1,721,326 research outputs found
From risk assessment to in-context trajectory evaluation: GMOs and their social implications
Full text linkPurpose: Over the past twenty years, GMOs have raised enormous expectations, passionate political controversies, and an on-going debate on how should these technologies be assessed. Current risk-assessment procedures generally assess GMOs in terms of their potential risk of negatively affecting human health and the environment. Yet, is this risk-benefit approach appropriate to a deliver a robust assessment of GMOs? In this paper, we question the validity of current risk-assessment from both a social and an ecological perspective, and we elaborate an alternative approach, namely in-context trajectory evaluation
Methods: This paper combines frame analysis, context analysis and eco-social analysis to three different case studies.
Results: Applying frame analysis to Syngenta´s recent campaign “Bring plant potential to life”, we first de-construct the techno-social imaginaries driving GMOs innovation, showing how the latter endorses the technological fix of socio-economic problems while reinforcing the neoliberal socio-political paradigm. Applying context analysis to biopharming in New Zealand, we then explore local practices, rules and formal and informal procedures, showing that to assess how safe is a technology it is necessary to address how “safe” is the context. Finally, drawing from the Italian case, we outline through eco-social analysis how the lack of long-term studies, further aggravated by current methodological deficiencies, prevent risk-assessment from considering not only how GMOs affect the environmental context but also, and most importantly, the way people live in, and interact with, this context.
Conclusions: Whilst it emerges that there might be a number of socio-political reasons to support a moratorium on GMOs in Europe even if they come to be considered technically safe, these results suggest that the integration of in-context trajectory evaluation with traditional risk assessment procedures may help promoting social compatibility, political accountability and ecological sustainability.Peer reviewe
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Congenital muscular dystrophy with syringomyelia
No full textWe report a 7-year-old boy with congenital muscular dystrophy with severe spinal deformation and low thoracic syringomyelia, which may represent a novel form of the disease with muscle involvement and spinal cord anomaly. We suggest that patients with congenital muscular dystrophy who manifest skeletal anomalies undergo spinal magnetic resonance imaging to detect potential spinal cord abnormalities, in addition to cranial magnetic resonance imaging to detect potential cerebral malformations
Congenital familial myasthenic syndromes: disease and course in an affected dizygotic twin pair
No full textThe present report describes clinical variability in an affected dizygotic twin pair. Twin 1 showed classical features of the congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS), that is, ptosis, dysphonia, asthenia and hypotonia. In twin 2, these clinical signs were less pronounced, but subtle resulting in severe lumbar hyperlordosis. Molecular analysis, performed for both twins, revealed the presence of three polymorphisms in the heterozygous form in RAPSN gene. The present report highlights the clinical variability of the CMS
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
The Importance of a Correct Diet in Preventing Osteoporosis
No full textOsteoporosis is a very common bone disease characterized by low bone mass and micro architectural deterioration
of bone tissue. It may result in high risk of bone fractures with impaired quality of life. The prevention of this disorder
is based on an appropriate lifestyle and a proper diet. The correct supply of Vitamins D and K, protein, fatty acids and
dietary components are notable factors that help maintain healthy bone structure. The effects of these elements have
been briefly discussed and they have been shown to correlate to bone health
Diagnosis And Treatment Of Flexible Flatfoot: Comparison Between European And Italian Pediatric Orthopaedics Society Surveys
No full textCritical role of the N-loop and β1-strand hydrophobic clusters of RANTES-derived peptides in anti-HIV activity
No full textHIV initiates its infectious cycle by docking to CD4 and a chemokine receptor, most commonly CCR5. RANTES, a natural CCR5 ligand, is a potent inhibitor of HIV-1. Despite the lack of structural information on the RANTES-CCR5 complex, determinants of HIV blockade were previously identified within the RANTES N-loop and β1-strand regions. A prototype N-loop/β1-strand peptide, named R11-29, contains two terminal hydrophobic stretches separated by a central hydrophilic region. Here, the role of the terminal hydrophobic clusters was investigated by means of amino acid substitutions or deletions. Most hydrophobic residues in these clusters were shown to be fundamental for the anti-HIV activity. However, increasing the hydrophobicity of the two clusters using non-natural amino acids did not significantly improve the potency of the peptides. These results may provide instrumental knowledge for the rational design of RANTES-derivative molecules with increased anti-HIV activity. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
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