Grounding and the Myth of Ontological Innocence

According to the Ontological Innocence Thesis (OIT), grounded entities are ontologically innocent relative to their full grounds. I argue that OIT entails a contradiction, and therefore must be discarded. My argument turns on the notion of “groundmates,” two or more numerically distinct entities that share at least one of their full grounds. I argue that, if OIT is true, then it is both the case that there are groundmates and that there are no groundmates. Therefore, so I conclude, OIT is false. Moreover, once we have seen why OIT is false, only three heterodox views about reality's structure remain. So this paper’s second conclusion is that, even after we have discarded OIT, we are in for an additional surprise

Pilot Study: Program Evaluation of Peanut Oral Immunotherapy in a Private Clinic

The privilege of providing a therapy perceived by patients and families as “life changing” has seasoned physicians describing food oral immunotherapy (OIT) as one of “the most impactful and rewarding thing that they have done in medicine” (Wasserman, Jones, & Windom, 2018). OIT is a medical treatment that allows the immune system to become desensitized to a food to which it may otherwise be allergic. This is not a cure for food allergies but a way to decrease the incidence of anaphylaxis due to accidental ingestion. Living with food allergies can be distressing due to the daily fear of exposures. The decreased quality of life for food allergic children and their families has prompted numerous OIT research projects over the past two decades. This evidence-based research is now being used in OIT treatment programs within hospitals and private practice allergy clinics. A pilot study program evaluation was completed for a newly implemented OIT program within a private allergy clinic. The focus of this study was two-fold: First, it shows how private practice OIT success and safety statistics compare to those reported from academic medical centers; Second, it examines parental anxiety and elements found helpful during their child’s OIT process. Finally, useful information will be offered for OIT implementation within private practices during the program evaluation recommendations section

Efficacy, safety and quality of life in a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of low-dose peanut oral immunotherapy in children with peanut allergy

BACKGROUND: Only 2 small placebo-controlled trials on peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) have been published. OBJECTIVE: We examined the efficacy, safety, immunologic parameters, quality of life (QOL), and burden of treatment (BOT) of low-dose peanut OIT in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: A total of 62 children aged 3 to 17 years with IgE-mediated, challenge-proven peanut allergy were randomized (1:1) to receive peanut OIT with a maintenance dose of 125 to 250 mg peanut protein or placebo. The primary outcome was the proportion of children tolerating 300 mg or more peanut protein at oral food challenge (OFC) after 16 months of OIT. We measured the occurrence of adverse events (AEs), immunologic changes, and QOL before and after OIT and BOT during OIT. RESULTS: Twenty-three of 31 (74.2%) children of the active group tolerated at least 300 mg peanut protein at final OFC compared with 5 of 31 (16.1%) in the placebo group (P < .001). Thirteen of 31 (41.9%) children of the active versus 1 of 31 (3.2%) of the placebo group tolerated the highest dose of 4.5 g peanut protein at final OFC (P < .001). There was no significant difference between the groups in the occurrence of AE-related dropouts or in the number, severity, and treatment of objective AEs. In the peanut-OIT group, we noted a significant reduction in peanut-specific IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-2 production by PBMCs compared with the placebo group, as well as a significant increase in peanut-specific IgG4 levels and a significant improvement in QOL; 86% of children evaluated the BOT positively. DISCUSSION: Low-dose OIT is a promising, effective, and safe treatment option for peanut-allergic children, leading to improvement in QOL, a low BOT, and immunologic changes showing tolerance development

Diagnosis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis in an Infant Undergoing Milk Oral Immunotherapy - A Case Report

Although the standard of care for cow’s milk (CM) allergy is strict food avoidance, oral immunotherapy (OIT) is being widely investigated as an alternative management option in certain cases. Immediate adverse reactions to OIT have been described, but its long-term effects are much less often reported. We present the case of a girl diagnosed with IgE-mediated CM allergy that was proposed for our CM OIT protocol at the age of 3 years. The first sessions (dose escalation up to 5 ml) were well tolerated, however eight hours after her daily morning dose of 5ml CM the child developed late episodes of vomiting. No other symptoms, particularly immediately after CM ingestion, were reported. These episodes became progressively worse and on the third day she presented mild dehydration and blood eosinophilia. After OIT interruption, a progressive clinical improvement was observed. An esophageal endoscopy was performed, showing signs of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) with peak 20 eosinophils/hpf. After treatment with topical swallowed fluticasone (500 mcg bid) and a CM-free diet for 4 months, the child was asymptomatic and endoscopy and biopsy findings were normal. The long-term effects of milk OIT are still in part unknown. We hypothesize that eosinophilic esophagitis may have been a consequence of OIT in this case. The findings seem to indicate that food allergy may play a role in the pathogenesis of esophageal eosinophilia and stress the importance of a well programmed long-term follow-up of patients that have undergone milk OIT

Visualization of inner structure of complex 3D objects based on opacity modulation

Tato práce se zabývá problémem zobrazování částečně průhledných objektů a jeho vylepšení pomocí modulace průhlednosti za účelem odhalení vnitřních struktur 3D těles. Implementovali jsme metodu Illustration Buffer řešící problémOrder Independent Transparency (OIT), kterou porovnáváme s algoritmy, které takové zobrazování řeší: Depth Peeling, Dual Depth Peeling a Per Pixel Linked Lists. Aplikujeme metody modulace průhlednosti založené na vlastnostech objektů na Illustration Buffer a zkoumáme obtížnost použití v porovnání s ostatními zmíněnými algoritmy. Algoritmy řešící OIT problematiku testujeme mezi sebou a ukazujeme, za jakých podmínek je který algoritmus lepší.This thesis addresses problem of rendering semi-transparent objects and the enhancement by~opacity modulation to reveal object's internal structures. Illustration Buffer - algorithm solving the Order Independent Transparency (OIT) is implemented and compared to other OIT solving techniques: Depth Peeling, Dual Depth Peeling and Per Pixel Linked Lists. We focus on opacity modulation based on object's features and we apply such modulations to the Illustration Buffer while comparing the ease of use with other algorithms. Finally we test all mentioned algorithms and conclude which algorithm is better under specific circumstances

Safety and feasibility of oral immunotherapy to multiple allergens for food allergy

BACKGROUND: Thirty percent of children with food allergy are allergic to more than one food. Previous studies on oral immunotherapy (OIT) for food allergy have focused on the administration of a single allergen at the time. This study aimed at evaluating the safety of a modified OIT protocol using multiple foods at one time. METHODS: Participants underwent double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFC) up to a cumulative dose of 182 mg of food protein to peanut followed by other nuts, sesame, dairy or egg. Those meeting inclusion criteria for peanut only were started on single-allergen OIT while those with additional allergies had up to 5 foods included in their OIT mix. Reactions during dose escalations and home dosing were recorded in a symptom diary. RESULTS: Forty participants met inclusion criteria on peanut DBPCFC. Of these, 15 were mono-allergic to peanut and 25 had additional food allergies. Rates of reaction per dose did not differ significantly between the two groups (median of 3.3% and 3.7% in multi and single OIT group, respectively; p = .31). In both groups, most reactions were mild but two severe reactions requiring epinephrine occurred in each group. Dose escalations progressed similarly in both groups although, per protocol design, those on multiple food took longer to reach equivalent doses per food (median +4 mo.; p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data show oral immunotherapy using multiple food allergens simultaneously to be feasible and relatively safe when performed in a hospital setting with trained personnel. Additional, larger, randomized studies are required to continue to test safety and efficacy of multi-OIT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrial.gov NCT0149017

El transporte aéreo en Colombia como servicio público esencial: un análisis desde la visión jurídica nacional y de la OIT

Artículo de investigaciónMediante el abordaje jurisprudencial y doctrinal de los presupuestos a partir de los cuales, el ordenamiento jurídico nacional le concedió la calidad de servicio público esencial, al transporte aéreo en Colombia, evidenciaré las razones por las cuales, se contravienen los criterios de aplicación de los Convenios 87 y 98 previstos por los órganos de control de la OIT, en detrimento del derecho de huelga. Para tal fin, el estado del arte estará apoyado en la legislación nacional, así como en el desarrollo jurisprudencial del tema, aunado a los aportes doctrinales en la materia; también en los criterios que han fijado los órganos de control de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo, para efectos de la determinación del estatus de un servicio público, en esencial. Ello conducirá a concluir que, los criterios a partir de los cuales el ordenamiento jurídico le concede la calidad de esencialidad a un servicio público, dista ampliamente de los presupuestos bajo los cuales lo efectúan los órganos de la OIT, lo cual, para el caso colombiano, vulnera el derecho de huelga en el servicio de transporte aéreo.INTRODUCCIÓN 1. Del servicio público de transporte aéreo en Colombia. 2. Del servicio público de transporte aéreo en la doctrina de los órganos de control de la OIT. 3. Del derecho de huelga en servicios públicos. 4. La calidad de servicio público esencial del transporte aéreo en Colombia, contraviene los postulados convencionales e interpretativos de la OIT. CONCLUSIONES REFERENCIASPregradoAbogad

1985 Statistics

1985 Men\u27s Baseball Statistics, George Fox Universit

Diffeomorphic random sampling using optimal information transport

In this article we explore an algorithm for diffeomorphic random sampling of nonuniform probability distributions on Riemannian manifolds. The algorithm is based on optimal information transport (OIT)---an analogue of optimal mass transport (OMT). Our framework uses the deep geometric connections between the Fisher-Rao metric on the space of probability densities and the right-invariant information metric on the group of diffeomorphisms. The resulting sampling algorithm is a promising alternative to OMT, in particular as our formulation is semi-explicit, free of the nonlinear Monge--Ampere equation. Compared to Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, we expect our algorithm to stand up well when a large number of samples from a low dimensional nonuniform distribution is needed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Specifying ODP computational objects in Z

The computational viewpoint contained within the Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) shows how collections of objects can be configured within a distributed system to enable interworking. It prescribes certain capabilities that such objects are expected to possess and structuring rules that apply to how these objects can be configured with one another. This paper highlights how the specification language Z can be used to formalise these capabilities and the associated structuring rules, thereby enabling specifications of ODP systems from the computational viewpoint to be achieved