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Greater Freedom (greater + freedom)
Selected AbstractsAustralian Universities 1939-1999: How Different Now?HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2000Bruce Williams Between 1939 and 1999, when the Australian population increased from 7 to 19 million, university enrolments rose from 14,236 to 681,870. Until 1974 the most notable changes were the increases in the size of universities and of departments (which encouraged greater specialization), continued increases in research expenditures, in the percentage of postgraduate students, and a gradual decline in collegiality. In 1974 the Commonwealth Government assumed full responsibility for government grants to universities and abolished fees at just that time when growth rates in the economy fell sharply. Government influence on the universities increased, and there were some departures from the no-fees policy for international and postgraduate course-work masters and diploma students. Then in 1988 the Government decided to abolish the distinction between universities and colleges of advanced education, to create through amalgamations a smaller number of much larger universities and to set a specific mission for each university in the interest of economic growth. The Tertiary Education Commission was abolished and the universities dealt directly with the Minister and his Department. The Universities became distinctly more managerial, less collegial, and the range of courses and degrees was greatly expanded. There are now legitimate doubts about the quality of some degrees. Student fees came back, but in a way that reduced the financial burden on the government without giving the universities greater freedom. The government sponsored collective bargaining for university staff but as universities were not given the capacity to earn much additional income, increases in salaries increased student/staff ratios and induced a decline in morale. [source] Achievement of Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients Undergoing Circumferential Pulmonary Vein Ablation: A Randomized Comparison Between Two Different Isolation ApproachesJOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 12 2006XINGPENG LIU M.D. Introduction: Circumferential pulmonary vein ablation (CPVA) with the endpoint of pulmonary vein (PV) isolation has been developed as an effective therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF). This endpoint can be achieved either by closing gaps along circular lines or by segmental PV isolation inside the circular lines after creation of initial CPVA lesions. We investigated whether the clinical outcome depends on the PV isolation approach used during the first-time CPVA procedure. Methods and Results: One hundred consecutive patients (69 male; age, 56.7 ± 11.6 years) who underwent first-time CPVA for treatment of symptomatic AF were enrolled. PV isolation was randomly achieved either by CPVA alone (aggressive CPVA [A-CPVA] group, n = 50) or by a combination of CPVA with segmental PV ostia ablation (modified CPVA [M-CPVA] group, n = 50). Recurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmias (ATa) within 3 months after the initial procedure occurred in 30 patients (60%) in the M-CPVA group and in only 15 patients (30%) in the A-CPVA group (P < 0.01). ATa relapse after the first 3 months was detected in 21 patients (42%) in the M-CPVA group, compared with 9 patients (18%) in the A-CPVA group (P = 0.01). At 13 ± 4 months, patients treated by the A-CPVA approach had greater freedom from ATa recurrence than patients who underwent M-CPVA (P = 0.01). The M-CPVA approach was the only independent predictor associated with procedural failure (RR 0.318; 95% CI 0.123,0.821; P = 0.02). Conclusions: When PV isolation is the endpoint of CPVA, the efficacy of the A-CPVA approach is better than that of M-CPVA. [source] Inferences from DNA data: population histories, evolutionary processes and forensic match probabilitiesJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 2 2003Ian J. Wilson Summary. We develop a flexible class of Metropolis,Hastings algorithms for drawing inferences about population histories and mutation rates from deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence data. Match probabilities for use in forensic identification are also obtained, which is particularly useful for mitochondrial DNA profiles. Our data augmentation approach, in which the ancestral DNA data are inferred at each node of the genealogical tree, simplifies likelihood calculations and permits a wide class of mutation models to be employed, so that many different types of DNA sequence data can be analysed within our framework. Moreover, simpler likelihood calculations imply greater freedom for generating tree proposals, so that algorithms with good mixing properties can be implemented. We incorporate the effects of demography by means of simple mechanisms for changes in population size and structure, and we estimate the corresponding demographic parameters, but we do not here allow for the effects of either recombination or selection. We illustrate our methods by application to four human DNA data sets, consisting of DNA sequences, short tandem repeat loci, single-nucleotide polymorphism sites and insertion sites. Two of the data sets are drawn from the male-specific Y-chromosome, one from maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA and one from the , -globin locus on chromosome 11. [source] The paradoxes of legal paternalism and how to resolve them*LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2010Anthony Ogus Legal paternalism occurs when the law forces individuals to avoid certain risks (,hard paternalism'), or, without coercion, nudges them away from such risks (,soft paternalism'), on the ground that otherwise they will make unwise decisions. The questions when and how such approaches should be taken are of fundamental importance in a society in which there are increasing risks to health and livelihood resulting from technological developments and greater freedom of choice. However, they are not openly addressed in policy-making circles and have also been neglected in the European legal literature. In this paper, I attempt to explain these paradoxes and to outline a theoretical benefit,cost framework for determining when and how legal paternalism might be considered appropriate. [source] Alemtuzumab Induction Prior to Cardiac Transplantation with Lower Intensity Maintenance Immunosuppression: One-Year OutcomesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2010J. J. Teuteberg Induction therapy with alemtuzumab (C-1H) prior to cardiac transplantation (CTX) may allow for lower intensity maintenance immunosuppression. This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent CTX at a single institution from January 2001 until April 2009 and received no induction versus induction with C-1H on a background of tacrolimus and mycophenolate. Those with C-1H received dose-reduced calcineurin inhibitor and no steroids. A total of 220 patients were included, 110 received C-1H and 110 received no induction. Recipient baseline characteristics, donor age and gender were not different between the two groups. Mean tacrolimus levels (ng/mL) for C-1H versus no induction: months 1,3 (8.5 vs. 12.9), month 4,6 (10.2 vs. 13.0), month 7,9 (10.2 vs. 11.9) and month 10,12 (9.9 vs. 11.3) were all significantly lower for the C-1H group, p < 0.001. There were no differences between the C-1H and no induction groups at 12 months for overall survival 85.1% versus 93.6% p = 0.09, but freedom from significant rejection was significantly higher for the C-1H group, 84.5% versus 51.6%, p < 0.0001. In conclusion, induction therapy after CTX with C-1H results in a similar 12 month survival, but a greater freedom from rejection despite lower calcineurin levels and without the use of steroids. [source] | ||||||||||