Religious discrimination and the ‘hierarchy of rights’: non-existent, appropriate or problematic?

In theory, there is no hierarchy of rights in the Equality Act 2010: equal weight is given to each protected characteristic. At least two, very different, critiques though have been made of this argument as it relates to religion or belief. One argument is that religious discrimination has unfairly been given a lower priority than other characteristics, particularly sexual orientation. The second is that religion is inherently different, partly because religions tend to set extensive, and possibly discriminatory, rules for behaviour. In order to keep religion or belief claims within a reasonable limit, religious discrimination claims must therefore be confined. The perceived danger of confining these claims though is that, because of the insistence that there is no hierarchy of rights, this will lead to reduced protection across all the protected characteristics since concepts which apply across the Equality Act will be reinterpreted in order to avoid unwanted results. As will be demonstrated though, both of these arguments are misconceive

The transcriptional activity of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha is inhibited via phosphorylation by ERK1/2

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4alpha) nuclear receptor is a master regulator of hepatocyte development, nutrient transport and metabolism. HNF4alpha is regulated both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels by different mechanisms. Several kinases (PKA, PKC, AMPK) were shown to phosphorylate and decrease the activity of HNF4alpha. Activation of the ERK1/2 signalling pathway, inducing proliferation and survival, inhibits the expression of HNF4alpha. However, based on our previous results we hypothesized that HNF4alpha is also regulated at the post-transcriptional level by ERK1/2. Here we show that ERK1/2 is capable of directly phosphorylating HNF4alpha in vitro at several phosphorylation sites including residues previously shown to be targeted by other kinases, as well. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that phosphorylation of HNF4alpha leads to a reduced trans-activational capacity of the nuclear receptor in luciferase reporter gene assay. We confirm the functional relevance of these findings by demonstrating with ChIP-qPCR experiments that 30-minute activation of ERK1/2 leads to reduced chromatin binding of HNF4alpha. Accordingly, we have observed decreasing but not disappearing binding of HNF4alpha to the target genes. In addition, 24-hour activation of the pathway further decreased HNF4alpha chromatin binding to specific loci in ChIP-qPCR experiments, which confirms the previous reports on the decreased expression of the HNF4a gene due to ERK1/2 activation. Our data suggest that the ERK1/2 pathway plays an important role in the regulation of HNF4alpha-dependent hepatic gene expression

Reduced costs with bisoprolol treatment for heart failure - An economic analysis of the second Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Study (CIBIS-II)

Background Beta-blockers, used as an adjunctive to diuretics, digoxin and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, improve survival in chronic heart failure. We report a prospectively planned economic analysis of the cost of adjunctive beta-blocker therapy in the second Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study (CIBIS II). Methods Resource utilization data (drug therapy, number of hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, ward type) were collected prospectively in all patients in CIBIS . These data were used to determine the additional direct costs incurred, and savings made, with bisoprolol therapy. As well as the cost of the drug, additional costs related to bisoprolol therapy were added to cover the supervision of treatment initiation and titration (four outpatient clinic/office visits). Per them (hospital bed day) costings were carried out for France, Germany and the U.K. Diagnosis related group costings were performed for France and the U.K. Our analyses took the perspective of a third party payer in France and Germany and the National Health Service in the U.K. Results Overall, fewer patients were hospitalized in the bisoprolol group, there were fewer hospital admissions perpatient hospitalized, fewer hospital admissions overall, fewer days spent in hospital and fewer days spent in the most expensive type of ward. As a consequence the cost of care in the bisoprolol group was 5-10% less in all three countries, in the per them analysis, even taking into account the cost of bisoprolol and the extra initiation/up-titration visits. The cost per patient treated in the placebo and bisoprolol groups was FF35 009 vs FF31 762 in France, DM11 563 vs DM10 784 in Germany and pound 4987 vs pound 4722 in the U.K. The diagnosis related group analysis gave similar results. Interpretation Not only did bisoprolol increase survival and reduce hospital admissions in CIBIS II, it also cut the cost of care in so doing. This `win-win' situation of positive health benefits associated with cost savings is Favourable from the point of view of both the patient and health care systems. These findings add further support for the use of beta-blockers in chronic heart failure

ÉTUDE PAR R. P. E. D'UN NOUVEAU DÉFAUT PONCTUEL DANS LE FLUORURE DE LITHIUM

Après chauffage et trempe, des monocristaux de LiF, contenant des impuretés divalentes, irradiés aux rayons X, donnent des spectres de R. P. E. caractéristiques de l'interaction d'un électron célibataire, placé dans un site vacant de lithium, avec les six ions fluor plus proches voisins.After heating and quenching, X-irradiated samples of LiF containing divalent impurities exhibit E. S. R. spectra with a hyperfine structure characteristic of interaction of an unpaired electron with the six nearest neighbour fluorines

Étude par résonance paramagnétique électronique des centres colorés dans les halogénures alcalins

A review of E. S. R. studies on color centers in alkali halides crystals is given. F centers are considered in the first section. Progress on interpretation and complexity of the spectra are emphasized. The second part deals with V type centers. It is shown how interpretation of spectra has led to models. Finally, studies on other centers (M, R, Z ... centers) are presented.On passe en revue les études effectuées par R. P. E. sur les centres colorés créés dans les halogénures alcalins. Une première partie est consacrée aux centres F. On y insiste, d'abord sur la progression dans l'interprétation des spectres, puis sur leur complexité, notamment pour le LiF. Une deuxième partie traite des centres du type V. On y montre comment l'interprétation des spectres a conduit aux modèles. Enfin on résume les études faites sur les autres types de centres (centres M, R, Z ...)