An Analysis of the Electoral Use of Policy on Law and Order by New Labour

There has been much debate regarding the electoral strategy adopted by New Labour in the lead-up to and then during their time in government. This paper addresses the issue from the perspective of left/right and libertarian/authoritarian considerations by examining data on individual attitudes from the British Social Attitudes survey between 1986 and 2009. The analysis indicates that New Labour’s move towards the right on economic and public policy was the main driver towards attracting new centrist voters and could thus be labelled ‘broadly’ populist. The move towards a tougher stance on law and order was more ‘narrowly’ populist in that it was used more to minimise the reduction in support from Labour’s traditional base on the left than to attract new votes.

Recent developments in the use of chemotherapy in brain tumours.

Several recent studies have further clarified the role of chemotherapy in newly diagnosed anaplastic glioma. For newly diagnosed glioblastoma, combined daily radiotherapy with daily temozolomide followed by six cycles of adjuvant temozolomide improves overall survival. This benefit is especially observed in patients with a methylated promotor of the MGMT gene which encodes an alkyltransferase; this observation however, needs confirmation. Although oligodendroglial tumours are sensitive to chemotherapy, classical adjuvant nitrosourea-based chemotherapy does not improve overall survival in newly diagnosed anaplastic oligodendroglioma, even in the subset of 1p/19q loss tumours. It may increase progression-free survival however, and further studies must show if combined modality treatment with daily chemotherapy during radiotherapy increases survival. Trials exploring the role of chemotherapy in low-grade glioma are ongoing. No standard chemotherapy is currently available for highly anaplastic glioma failing first-line temozolomide-based therapy.

Interlinkages and forecasting made possible by the use of the DECOIN analytical tool kit

This technical report is a document prepared as a deliverable [D4.3 Report of the Interlinkages and forecasting prototype tool] of a EU project – DECOIN Project No. 044428 - FP6-2005-SSP-5A. The text is divided into 4 sections: (1) this short introductory section explains the purpose of the report; (2) the second section provides a general discussion of a systemic problem found in existing quantitative analysis of sustainability. It addresses the epistemological implications of complexity, which entails the need of dealing with the existence of Multiple-Scales and non-equivalent narratives (multiple dimensions/attributes) to be used to define sustainability issues. There is an unavoidable tension between a “steady-state view” (= the perception of what is going on now – reflecting a PAST --& PRESENT view of the reality) versus an “evolutionary view” (= the unknown transformation that we have to expect in the process of becoming of the observed reality and in the observer – reflecting a PRESENT --& FUTURE view of the reality). The section ends by listing the implications of these points on the choice of integrated packages of sustainability indicators; (3) the third section illustrates the potentiality of the DECOIN toolkit for the study of sustainability trade-offs and linkages across indicators using quantitative examples taken from cases study of another EU project (SMILE). In particular, this section starts by addressing the existence of internal constraints to sustainability (economic versus social aspects). The narrative chosen for this discussion focuses on the dark side of ageing and immigration on the economic viability of social systems. Then the section continues by exploring external constraints to sustainability (economic development vs the environment). The narrative chosen for this discussion focuses on the dark side of current strategy of economic development based on externalization and the “bubbles-disease”; (4) the last section presents a critical appraisal of the quality of energy data found in energy statistics. It starts with a discussion of the general goal of statistical accounting. Then it introduces the concept of multipurpose grammars. The second part uses the experience made in the activities of the DECOIN project to answer the question: how useful are EUROSTAT energy statistics? The answer starts with an analysis of basic epistemological problems associated with accounting of energy. This discussion leads to the acknowledgment of an important epistemological problem: the unavoidable bifurcations in the mechanism of accounting needed to generate energy statistics. By using numerical example the text deals with the following issues: (i) the pitfalls of the actual system of accounting in energy statistics; (ii) a critical appraisal of the actual system of accounting in BP statistics; (iii) a critical appraisal of the actual system of accounting in Eurostat statistics. The section ends by proposing an innovative method to represent energy statistics which can result more useful for those willing develop sustainability indicators.

Use of an indirect haemagglutination test, for the detection of Clostridium perfringens type A enterotoxin

An indirect haemagglutination (IH) test is described for the detection of Clostridium perfringens type A enterotoxin, produced by strains isolated from human cases of food poisoning and from contaminated food. Though no strict relationship could be observed between titers in the IH test and the time it took mice to die from the intravenous inoculation of mice (IIM), results of the supernatants examined by both methods demonstrated that the IH test was more sensitive than the ILM one. No unspecific reaction was obtanined int he IH wirh a negative control and the inhibitions of the IH and IIM tests by specific antiserum against C. perfringens enterotoxin showed that the IH test is very spcific. The IH assay is recommended for its sensitivity and easy performance by less-equipped laboratories, by these and other data.

II Workshop on the use of Computed Tomography (CT) in pig carcass classification. Other CT applications: live animals and meat technology, 16-17th April 2009, Monells (Girona), Spain

Es va realitzar el II Workshop en Tomografia Computeritzada (TC) a Monells. El primer dia es va dedicar íntegrament a la utilització del TC en temes de classificació de canals porcines, i el segon dia es va obrir a altres aplicacions del TC, ja sigui en animals vius o en diferents aspectes de qualitat de la carn o els productes carnis. Al workshop hi van assistir 45 persones de 12 països de la UE. The II workshop on the use of Computed Tomography (CT) in pig carcass classification. Other CT applications: live animals and meat technology was held in Monells. The first day it was dedicated to the use of CT in pig carcass classification. The segond day it was open to otehr CT applications, in live animals or in meat and meat products quality. There were 45 assistants of 12 EU countries.

The use of dacron plates for DOT enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DOT-ELISA)

Dacron (polyethylenetherephthalate) is proposed as a matrix for dot-ELISA procedures, as an alternative to nitrocellulose. Plates of dacron were partially hydrazinolyzed and hydrazide groups introduced were converted to azide groups. The derivative dacron-antigen was covalently linked on to the plates through these azide groups. The derivative dacron-antigen was exaustively washed according to CROOK and antigen was still fixed onto the plates. Protein F1A purified from Yersinia pestis was used as a model. Triration of sera from immunized and non immunized rabbits against this protein was carried out by employing the dot-ELISA method. No significant difference was observed using dacron-antigen and nitrocellulose-antigen preparations. However, both procedures showed to have a significant better performance in comparasion with the passive hemagglutination method. The specificity and reproductibility of the dot-ELISA assay using both preparations showed a similar behaviour. Nitrocellulose preparation was stable at 4ºC, 28ºC and -20ºC for 90 days, whereas the dacron-antigen derivative was stable only when stored at 4ºC. Dacron-antigen derivative could be re-used when the spot developing was proceeded using 4-chloro-1-naphtol as substrate.

Still in the Era of Area Studies? Political-Scientific Perspectives on European Competition Policy in the 2000s

This note reviews the political-scientific literature on European competition policy (ECP) in the 2000s. Based on a data set extracted from four well-known journals, and using an upfront methodology and explicit criteria, it analyzes the literature both quantitatively and qualitatively. On the quantitative side, it shows that, although a few sub-policy areas are still neglected, ECP is not the under-researched policy it used to be. On the qualitative side, the literature has greatly improved since the 1990s: Almost all articles now present a clear research question, and most advance specific theoretical claims/hypotheses. Yet, improvements can be made on research design, statistical testing, and, above all, state-of-the-art theorizing (e.g. in the game-theoretical treatment of delegation problems). Indeed, it is paradoxical that ECP specialists do not pay more attention to theoretical questions which are so central to the actual policy area they study.

Propositions pratiques d'utilisation des ultrasons quantitatifs osseux dans le management de l'ostéoporose [Practical proposals for the use of quantitative bone ultrasound in the management of osteoporosis]

As an emerging alternative to DXA, there is a growing interest in the use of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements for the non invasive assessment of fracture risk in the management of osteoporosis. While the potential of QUS in the management of osteoporosis have been highly recognized by the scientific community and granted by the majority of the international bone disease organizations, it becomes important to develop strategies how to use ultrasound clinically. Our paper is highlighting Swiss operational clinical propositions for 2 QUS devices sold in Switzerland, on how to use the QUS in the management of osteoporosis.

Use of terrestrial laser scanning for the characterization of retrogressive landslides in sensitive clay and rotational landslides in river banks

Depuis plus de 10 ans les modèles numériques d'altitude (MNA) produits par technologie de « light detection and ranging » (« LIDAR ») ont fourni de nouveaux outils très utiles pour des études géomorphologiques, particulièrement dans le cas des glissements de terrain. Le balayage laser terrestre (« TLS ») permet une utilisation très souple. Le TLS peut être employé pour la surveillance ou dans des situations d'urgence qui nécessitent une acquisition rapide d'un MNA afin d'évaluer l'aléa. Au travers de trois exemples, nous démontrons l'utilité du TLS pour la quantification de volumes de glissements de terrain, la création de profils et l'analyse de séries temporelles. Ces études de cas sont des glissements de terrain situés dans les argiles sensibles de l'est du Canada (Québec, Canada) ou de petits glissements rotationnels dans les berges d'une rivière (Suisse).

Use of glass beads and CF 11 cellulose for removal of leukocytes from malaria-infected human blood in field settings

Passage of malaria infected blood through a two-layered column composed of acid-washed glass beads and CF 11 cellulose removes white cells from parasitized blood. However, because use of glass beads and CF 11 cellulose requires filtration of infected blood separately through these two resins and the addition of ADP, the procedure is time-consuming and may be inapropriate for use in the field, especially when large numbers of blood samples are to be treated. Our modification of this process yields parasitized cells free of contaminating leukocytes, and because of its operational simplicity, large numbers of blood samples can be processed. Our procedure also compares well with those using expensive commercial Sepacell resins in its ability to separate leukocytes from whole blood. As a test of usefulness in molecular biologic investigations, the parasites obtained from the blood of malaria-infected patients using the modified procedure yield genomic DNA whose single copy gene, the circumsporozite gene, efficiently amplifies by polymerase chain reaction.