Maxima quaestio et semper incerta

Quaestio and L-perspectivation

Ex Africa semper aliquid novi.

Three hundred fourteen years ago on July 21, 1699, a French physician and apothecary, Charles Jacques Poncet, arrived in Gondar, Ethiopia.1 Gondar is the site of a study of physician satisfaction with laboratory service that this commentary considers.2 The study’s period is much more recent than that of Poncet’s adventure—the satisfaction survey at Gondar University Hospital was carried out onl...

The SEMPER Framework for Secure Electronic Commerce

The goal of the ACTS Project SEMPER (Secure Electronic Marketplace for Europe) is to provide the first open and comprehensive framework for secure commerce over the Internet and other public information networks. A prototype of the SEMPER Framework for Secure Electronic Commerce has been implemented in the Java programming language. It includes the payment systems SET, Chipper, Mandate and ecas...

Cortical control of zona incerta.

The zona incerta (ZI) is at the crossroad of almost all major ascending and descending fiber tracts and targets numerous brain centers from the thalamus to the spinal cord. Effective ascending drive of ZI cells has been described, but the role of descending cortical signals in patterning ZI activity is unknown. Cortical control over ZI function was examined during slow cortical waves (1-3 Hz), ...

SEMPER: A Web-Based Support System for Patient Self-Management

The paper discusses an eHealth project which is currently developing an interactive web-based platform that assists patients to self-manage work-related disorders and alcoholism. The focus is on motivating long-term behaviour change. This is supported by an online assessment component based on the technique of motivational interviewing and a feedback component which visualizes actual behaviour ...