Address by Michea¡l Martin to the Conference - Legislating for Tobacco Free Society

Thank you Chairman I would like to extend a warm welcome to our keynote speakers, David Byrne of the European Commission, Derek Yach from the World Health Organisation, and Paul Quinn representing Congressman Marty Meehan who sends his apologies. When we include the speakers who will address later sessions, this is, undoubtedly, one of the strongest teams that have been assembled on tobacco control in Europe. The very strength of the team underlines what I see as a shift – a very necessary shift – in the way we perceive the tobacco issue. For the last twenty years, we have lived out a paradox. It isn´t a social side issue. I make no apology for the bluntness of what I´m saying, and will come back, a little later, to the radicalism I believe we need to bring – nationally – to this issue. For starters, though, I want to lay it on the line that what we´re talking about is an epidemic as deadly as any suffered by human kind throughout the centuries. Slower than some of those epidemics in its lethal action, perhaps. But an epidemic, nonetheless. According to the World Health Organisation tobacco accounted for just over 3 million annual deaths in 1990, rising to 4.023 million annual deaths in 1998. The numbers of deaths due to tobacco will rise to 8.4 million in 2020 and reach roughly 10 million annually by 2030. This is quite simply ghastly. Tobacco kills. It kills in many different ways. It kills increasing numbers of women. It does its damage directly and indirectly. For children, much of the damage comes from smoking by adults where children live, study, play and work. The very least we should be able to offer every child is breathable air. Air that doesn´t do them damage. We´re now seeing a global public health response to the tobacco epidemic. The Tobacco Free Initiative launched by the World Health Organisation was matched by significant tobacco control initiatives throughout the world. During this conference we will hear about the experiences our speakers had in driving these initiatives. This Tobacco Free Initiative poses unique challenges to our legal frameworks at both national and international levels; in particular it raises challenges about the legal context in which tobacco products are traded and asks questions about the impact of commercial speech especially on children, and the extent of the limitations that should be imposed on it. Politicians, supported by economists and lawyers as well as the medical profession, must continue to explore and develop this context to find innovative ways to wrap public health considerations around the trade in tobacco products – very tightly. We also have the right to demand a totally new paradigm from the tobacco industry. Bluntly, the tobacco industry plays the PR game at its cynical worst. The industry sells its products without regard to the harm these products cause. At the same time, to gain social acceptance, it gives donations, endowments and patronage to high profile events and people. Not good enough. This model of behaviour is no longer acceptable in a modern society. We need one where the industry integrates social responsibility and accountability into its day-to-day activities. We have waited for this change in behaviour from the tobacco industry for many decades. Unfortunately the documents disclosed during litigation in the USA and from other sources make very depressing reading; it is clear from them that any trust society placed in the tobacco industry in the past to address the health problems associated with its products was misplaced. This industry appears to lack the necessary leadership to guide it towards just and responsible action. Instead, it chooses evasion, deception and at times illegal activity to protect its profits at any price and to avoid its responsibilities to society and its customers. It has engaged in elaborate ´spin´ to generate political tolerance, scientific uncertainty and public acceptance of its products. Legislators must act now. I see no reason why the global community should continue to wait. Effective legal controls must be laid on this errant industry. We should also keep these controls under review at regular intervals and if they are failing to achieve the desired outcomes we should be prepared to amend them. In Ireland, as Minister for Health and Children, I launched a comprehensive tobacco control policy entitled “Towards a Tobacco Free Society“. OTT?Excessive?Unrealistic? On the contrary – I believe it to be imperative and inevitable. I honestly hold that, given the range of fatal diseases caused by tobacco use we have little alternative but to pursue the clear objective of creating a tobacco free society. Aiming at a tobacco free society means ensuring public and political opinion are properly informed. It requires help to be given to smokers to break the addiction. It demands that people are protected against environmental tobacco smoke and children are protected from any inducement to experiment with this product. Over the past year we have implemented a number of measures which will support these objectives; we have established an independent Office of Tobacco Control, we have introduced free nicotine replacement therapy for low-income earners, we have extended our existing prohibitions on tobacco advertising to the print media with some minor derogations for international publications. We have raised the legal age at which a person can be sold tobacco products to eighteen years. We have invested substantially more funds in health promotion activities and we have mounted sustained information campaigns. We have engaged in sponsorship arrangements, which are new and innovative for public bodies. I have provided health boards with additional resources to let them mount a sustained inspection and enforcement service. Health boards will engage new Directors of Tobacco Control responsible for coordinating each health board´s response and for liasing with the Tobacco Control Agency I set up earlier this year. Most recently, I have published a comprehensive Bill – The Public Health (Tobacco) Bill, 2001. This Bill will, among other things, end all forms of product display and in-store advertising and will require all retailers to register with the new Tobacco Control Agency. Ten packs of cigarettes will be banned and transparent and independent testing procedures of tobacco products will be introduced. Enforcement officers will be given all the necessary powers to ensure there is full compliance with the law. On smoking in public places we will extend the existing areas covered and it is proposed that I, as Minister for Health and Children, will have the powers to introduce further prohibitions in public places such as pubs and the work place. I will also provide for the establishment of a Tobacco Free Council to advise and assist on an ongoing basis. I believe the measures already introduced and those additional ones proposed in the Bill have widespread community support. In fact, you´re going to hear a detailed presentation from the MRBI which will amply illustrate the extent of this support. The great thing is that the support comes from smokers and non-smokers alike. Bottom line, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that we are at a watershed. As a society (if you´ll allow me to play with a popular phrase) we´ve realised it´s time to ´wake up and smell the cigarettes.´ Smell them. See them for what they are. And get real about destroying their hold on our people. The MRBI survey makes it clear that the single strongest weapon we have when it comes to preventing the habit among young people is price. Simple as that. Price. Up to now, the fear of inflation has been a real impediment to increasing taxes on tobacco. It sounds a serious, logical argument. Until you take it out and look at it a little more closely. Weigh it, as it were, in two hands. I believe – and I believe this with a great passion – that we must take cigarettes out of the equation we use when awarding wage increases. I am calling on IBEC and ICTU, on employers and trade unions alike, to move away from any kind of tolerance of a trade that is killing our citizens. At one point in industrial history, cigarettes were a staple of the workingman´s life. So it was legitimate to include them in the ´basket´ of goods that goes to make up the Consumer Price Index. It isn´t legitimate to include them any more. Today, I´m saying that society collectively must take the step to remove cigarettes from the basket of normality, from the list of elements which constitute necessary consumer spending. I´m saying: “We can no longer delude ourselves. We must exclude cigarettes from the considerations we address in central wage bargaining. We must price cigarettes out of the reach of the children those cigarettes will kill.” Right now, in the monthly Central Statistics Office reports on consumer spending, the figures include cigarettes. But – right down at the bottom of the page – there´s another figure. Calculated without including cigarettes. I believe that if we continue to use the first figure as our constant measure, it will be an indictment of us as legislators, as advocates for working people, as public health professionals. If, on the other hand, we move to the use of the second figure, we will be sending out a message of startling clarity to the nation. We will be saying “We don´t count an addictive, killer drug as part of normal consumer spending.” Taking cigarettes out of the basket used to determine the Consumer Price Index will take away the inflation argument. It will not be easy, in its implications for the social partners. But it is morally inescapable. We must do it. Because it will help us stop the killer that is tobacco. If we can do it, we will give so much extra strength to health educators and the new Tobacco Control Association. This new organisation of young people who already have branches in over fifteen counties, is represented here today. The young adults who make up its membership are well placed to advise children of the dangers of tobacco addiction in a way that older generations cannot. It would strengthen their hand if cigarettes move – in price terms – out of the easy reach of our children Finally, I would like to commend so many public health advocates who have shown professional and indeed personal courage in their commitment to this critical public health issue down through the years. We need you to continue to challenge and confront this grave public health problem and to repudiate the questionable science of the tobacco industry. The Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society represents a new and dynamic form of partnership between government and civil society. It will provide an effective platform to engage and mobilise the many different professional and academic skills necessary to guide and challenge us. I wish the conference every success.

Integración de Hadoop con planificadores batch

Cada vez es mayor el número de aplicaciones desarrolladas en el ámbito científico, como en la Bioinformática o en las Geociencias, escritas bajo el modelo MapReduce, empleando herramientas de código abierto como Apache Hadoop. De la necesidad de integrar Hadoop en entornos HPC, para posibilitar la ejecutar aplicaciones desarrolladas bajo el paradigma MapReduce, nace el presente proyecto. Se analizan dos frameworks diseñados para facilitar dicha integración a los desarrolladores: HoD y myHadoop. En este proyecto se analiza, tanto las posibilidades en cuanto a entornos que ofrecen dichos frameworks para la ejecución de aplicaciones MapReduce, como el rendimiento de los clúster Hadoop generados con HoD o myHadoop respecto a un clúster Hadoop físico.

Integration and development in schizotypy research : an introduction to the special supplement

In its fifth decade of existence, the construct of schizotypy is recapturing the early scientific interest it attracted when Paul E. Meehl (1920-2003), who coined the term, pioneered the field of schizotypy research. The International Lemanic Workshop on Schizotypy, hosted at the University of Geneva in December 2013, recently offered an opportunity to address some of the fundamental questions in contemporary schizotypy research and situate the construct in the greater scheme of future scientific projects on schizophrenia and psychological health research. What kind of knowledge has schizotypy research provided in furthering our understanding of schizophrenia? What types of questions can schizotypy research tackle, and which are the conceptual and methodological frameworks to address them? How will schizotypy research contribute to future scientific endeavors? The International Lemanic Workshop brought together leading experts in the field around the tasks of articulating the essential findings in schizotypy research, as well as providing some key insights and guidance to face scientific challenges of the future. The current supplement contains 8 position articles, 4 research articles, and 1 invited commentary that outline the state of the art in schizotypy research today

Disseny i implementació d'un marc de treball de presentació per aplicacions J2EE

Estudi i desenvolupament de frameworks de presentació sota la tecnologia J2EE. Anàlisi de les eines existents i construcció d'una proposta pròpia en base a les conclusions obtingudes.

Disseny i implementació d'un marc de treball (framework) de presentació per aplicacions J2EE : Jewel Framework

El present projecte tracta sobre el desenvolupament d'un marc de treball o framework per la capa de presentació d'aplicacions J2EE.En un primer bloc, s'analitzen els frameworks més utilitzats al món empresarial a dia d'avui: Struts 2, Spring MVC i JavaServer Faces. S'estudia com funcionen i les característiques principals de cada un, comparant-les per veure quines són comuns a tots i es consideren imprescindibles per un framework d'aquest tipus. A més, es fa un anàlisi exhaustiu dels patrons J2EE i les bones pràctiques que poden aportar al projecte.El segon bloc del projecte és el desenvolupament de Jewel Framework, el marc de treball que s'ha creat. Primer, s'analitza quines són les funcionalitats que ha de complir el framework i es fa un disseny de l'arquitectura i estructura que segueix. Després, s'implementa seguint el disseny i tenint cura que es compleixin tots els requisits, tant funcionals com de qualitat del producte. Finalment, es dissenya i desenvolupa una aplicació d'exemple que demostra la usabilitat i bon funcionament de Jewel.

Gestió de Centres en J2EE

Veurem el desenvolupament del projecte pas a pas, des de l¿estudi dels marcs de treballs més importants que es poden incorporar en projectes J2EE, passant per un anàlisi i disseny acurat, fins arribar a la implementació dels mòduls bàsics que inclouria el sistema de gestió dels centres intentant aprofitar totes les avantatges que ens ofereixen els marcs de treball més adients i tecnologies de darrera generació con AJAX per a fer un sistema flexible i robust capaç d¿assolir totes les necessitats de gestió de la informació dels centres. També veurem com apliquen diversos patrons en aquesta arquitectura client-servidor de tres capes aconseguint, entre altres aspectes, que cada component s¿assigni a una capa a un cert nivell d¿abstracció.

PHA - improving cardiovascular services

?The Public Health Agency has identified ways of delivering cardiovascular services that will help to tackle health inequalities. These are described in a new "health impact assessment" report, launched on 1 June at the Maureen Sheehan Centre, Belfast.The PHA, in partnership with a wide variety of community, voluntary and statutory bodies, leads the work to improve cardiovascular health and wellbeing, through better prevention and treatment services, delivered through a 'cardiovascular service framework'. The result of a wide consultation, this new report will help to improve the way those services are delivered by focusing on the needs of disadvantaged people.Explaining the importance of this work, Dr Adrian Mairs, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, PHA, said: "The Public Health Agency was set up to tackle health inequalities and promote better health and wellbeing across Northern Ireland. Despite many improvements in prevention and treatment, cardiovascular diseases remain the main cause of death in Northern Ireland. We know that these diseases, including heart disease, stroke, circulation problems, diabetes and renal disease have a greater and more severe impact on people living in poverty. "This work will help us to reduce the health inequalities that exist in our society by improving the way cardiovascular services are developed and delivered, eg ensuring stop smoking services meet local needs, identifying and treating high blood pressure, and helping people to take their medicines properly."The health impact assessment has been developed from other work, including a literature review, cardiovascular health and wellbeing profile, and full technical report. All of these resources are available on the PHA website, under 'Directorates', 'Service Development and Screening'. The work will also be used to help the development of service frameworks covering other disease areas. Putting a health inequalities focus on Northern Ireland cardiovascular service framework - Summary report: www.publichealth.hscni.net/publications/putting-health-inequalities-focu... health and wellbeing profile for Northern Ireland: www.publichealth.hscni.net/publications/cardiovascular-health-and-wellbe... health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland - Literature review: www.publichealth.hscni.net/publications/cardiovascular-health-and-wellbe... focus (newsletter): www.publichealth.hscni.net/publications/hia-focus

Putting a health inequalities focus on Northern Ireland cardiovascular service framework - Summary report

The PHA, supported by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and other agencies and individuals, has completed a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Cardiovascular Service Framework (CVSFW) for Northern Ireland.The CVSFW is the first in a series of service frameworks developed in Northern Ireland to guide HSC provision from prevention and health improvement over early intervention in communities and general practice into hospital and other institutional settings towards rehabilitation, palliative care and end of life.The CVSFW is relevant to everyone who has a part in HSC services for health improvement, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), peripheral vascular disease and renal disease. This includes patients, carers, families, communities, voluntary and statutory service providers, policy makers and researchers.

Putting a health inequalities focus on the Northern Ireland cardiovascular service framework

The PHA, supported by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and other agencies and individuals, has completed a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Cardiovascular Service Framework (CVSFW) for Northern Ireland.The CVSFW is the first in a series of service frameworks developed in Northern Ireland to guide HSC provision from prevention and health improvement over early intervention in communities and general practice into hospital and other institutional settings towards rehabilitation, palliative care and end of life.The CVSFW is relevant to everyone who has a part in HSC services for health improvement, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), peripheral vascular disease and renal disease. This includes patients, carers, families, communities, voluntary and statutory service providers, policy makers and researchers. There are many determinants which impact on cardiovascular disease. Individual lifestyles are major contributors and smoking remains one of the biggest risk factors for the disease alongside sedentary lifestyles and alcohol consumption. Circumstances experienced during the early years influence health and wellbeing into adulthood. Breastfeeding can help protect against obesity, while physical activity and eating habits developed from a young age often form lifelong patterns of behaviour. Living and working conditions also impact on health. Type of job, level of control and employment conditions are major factors. Educational achievement and income are also powerful influences on health. The environment where we live can provide access to open and green space, which plays an important part in physical activity patterns alongside available transport infrastructure. As well as physical health impacts, all of these factors also influence mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Cardiovascular health and wellbeing profile for Northern Ireland

The PHA, supported by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and other agencies and individuals, has completed a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Cardiovascular Service Framework (CVSFW) for Northern Ireland.The CVSFW is the first in a series of service frameworks developed in Northern Ireland to guide HSC provision from prevention and health improvement over early intervention in communities and general practice into hospital and other institutional settings towards rehabilitation, palliative care and end of life.The CVSFW is relevant to everyone who has a part in HSC services for health improvement, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), peripheral vascular disease and renal disease. This includes patients, carers, families, communities, voluntary and statutory service providers, policy makers and researchers.

Cardiovascular health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland - Literature review

The PHA, supported by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and other agencies and individuals, has completed a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Cardiovascular Service Framework (CVSFW) for Northern Ireland.The CVSFW is the first in a series of service frameworks developed in Northern Ireland to guide HSC provision from prevention and health improvement over early intervention in communities and general practice into hospital and other institutional settings towards rehabilitation, palliative care and end of life.The CVSFW is relevant to everyone who has a part in HSC services for health improvement, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), peripheral vascular disease and renal disease. This includes patients, carers, families, communities, voluntary and statutory service providers, policy makers and researchers.

Desarrollo de aplicaciones con J2EEProyecto onLineStore

Estudi detallat del framework JavaServer Faces (d'ara endavant, JSF's) per al desenvolupament de aplicacions web, i mostra com integrar amb altres marcs de treball, específicament, Spring i JPA. Per a això, crearem l'aplicació Web onLineStore, un sistema de catàleg de productes en línia.

Social inequalities in health. New evidence and policy implications

Health inequalities according to people's social standing are persisting, or even growing, in modern societies. Recent decades have revealed evidence of strong variations in life expectancy, both between countries and within them. This widening of social inequalities has developed despite considerable progress in medical science and an increase in health care spending. The reasons behind this are complex, and the implications considerable.   This book provides a summary of the major achievements of a five-year European Science Foundation (ESF) Programme on 'Social Variations in Health Expectancy in Europe'. The contributors are major figures in their subjects, and combine state of the art reviews with the latest results from interdisciplinary research in epidemiology, sociology, psychology and biomedicine.   Three conceptual frameworks of life course influences, health effects of stressful environments, and macro social determinants of health, are unified, while each chapter addresses the policy implications and recommendations derived from currently available evidence. The major topics covered include the role of family in early life, social integration and health, work stress and job security, successful ways of facing adversity, and the impact of the larger environment on health. Epidemiologists, public health research and policy makers, and students of related public health and sociology courses wlll find the results of this research fascinating.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Estudio, Comparativa y Aplicación Práctica de Metodologías deDesarrollo de Aplicaciones Web en Java

L'estudi es centra sobre alguns dels frameworks que podem trobar al mercat. A més, agrupa els frameworks en funció de la part de l'aplicació sobre la qual centra el seu suport, presentació, lògica de negoci, persistència de dades, seguretat ..., oferint una visió dels seus aspectes més rellevants. A continuació es realitza una comparació entre alguns dels frameworks estudiats per facilitar la seva elecció segons les necessitats de l'aplicació a construir.

Diseñó e implementación de un frameword de persistencia

L'objectiu d'aquest PFC és realitzar un estudi complet des de l'àmbit d'allò general (què és un framework), passant per l'anàlisi de les característiques dels framework, fins arribar al detall pel que fa als framework de persistència.