Altruism and vaccination intentions:Evidence from behavioral experiments

Vaccine hesitancy has been on the rise throughout the past two decades, especially in high income countries where existing pro-vaccination public health communication strategies have proven ineffective. We argue that appealing to other-regarding preferences is one way of improving the effectiveness of public health communication strategies. To test this argument, we assess how vaccination intentions are influenced by the presence of people who cannot vaccinate, such as the immunosuppressed, newborns or pregnant women, using a laboratory experiment where there is a passive player whose welfare depends on the decisions of other, active players. Results suggest that pro-vaccine messages targeting altruism can increase vaccination intentions by: (i) invoking past experiences of dependence and vulnerability; (ii) stressing cooperation as a social norm; and (iii) emphasizing the presence of vulnerable individuals in a given society

Erythropoietin and a nonerythropoietic peptide analog promote aortic endothelial cell repair under hypoxic conditions: role of nitric oxide

The cytoprotective effects of erythropoietin (EPO) and an EPO-related nonerythropoietic analog, pyroglutamate helix B surface peptide (pHBSP), were investigated in an in vitro model of bovine aortic endothelial cell injury under normoxic (21% O2) and hypoxic (1% O2) conditions. The potential molecular mechanisms of these effects were also explored. Using a model of endothelial injury (the scratch assay), we found that, under hypoxic conditions, EPO and pHBSP enhanced scratch closure by promoting cell migration and proliferation, but did not show any effect under normoxic conditions. Furthermore, EPO protected bovine aortic endothelial cells from staurosporine-induced apoptosis under hypoxic conditions. The priming effect of hypoxia was associated with stabilization of hypoxia inducible factor-1α, EPO receptor upregulation, and decreased Ser-1177 phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS); the effect of hypoxia on the latter was rescued by EPO. Hypoxia was associated with a reduction in nitric oxide (NO) production as assessed by its oxidation products, nitrite and nitrate, consistent with the oxygen requirement for endogenous production of NO by endothelial NOS. However, while EPO did not affect NO formation in normoxia, it markedly increased NO production, in a manner sensitive to NOS inhibition, under hypoxic conditions. These data are consistent with the notion that the tissue-protective actions of EPO-related cytokines in pathophysiological settings associated with poor oxygenation are mediated by NO. These findings may be particularly relevant to atherogenesis and postangioplasty restenosis

Characterizing emergency departments to improve understanding of emergency care systems

International emergency medicine aims to understand different systems of emergency care across the globe. To date, however, international emergency medicine lacks common descriptors that can encompass the wide variety of emergency care systems in different countries. The frequent use of general, system-wide indicators (e.g. the status of emergency medicine as a medical specialty or the presence of emergency medicine training programs) does not account for the diverse methods that contribute to the delivery of emergency care both within and between countries. Such indicators suggest that a uniform approach to the development and structure of emergency care is both feasible and desirable. One solution to this complex problem is to shift the focus of international studies away from system-wide characteristics of emergency care. We propose such an alternative methodology, in which studies would examine emergency department-specific characteristics to inventory the various methods by which emergency care is delivered. Such characteristics include: emergency department location, layout, time period open to patients, and patient type served. There are many more ways to describe emergency departments, but these characteristics are particularly suited to describe with common terms a wide range of sites. When combined, these four characteristics give a concise but detailed picture of how emergency care is delivered at a specific emergency department. This approach embraces the diversity of emergency care as well as the variety of individual emergency departments that deliver it, while still allowing for the aggregation of broad similarities that might help characterize a system of emergency care

Torn Between Two Plates: Exhumation of the Cer Massif (Internal Dinarides) as a Far‐Field Effect of Carpathian Slab Rollback Inferred From 40 Ar/ 39 Ar Dating and Cross Section Balancing

Abstract Extension across the southern Pannonian Basin and the internal Dinarides is characterized by Oligo‐Miocene metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) exhumed along mylonitic low‐angle extensional shear zones. Cer MCC at the transition between Dinarides and Pannonian Basin occupies a structural position within the distal‐most Adriatic thrust sheet and originates from two different tectonic processes: Late Cretaceous‐Paleogene nappe‐stacking during a continent‐continent collision with Adria in a lower plate position, and exhumation related to Miocene extension driven by the Carpathian slab‐rollback. Structural data and a balanced cross section across the Cer massif show linking of the exhuming shear zone to a breakaway fault, which reactivated the early Late Cretaceous most internal nappe contact. Paleozoic greenschist‐to amphibolite‐grade lithologies surround a polyphase intrusion composed of I‐ and S‐type granites and were exhumed along a shear zone characterized by top‐N transport. Thermobarometric analyses indicate an intrusion depth of 7–8 km of the Oligocene I‐type granite; cooling below ∼500°C occurred at 25.4 ± 0.6 Ma (1σ) yielded by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating of hornblende. Biotite and white mica from this intrusion as well as from the mylonitic shear zone yield 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling ages of 17–18 Ma independent of the used techniques (in situ laser ablation, single‐grain total fusion, single‐grain step heating, and multi‐grain step heating). White mica from the S‐type granite yield an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling age of 16.7 ± 0.1 Ma (1σ). Associated dikes intruding the shear zone were also affected by N‐S extension resulting in the exhumation of the MCC, which was triggered by the opening of the Pannonian back‐arc basin in response to the Carpathian slab‐rollback.Plain Language Summary Horizontal stretching of continental plates induces thinning of the crustal upper part, melting of rocks, the sinking of the land surface, and formation of large basins. One of the world's best‐studied basins formed by such a process is the Central European Pannonian Basin. This basin is surrounded by the mountain belts of the Alps, Carpathians, and Dinarides. We have studied rocks between the Pannonian Basin and the southerly adjacent Dinaride Mountains, where rocks deposited in the basin are found right next to rocks that were initially about 7–8 km deep in the crust. These rocks are separated by a shear zone, along which they were brought to the surface. We have dated the activity of the shear zone by measuring concentrations of radioactive isotopes and their decay products contained in deformed minerals. The shear zone was active at a time when the Pannonian Basin started to open due to tectonic processes further NE underneath the Carpathian mountain chain. We also found evidence that the shear zone, which brought metamorphic rocks upwards was formerly one that brought rocks downwards into the crust during an earlier phase of mountain building, predating basin formation.Key Points Activity along the shear zone exhuming Cer metamorphic core complex in the internal Dinarides was dated by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology to ∼17 Ma Exhumation was facilitated by extensional reactivation of Late Cretaceous‐Paleogene nappe contacts resulting from Adria‐Europe collision Extensional reactivation of the thrusts is interpreted as a far‐field effect of Oligo‐Miocene Carpathian slab rollbac

A comparative study of additive manufacturing techniques: Residual stress and microstructural analysis of CLAD and WAAM printed Ti-6Al-4V components

Nowadays, there is a great manufacturing trend in producing higher quality net-shape components of challenging geometries. One of the major challenges faced by additive manufacturing (AM) is the residual stresses generated during AM part fabrication often leading to unacceptable distortions and degradation of mechanical properties. Therefore, gaining insight into residual strain/stress distribution is essential for ensuring acceptable quality and performance of high-tech AM parts. This research is aimed at comparing microstructure and residual stress built-up in Ti–6Al–4V AM components produced by Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and by laser cladding process (CLAD)

Mapping the Corneal Sub-Basal Nerve Plexus in Orthokeratology Lens Wear Using in vivo Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy

PURPOSE. This study was designed to map the sub-basal nerve plexus (SBNP) in the cornea of orthokeratology (OK) lens wearers. METHODS. Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was performed in vivo on three subjects: a non-lens wearer and two OK lens wearers. Scans were performed on the right eye while the left eye fixated a moving target. A total of 575, 430, and 676 contiguous images of the SBNP were taken from the non-lens wearing and the OK lens wearing subjects, respectively, and used to construct maps of the central to midperipheral SBNP. RESULTS. In the non-lens wearing eye, nerves radiated towards a whorl-like complex centered nasally and inferiorly in an overall pattern consistent with previously reported studies. In the OK lens wearing eyes, this whorl pattern was absent, replaced by a tortuous network of nerve fibers centrally, and thicker curvilinear fibers mid-peripherally, particularly in the nasal, inferior, and temporal regions. CONCLUSIONS. This study maps the corneal SBNP in OK lens wearers and provides compelling evidence that OK lens wear alters the normal SBNP distribution observed in healthy, nonlens wearing eyes. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci

N,N′-Diethyl-N,N′-diphenyl­pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C23H23N3O2, contains two mol­ecules in both of which, one amide N atom is in a syn position with respect to the pyridine N atom, while the other amide N atom is in an anti position (the syn--anti conformation). There are minor conformational differences between the two mol­ecules, as reflected in the Npyridine—C—C—Namide torsion angles of −44.9 (3) and 136.0 (2)° for one mol­ecule and 43.5 (3) and −131.1 (2)° for the other mol­ecule. However, the two mol­ecules show significant differences in the orientation of an ethyl group, with corresponding C—C—N—C torsion angles of 86.6 (3)° for one mol­ecule and 79.6 (3)° for the other mol­ecule. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supra­molecular network