Genomics has helped to initiate the era of precision medicine, with some drugs now prescribed on the basis of molecular genetic tests that indicate which patients are likely to respond or should not ...receive a drug because of a high risk of adverse effects. However, for precision medicine to realize its potential, the patient's history, environment, and lifestyle must also be taken into account. Improving precision medicine requires a better understanding of the underlying reasons for the variability in drug response so as to better identify which drug or combination of drugs is likely to be most effective for an individual patient, along with consideration of the optimal dose or doses for that patient. Greater individualization of dose will be an important means to achieve more precise medicine and mitigate significant variability in drug response. Achieving this will require changes in how drugs are developed, approved, prescribed, monitored, and paid for. Each of these factors is discussed in this review.
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the trajectory of Kiyomi Morioka’s research from a contemporary perspective in relation to postwar Japanese family sociology and family change. Dividing his ...research trajectory into four stages, he determined the research topics to pursue in each stage by examining and reflecting on his achievements in the previous stage. After the preparatory first stage, he established the nuclear family theory and summarized the family cycle theory in the second stage. However, at this time, Morioka recognized the limitations of the family cycle theory and expected to overcome these limitations in the third stage by means of the life course theory. At the same time, he showed a strong desire to develop his own theory of family change, but he was unable to achieve satisfying results. In the midst of the increasing dissolution of families, such as “individualization,” and the trend toward diversification in family research, he entrusted the challenge of a paradigm shift to subsequent generations.
Hope takes on particular significance at this historical moment, which is defined by the prospect of a climate-altered future. Young people (aged 18–29) from climate action groups in New Zealand were ...interviewed about how they perceived the future. Deploying a unique combination of conceptual tools and in-depth analysis of a small set of interviews, I explore young New Zealanders’ complex relationships with despair and hope. Paulo Freire claimed his despair as a young man ‘educated’ what emerged as hope. I extend Freire’s concept in two ways by considering: (a) how hope might also ‘educate’ despair and (b) how hope and despair might operate at a collective level, drawing on Rosemary Randall’s psychotherapeutic analysis of societal responses to climate change. Participants identified collective processes as generating hope. Collectivizing hope and despair is important so that young people do not feel climate change is only their burden to solve.
Research context: This article takes on the point of view that places the focus on the individual, despite belonging within a family group, and explores the concept of home as a space that ...contributes to the formation of an “individualized individual,” but that also takes into account the possible limits of this function of home. Objectives: This overview aims to define the concept of home to uncover all of its dimensions. Whether the spatial, temporal and relational dimensions of the home can be distinguished for the purposes of analysis, on the one hand, the article centres on how these dimensions interrelate intimately among the experiences of individuals to help form their personal identity, autonomy, self-empowerment and relationship to location or place (Simard and Savoie, 2009). On the other hand, these dimensions help to build groups and family relationships. Methodology: This article is based on a literature review and on the contributions to this issue to present the concept of home and the theoretical perspective gleaned. Results: In familial, marital and intergenerational cohabitation, the construct of home is played out in interactions with other family members, who have their own constructs and concepts of home. These constructs and concepts produce differentiated and sometimes asymmetrical relationships, as well as three different experiences of home. The first refers to personal spaces, my “home”; the second, to the rules and laws that govern a cohabitation and the space in which home is located. In this case, it is defined by a statutory and hierarchical aspect, and the individual has a place assigned by their status. This is designated as “our home.” The third is epitomized by belonging and by a place within a group or community where the individual is considered equal. This is belonging to our home. If the first “home” is the main factor in the process of individualization, so are the other two: one explains the boundaries of “home,” and the other, the individual's belonging within the group, notably the family. Conclusions: The question of home entails two aspects: the relationship with home of the sole inhabitant and the relationship with home of the inhabitant together with others. In this second aspect, a tension develops between the sense of autonomy and that of belonging to a group. Being a member of the group, interpreted as being in our home, has two dimensions: being assigned within our home and belonging to our home. In this sense, our home acts as a constraint on the concept of home, and the family seems to be a paradoxical validation of the individual. Thus, the family has a double function: to make it possible to be oneself (preferring personal spaces and validating individual dimensions of identity) and to acknowledge that each member belongs to the group and has a place in it. The limits to individualizing home become apparent when there is an imbalance among these three aspects of “home”: having personal space, being assigned within our home, and belonging to our home. Contribution: Home constitutes a valuable perspective in this construct, which links the past, present and future: having been, being and becoming. The iterative movement between home and identity is central to the formation of the individual and the family group.
In the forensic science context petrol is considered the most common fire accelerant. However, the identification and classification of petrol sources through the years has been proven to be a ...challenge in the investigation of fire related incidents. This research explored the possibility of identification and classification of petrol sources using high field NMR spectroscopy. In this study, 1H NMR profiling, using specific pulse sequences to analyse neat aliquot petrol samples of different brands collected at different times across the UK and Ireland is shown, for the first time, to provide a diagnostic ‘fingerprint’ with specific chemical compounds that can be used for identification and classification of petrol samples. This enables linkage of unknown petrol samples to a source and in addition provides a tool which allows exclusion of potential petrol sources. A new, innovative method using 1H selTOCSY is described for the individualization and classification of petrol samples through the identification of olefinic markers in the samples. Those markers were identified as (i) 3-methyl-1-butene, (ii) a mixture of 1-pentene and 3-methyl-1-butene, (iii) 2-methyl-2-butene and (iv) a mixture of cis and trans-2-pentene.
•NMR spectroscopy used for analysis of fire debris.•New innovative method using 1H selTOCSY for structural elucidation of petrol samples; reversed engineering.•Identification of unknown petrol sample to UK petrol source based on class characteristics.
Variable effects limit the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a research and therapeutic tool. Conventional application of a fixed-dose of tDCS does not account for ...inter-individual differences in anatomy (e.g. skull thickness), which varies the amount of current reaching the brain. Individualised dose-control may reduce the variable effects of tDCS by reducing variability in electric field (E-field) intensities at a cortical target site.
To characterise the variability in E-field intensity at a cortical site (left primary motor cortex; M1) and throughout the brain for conventional fixed-dose tDCS, and individualised dose-controlled tDCS.
The intensity and distribution of the E-field during tDCS was estimated using Realistic Volumetric Approach to Simulate Transcranial Electric Stimulation (ROAST) in 50 individual brain scans taken from the Human Connectome Project, for fixed-dose tDCS (1 mA & 2 mA) and individualised dose-controlled tDCS targeting left M1.
With a fixed-dose (1 mA & 2 mA), E-field intensity in left M1 varied by more than 100% across individuals, with substantial variation observed throughout the brain as well. Individualised dose-control ensured the same E-field intensity was delivered to left M1 in all individuals. Its variance in other regions of interest (right M1 and area underneath the electrodes) was comparable with fixed- and individualised-dose.
Individualised dose-control can eliminate the variance in E-field intensities at a cortical target site. Assuming that the current delivered to the brain directly determines its physiological and behavioural consequences, this approach may allow for reducing the known variability of tDCS effects.
•Applying a fixed-dose of tDCS varies E-field in the brain by over 100%.•Individualised dose-control of tDCS minimises variance in a cortical target site.•Current flow modelling can be used to effectively dose-control tES.•Dose-controlling may reduce variance in the effects of tES.
National policy states that Swedish adult education should be flexible and individualized, based on students’ needs. However, adult education in Sweden is a municipal responsibility with a high level ...of decentralization. Drawing on national policies, this study focuses on how the concepts of flexibility and individualization are enacted locally and what consequences this has for teaching and learning. Starting from a teacher perspective and based on qualitative interviews with 50 teachers, the article analyses how policy requirements for offering flexible and individualized adult education are being enacted, and what the consequences of this are for teaching and learning. The findings show how flexibility and individualization are put into practice through measures such as a fast study pace, continuous admission of students, and pressure on municipalities to maintain a broad course offer, often by turning to distance education. This enactment makes it easier for adult learners to fit education into their lives, but it also has consequences for the quality of teaching and learning. It is causing fragmentation, a learning environment where interactions mainly occur on an individual basis, an instrumental view of education, and teachers experiencing high workloads and low autonomy in making pedagogical decisions.
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