Zerebrale Probleme in der pädiatrischen Intensivmedizin [Cerebral problems in pediatric intensive care]

This paper presents a review of different methods enabling the monitoring of cerebral function in neonatal and paediatric intensive care. EEG, evoked potentials, conventional radiological studies, computerized tomography, ultrasound, intracranial pressure measurements, nuclear magnetic resonance, Doppler ultrasound, radioisotope studies, angiography, infra-red spectral analysis and last, but not least, clinical examination produce information regarding the neurological state of the patient which must be critically analysed in order to ensure optimal management of the case. Unfortunately, and in spite of impressive progress in non-invasive monitoring of the cerebral function, we are still forced to make important medical and ethical decisions without precise information about the neurological state of our patients.

A Healthier Future: A Strategic Framework for Respiratory Conditions

In Northern Ireland in 2002-03, there were almost 30,000 admissions to hospital for respiratory conditions utilizing over 180,000 bed days and costing almost å£50m. Social security support for people with long term chest and breathing problems amounts to å£26m annually. This framework sets out how with better prevention and self management a reduction in ill health and a contribute to a reduction in avoidable deaths can be achieved. And with better co-ordinated and integrated services more consistent and effective care for those people unfortunate enough to suffer from serious disease can be provided. This in turn will enable services to better respond to the increasing needs of a more elderly population. The document contains a number of recommendations. These include significant service re-organisation and re-design so that the whole system – the primary, community and hospital sectors, provides for a more responsive and effective service to users and carers. This should result in much more of the overall caseload being proactively managed in community and primary care environments allowing scarce hospital capacity to be devoted to the most critical cases. This includes the development of new ways of caring for at risk patients, more effective rehabilitation in the community, improved education and training of professionals and better communication across the community and hospital sectors.

Speech, Language and Communication Therapy Action Plan (2011/12 - 2012/13) - Easy Read (PDF 454 KB)

Easy Read version of Speech, Language and Communication Therapy Action Plan (2011/12 - 2012/13)

The jasmonate pathway.

Plants are faced with many of the same problems as animals-a need for regulation of metabolic processes and reproduction and for defense against enemies. Jasmonates in plants serve key roles in gene and metabolic regulation, defense, responses to trauma, reproduction, and possibly communication. Some remarkable features of plant responses, such as production of repellent volatiles as a defense against herbivorous insects, or the massive transcriptional reprogramming that occurs in response to wounding, are under the control of the jasmonate pathway. Details of the jasmonate signaling pathway are currently at the center of active research that is generating exciting results. The Jasmonate Biochemical Pathway at the STKE Connections Maps is designed to present and keep pace with these developments.

Phylogeny of the kinetoplastida: taxonomic problems and insights into the evolution of parasitism

To further investigate phylogeny of kinetoplastid protozoa, the sequences of small subunit (18S) ribosomal RNA of nine bodonid isolates and ten isolates of insect trypanosomatids have been determined. The root of the kinetoplastid tree was attached to the branch of Bodo designis and/or Cruzella marina. The suborder Trypanosomatina appeared as a monophyletic group, while the suborder Bodonina was paraphyletic. Among bodonid lineages, parasitic organisms were intermingled with free-living ones, implying multiple transitions to parasitism and supporting the `vertebrate-first hypothesis'. The tree indicated that the genera Cryptobia and Bodo are artificial taxa. Separation of fish cryptobias and Trypanoplasma borreli as different genera was not supported. In trypanosomatids, the genera Leptomonas and Blastocrithidia were polyphyletic, similar to the genera Herpetomonas and Crithidia and in contrast to the monophyletic genera Trypanosoma and Phytomonas. This analysis has shown that the morphological classification of kinetoplastids does not in general reflect their genetic affinities and needs a revision.

A Proportional Approach to Bankruptcy Problems with a guaranteed minimum

In a distribution problem, and specfii cally in bankruptcy issues, the Proportional (P) and the Egalitarian (EA) divisions are two of the most popular ways to resolve the conflict. The Constrained Equal Awards rule (CEA) is introduced in bankruptcy literature to ensure that no agent receives more than her claim, a problem that can arise when using the egalitarian division. We propose an alternative modi cation, by using a convex combination of P and EA. The recursive application of this new rule finishes at the CEA rule. Our solution concept ensures a minimum amount to each agent, and distributes the remaining estate in a proportional way. Keywords: Bankruptcy problems, Proportional rule, Equal Awards, Convex combination of rules, Lorenz dominance. JEL classi fication: C71, D63, D71.

Solidarity and uniform rules in bankruptcy problems

The idea of ensuring a guarantee (a minimum amount of the resources) to each agent has recently acquired great relevance, in both social and politi- cal terms. Furthermore, the notion of Solidarity has been treated frequently in redistribution problems to establish that any increment of the resources should be equally distributed taking into account some relevant characteris- tics. In this paper, we combine these two general concepts, guarantee and solidarity, to characterize the uniform rules in bankruptcy problems (Con- strained Equal Awards and Constrained Equal Losses rules). Keywords: Constrained Equal Awards, Constrained Equal Losses, Lower bounds, Bankruptcy problems, Solidarity. JEL classification: C71, D63, D71.

A New Approach for Bounding Awards in Bankruptcy Problems

The solution for the ‘Contested Garment Problem’, proposed in the Babylonic Talmud, suggests that each agent should receive at least some part of the resources whenever the demand overcomes the available amount. In this context, we propose a new method to define lower bounds on awards, an idea that has underlied the theoretical analysis of bankruptcy problems from its beginning (O’Neill, 1982) to present day (Dominguez and Thomson, 2006). Specifically, starting from the fact that a society establishes its own set of ‘Commonly Accepted Equity Principles’, our proposal ensures to each agent the smallest amount she gets according to all the admissible rules. As in general this new bound will not exhaust the estate, we analyze its recursive application for different sets of equity principles. Keywords: Bankruptcy problems, Bankruptcy rules, Lower bounds, Recursive process

Drug Problems - Can Substitute Prescribing Services Help You? Leaflet

Drug Problems - Can Substitute Prescribing Services Help You? Leaflet

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy (PDF 383 KB)

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Vision Statement, issued for consultation in July 2001, describes a long-term vision for the use of ICT in the Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS). Responses to the consultation strongly supported the Strategy Vision. The ICT Strategy for the HPSS is aimed at delivering the Vision. It is based on analysis of the current use of ICT in the service and consultation with service users, those directly involved in health and social care, and the Department for Health, Personal Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS / the Department). Developments under way and planned elsewhere, particularly in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, have been reviewed. Suppliers of ICT products and services were invited to present their perspectives on the future of ICT in health and social care. åÊ

Report of the Working Group on Treatment of Under 18 olds Presenting to Treatment Services with Serious Drug Problems

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