“Best for everyone concerned” or “Only as a last resort”? Views of Australian doctors about sterilisation of men and women with intellectual disability

Background  Doctors have the potential to influence opportunities for normative life experiences in the area of sexuality for individuals with intellectual disability (ID). Method  In Study One, 106 doctors completed the Attitudes to Sexuality Questionnaire (Individuals with an Intellectual Disability). In Study Two, 97 doctors completed a modified form of the questionnaire that included additional questions designed to assess their views about sterilisation. Results  Attitudes were less positive about parenting than about other aspects of sexuality, and less sexual freedom was seen as desirable for adults with ID. A surprising number of doctors agreed that sterilisation was a desirable practice. Study Two provided data about the conditions under which sterilisation was endorsed. Most doctors reported they had not been approached to perform sterilisations. Only 12% believed medical practitioners receive sufficient training in the area of disability and sexuality. Conclusions  The findings have implications for training and professional development for doctors.

A last resort

Considers the situations in which the presumption of advancement should apply to gifts given to family members and how this relates to the presumption of a resulting trust, whereby the law presumes that gifts are to be held for the benefit of the donor unless expressed otherwise, with reference to the Privy Council ruling in Antoni v Antoni. Highlights the bias inherent in the presumption of advancement where it operates for gifts given by husbands to wives, but not the other way round. [From Legal Journals Index]

Resistance to last-resort antibiotics in natural environments

Last-resort antibiotics are the final line of action for treating serious infections caused by multiresistant strains. Over the years the prevalence of resistant bacteria has been increasing. Natural environments are reservoirs of antibiotic resistance, highly influenced by human-driven activities. The importance of aquatic systems on the evolution of antibiotic resistance is highlighted from the assumption that clinically-relevant resistance genes have originated in strains ubiquitous in these environments. We hypothesize that: a) rivers are reservoirs and disseminators of antibiotic resistance; b) anthropogenic activities potentiate dissemination of resistance to last-resort antibiotics. Hence, the main goal of the work is to compare the last-resort antibiotics resistome, in polluted and unpolluted water. Rivers from the Vouga basin, exposed to different anthropogenic impacts, were sampled. Water quality parameters were determined to classify rivers as unpolluted or polluted. Two bacterial collections were established enclosing bacteria resistant to cefotaxime (3rd generation cephalosporin) and to imipenem (carbapenem). Each collection was characterized regarding: phylogenetic diversity, antibiotic susceptibility, resistance mechanisms and mobile genetic elements. The prevalence of cefotaxime- and imipenem-resistant bacteria was higher in polluted water. Results suggested an important role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance for Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. The occurrence of bacteria resistant to non-beta-lactams was higher among isolates from polluted water as also the number of multiresistant strains. Among strains resistant to cefotaxime, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes were detected (predominantly blaCTX-M-like) associated to mobile genetic elements previously described in clinical strains. ESBL-producers were often multiresistant as a result of co-selection mechanisms. Culture-independent methods showed clear differences between blaCTX-M-like sequences found in unpolluted water (similar to ancestral genes) and polluted water (sequences identical to those reported in clinical settings). Carbapenem resistance was mostly related to the presence of intrinsically resistant bacteria. Yet, relevant carbapenemase genes were detected as blaOXA-48-like in Shewanella spp. (the putative origin of these genes), and blaVIM-2 in Pseudomonas spp. isolated from polluted rivers. Culture-independent methods showed an higher than the previously reported diversity of blaOXA-48-like genes in rivers. Overall, clear differences between polluted and unpolluted systems were observed, regarding prevalence, phylogenetic diversity and susceptibility profiles of resistant bacteria and occurrence of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes, thus validating our hypotheses. In this way, rivers act as disseminators of resistance genes, and anthropogenic activities potentiate horizontal gene transfer and promote the constitution of genetic platforms that combine several resistance determinants, leading to multiresistance phenotypes that may persist even in the absence of antibiotics.

Studies on resistance and response to vancomycin in Enterococcus faecalis: a last resort antibiotic

Dissertation presented to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry by Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

The last resort : spa therapy and the docile body in Victorian St. Catharines /

By relying on existing cultural models, the Victorian spa promoted health and wellness. Advertising, together with other forms of promotion, strengthened the legitimacy of its claims to cure a variety of health problems. By the use of some links to science and a mystical folk belief about the efficacy of the local mineral waters, three spas emerged in St.Catharines: the Stephenson House, the WeIland House, and the Springbank. As the twentieth century approached, the spa movement declined and institutionalized medicine struggled to establish a monopoly on health care. This thesis argues that the health spas in St. Catharines occupied that transitional space in nineteenth century medicine between home remedy and hospital. The interplay between scientific discovery and business enterprise produced a climate in which the Victorian health resort flourished. This phenomenon, combined with the various maladies brought on by industrialization, nineteenth-century lifestyle, and the absence of medical options, created a surge in the popularity of health spas and mineral spring therapies. By the tum of the twentieth century, interest in mineral water treatments had declined. The health resorts that had blossomed between 1850 and 1899 began to experience a serious decrease in business. This popular movement became outmoded in the face of emerging medical and scientific knowledge. In St. Catharines, the last resort to remain standing, the WeIland House, finished out the city's spa era as a hospital.

Judiciary as the last resort to protect children and adolescents: intersectoral actions, investment in human resources, and structuring of services

This study aimed to identify the work developed by the Judiciary to prevent sexual violence against children and adolescents within the family. The approach to social representations in a cultural perspective was used. The field study consisted in the 1st and 2nd Court of Crimes against Children and Adolescents, at the State Supreme Court of Pernambuco, Brazil. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group with 17 subjects were the techniques for data collection, analyzed through the interpretation of meanings, allowing the identification of the category "The Judiciary as the ultimate level" and the following subcategories: "The public policies to prevent violence" and "The structure and dynamics of Courts". This study allows the visualization of the Judiciary's limitations with regard to the full protection and absolute priority, and that the work along with the victims demands investments in structure and human resources.

Digest of insurance cases, embracing all decisions in any manner affecting insurance companies or their contract upon whatever plan or for whatever purpose their business may be conducted, covering all United States courts, namely the United States Supreme Court, the United States Circuit Courts of Appeal, and United States Circuit and District Courts--all courts of last resort and other appellate courts of the various states and territories and District of Columbia--all the highest judicial tribunals of all other English-speaking countries and all inferior courts within the foregoing jurisdictions whose decisions are reported--also reference to all annotations and leading articles on insurance in all law journals published in the English language.

Lettered on cover: Insurance digest.

Western reporter ... : all cases determined in the courts of last resort, as follows: Ohio Supreme Court, Indiana Supreme Court, Illinois Supreme Court, Missouri Sup. Ct. and Courts of Appeals

Vol. 15, 560 p., without t.p. or index. In the L.C. copy, only the first number has cover title

American negligence cases a complete collection of all reported negligence cases decided in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, all the United States circuit and district courts, and the courts of last resort of all the states and territories, from the earliest times, with selections from the intermediate courts. [1789-1897] Topically arranged, with notes of English cases and annotations.

Editors: v. 1-10, T. F. Hamilton--v. 11-16, W. J. Eagle--v. 17, Publisher's editorial staff.

Summaries of constitutional and statutory provisions granting administrative and supervisory powers to chief justices and courts of last resort.

"BX-293."

Notes on the United States reports; a brief chronological digest of all points determined in the decisions of the Supreme court, with notes showing the influence, following and present authority of each case, as disclosed by the citations comprising all citing cases in that court, the intermediate and inferior federal courts, and the courts of last resort of all the states,

Vol. 13, Index to the twelve volumes of Notes on United States reports, embracing all propositions of law laid down in Supreme Court decisions, 2 Dallas to 172 United States, by Walter Malins Rose and W. A. Sutherland

Rose's notes on the United States Supreme court reports (2 Dallas to 259 United States reports) showing the present value as authority of all cases therein reported as disclosed by all subsequent citations since the revised edition in all the courts of last resort, both federal and state, and in the annotations in American law reports, lawyers' reports annotated, annotated cases, British ruling cases, negligence and compensation cases annotated with parallel references to the above-mentioned annotated cases, the lawyers' edition of the U. S. reports and the reporter system,

Mode of access: Internet.