scholarly journals Assessing the efficacy of Canada's food guide and the barriers of use

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-164
Author(s):  
Hana Dibe

The landscape of nutrition advice is vast and full of misinformation. A primary source of nutrition advice in Canada comes from the Canadian Food Guide, however, many questions remain regarding the reach and accessibility of the food guide. Specifically, is the population most likely to receive and use this information, the population that needs it the most? Are there barriers to following this guide that Health Canada has failed to address? Is there evidence supporting the efficacy of this food guide in populations at risk for nutrition misinformation or diet-related preventable diseases? This commentary reviews the past research regarding efficacy of previous food guides and highlights potential barriers preventing equal and accessible use of Canada’s Food Guide.


Author(s):  
Dana Ganor-Stern

Past research has shown that numbers are associated with order in time such that performance in a numerical comparison task is enhanced when number pairs appear in ascending order, when the larger number follows the smaller one. This was found in the past for the integers 1–9 ( Ben-Meir, Ganor-Stern, & Tzelgov, 2013 ; Müller & Schwarz, 2008 ). In the present study we explored whether the advantage for processing numbers in ascending order exists also for fractions and negative numbers. The results demonstrate this advantage for fraction pairs and for integer-fraction pairs. However, the opposite advantage for descending order was found for negative numbers and for positive-negative number pairs. These findings are interpreted in the context of embodied cognition approaches and current theories on the mental representation of fractions and negative numbers.



1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (06) ◽  
pp. 942-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Landolfi ◽  
Erica De Candia ◽  
Bianca Rocca ◽  
Giovanni Ciabattoni ◽  
Armando Antinori ◽  
...  

SummarySeveral “in vitro” and “in vivo” studies indicate that heparin administration may affect platelet function. In this study we investigated the effects of prophylactic heparin on thromboxane (Tx)A2 biosynthesis “in vivo”, as assessed by the urinary excretion of major enzymatic metabolites 11-dehydro-TxB2 and 2,3-dinor-TxB2. Twenty-four patients who were candidates for cholecystectomy because of uncomplicated lithiasis were randomly assigned to receive placebo, unfractionated heparin, low molecular weight heparin or unfractionaed heparin plus 100 mg aspirin. Measurements of daily excretion of Tx metabolites were performed before and during the treatment. In the groups assigned to placebo and to low molecular weight heparin there was no statistically significant modification of Tx metabolite excretion while patients receiving unfractionated heparin had a significant increase of both metabolites (11-dehydro-TxB2: 3844 ± 1388 vs 2092 ±777, p <0.05; 2,3-dinor-TxB2: 2737 ± 808 vs 1535 ± 771 pg/mg creatinine, p <0.05). In patients randomized to receive low-dose aspirin plus unfractionated heparin the excretion of the two metabolites was largely suppressed thus suggesting that platelets are the primary source of enhanced thromboxane biosynthesis associated with heparin administration. These data indicate that unfractionated heparin causes platelet activation “in vivo” and suggest that the use of low molecular weight heparin may avoid this complication.



Author(s):  
Virginia TASSINARI ◽  
Ezio MANZINI ◽  
Maurizio TELI ◽  
Liesbeth HUYBRECHTS

The issue of design and democracy is an urgent and rather controversial one. Democracy has always been a core theme in design research, but in the past years it has shifted in meaning. The current discourse in design research that has been working in a participatory way on common issues in given local contexts, has developed an enhanced focus on rethinking democracy. This is the topic of some recent design conferences, such PDC2018, Nordes2017 and DRS2018, and of the DESIS Philosophy Talk #6 “Regenerating Democracy?” (www.desis-philosophytalks.org), from which this track originates. To reflect on the role and responsibility of designers in a time where democracy in its various forms is often put at risk seems an urgent matter to us. The concern for the ways in which the democratic discourse is put at risk in many different parts of the word is registered outside the design community (for instance by philosophers such as Noam Chomsky), as well as within (see for instance Manzini’s and Margolin’s call Design Stand Up (http://www.democracy-design.org). Therefore, the need to articulate a discussion on this difficult matter, and to find a common vocabulary we can share to talk about it. One of the difficulties encountered for instance when discussing this issue, is that the word “democracy” is understood in different ways, in relation to the traditions and contexts in which it is framed. Philosophically speaking, there are diverse discourses on democracy that currently inspire design researchers and theorists, such as Arendt, Dewey, Negri and Hardt, Schmitt, Mouffe, Rancière, Agamben, Rawls, Habermas, Latour, Gramsci, whose positions on this topic are very diverse. How can these authors guide us to further articulate this discussion? In which ways can these philosophers support and enrich design’s innovation discourses on design and democracy, and guide our thinking in addressing sensitive and yet timely questions, such as what design can do in what seems to be dark times for democracy, and whether design can possibly contribute to enrich the current democratic ecosystems, making them more strong and resilient?



2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-318
Author(s):  
Roman Girma Teshome

The effectiveness of human rights adjudicative procedures partly, if not most importantly, hinges upon the adequacy of the remedies they grant and the implementation of those remedies. This assertion also holds water with regard to the international and regional monitoring bodies established to receive individual complaints related to economic, social and cultural rights (hereinafter ‘ESC rights’ or ‘socio-economic rights’). Remedies can serve two major functions: they are meant, first, to rectify the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage sustained by the particular victim, and second, to resolve systematic problems existing in the state machinery in order to ensure the non-repetition of the act. Hence, the role of remedies is not confined to correcting the past but also shaping the future by providing reforming measures a state has to undertake. The adequacy of remedies awarded by international and regional human rights bodies is also assessed based on these two benchmarks. The present article examines these issues in relation to individual complaint procedures that deal with the violation of ESC rights, with particular reference to the case laws of the three jurisdictions selected for this work, i.e. the United Nations, Inter-American and African Human Rights Systems.



Author(s):  
Rowland W Pettit ◽  
Jordan Kaplan ◽  
Matthew M Delancy ◽  
Edward Reece ◽  
Sebastian Winocour ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Open Payments Program, as designated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act is the single largest repository of industry payments made to licensed physicians within the United States. Though sizeable in its dataset, the database and user interface are limited in their ability to permit expansive data interpretation and summarization. Objectives We sought to comprehensively compare industry payments made to plastic surgeons with payments made to all surgeons and all physicians to elucidate industry relationships since implementation. Methods The Open Payments Database was queried between 2014 and 2019, and inclusion criteria were applied. These data were evaluated in aggregate and for yearly totals, payment type, and geographic distribution. Results 61,000,728 unique payments totaling $11,815,248,549 were identified over the six-year study period. 9,089 plastic surgeons, 121,151 surgeons, and 796,260 total physicians received these payments. Plastic surgeons annually received significantly less payment than all surgeons (p=0.0005). However, plastic surgeons did not receive significantly more payment than all physicians (p = 0.0840). Cash and cash equivalents proved to be the most common form of payment; Stock and stock options were least commonly transferred. Plastic surgeons in Tennessee received the most in payments between 2014-2019 (mean $ 76,420.75). California had the greatest number of plastic surgeons to receive payments (1,452 surgeons). Conclusions Plastic surgeons received more in industry payments than the average of all physicians but received less than all surgeons. The most common payment was cash transactions. Over the past six years, geographic trends in industry payments have remained stable.



2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark É. Czeisler ◽  
Mark E. Howard ◽  
Shantha M. W. Rajaratnam


Author(s):  
Andrew J. Paul ◽  
Christopher L. Cahill ◽  
Laura MacPherson ◽  
Michael G. Sullivan ◽  
Myles R. Brown


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 315
Author(s):  
Malte Schäfer ◽  
Manuel Löwer

With the intent of summing up the past research on ecodesign and making it more accessible, we gather findings from 106 existing review articles in this field. Five research questions on terminology, evolution, barriers and success factors, methods and tools, and synergies, guide the clustering of the resulting 608 statements extracted from the reference. The quantitative analysis reveals that the number of review articles has been increasing over time. Furthermore, most statements originate from Europe, are published in journals, and address barriers and success factors. For the qualitative analysis, the findings are grouped according to the research question they address. We find that several names for similar concepts exist, with ecodesign being the most popular one. It has evolved from “end-of-pipe” pollution prevention to a more systemic concept, and addresses the complete life cycle. Barriers and success factors extend beyond the product development team to management, customers, policymakers, and educators. The number of ecodesign methods and tools available to address them is large, and more reviewing, testing, validation, and categorization of the existing ones is necessary. Synergies between ecodesign and other research disciplines exist in theory, but require implementation and testing in practice.



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