Consent and supported decision-making: why does it matter?

SIADH and hyponatraemia: why does it matter?

The vasopressin-receptor antagonists have received approval for the treatment of hyponatraemia secondary to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH). It is therefore necessary that physicians encountering hyponatraemia focus on SIADH. Recent studies show that hyponatraemia is often poorly managed-insufficient diagnostic tests are ordered and patients are undertreated...

Why are we shaped differently, and why does it matter?

Body fat distribution is an important predictor of metabolic abnormalities in obese humans. Dysregulation of free fatty acid (FFA) release, especially from upper body subcutaneous adipose tissue, appears to contribute substantially to these metabolic disturbances. Why different individuals preferentially store fat in upper vs. lower body subcutaneous fat or subcutaneous vs. visceral fat is not ...

Social Mobility : What is it and why does it matter ?

Teacher agency: what is it and why does it matter?

The concept of teacher agency has emerged in recent literature as an alternative means of understanding how teachers might enact practice and engage with policy (e.g. Lasky, 2005; Leander & Osbourne, 2008; Ketelaar et al., 2012; Priestley, Biesta & Robinson, 2013). But what is agency? Agency remains an inexact and poorly conceptualised construct in much of the literature, where it is often not ...

Regenerative medicine: why does it matter?

As a practicing intensivist who takes care of patients with respiratory failure, my efforts are often directed at preserving and/or restoring lung function. Expressed in terms that reflect physiological principles, I do so by minimizing the lungs’ deforming stress associated with mechanical ventilation, by manipulating the hydration state of the lungs’ interstitial matrix, and, when appropriate...