The co-existence of systemic lupus erythematosus and porphyria although rare has been known for a long time. This association forces the physician to make a careful differential diagnosis of the bullous lesions that might appear in such patients and to be careful when prescribing certain drugs such as chloroquine. This drug, when used in the regular doses for treating lupus, may cause hepatotox...

BACKGROUND Porphyrin metabolism disorders, known as porphyria, represent inherited or acquired diseases. The development of porphyria due to light sensibility occurs especially with exposure to wavelengths in the range of 300-700 nm. Skin reactions and neurovisceral dysfunctions are known side effects of ionizing irradiation. It can be postulated that during or after ionizing irradiation treatm...

Commissioning is the process by which PCTs identify the health needs of their population and make prioritized decisions to secure care to meet those needs within available resources. It includes longer term strategic planning, medium term planning (three year Local delivery Plans) and the shorter term agreement and performance management of service level agreements. The process should involve t...

In a paper resented at the Fordham Conference two years ago, I asked the question when considering the requirement of non-obviousness or inventive step in patent law is “what is the requirement for?”. Implicit in the question was the idea that these requirements had the same purpose. Internationally, it has been agreed that the term “non-obvious” used in the United States statute and possession...