Images and realities of alcohol

The paper discusses the relationship between the images of alcohol and society, on one hand, and the reality of drinking and drinking problems on the other hand, from the point of view of policy-relevant research. Images of alcohol influence policy but they also depend on the social and cultural environment of policy-making. The epidemiological total consumption theory of alcohol-related problems is used as an example. The theory is embedded in the modern welfare state's ideals and its policy relevance presupposes that these ideals--universalism, consequentialism and public planning--are respected. If the approach today receives less attention by policy-makers than its empirical validity merits, it may be due to an erosion of these ideals, not of the epidemiological model itself. Images of alcohol influence behaviour and drinking problems but they also articulate the social context in which the images are constructed. This paper demonstrates the point, applying Lévi-Straussian cultural theory to an analysis of a recent beer advertisement addressed to young people. The advertisement not only reflects the images associated with youthful drinking but also the ambiguous status of youth as non-adults in contemporary society. The author stresses that for social and cultural research alcohol is a two-way window, to look at society through alcohol and to look at alcohol through society. Both directions are necessary for policy-relevant research.     

Controversies in the use of inhaled nitric oxide therapy in the newborn

Because of the increasing incidence of tuberculosis consequent on the increasing number of patients with drug-related or HIV-induced immunosuppression, the problems of the invasive or noninvasive treatment of osteoarticular tuberculosis have come up again. While the approach aimed at the elimination of infectious foci with an adequate combination of medical therapy with a conservative treatment or surgery is still valid, the advanced technology of osteosynthesis systems and prosthetic replacement for spinal, hip and knee involvement respectively, with suitable indications, affords new solutions of surgical technique. The objective is to achieve surgical procedures that preserve at best the physiology of locomotor apparatus.     

The realities of dentistry

Population registers have formed the basis for computerised call/recall registers for screening programmes in many countries and have been important in achieving high uptakes in targeted populations. The absence of a population register for the ECCLES (European Campaign against Cancer, Localisation, Evaluation & Screening) Breast Screening Project necessitated the development of a special register of women in the target age group. The data sources used to build the project register were the Eastern Health Board and North Eastern Health Board General Medical Services database, Voluntary Health Insurance data and self-registration with the project. The register captured 86.3 per cent of the target population. A debate on the merits and difficulties associated with the setting up of a population register in Ireland is now timely.     

The relativity and geodiversity of medico-economic realities

The economic gestion of health care is difficult to handle. It covers several aspects which cannot pride to be accurate sciences. It strikes difficulties such as the geodiversity of problems to be solved and the nuances in the application of principles of social equity and medical ethics. The health-care analysis is also exposed to some politician interpretations biased by doctrinal a priori. Most often, a confrontation ensues between the political cenacle and the professionals directly involved in health-care.     

The realities of employment testing.

Presents evidence indicating that employment testing may not be as widespread as might be assumed from the furor surrounding it. After evaluating some recently developed alternatives to tests, it is concluded that at present there are no alternatives better than tests when validity, degree of adverse impact, and feasibility of use are taken into account. Given this, the government-mandated search for alternatives may be squandering resources, but employers will continue to search for alternatives because of legal and regulatory pressures. It is suggested that their goal should be to afford equal employment opportunity and to provide for increased productivity. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The new realities and federal support of science.

Suggests a compact among government, industry, and universities for the support of basic research. Such a compact would establish new national goals for the support of science. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assisted suicide: clinical realities and ethical challenges

The increasing attention to assisted suicide, as evidenced by recent legislation, initiatives, court decisions, and research, propels the issue to a new level of importance and urgency within society and the health professions. Nurses cannot help but be confronted by and struggle with the complex moral and professional quandaries related to assisted suicide. Critical care nurses must continue to evaluate the implications of the possible legalization of assisted suicide and to define the boundaries of morally acceptable professional practice. The challenges to the roles and responsibilities of critical care nurses that might occur if assisted suicide were legalized must be thoughtfully and responsibly explored.     

The perilous problem of neglecting cultural realities.

Comments on the article by H. J. M. Hermans and H. J. G. Kempen (see record 1998-12442-002) which argued that cross-cultural psychology conceptualizes cultural difference in terms of strict, stable dichotomies defining homogenous groups. The present author is in total agreement with the concern expressed by Hermans and Kempen about the perilous problems of cultural dichotomies. Expressed in terms of another aspect of the problem of cultural dichotomies that has been raised by Hermans and Kempen, the present author's concern is about their under-valuing of the local in the course of emphasizing the global. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational climate: Individual preferences and organizational realities.

Hypothesizes that organizational climate may extend beyond formal organizational boundaries and have influence on potential organizational employees. The climate of life insurance agencies was assessed with an 80-item, 6-factor questionnaire. Agency managers, assistant managers, and agents from 228 agencies responded. Utilizing the same measure, climate preferences and expectations of 1,125 newly contracted agents from 168 agencies were obtained. Correlations across agencies indicate that (a) new agent expectations have low significant correlations with the climate of the particular life insurance agency they join, and (b) new agent preferences are not significantly related to this climate. Average climate expectations are consistently less positive than average climate preferences. Some implications of these data for personnel selection practices are presented. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The possibilities, realities and outlook for artificial enteral feeding in the surgical clinic

The key problems are pointed out depending in their solution on the understanding by clinicians of different aspects of enteral artificial nutrition (EAN) as a variant of nutritional maintenance in practical surgery. These problems are: maintenance of performing EAN with the creation of the optimum nutrition tract; choice of the nutrition substrate sources for EAN; medicines accompanying EAN. The tasks of its maintenance are to provide the access to digestive tract, supply and equipment for EAN. The basic, actual and subsidiary variants of the nutritional maintenance are considered from the viewpoints of choosing means for EAN. Six classes of nutritional mixtures are described as means for the basic nutritional maintenance. Main directions for medicamentous support are presented: optimization of properties of the nutritional mixture and overcoming possible functional complications of EAN.     

AIDS and transfer factor: myths, certainties and realities

At the end of the 20th century, the triumph of biology is as indisputable as that of physics was at the end of the 19th century, and so is the might of the inductive thought. Virtually all diseases have been seemingly conquered and HIV, the cause of AIDS, has been fully described ten years after the onset of the epidemic. However, the triumph of biological science is far from being complete. The toll of several diseases, such as cancer, continues to rise and the pathogenesis of AIDS remains elusive. In the realm of inductive science, the dominant paradigm can seldom be challenged in a frontal attack, especially when it is apparently successful, and only what Kuhn calls "scientific revolutions" can overthrow it. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the concept of transfer factor is considered with contempt, and the existence of the moiety improbable: over forty years after the introduction of the concept, not only its molecular structure remains unknown, but also its putative mode of action contravenes dogmas of both immunology and molecular biology. And when facts challenge established dogmas, be in religion, philosophy or science, they must be suppressed. Thus, results of heterodox research become henceforth nisi-i.e., valid unless cause is shown for rescinding them, because they challenge the prevalent paradigm. However, when observations pertain to lethal disorders, their suppression in the name of dogmas may become criminal. Because of the failure of medical science to manage the AIDS pandemic, transfer factor, which has been successfully used for treating or preventing viral infections, may today overcome a priori prejudice and rejection more swiftly. In science, as in life, certainties always end up by dying, and Copernicus' vision by replacing that of Ptolemy.     

College students with physical disabilities: Myths and realities.

Examined (1) the affect concerning interaction between nondisabled (ND) college students and physically disabled (PD) students, (2) stereotyping by both ND and PD students, (3) aspects of the self-concepts of ND and PD students, (4) ND students' beliefs about these aspects of self-concept. 32 PD college students (aged 19–36 yrs) and 221 ND students served as Ss. Data from a battery of measures showed that ND Ss were less comfortable with PD peers than with able-bodied peers. PD Ss were equally comfortable with ND individuals and with those having the same disability as they did but were as uncomfortable as ND Ss with peers having a disability different from their own. When predicting the responses of others, ND Ss scored both able-bodied and PD peers lower on most dimensions of self-concept than the actual scores of these groups indicate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)