What Did The Ruling Say?

The Court’s ruling is specifically to protect the human dignity, even if it is in its embryonic stage. As per a statement released to the press the Directive is said to “exclude any possibility of patentability where respect for human dignity could thereby be affected”.

Defining the “human embryo”, the Court said that the term covers a fertilized egg, right from the moment it is fertilized, if that can normally develop into a human being. The meaning of a “human embryo”, the Court pointed is the beginning of a human life and this means it covers stem cells, if these are capable to develop later into a human being.

The ruling is explicit about the fact that no human embryo can be used for harvesting of stem cells, with the result of the destruction of the embryo. The exception to this ruling would be only when the research or medical intervention is to sustain the life or improve the quality of the life of the human being that would develop out of that particular embryo.

What Is The Significance Of This Ruling?

The research with and on stem cells has since beginning attracted a lot of controversy just like research on human cloning did. While the potential of this research can prove extremely useful to human kind, it is true that it has just as equal scope to develop into unethical medical research that affects the dignity of human life as we know it.

The present ruling of EU Court would mean that the stem research in EU would decrease considerably. Whatever research would  still happen would move out of Europe predictably to the USA where the laws are still pro-research of stem cells. Funding of stem cell research in Europe would become more and more difficult for this would shift to the USA-based medical research.

Global Tuberculosis Control 2011 Report

World Health Organization had launched and directed a study of the cases of tuberculosis from all over the world. Working closely with the governments of each country, WHO managed to account for 99 percent of the world’s TB cases.  The report has analyzed data obtained from 198 countries and the findings are extremely encouraging.

The reports covered the following aspects of the disease and recorded the following facts:

-      Fatalities resulting from TB have declined from 1.8 million recorded in 2003 to 1.4 million in 2011

-      There would be a 50% drop in mortality rates worldwide due to TB, with the exception of Africa, by 2015. At present, the statistics show a decline of about 40.

-      87 percent of people who underwent treatment for TB stayed on the treatment and were cured of TB in 2009. This means 7 million lives have been saved between now and 1995; in this period the cases successfully treated number 46 million.

-      The funding allocated to increase awareness about TB worldwide has increased to 86 percent globally

The Secretary General of United Nations – Ban Ki-moon,  appreciated the excellent progress in the program to fight TB globally and attributed its success to the concerted efforts of the UN and the total cooperation received from each country across the globe. He said that there is still a lot of work to do, especially focusing the drug-resistant TB.

“The challenge now is to build on that commitment, to increase the global effort – and to pay particular attention to the growing threat of multidrug-resistant TB” said Dr Margaret Chan, Director General WHO.

The report pointed  that there is a deep co-relation between TB and HIV infection:

-      People who are affected by both HIV and TB account for 12% of the cases recorded worldwide

-      82% of the HIV affected people developed TB in Africa

-      The percentage of people testing for co-infection in Africa increased to 59%

-      About 50% of TB affected people took antiretrovirals in Africa and 75% took up TB preventive therapy (co-trimoxazole), for which susceptibility to co-infection reduced drastically

The Findings Of The Study

There were many very significant findings that resulted from this study, which are briefly described here:

-      the employees in public sector possessed a higher level of skill on organizational politics. In private sector, it was found that the higher the emotional level among the employees, the lower was the perception of organizational politics

-      the higher the emotional intelligence in the private sector the more positive were the attitudes; in public sector it did not make any difference

-      no matter the level of emotional intelligence, the employees in public sector were more likely to employ forceful tactics to get their work done; on the other hand, in private sector the emotional intelligence was indirectly proportional to the incidence of forceful tactics

-      in private sector, higher emotional intelligence results more positive attitude towards the goals of the organization, work satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and justice. It also reduced negative attitudes such as casual approach to work, desire to leave the job, work burnout, and such others. There is no significant impact of higher emotional intelligence on the attitude of employees of public sector

The Significance of these Findings

Stress is a major that cuts down productivity and promotes high turnover in both public and private sectors organizations. A deeper understanding of the interaction and impact of the emotional intelligence at workplace would mean less stress and higher retention of deserving employees.

Dr Galit Meilser while explaining about the study said, “We believe that the high level of organizational politics in the public sector and the stress associated with it decrease the positive effects of emotional intelligence for this sector”.

For the executives who have on their agenda introduction and implementation of various reforms would do good to take into consideration the findings of this study. Being aware about these basic yet very significant difference, would ensure that the plans laid out would be fruitful. Emotional intelligence would gradually a key component in the eligibility of an employee in either sectors, i.e. public or private.

Key components of the United States Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

• Special care was given to the seniors. The law provides free preventive services which include Medicare personalized prevention plans and annual wellness visits.

• Seniors who enter the coverage gap would be eligible for 50 percent discount on branded drugs (with prescription) under Medicare Part D.

• The new law requires that insurance companies use at least 85% of the funds collected as premium from plans sold to large employers be spent on improving health care services quality. For plans sold to individuals and small sized organizations, the insurance companies are required to use 80% of the premium in the same manner. If they cannot do so, for any reason, they would be required to provide discounts to their customers.

• Because Medicare is paying all insurance companies of Medicare Advantage about $1,000 more per person than the Original Medicare, the premiums are obviously higher for all Medicare beneficiaries. This increase is also applicable for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who are not yet enrolled under this plan, a number which accounts for 77% of the total beneficiaries enrolled. The new law eliminates this problem by offering all guaranteed medical benefits to the people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plan, while high quality care is taken care of by bonus payment Medicare Advantage plans.

• A new Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation is being established that would have as its primary goal researching and looking for novel ways to improve healthcare delivery system to patients. These improvements are expected to reduce the rising costs of CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), Medicaid, and Medicare. Funding will be made available for this purpose in October 2011.

• By 2014 insurance plans would drop all discriminations against pre-existing conditions. Until then, with effect from 1 July 2011 all states will have option to offer a pre-existing condition insurance plan that would serve as a bridge until 2014. Alternatively, the Department of Health and Human Services of each state would offer a special plan.

Whatever the problem, it is often difficult to discern what is what is physiological psychology. The ideas, thoughts and feelings are at least as important as the physical manifestations.
Major forms of male sexual dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction. We can diagnose erectile dysfunction when installed a repeated inability to get an erection or maintain it properly during coitus. It should not be confused with the isolated or occasional erectile failure which, although often experienced so annoying, should be seen for what it is: normal. The vast majority of men experience at some time or other such periods without life or that of their partner is not disturbed so far. Erectile dysfunction affects approximately 20% of men aged 50 to 59 years, a proportion that increases with age and disease. The fact remains that a healthy man can remain sexually active into old age.

Decreased desire. Once exclusively associated with women, the failure of sexual desire affects both men. An infinite number of factors may affect the desire. Culture, values, economic and social context are few. In fact, a genuine desire disorder was diagnosed when loss of libido occurs for no apparent reason and persists over time. In general, the factors involved in erectile dysfunction can affect the taste for sexual activity.

Premature ejaculation. We can diagnose this sexual disorder when, in a systematic and uncontrolled, the man ejaculates at the slightest excitement, often even before he entered his or her partner. The phenomenon may also be present to masturbation. Again, this situation may arise in connection with a man healthy and normal and it happens to most men at one time or another, to ejaculate before the time they would have liked. In premature ejaculation, the phenomenon is not occasional, it is rather a constant, a behavioral model exclusive. This sexual disorder affects about one third of the men, making it the most fréquent1 sexual disorder.
Note. In addition to the premature ejaculation there are other disorders of ejaculation, which are much rarer. Examples include delayed ejaculation, where man has difficulty ejaculating or does so only if coitus is very long.

Peyronie’s disease. Described for the first time in 1743 by the French surgeon Francois de la Peyronie, the disease is characterized by a deformity of the erect penis, which can be painful to humans and to prevent (in whole or in part) to have normal sexual intercourse. It affects about 1% of men. The disease may in some cases lead to erectile dysfunction. It is usually secondary to an injury that causes adhesions in the penile tissues. Disorders may be, as the case of temporary or permanent.