems (KMS) that are currently in use (or proposed) to systematise patient feedback in an NHS Trust hospital, to manage knowledge from and to a lesser extent about patients. The study is a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) action research investigation intended to answer the following three research questions: • How can a KMS be used as a mechanism to capture and evaluate patient experiences to provoke patient service change • How can the KMS assist in providing a mechanism for systematising patient engagement? • How can patient feedback be used to stimulate improvements in care, quality and safety?

The best days of your life? Youth, policy and Blair's New Labour

Since the election of New Labour in 1997, young people's relationship to work and to the labour market has been the subject of intense scrutiny and policy activity. By equipping young workers with the qualifications and skills they are held to need in the knowledge economy, the government hopes to reconcile its quest for economic progress with the commitment to social justice for young people. However, as this article argues, the importance invested in this area of 'youth policy' overlays a more fundamental process of disengagement in which New Labour is presiding over the withdrawal of those traditional sources of support it has held out to the young. For this reason, the article concludes by suggesting that the importance that New Labour attaches to policy for young workers tells us more about the needs of government than it does about the needs of young people.

Taming the TAME systems

This volume on TAME systems (Tense-aspect-mood-evidentiality) stems from the 10th Chronos conference that took place in Aston University (Birmingham, UK) on 18th-20th April 2011. The papers collated here are therefore a chosen selection from a stringent peer-review process. They also witness to the width and breadth of the interests pursued within the Chronos community. Besides the traditional Western European languages, this volume explores languages from Eastern Europe (Greek, Romanian, Russian) and much further afield such as Brazilian Portuguese, Korean or Mandarin Chinese. Little known languages from the Amazonian forest (Amondawa, Baure) or the Andes (Aymara) also come under scrutiny.

New drugs for type 2 diabetes mellitus:what is their place in therapy?

Oral therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus, when used appropriately, can safely assist patients to achieve glycaemic targets in the short to medium term. However, the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes usually requires a combination of two or more oral agents in the longer term, often as a prelude to insulin therapy. Issues of safety and tolerability, notably weight gain, often limit the optimal application of anti-diabetic drugs such as sulforylureas and thiazolidinediones. Moreover, the impact of different drugs, even within a single class, on the risk of long-term vascular complications has come under scrutiny. For example, recent publication of evidence suggesting potential detrimental effects of rosiglitazone on myocardial events generated a heated debate and led to a reduction in use of this drug. In contrast, current evidence supports the view that pioglitazone has vasculoprotective properties. Both drugs are contraindicated in patients who are at risk of heart failure. An additional recently identified safety concern is an increased risk of fractures, especially in postmenopausal women. Several new drugs with glucose-lowering efficacy that may offer certain advantages have recently become available. These include (i) injectable glucagonlike peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and oral dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors; (ii) the amylin analogue pramlintide; and (iii) selective cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1) antagonists. GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as exenatide, stimulate nutrient-induced insulin secretion and reduce inappropriate glucagon secretion while delaying gastric emptying and reducing appetite. These agents offer a low risk of hypoglycaemia combined with sustained weight loss. The DPP-4 inhibitors sitagliptin and vildagliptin are generally weight neutral, with less marked gastrointestinal adverse effects than the GLP-1 receptor agonists. Potential benefits of GLP-1 receptor stimulation on P cell neogenesis are under investigation. Pancreatitis has been reported in exenatide-treated patients. Pramlintide, an injected peptide used in combination with insulin, can reduce insulin dose and bodyweight. The CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant promotes weight loss and has favourable effects on aspects of the metabolic syndrome, including the hyperglycaemia of type 2 diabetes. However, in 2007 the US FDA declined approval of rimonabant, requiring more data on adverse effects, notably depression. The future of dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha/gamma agonists, or glitazars, is presently uncertain following concerns about their safety. In conclusion, several new classes of drugs have recently become available in some countries that offer new options for treating type 2 diabetes. Beneficial or neutral effects on bodyweight are an attractive feature of the new drugs. However, the higher cost of these agents, coupled with an absence of long-term safety and clinical outcome data, need to be taken into consideration by clinicians and healthcare organizations.

An Intelligent System for Investigations and Provision of Safety for Complex Constructions

Methodology of computer-aided investigation and provision of safety for complex constructions and a prototype of the intelligent applied system, which implements it, are considered. The methodology is determined by the model of the object under scrutiny, by the structure and functions of investigation of safety as well as by a set of research methods. The methods are based on the technologies of object-oriented databases, expert systems and on the mathematical modeling. The intelligent system’s prototype represents component software, which provides for support of decision making in the process of safety investigations and investigation of the cause of failure. Support of decision making is executed by analogy, by determined search for the precedents (cases) with respect to predicted (on the stage of design) and observed (on the stage of exploitation) parameters of the damage, destruction and malfunction of a complex hazardous construction.

Eye alignment:a novel approach

This thesis describes the design and development of an eye alignment/tracking system which allows self alignment of the eye’s optical axis with a measurement axis. Eye alignment is an area of research largely over-looked, yet it is a fundamental requirement in the acquisition of clinical data from the eye. New trends in the ophthalmic market, desiring portable hand-held apparatus, and the application of ophthalmic measurements in areas other than vision care have brought eye alignment under new scrutiny. Ophthalmic measurements taken in hand-held devices with out an clinician present requires alignment in an entirely new set of circumstances, requiring a novel solution. In order to solve this problem, the research has drawn upon eye tracking technology to monitor the eye, and a principle of self alignment to perform alignment correction. A handheld device naturally lends itself to the patient performing alignment, thus a technique has been designed to communicate raw eye tracking data to the user in a manner which allows the user to make the necessary corrections. The proposed technique is a novel methodology in which misalignment to the eye’s optical axis can be quantified, corrected and evaluated. The technique uses Purkinje Image tracking to monitor the eye’s movement as well as the orientation of the optical axis. The use of two sets of Purkinje Images allows quantification of the eye’s physical parameters needed for accurate Purkinje Image tracking, negating the need for prior anatomical data. An instrument employing the methodology was subsequently prototyped and validated, allowing a sample group to achieve self alignment of their optical axis with an imaging axis within 16.5-40.8 s, and with a rotational precision of 0.03-0.043°(95% confidence intervals). By encompassing all these factors the technique facilitates self alignment from an unaligned position on the visual axis to an aligned position on the optical axis. The consequence of this is that ophthalmic measurements, specifically pachymetric measurements, can be made in the absence of an optician, allowing the use of ophthalmic instrumentation and measurements in health professions other than vision care.

State–society relations in a dynamic framework:the case of the Far East and Sub-Saharan Africa

According to the textbook approach, the developmental states of the Far East have been considered as strong and autonomous entities. Although their bureaucratic elites have remained isolated from direct pressures stemming from society, the state capacity has also been utilised in order to allocate resources in the interest of the whole society. Yet, society – by and large –has remained weak and subordinated to the state elite. On the other hand, the general perception of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been just the opposite. The violent and permanent conflict amongst rent-seeking groups for influence and authority over resources has culminated in a situation where states have become extremely weak and fragmented, while society – depending on the capacity of competing groups for mobilising resources to organise themselves mostly on a regional or local level (resulting in local petty kingdoms) – has never had the chance to evolve as a strong player. State failure in the literature, therefore, – in the context of SSA – refers not just to a weak and captured state but also to a non-functioning, and sometimes even non-existent society, too. Recently, however, the driving forces of globalisation might have triggered serious changes in the above described status quo. Accordingly, our hypothesis is the following: globalisation, especially the dynamic changes of technology, capital and communication have made the simplistic “strong state–weak society” (in Asia) and “weak state–weak society” (in Africa) categorisation somewhat obsolete. While our comparative study has a strong emphasis on the empirical scrutiny of trying to uncover the dynamics of changes in state–society relations in the two chosen regions both qualitatively and quantitatively, it also aims at complementing the meaning and essence of the concepts and methodology of stateness, state capacity and state-society relations, the well-known building blocks of the seminal works of Evans (1995), Leftwich (1995), Migdal (1988) or Myrdal (1968).