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Scientific Base (scientific + base)
Selected AbstractsPrevention programs in the 21st century: what we do not discuss in publicADDICTION, Issue 4 2010Harold Holder ABSTRACT Prevention research concerning alcohol, tobacco and other drugs faces a number of challenges as the scientific foundation is strengthened for the future. Seven issues which the prevention research field should address are discussed: lack of transparency in analyses of prevention program outcomes, lack of disclosure of copyright and potential for profit/income during publication, post-hoc outcome variable selection and reporting only outcomes which show positive and statistical significance at any follow-up point, tendency to evaluate statistical significance only rather than practical significance as well, problem of selection bias in terms of selecting subjects and limited generalizability, the need for confirmation of outcomes in which only self-report data are used and selection of appropriate statistical distributions in conducting significance testing. In order to establish a solid scientific base for alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention, this paper calls for discussions, disclosures and debates about the above issues (and others) as essential. In summary, the best approach is always transparency. [source] The impact of state physical education requirements on youth physical activity and overweightHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 12 2007John Cawley Abstract To combat childhood overweight in the US, which has risen dramatically in the past three decades, many medical and public health organizations have called for students to spend more time in physical education (PE) classes. This paper is the first to examine the impact of state PE requirements on student PE exercise time. It also exploits variation in state laws as quasi-natural experiments in order to estimate the causal impact of PE on overall student physical activity and weight. We study nationwide data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System for 1999, 2001, and 2003 merged with data on state minimum PE requirements from the 2001 Shape of the Nation Report. We find that high school students with a binding PE requirement report an average of 31 additional minutes per week spent physically active in PE class. Our results also indicate that additional PE time raises the number of days per week that girls report having exercised vigorously or having engaged in strength-building activity. We find no evidence that PE lowers BMI or the probability that a student is overweight. We conclude that raising PE credit requirements may make girls more physically active overall but there is not yet the scientific base to declare raising PE requirements an anti-obesity initiative for either boys or girls. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Die Bedeutung und Aufgabe des TrichologenJOURNAL DER DEUTSCHEN DERMATOLOGISCHEN GESELLSCHAFT, Issue 7-8 2002The Role of the Trichologist clinical trichology; trichologist; training Zusammenfassung: Der Autor möchte das Spezialgebiet der klinischen Trichologie und seinen ganzheitlichen Ansatz darstellen. Der Mythos, die Trichologie sei entweder eine alternative Behandlungsmethode oder eine ergänzende Therapie, soll eindeutig widerlegt werden. Vergleiche zwischen den Behandlungsmöglichkeiten des Trichologen und den verfügbaren Möglichkeiten im Rahmen traditioneller medizinischer Versorgung werden gezogen. Die Ausbildung des Trichologen wird, unter Betonung der ausgeprägten wissenschaftlichen Orientierung, in groben Zügen dargestellt. Die meisten Trichologen besitzen keine medizinische Qualifikation, es wird jedoch erläutert, dass Trichologen, soweit es die professionelle Erfüllung ihrer spezialisierten Aufgabe erfordert, innerhalb bestimmter Grenzen adäquate medizinische Kenntnisse besitzen. Der Artikel weist darauf hin, dass sowohl die Öffentlichkeit als auch Mediziner lernen müssen, zwischen gut ausgebildeten und qualifizierten Trichologen und den vielen unqualifizierten Scharlatanen, die nur Publicity anstreben, zu unterscheiden. Ziel ist es, dieses Berufsbild bekannter zu machen und die entsprechenden Möglichkeiten aufzuzeigen. Summary: The author seeks to establish both the speciality of clinical trichology and its holistic nature. The myth that trichology is either an alternative therapy or a complimentary therapy is strongly refuted. Comparisons are drawn between the level of service which the trichologist can provide and that usually available through traditional medical channels. The training of trichologists is discussed in outline and its strong scientific base is emphasised. Whilst admitting that the majority of trichologists are not medically qualified the author stresses that trichologists are taught medicine within the limits adequate for professional discharge of their restricted but specialised role. The article concludes by identifying a need for both the public and medical profession to learn how to differentiate between the properly trained and qualified trichologist and the many unqualified charlatans who monopolise publicity and proliferate in the high street. There would appear to be a clear case for better understanding of the profession and what it has to offer. [source] Studies on spasmogenic and spasmolytic activities of Calendula officinalis flowersPHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, Issue 10 2006Samra Bashir Abstract The aqueous-ethanol extract of Calendula officinalis flowers (Co.Cr) was studied for its possible spasmolytic and spasmogenic effects in isolated gut preparations. In rabbit jejunum, Co.Cr caused a dose-dependent (0.03,3.0 mg/mL) relaxation of spontaneous and K+-induced contractions, suggestive of calcium channel blockade (CCB). In a few preparations, a mild non-reproducible spasmogenic effect was observed at lower doses, followed by relaxation. The CCB effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the jejunum preparations with Co.Cr produced a dose-dependent rightward shift in the Ca++ dose-response curves, similar to that of verapamil. Activity-directed fractionation revealed that the spasmolytic activity of the plant was concentrated in its organic fractions. The aqueous fraction exhibited a marked atropine sensitive spasmogenic effect but was found to be devoid of any spasmolytic effect. These data indicate that the crude extract of Calendula officinalis flowers contains both spasmolytic and spasmogenic constituents, exhibiting these effects through calcium channel blocking and cholinergic activities and this study provides a scientific base for its traditional use in abdominal cramps and constipation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sustainable biofuel production derived from urban waste using PSCCBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 3 2009W. R. ButterworthArticle first published online: 16 FEB 200 W. R. Butterworth reports on the performance and scientific base of a commercial operation which matches two problems: recycling urban ,wastes' and producing sustainable biofuels. The proximity recycling of ,wastes' to produce biofuels in a closed loop mimics the original processes in the Carboniferous Era which laid down the global fossilized fuel reserves. When urban wastes are composted and can substitute for mineral fertilizers, a crop will use the green leaf and photo synthesis to capture far more carbon dioxide than is released when the biofuel produced from the crop seed is finally burned to release the energy captured from the sun. Most of the captured carbon goes into a carbon sink in the soil from which it only slowly oxidizes and at predictable rates. The figures of carbon capture, oxygen release and food production are related to fuels produced. Published © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] New perspectives in forensic anthropologyAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue S47 2008Dennis C. Dirkmaat Abstract A critical review of the conceptual and practical evolution of forensic anthropology during the last two decades serves to identify two key external factors and four tightly inter-related internal methodological advances that have significantly affected the discipline. These key developments have not only altered the current practice of forensic anthropology, but also its goals, objectives, scope, and definition. The development of DNA analysis techniques served to undermine the classic role of forensic anthropology as a field almost exclusively focused on victim identification. The introduction of the Daubert criteria in the courtroom presentation of scientific testimony accompanied the development of new human comparative samples and tools for data analysis and sharing, resulting in a vastly enhanced role for quantitative methods in human skeletal analysis. Additionally, new questions asked of forensic anthropologists, beyond identity, required sound scientific bases and expanded the scope of the field. This environment favored the incipient development of the interrelated fields of forensic taphonomy, forensic archaeology, and forensic trauma analysis, fields concerned with the reconstruction of events surrounding death. Far from representing the mere addition of new methodological techniques, these disciplines (especially, forensic taphonomy) provide forensic anthropology with a new conceptual framework, which is broader, deeper, and more solidly entrenched in the natural sciences. It is argued that this new framework represents a true paradigm shift, as it modifies not only the way in which classic forensic anthropological questions are answered, but also the goals and tasks of forensic anthropologists, and their perception of what can be considered a legitimate question or problem to be answered within the field. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 51:33,52, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||