Reconceptualizing CSR in the media industry as relational accountability

In this paper, we reconceptualize CSR in the media industries by combining empirical data with theoretical perspectives emerging from the communication studies and business ethics literature. We develop a new conception of what corporate responsibility in media organizations may mean in real terms by bringing Bardoel and d’Haenens’ (European Journal of Communication 19 165–194 2004) discussion of the different dimensions of media accountability into conversation with the empirical results from three international focus group studies, conducted in France, the USA and South Africa. To enable a critical perspective on our findings, we perform a philosophical analysis of its implications for professional, public, market, and political accountability in the media, drawing on the insights of Paul Virilio. We come to the conclusion that though some serious challenges to media accountability exist, the battle for responsible media industries is not lost. In fact, the speed characterizing the contemporary media environment may hold some promise for fostering the kind of relational accountability that could underpin a new understanding of CSR in the media

What is psychiatry? Co-producing complexity in mental health

What is psychiatry? Such a question is increasingly important to engage with in light of the development of new diagnostic frameworks that have wide-ranging and international clinical and societal implications. I suggest in this reflective essay that ‘psychiatry' is not a singular entity that enjoins consistent forms of critique along familiar axes; rather, it is a heterogeneous assemblage of interacting material and symbolic elements (some of which endure, and some of which are subject to innovation). In underscoring the diversity of psychiatry, I seek to move towards further sociological purchase on what remains a contested and influential set of discourses and practices. This approach foregrounds the relationships between scientific knowledge, biomedical institutions, social action and subjective experience; these articulations co-produce both psychiatry and each other. One corollary of this emphasis on multiplicity and incoherence within psychiatric theory, research and practice, is that critiques which elide this complexity are rendered problematic. Engagements with psychiatry are, I argue, best furthered by recognising its multifaceted nature

Plasticidad del sistema nervioso

En este trabajo se revisan los conocimientos más recientes sobre el fenómeno de la plasticidad del sistéma nervioso, tanto a nivel morfológico como a nivel fisiológico y molecular. Se estudian los cambios morfólogicos y fisiológicos de las neuronas frente a la experiencia. Tambien se considera la adaptación molecular del sistéma nervioso a la información que recibe como la base de todo tipo de plasticidad

Comparison of phenol red and polyethyleneglycol as nonabsorbable markers for the study of intestinal absorption in humans

When phenol red and polyethyleneglycol were used simultaneously as nonabsorbable markers in perfusion studies of the absorptive capacity of high jejunum in humans, apparent absorption was the same when calculated from either marker. This similar indication of dilution and of absorption by the two markers was found in normal subjects and in patients with nontropical sprue, whether aqueous or saline solutions of dextrose were infused. The similarity strengthens the evidence that either phenol red or polyethyleneglycol is a satisfactory “nonabsorbable” marker compound to indicate dilution in perfusion studies of dextrose and electrolyte absorption in limited segments of human intestine.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44368/1/10620_2005_Article_BF02233070.pd

A concepção de família e religiosidade presente nos discursos produzidos por profissionais médicos acerca de crianças com doenças genéticas

O estudo explora a influência de tradições culturais arraigadas na construção do discurso que médicos do Instituto Fernandes Figueira/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz produzem acerca das crianças com doenças genéticas associadas a malformações congênitas e ao retardo mental, assim como, as reflexões provocadas pelo convívio profissional com tais crianças. Os dados foram coletados através de entrevistas orais do tipo narrativa conversada e do material analisado semioticamente. Os resultados apontaram para quatro tradições culturais muito presentes no discurso médico: a norma, a razão, a família e a religiosidade judaico-cristã. Este artigo, contudo, centra-se nas duas últimas, enfatizando como a concepção da família, principalmente a mitificação da mãe, pode 'tornar invisível' a criança com uma doença genética, como também contribui para que a condição de mulher da mãe fique subestimada diante de sua maternidade. Tais noções imbricam-se com aquelas trazidas pelas tradições religiosas e influenciam as percepções médicas a respeito do paciente e de sua família.This study explores the influences of cultural traditions rooted in the tone of medical discourse at the Instituto Fernandes Figueira/ Fundação Oswaldo Cruz by physicians regarding children with genetic diseases involving malformations and mental retardation, as well as reflections upon the professional care for these children. Data were collected using oral interviews (in the form of conversational narratives) and were submitted to semiotic analysis. The results pointed to four main cultural traditions present in medical discourse: the norm, the reason, the family and the Jewish-Christian religiosity. This article, however, focuses on the latter two, emphasizing how the notion of the family, mainly the mythification of the mother, can make the child with a genetic disease 'invisible,' in addition to contributing towards womanhood being underestimated when contrasted with motherhood. Such concepts overlap with those brought by the religious traditions and directly influence the medical perceptions towards patients and their families