Teaching practice recommendations: prevention and screening

The aim of this article is to provide guidance to family doctors on how to tutor students about effective screening and primary prevention. Family doctors know their patients and adapt national and international guidelines to their specific context, risk profile, sex and age as well as to the prevalence of the disorders under consideration. Three cases are presented to illustrate guideline use according to the level of evidence (for a 19-year-old man, a 60-year-old woman, and an 80-year-old man). A particular strength of family medicine is that doctors see their patients over the years. Thus they can progressively go through the various prevention strategies, screening, counselling and immunisation, accompanying their patients with precious advice for their health throughout their lifetime.

Role of Crop Research and Development in food Security of Africa

Food security is the main concern in Africa as the production and productivity of crops are under continuous threat. Indigenous crops also known as orphan- or as underutilized- crops provide key contributions to food security under the present scenario of increasing world population and changing climate. Hence, these crops which belong to the major categories of cereals, legumes, fruits and root crops play a key role in the livelihood of the resource-poor farmers and consumers since they perform better than the major world crops under extreme soil and climate conditions prevalent in the continent. These indigenous crops have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of the region. However, despite their huge importance, African crops have generally received little attention by the global scientific community. With the current production systems, only a fraction of yield potential was achieved for most of these crops. In order to devise strategies towards boosting crop productivity in Africa, the current production constraints should be investigated and properly addressed. Key traits known to increase productivity and/or improve nutrition and diverse conventional and modern crop improvement techniques need to be implemented. Commitments in the value-chain from the research, production, marketing to distribution of improved seeds are required by relevant national and international institutions as well as African governments to promote food security in a sustainable manner. The review also presents major achievements and suggestions for stakeholders interested in African agriculture.

Human rights and international trade

Economic globalization and respect for human rights are both highly topical issues. In theory, more trade should increase economic welfare and protection of human rights should ensure individual dignity. Both fields of law protect certain freedoms: economic development should lead to higher human rights standards, and UN embargoes are used to secure compliance with human rights agreements. However the interaction between trade liberalisation and human rights protection is complex, and recently, tension has arisen between these two areas. Do WTO obligations covering intellectual property prevent governments from implementing their human rights obligations, including rights to food or health? Is it fair to accord the benefits of trade subject to a clean human rights record? This book first examines the theoretical framework of the interaction between the disciplines of international trade law and human rights. It builds upon the well-known debate between Professor Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, who construes trade obligations as human rights, and Professor Philip Alston, who warns of a merger and acquisition of human rights by trade law. From this starting point, further chapters explore the differing legal matrices of the two fields and examine how cooperation between them might be improved, both in international law-making and institutions,in dispute settlement. The interaction between trade and human rights is then explored through seven case studies:freedom of expression and competition law; IP protection and health; agricultural trade and the right to food; trade restrictions on conflict WHO convention on tobacco control; and, finally, human rights conditionalities in preferential trade schemes.

Spine radiography in the evaluation of back and neck pain in an orthopaedic emergency clinic

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Despite the recommendations of national and international societies for the treatment of patients with acute neck and back pain, still too many radiologic examinations were performed. The purpose of this study was to analyze and optimize diagnostics and treatment of patients with acute back pain. METHODS The medical records of 484 patients presented to the emergency clinic with acute neck or back pain were analyzed for clinical history, physical examination, radiographic findings and therapy. RESULTS Radiographs of the lumbar, cervical, or thoracic spine were performed in 338 cases (70%). Radiographs were normal in 142 patients (42%) and degenerative changes were identified in 123 patients (36%). Only 2 patients (0.4%) had radiographic findings that had direct therapeutic relevance: 1 patient with metastatic disease and 1 patient with posttraumatic C1-C2 instability. For most patients without sensorimotor deficits and absent specific indications for radiography (���red flags���), therapy was not affected by the results of radiography. CONCLUSIONS Plain radiography of the spine was unnecessary in most patients initially evaluated with non-specific acute back pain and does not improve the clinical outcome. The implementation of national and international guidelines is a slow process, but helps to reduce costs and to protect patients from unnecessary ionizing radiation exposure.

Maternal ingestion of radon-222 in drinking water and the absorbed radiation dose to the embryo

Maternal ingestion of high concentrations of radon-222 (Rn-222) in drinking during pregnancy may pose a significant radiation hazard to the developing embryo. The effects of ionizing radiation to the embryo and fetus have been the subject of research, analyses, and the development of a number of radiation dosimetric models for a variety of radionuclides. Currently, essentially all of the biokinetic and dosimetric models that have been developed by national and international radiation protection agencies and organizations recommend calculating the dose to the mother's uterus as a surrogate for estimating the dose to the embryo. Heretofore, the traditional radiation dosimetry models have neither considered the embryo a distinct and rapidly developing entity, the fact that it is implanted in the endometrial layer of the uterus, nor the physiological interchanges that take place between maternal and embryonic cells following the implantation of the blastocyst in the endometrium. The purpose of this research was to propose a new approach and mathematical model for calculating the absorbed radiation dose to the embryo by utilizing a semiclassical treatment of alpha particle decay and subsequent scattering of energy deposition in uterine and embryonic tissue. The new approach and model were compared and contrasted with the currently recommended biokinetic and dosimetric models for estimating the radiation dose to the embryo. The results obtained in this research demonstrate that the estimated absorbed dose for an embryo implanted in the endometrial layer of the uterus during the fifth week of embryonic development is greater than the estimated absorbed dose for an embryo implanted in the uterine muscle on the last day of the eighth week of gestation. This research provides compelling evidence that the recommended methodologies and dosimetric models of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and International Commission on Radiological Protection employed for calculating the radiation dose to the embryo from maternal intakes of radionuclides, including maternal ingestion of Rn-222 in drinking water would result in an underestimation of dose. ^

Career development and public policy

The rationale for policy interest in career development services, and the way in which this rationale is being strengthened by the current transformations in work and career, are discussed. The potential roles of public policy in relation to career development services are explored, along with ways in which such services can influence the policy-making process. A range of policy issues related to making career development services available to all throughout life are identified: these include the nature of such services, where they are to be located, and who is to pay for them. It is argued that there is a need for stronger structures and processes to bring together career development practitioners with policy- makers and other stakeholder interests in order to address tasks of common concern, at both national and international levels.

Reading comprehension in nacional and internacional programs of educational assessment

El principal objetivo de este art��culo es identificar distintos programas de evaluaci��n educativa, tanto nacionales como internacionales, y describir sus caracter��sticas generales. Asimismo, analiza el modo en que se conceptualiza y eval��a la competencia lectora. Finalmente, este trabajo presenta los resultados que ha obtenido Argentina en esta ��rea. Los programas analizados son: el Programa para la Evaluaci��n Internacional de Alumnos (PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment) , el Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE) y, espec��ficamente en nuestro pa��s, el Operativo Nacional de Evaluaci��n (ONE) y el Programa de Evaluaci��n de la Calidad Educativa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Estos diferentes estudios sit��an la importancia de la lectura comprensiva en tanto "competencia para la vida" necesaria para la realizaci��n de otros aprendizajes, para el logro de una participaci��n activa en la sociedad y ligada a la posibilidad de proyectar un futuro mejor. Los informes muestran la existencia de diferencias entre los resultados de distintos pa��ses y al interior de los mismos. El desarrollo de competencias desiguales aparece como un desaf��o a nivel nacional e internacional, ya que constituye un importante indicador de la situaci��n cr��tica en la que se encuentran un n��mero significativo de ni��os y adolescentes.

Career development and public policy

The rationale for policy interest in career development services, and the way in which this rationale is being strengthened by the current transformations in work and career, are discussed. The potential roles of public policy in relation to career development services are explored, along with ways in which such services can influence the policy-making process. A range of policy issues related to making career development services available to all throughout life are identified: these include the nature of such services, where they are to be located, and who is to pay for them. It is argued that there is a need for stronger structures and processes to bring together career development practitioners with policy- makers and other stakeholder interests in order to address tasks of common concern, at both national and international levels.

Reading comprehension in nacional and internacional programs of educational assessment

El principal objetivo de este art��culo es identificar distintos programas de evaluaci��n educativa, tanto nacionales como internacionales, y describir sus caracter��sticas generales. Asimismo, analiza el modo en que se conceptualiza y eval��a la competencia lectora. Finalmente, este trabajo presenta los resultados que ha obtenido Argentina en esta ��rea. Los programas analizados son: el Programa para la Evaluaci��n Internacional de Alumnos (PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment) , el Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE) y, espec��ficamente en nuestro pa��s, el Operativo Nacional de Evaluaci��n (ONE) y el Programa de Evaluaci��n de la Calidad Educativa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Estos diferentes estudios sit��an la importancia de la lectura comprensiva en tanto "competencia para la vida" necesaria para la realizaci��n de otros aprendizajes, para el logro de una participaci��n activa en la sociedad y ligada a la posibilidad de proyectar un futuro mejor. Los informes muestran la existencia de diferencias entre los resultados de distintos pa��ses y al interior de los mismos. El desarrollo de competencias desiguales aparece como un desaf��o a nivel nacional e internacional, ya que constituye un importante indicador de la situaci��n cr��tica en la que se encuentran un n��mero significativo de ni��os y adolescentes.

Reading comprehension in nacional and internacional programs of educational assessment

El principal objetivo de este art��culo es identificar distintos programas de evaluaci��n educativa, tanto nacionales como internacionales, y describir sus caracter��sticas generales. Asimismo, analiza el modo en que se conceptualiza y eval��a la competencia lectora. Finalmente, este trabajo presenta los resultados que ha obtenido Argentina en esta ��rea. Los programas analizados son: el Programa para la Evaluaci��n Internacional de Alumnos (PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment) , el Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE) y, espec��ficamente en nuestro pa��s, el Operativo Nacional de Evaluaci��n (ONE) y el Programa de Evaluaci��n de la Calidad Educativa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Estos diferentes estudios sit��an la importancia de la lectura comprensiva en tanto "competencia para la vida" necesaria para la realizaci��n de otros aprendizajes, para el logro de una participaci��n activa en la sociedad y ligada a la posibilidad de proyectar un futuro mejor. Los informes muestran la existencia de diferencias entre los resultados de distintos pa��ses y al interior de los mismos. El desarrollo de competencias desiguales aparece como un desaf��o a nivel nacional e internacional, ya que constituye un importante indicador de la situaci��n cr��tica en la que se encuentran un n��mero significativo de ni��os y adolescentes.

Career development and public policy

The rationale for policy interest in career development services, and the way in which this rationale is being strengthened by the current transformations in work and career, are discussed. The potential roles of public policy in relation to career development services are explored, along with ways in which such services can influence the policy-making process. A range of policy issues related to making career development services available to all throughout life are identified: these include the nature of such services, where they are to be located, and who is to pay for them. It is argued that there is a need for stronger structures and processes to bring together career development practitioners with policy- makers and other stakeholder interests in order to address tasks of common concern, at both national and international levels.

Carbon dioxide emissions and international trade at the turn of the millennium

We present a new dataset of geographical production-, final (embodied) production-, and consumption-based carbon dioxide emission inventories, covering 78 regions and 55 sectors from 1997 to 2011. We extend previous work both in terms of time span and in bridging from geographical to embodied production and, ultimately, to consumption. We analyse the recent evolution of emissions, the development of carbon efficiency of the global economy, and the role of international trade. As the distribution of responsibility for emissions across countries is key to the adoption and implementation of international environmental agreements and regulations, the final production- and consumption-based inventories developed here provide a valuable extension to more traditional geographical production-based criteria.

FDI inflows and outflows, intellectual property rights, and productivity growth

Using panel data of 57 countries during the period of 1995-2012, this study investigates the impact of intellectual property rights (IPR) processes on productivity growth. The IPR processes are decomposed into three stages, innovation process, commercialization process, and IPR protection process. Our results suggest that better IPR protection is directly associated with productivity improvement only in developed economies. In addition, the contribution of IPR processes on growth through foreign direct investment (FDI) appears to be very limited. Only FDI inflows in developed countries which help to create a better innovative capability lead to a higher growth. And in connection with FDI outflows, only IPR protection and commercialization processes are proven to improve productivity in the case of developing countries, particularly when the country acts as the investing country.