Evaluating the holistic costs and benefits of corn production systems in Minnesota, US.

Global agriculture aims to minimize its impacts on environment and human health while maintaining its productivity. This requires a comprehensive understanding of its benefits and costs to ecosystems and society. Here, we apply a new evaluation framework developed by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) to assess key benefits and costs on the production side of genetically modified (GM) and organic corn systems in Minnesota, USA.

What is 'Alzheimer's Disease'? The 'Auguste D' Case Re-opened.

What is Alzheimer's: an organic, neuropathological psychiatric disease, caused by plaques and tangles in aging brains or/and an existential condition affecting the minds of aging persons experiencing disconnection from meaning-bearing networks of social relations? Reviewing current research and revisiting Alzheimer's original case of 'Auguste D' this paper offers an historical-sociological genealogy that raises fundamental questions of causality, and even of the ontological status of Alzheimer's and the dementia reputed to it as a disease entity. Drawing on Kuhn's notion of 'science as usual' and Foucault's notion of the discursive formation of 'regimes of truth', our analysis seeks to understand how a sole medical focus on either bio-markers of neurological disease or genetic association was accomplished in the absence of sufficient and robust evidence. To counter the exclusion of psychosocial considerations, this paper offers two original hypotheses on the iconic case of 'Auguste D', taking into account the social milieu in which she lived and the specific circumstances of her life.

In a bad place: Carers of patients with head and neck cancer experiences of travelling for cancer treatment.

Purpose: To explore the effect that treatment-related commuting has on carers of patients with head and neck cancer.

Method: Semi-structured interviews, thematically analysed, with 31 carers.

Results: Treatment-related commuting had a considerable impact on carers of patients with head and neck cancer, both in practical terms (economic costs, disruption) and also in psychological terms.

Reducing inappropriate non-steroidal anti-inflammatory prescription in primary care patients with chronic kidney disease.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reduce inappropriate non-steroidal anti-inflammatory prescribing in primary care patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Once diagnosed, CKD management involves delaying progression to end stage renal failure and preventing complications. It is well established that non-steroidal anti-inflammatories have a negative effect on kidney function and consequently, all nephrology consensus groups suggest avoiding this drug class in CKD.