Myths and plain truths about schizophrenia epidemiology - the NAPE lecture 2004

Objective: Science needs to constantly match research models against the data. With respect to the epidemiology of schizophrenia, the widely held belief that the incidence of schizophrenia shows little variation may no longer be supported by the data. The aims of this paper are (i) to explore data-vs.-belief mismatch with respect to the incidence of schizophrenia, and (ii) to speculate on the causes and consequences of such discrepancies. Method: Based on a recently published systematic review of the incidence of schizophrenia, the distribution of incidence rates around the world was examined. In order to examine if the incidence of schizophrenia differed by sex, male vs. female risk ratios were generated. Results: The distribution of incidence rates for schizophrenia is asymmetrical with many high rates skewing the distribution. Based on the central 80% of rates, the incidence of schizophrenia varies in a five-fold range (between 7.7 and 43.0 per 100 000). Males have a significantly higher incidence of schizophrenia compared with females (median male to female risk ratio = 1.4), and this difference could not be accounted for by diagnostic criteria or age range. Conclusion: The beliefs that (i) the incidence of schizophrenia does not vary between sites and (ii) males and females are equally affected, may have persisted because of an unspoken deeper belief that schizophrenia is an egalitarian and exceptional disorder. Our ability to generate productive hypotheses about the aetiology of schizophrenia rests on an accurate appraisal of the data. Beliefs not supported by data should be identified and relabelled as myths.

Myths and Truths: The "Law and Finance Theory" Revisited

The law and finance theory identifies two dominating legal traditions, a common law tradition inherited from England, and a civil law tradition that is going back to 19th century codifications in France, Germany and Scandinavia. Another key notion of the theory is the distinction between insiders (stakeholders, "the State") and outsiders (shareholders as well as creditors). The micro foundation of this approach is the willingness to invest. The innovative addition of the law and finance theory to these ideas lies in the way it combines them with its peculiar view on legal history. The innovative addition of the law and finance theory to these ideas lies in the way it combines them with its peculiar view on legal history. The major conclusion of this theory is that the common law system provides the best basis for financial development and economic growth, followed by Scandinavian and German origin civil law and finally French origin civil law.

The investigation of crime:the myths and the reality

Initially the study focussed on the factors affecting the ability of the police to solve crimes. An analysts of over twenty thousand police deployments revealed the proportion of time spent investigating crime contrasted to its perceived importance and the time spent on other activities. The fictional portrayal of skills believed important in successful crime investigation were identified and compared to the professional training and 'taught skills’ given to police and detectives. Police practitioners and middle management provided views on the skills needed to solve crimes. The relative importance of the forensic science role. fingerprint examination and interrogation skills were contrasted with changes in police methods resulting from the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and its effect on confessions. The study revealed that existing police systems for investigating crime excluding specifically cases of murder and other serious offences, were unsystematic, uncoordinated, unsupervised and unproductive in using police resources. The study examined relevant and contemporary research in the United States and United Kingdom and with organisational support introduced an experimental system of data capture and initial investigation with features of case screening and management. Preliminary results indicated increases in the collection of essential information and more effective use of investigative resources. In the managerial framework within which this study has been conducted, research has been undertaken in the knowledge elicitation area as a basis for an expert system of crime investigation and the potential organisational benefits of utilising the Lap computer in the first stages of data gathering and investigation. The conclusions demonstrate the need for a totally integrated system of criminal investigation with emphasis on an organisational rather than individual response. In some areas the evidence produced is sufficient to warrant replication, in others additional research is needed to further explore other concepts and proposed systems pioneered by this study.

On Graph-Based Cryptography and Symbolic Computations

We have been investigating the cryptographical properties of in nite families of simple graphs of large girth with the special colouring of vertices during the last 10 years. Such families can be used for the development of cryptographical algorithms (on symmetric or public key modes) and turbocodes in error correction theory. Only few families of simple graphs of large unbounded girth and arbitrarily large degree are known. The paper is devoted to the more general theory of directed graphs of large girth and their cryptographical applications. It contains new explicit algebraic constructions of in finite families of such graphs. We show that they can be used for the implementation of secure and very fast symmetric encryption algorithms. The symbolic computations technique allow us to create a public key mode for the encryption scheme based on algebraic graphs.

Computer-Assisted Proofs and Symbolic Computations

We discuss some main points of computer-assisted proofs based on reliable numerical computations. Such so-called self-validating numerical methods in combination with exact symbolic manipulations result in very powerful mathematical software tools. These tools allow proving mathematical statements (existence of a fixed point, of a solution of an ODE, of a zero of a continuous function, of a global minimum within a given range, etc.) using a digital computer. To validate the assertions of the underlying theorems fast finite precision arithmetic is used. The results are absolutely rigorous. To demonstrate the power of reliable symbolic-numeric computations we investigate in some details the verification of very long periodic orbits of chaotic dynamical systems. The verification is done directly in Maple, e.g. using the Maple Power Tool intpakX or, more efficiently, using the C++ class library C-XSC.

Myths and Realities of Inter-professional Working

Introduction: Childhood cancers are rare and community based health care professionals have limited experience in caring for these children and often even less experience in providing their palliative care. It is well recognised that the provision of palliative care falls beyond the remit of any one profession, thus inter professional working is the standard model. This qualitative study aims to examine the experiences of the range of health care professionals involved in providing palliative care at home for children with cancer, focusing on how knowledge is exchanged; the level of communication and support both interprofessionally and at the community/specialist interface. It also aims to examine interprofessional collaboration in palliative care; identifying healthcare professional's perceptions of problems involved, interprofessional boundaries, specific areas of the organisation or provision of care that could be enhanced through changes in practice, support issues and the educational needs of health professionals. Methods The study involves three types of data collection; in-depth interviews, facilitated case discussion (FCD) and field notes from up to 20 cases (a "case" refers to the provision of palliative care to one child). Cases are selected from children who were treated at one regional childhood caner centre. For each case the community based health care professionals (for example the GP, community nurse or health visitor) involved in the care of the child at home are invited to participate in a one-to-one tape recorded in-depth interview followed by a group discussion in the form of a FCD. Field notes are completed following each interview. Data analysis follows a grounded theory approach. The term "social worlds theory" (SWT) his used to define a type of social organisation with no fixed or formal boundaries (such as membership boundaries), for example the range of health professionals that work together to provide palliative care. The boundaries of SW's are determined by the interaction and communication between recognised organisations, such as community nursing teams and general practitioners. SWT examines encounters between different professional groups and can be used to extend knowledge in both the organisation (for example general practice) and the content of what is being provisioned (for example, palliative care). The use of SWT in the analysis of the data is through examining the ethos of the different professions and the associated individual approaches to palliative care, exploring how this determines their roles in the provision of palliative care. Results 10 cases have so far been completed: 47 1:1 interviews (with a range of between 2-7 health care professionals being involved in each case): ( 9 x GP, 19 x CCN, 4 x DN, 3 x HV, 1 x HV assistant 7 x paediatric palliative care nurses, 1 x home support worker, 1 x OT, 1 x physiotherapist, 1 x community paediatrician) and 5 x FCD. The range of participants in the FCDs reflected that of the individual interview sampler. Data obtained to date gives clear insight into the personal experience of the individual health care professional in providing palliative care. Two themes emerging from the data will be focused upon: the continuity of care provision throughout treatment and palliation and the emotional burden experiences by the health care professional. Conclusions SWT can provide a useful framework in examining the social worlds of a disparate group of health care professionals working together for the first and maybe, the only time. A wide variation in the continuity of care provision has been found not only between professions, but also within professions. The emotional burden is evident across the professions.

Material culture in massive multiplayer online role-playing games : the social, cultural and educational meanings of virtual goods in world of warcraft

Michaela Rizzolli

Original sin: divine and symbolic violence in the turn to the Apostle Paul

When we take a step back from the imposing figure of physical violence, it becomes possible to examine other structurally violent forces that constantly shape our cultural and political landscapes. One of the driving interests in the “turn to Paul” in recent continental philosophy stems from wrestling with questions about the real nature of contemporary violence. Paul is positioned as a thinker whose messianic experience began to cut through the violent masquerade of the existing order. The crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah (a slave and a God co-existing in one body) exposed the empty grounding upon which power resided. The Christ-event signifies a moment of violent interruption in the existing order which Paul enjoins the Gentiles to participate in through a dedication of love for the neighbour. This divine violence aims to reveal and subvert the “powers,” epitomised in the Roman Empire, in order to fulfil the labour of the Messianic now-time which had arrived. The impetus behind this research comes from a typically enigmatic and provocative section of text by the Slovene philosopher, cultural critic, and Christian atheist Slavoj Žižek. He claims that 'the notion of love should be given here all its Paulinian weight: the domain of pure violence… is the domain of love' (2008a, 173). In this move he links Paul’s idea of love to that of Walter Benjamin’s divine violence; the sublime and the cataclysmic come together in this seemingly perverse notion. At stake here is the way in which uncovering violent forces in the “zero-level” of our narrative worldviews aids the diagnosis of contemporary political and ethical issues. It is not enough to imagine Paul’s encounter with the Christ-event as non-violent. This Jewish apocalyptic movement was engaged in a violent struggle within an existing order that God’s wrath will soon dismantle. Paul’s weak violence, inspired by his fidelity to the Christ-event, places all responsibility over creation in the role of the individual within the collective body. The centre piece of this re-imagined construction of the Pauline narrative comes in Romans 13: the violent dedication to love understood in the radical nature of the now-time. 3 This research examines the role that narratives play in the creation and diagnosis of these violent forces. In order to construct a new genealogy of violence in Christianity it is crucial to understand the role of the slave of Christ (the revolutionary messianic subject). This turn in the Symbolic is examined through creating a literary structure in which we can approach a radical Nietzschean shift in Pauline thought. The claim here, a claim which is also central to Paul’s letters, is that when the symbolic violence which manipulates our worldviews is undone by a divine violence, if even for a moment, new possibilities are created in the opening for a transvaluation of values. Through this we uncover the nature of original sin: the consequences of the interconnected reality of our actions. The role of literature is vital in the construction of this narrative; starting with Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, and continuing through works such as Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, this thesis draws upon the power of literature in the shaping of our narrative worlds. Typical of the continental philosophy at the heart of this work, a diverse range of illustrations and inspirations from fiction is pulled into its narrative to reflect the symbolic universe that this work was forged through. What this work attempts to do is give this theory a greater grounding in Paul’s letters by demonstrating this radical kenotic power at the heart of the Christ-event. Romans 13 reveals, in a way that has not yet been picked up by Critchley, Žižek, and others, that Paul opposed the biopolitical power of the Roman Empire through the weak violence of love that is the labour of the slaves of Christ on the “now-time” that had arrived.