scholarly journals Conclusions: Calls to action for improving the life of MS patients and their families

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Vermersch ◽  
Louis Smets ◽  
Ralf Gold

Background: The first and second Pan-European MS Multi-stakeholder Colloquia were set up to increase cross-talk and communication between the different stakeholders in MS and developed joint Calls to Action to improve (equal) access to quality care and treatment for MS in Europe. Objective & Methods: To summarise the 10 integrated and interrelated Calls to Action developed. Results & Conclusion: Call 1: increase awareness in the European community about the burden MS places on patients, caregivers and society. Call 2: improve communication towards the European community on the direct and indirect cost burden of MS. Call 3: perform patient research to (re)define treatment goals/endpoints from a humanistic/patient perspective point of view. Call 4: develop new tools to better capture the total clinical burden of MS. Call 5: develop a protocol for standardisation of MRI for optimising its use as a marker of disability progression in MS. Call 6: support research to find other (molecular) biomarkers which can predict long-term disability progression and (monitor) individual treatment response. Call 7: align CHMP/EMA and HTA decision-making process. Call 8: develop separate EMA guidelines for evaluating follow-on products of non-biological complex drugs. Call 9: support people with MS remaining (physically) active and at work and stimulate the implementation of specialised care centres. Call 10: support the continuation of multi-stakeholder colloquia.

Author(s):  
Birgit Vinther Hansen

NB: Artiklen er på dansk, kun resuméet er på engelsk. New materials were adopted during the industrialisation of paper production in the early 1800s. Experiments were done with straw and wood as fibre sources and acidic alum was commonly used as a sizing agent for all paper qualities produced by the paper machines. This, along with stiff competition among paper manufacturers, resulted in a drastic decrease in the quality of all types of paper and the production of vast quantities of acidic paper that could last only a relatively short time. Many of the Royal Library’s collections consist of acidic, short-fibre paper from around 1830 up to the middle of the 1980s when, finally, increased production of neutral-sized, long-like paper became possible. Acidic paper breaks down under ordinary storage conditions of room temperature and a certain degree of air humidity. Librarians and archivists throughout the Western world face a major challenge in the preservation of this relatively unstable material. To meet this challenge, various mass deacidification processes have been developed that, by deacidifying the paper, extend its lifetime three to four times. On the basis of a national report on the preservation of Danish cultural heritage, a committee was set up in 2004 to examine more closely the extent of acidic paper in the collections and whether mass deacidification of the country’s collections of unique national significance could be recommended. The committee had various sample tests done, including of the Royal Library’s collections. It was found that 70% of the Library’s collections date from 1800 to 1985 and that 93% of the objects concerned are more or less acidic. On the basis of the sample tests, it was possible to establish a rough prognosis as to how long the Library’s collections would be able to withstand ordinary physical handling, given that the paper, over time, will inevitably become so brittle that it disintegrates with use. If the collections are preserved in a climate, as was historically the case, at room temperature and varying humidity throughout the year, then half of the collections will have severely deteriorated in a hundred years. In order to ensure a longer lifetime, the collections can either be mass deacidified or the temperature and air humidity can be reduced so as to inhibit the breakdown processes. The committee and the Royal Library chose to work to ensure the collections’ long-term life by focusing on cool, dry storerooms, since this solution is, both from the financial point of view and with respect to preservation ethics, the most competitive. Lowering the temperature and the air humidity also makes it possible to extend the collections’ lifetime far more than with deacidification alone.


Author(s):  
Afonso Carlos Braga

Much has been said these days about the World’s limited capacity to provide sustainable resources vis a vis the growing population's demand for goods and supplies in a planet of finite resources. According to the Living Planet Report, produced by the NGO World Wildlife Fund (WWF): “At humanity's present rate of consumption, by 2030 we'll need the resources of two Earths just to survive long-term. There are really two options: start building another Earth, or drastically change our lifestyles. Which one is supposed to be easier?”[1]The present article addresses this issue from the point of view of the marketing executives of big companies, responsible to lead the communication and growth strategies of those companies, often encouraging 'consumerism' to meet the profit and revenue growths. The idea was to understand if this topic is relevant to these professionals,hence their companies, and raise some hypotheses of how to approach this problem in order to provoke those companies to practice "conscious marketing". Going one step further, does the type of organizational paradigm in which the executive company acts should influence the way to approach this professional when conducting personal interviews to collect data? An initial analysis on the theory of how to develop market research questions to avoid bias and/or induced responses, will lead to the article conclusion of how to set up a questionnaire that will be taken into consideration in a near future, at the masters’ thesis of the author.[1] Source:http://io9.com/5664078/humanity-will-need-two-earths-to-sustain-itself-in-just-twenty-years, access 02 dec 12


2021 ◽  
pp. 014664532110068
Author(s):  
J.M. Bertho ◽  
F. Gabillaud-Poillion ◽  
C. Reuter ◽  
O. Rivière ◽  
J.L. Lachaume

The Steering Committee for Post-accident Management Preparedness (CODIRPA) was commissioned by the French Government in 2005 with the aim of establishing the main principles to be set up for population protection and recovery in the long term. From the beginning, one of the main principles was the pluralistic nature of the working groups (WGs), including scientific and technical experts, representatives from state departments, nuclear operators, and representatives of civil society (i.e. stakeholders). Stakeholders were mainly associated with the various WGs of CODIRPA. In order to foster the involvement of stakeholders from civil society in the works of CODIRPA, a new organisation was implemented with two WGs: one mainly composed of technical experts for tackling technical issues, and one for evaluating the proposals made by the experts from the stakeholders’ point of view. This article presents the results of this new strategy.


Author(s):  
Sergey Kovalenko

The management of surface watercourses is an urgent scientific task. The article presents the results of statistical processing of long-term monthly data of field observations of hydrological and hydrochemical parameters along the Upper Yerga small river in the Vologda region. Sampling estimates of statistical parameters are obtained, autocorrelation and correlation analyzes are performed. The limiting periods from the point of view of pollution for water receivers receiving wastewater from drained agricultural areas are identified.


The results of experimental studies of masonry on the action of dynamic and static (short-term and long-term) loads are presented. The possibility of plastic deformations in the masonry is analyzed for different types of force effects. The falsity of the proposed approach to the estimation of the coefficient of plasticity of masonry, taking into account the ratio of elastic and total deformations of the masonry is noted. The study of the works of Soviet scientists revealed that the masonry under the action of seismic loads refers to brittle materials in the complete absence of plastic properties in it in the process of instantaneous application of forces. For the cases of uniaxial and plane stress states of the masonry, data on the coefficient of plasticity obtained from the experiment are presented. On the basis of experimental studies the influence of the strength of the so-called base materials (brick, mortar) on the bearing capacity of the masonry, regardless of the nature of the application of forces and the type of its stress state, is noted. The analysis of works of prof. S. V. Polyakov makes it possible to draw a conclusion that at the long application of the load, characteristic for the masonry are not plastic deformations, but creep deformations. It is shown that the proposals of some authors on the need to reduce the level of adhesion of the mortar to the brick for the masonry erected in earthquake-prone regions in order to improve its plastic properties are erroneous both from the structural point of view and from the point of view of ensuring the seismic resistance of structures. It is noted that the proposal to assess the plasticity of the masonry of ceramic brick walls and large-format ceramic stone with a voidness of more than 20% is incorrect, and does not meet the work of the masonry of hollow material. On the basis of the analysis of a large number of research works it is concluded about the fragile work of masonry.


Author(s):  
R. R. Palmer

In 1792, the French Revolution became a thing in itself, an uncontrollable force that might eventually spend itself but which no one could direct or guide. The governments set up in Paris in the following years all faced the problem of holding together against forces more revolutionary than themselves. This chapter distinguishes two such forces for analytical purposes. There was a popular upheaval, an upsurge from below, sans-culottisme, which occurred only in France. Second, there was the “international” revolutionary agitation, which was not international in any strict sense, but only concurrent within the boundaries of various states as then organized. From the French point of view these were the “foreign” revolutionaries or sympathizers. The most radical of the “foreign” revolutionaries were seldom more than advanced political democrats. Repeatedly, however, from 1792 to 1799, these two forces tended to converge into one force in opposition to the French government of the moment.


Author(s):  
Evi Zohar

Continuing the workshop I've given in the WPC Paris (2017), this article elaborates my discussion of the way I interlace Focusing with Differentiation Based Couples Therapy (Megged, 2017) under the systemic view, in order to facilitate processes of change and healing in working with intimate couples. This article presents the theory and rationale of integrating Differentiation (Bowen, 1978; Schnarch, 2009; Megged, 2017) and Focusing (Gendlin, 1981) approaches, and its therapeutic potential in couple's therapy. It is written from the point of view of a practicing professional in order to illustrate the experiential nature and dynamics of the suggested therapeutic path. Differentiation is a key to mutuality. It offers a solution to the central struggle of any long term intimate relationship: balancing two basic life forces - the drive for individuality and the drive for togetherness (Schnarch, 2009). Focusing is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing, in which one learns to pay attention to the body and the ‘Felt Sense’, in order to unfold the implicit, keep it in motion at the precise pace it needs for carrying the next step forward (Gendlin, 1996). Combining Focusing and Differentiation perspectives can cultivate the kind of relationship where a conflict can be constructively and successfully held in the inner world of each partner, while taking into consideration the others' well-being. This creates the possibility for two people to build a mutual emotional field, open to changes, permeable and resilient.


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