The information systems discipline is still young. Our more senior colleagues personally witnessed the creation of the key institutions of the field—our journals, professional associations, conferences, degree programs, curriculum recommendations, and research centers. Many did far more than witness! Beginning in the late 1960s, these institution builders riveted with near evangelical enthusiasm their emerging knowledge of information systems to institutional models and traditions they adapted from the neighboring disciplines from which they had migrated. The products of their energies were the essential institutions required for launching and establishing credibility for a new discipline. Among the more notable of these institutions are top-tier journals including MIS Quarterly, first published in 1977, Information Systems Research, first published in 1990, and, more recently, Journal of the Association for Information System, first published in 2000. In addition to journals, we required professional support groups. Initially we relied on the professional associations of our reference disciplines. Among the oldest of these relationships was that with the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Business Data Processing (SIGBDP), founded in 1961 (since renamed SIGMIS); similarly, the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) tried to meet the needs of our community through its Technical Committee 8 (TC8), Information Systems, formed in 1976. Some divisions within the Academy

of vital signs, and medical emergency teams

Abstract not found

This editorial has a different angle: Instead of an introductory, underpinning article on quality assurance in higher education per se, I look at the SAARDHE Conference from a quality assurance point of view. It is ultimately the conference that served as the stage for the presentation

forensic psychiatry Gwen Adshead Broadmoor Hospital, Crowthorne, Berkshire Ethical dilemmas in forensic psychiatry have not, on the whole, been exposed to the same degree of scrutiny as other medical topics in the medical ethical literature. In this editorial, I will hope to show that forensic

Platelet rich plasma (PRP), also termed autologous platelet gel, plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF), platelet concentrate (PC), is essentially an increased concentration of autologous platelets suspended in a small amount of plasma after centrifugation. Basically, patient’s blood is collected and centrifuged at varying speeds until it separates into 3 layers: platelet poor plasma (PPP), PRP, and red blood cells. Usually 2 spins are used. The first spin (“Hard spin”) separates the platelet poor plasma (PPP) from the red fraction and platelet rich plasma (PRP). The second spin (“Soft spin”) separates the red fraction from the PRP. The material with the highest specific gravity (PRP) will be deposited at the bottom of the tube. Immediately prior to application, a platelet activator/agonist (topical bovine thrombin and

Novel approaches to the analysis of family data in genetic epidemiology

Is ‘‘vegetarianism’ ’ a serious risk factor for osteoporotic fracture?1,2

Three decades have passed since the World Health Organisa-tion (WHO) issued its once famous slogan, “Health for all (HFA) by the year 2000”.1 There were several reasons for op-timism in 1978. Collectively these created the illusion that this extremely ambitious target might be attainable. These reasons included rapid health-promoting advances in technology such as anaesthesia, antibiotics and DDT. These advances were complemented by increased global co-operation, exemplified by the campaign to eradicate smallpox, declared successful only one year earlier. Two other major reasons underlay this optimism. One was a shift in global norms which followed World War II, and which had partially restrained inequality.2 This global mood ena-bled and legitimised attempts to reduce global poverty and to promote global health. The other fundamental reason for

Time to catch up...Qualitative research in child and adolescent psychiatry As a research tool, qualitative research has been of little interest to researchers in psychiatry. A few recent editorials and articles in Canadian psychiatry journals have attempted to nudge researchers towards qualitative