Comparing Mutuality and Solidarity in Its Application to Disaster Ethics

Often it has been observed that in disaster situations, people (including victims) become altruistic and are very willing to listen, obey and act in a manner that would help bring an end to the situation. In this chapter, linking disaster ethics and human rights, it is argued that this indeed is how it should be, disaster or otherwise, and that we have moral duties to oneself and to others. An individual exhibiting solidarity, comradery and altruism during a disaster is indeed behaving as a reasonable Self, and exercising ethical individualism as per Gewirthian philosophy. It is the duty of the State and society to act as a supportive State and a caring society. In order to do this, we need to be conditioned for ethical rationality before any whiff of disaster arises, i.e. in our day-to-day conduct and decision-making, at a personal, institutional and transnational level. Our ethical resilience during disasters can only be as robust as our rational moral compass during ‘peace-time’. This chapter argues that Gewirthian solidarity ethics (GSE) should play a role in European policy and action in order to provide a system that conditions ethical rationality and in order to fulfil human rights. This involves addressing our current understanding of human rights as distinct categories of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and to effect a shift towards a more holistic understanding of human rights, whereby the hierarchy of fulfilment does not always prioritise civil and political rights.Peer reviewe

Bounds on the Complexity of Halfspace Intersections when the Bounded Faces have Small Dimension

We study the combinatorial complexity of D-dimensional polyhedra defined as the intersection of n halfspaces, with the property that the highest dimension of any bounded face is much smaller than D. We show that, if d is the maximum dimension of a bounded face, then the number of vertices of the polyhedron is O(n^d) and the total number of bounded faces of the polyhedron is O(n^d^2). For inputs in general position the number of bounded faces is O(n^d). For any fixed d, we show how to compute the set of all vertices, how to determine the maximum dimension of a bounded face of the polyhedron, and how to compute the set of bounded faces in polynomial time, by solving a polynomial number of linear programs

Flux line lattice structure and behavior in antiphase boundary free vicinal YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films

Field angle dependent critical current, magneto-optical microscopy and high resolution electron microscopy studies have been performed on YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films grown on miscut substrates. High resolution electron microscopy images show that the films studied exhibited clean epitaxial growth with a low density of antiphase boundaries and stacking faults. Any antiphase boundaries (APBs) formed near the film substrate interface rapidly healed rather than extending through the thickness of the film. Unlike vicinal films grown on annealed substrates, which contain a high density of antiphase boundaries, magneto-optical imaging showed no filamentary flux penetration in the films studied. The flux penetration is, however, asymmetric. This is associated with intrinsic pinning of flux strings by the tilted a-b planes and the dependence of the pinning force on the angle between the local field and the a-b planes. Field angle dependent critical current measurements exhibited the striking vortex channeling effect previously reported in vicinal films. By combining the results of three complementary characterization techniques it is shown that extended APB free films exhibit markedly different critical current behavior compared to APB rich films. This is attributed to the role of APB sites as strong pinning centers for Josephson string vortices between the a-b planes. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics

How Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancies Affect Timing of Antenatal Care Initiation in three Districts in Tanzania

Early antenatal care (ANC) initiation is a doorway to early detection and management of potential complications associated with pregnancy. Although the literature reports various factors associated with ANC initiation such as parity and age, pregnancy intentions is yet to be recognized as a possible predictor of timing of ANC initiation. Data originate from a cross-sectional household survey on health behaviour and service utilization patterns. The survey was conducted in 2011 in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Tanzania on 910 women of reproductive age who had given birth in the past two years. ANC initiation was considered to be early only if it occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy gestation. A recently completed pregnancy was defined as mistimed if a woman wanted it later, and if she did not want it at all the pregnancy was termed as unwanted. Chisquare was used to test for associations and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine how mistimed and unwanted pregnancies affect timing of ANC initiation. Although 49.3% of the women intended to become pregnant, 50.7% (34.9% mistimed and 15.8% unwanted) became pregnant unintentionally. While ANC initiation in the 1st trimester was 18.5%, so was 71.7% and 9.9% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ANC initiation in the 2nd trimester was 1.68 (95% CI 1.10‒2.58) and 2.00 (95% CI 1.05‒3.82) times more likely for mistimed and unwanted pregnancies respectively compared to intended pregnancies. These estimates rose to 2.81 (95% CI 1.41‒5.59) and 4.10 (95% CI 1.68‒10.00) respectively in the 3rd trimester. We controlled for gravidity, age, education, household wealth, marital status, religion, district of residence and travel time to a health facility. Late ANC initiation is a significant maternal and child health consequence of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies in Tanzania. Women should be empowered to delay or avoid pregnancies whenever they need to do so. Appropriate counseling to women, especially those who happen to conceive unintentionally is needed to minimize the possibility of delaying ANC initiation.\u

Respiratory syncytial virus infection is associated with an altered innate immunity and a heightened pro-inflammatory response in the lungs of preterm lambs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Factors explaining the greater susceptibility of preterm infants to severe lower respiratory infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remain poorly understood. Fetal/newborn lambs are increasingly appreciated as a model to study key elements of RSV infection in newborn infants due to similarities in lung alveolar development, immune response, and susceptibility to RSV. Previously, our laboratory demonstrated that preterm lambs had elevated viral antigen and developed more severe lesions compared to full-term lambs at seven days post-infection. Here, we compared the pathogenesis and immunological response to RSV infection in lungs of preterm and full-term lambs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Lambs were delivered preterm by Caesarian section or full-term by natural birth, then inoculated with bovine RSV (bRSV) via the intratracheal route. Seven days post-infection, lungs were collected for evaluation of cytokine production, histopathology and cellular infiltration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to full-term lambs, lungs of preterm lambs had a heightened pro-inflammatory response after infection, with significantly increased MCP-1, MIP-1α, IFN-γ, TNF-α and PD-L1 mRNA. RSV infection in the preterm lung was characterized by increased epithelial thickening and periodic acid-Schiff staining, indicative of glycogen retention. Nitric oxide levels were decreased in lungs of infected preterm lambs compared to full-term lambs, indicating alternative macrophage activation. Although infection induced significant neutrophil recruitment into the lungs of preterm lambs, neutrophils produced less myeloperoxidase than those of full-term lambs, suggesting decreased functional activation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, our data suggest that increased RSV load and inadequate immune response may contribute to the enhanced disease severity observed in the lungs of preterm lambs.</p

A biodegradable antibiotic delivery system based on poly-(trimethylene carbonate) for the treatment of osteomyelitis

Background and purpose Many investigations on biodegradable materials acting as an antibiotic carrier for local drug delivery are based on poly(lactide). However, the use of poly(lactide) implants in bone has been disputed because of poor bone regeneration at the site of implantation. Poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) is an enzymatically degradable polymer that does not produce acidic degradation products. We explored the suitability of PTMC as an antibiotic releasing polymer for the local treatment of osteomyelitis

Quantitative Trait Loci for Bone Lengths on Chromosome 5 Using Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Imaging in the Twins UK Cohort

Human height is a highly heritable and complex trait but finding important genes has proven more difficult than expected. One reason might be the composite measure of height which may add heterogeneity and noise. The aim of this study was to conduct a genome-wide linkage scan to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for lengths of spine, femur, tibia, humerus and radius. These were investigated as alternative measures for height in a large, population–based twin sample with the potential to find genes underlying bone size and bone diseases. 3,782 normal Caucasian females, 18–80 years old, with whole body dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images were used. A novel and reproducible method, linear pixel count (LPC) was used to measure skeletal sizes on DXA images. Intraclass correlations and heritability estimates were calculated for lengths of spine, femur, tibia, humerus and radius on monozygotic (MZ; n = 1,157) and dizygotic (DZ; n = 2,594) twins. A genome-wide linkage scan was performed on 2000 DZ twin subjects. All skeletal sites excluding spine were highly correlated. Intraclass correlations showed results for MZ twins to be significantly higher than DZ twins for all traits. Heritability results were as follows: spine, 66%; femur, 73%; tibia, 65%; humerus, 57%; radius, 68%. Results showed reliable evidence of highly suggestive linkage on chromosome 5 for spine (LOD score  =  3.0) and suggestive linkage for femur (LOD score  =  2.19) in the regions of 105cM and 155cM respectively. We have shown strong heritability of all skeletal sizes measured in this study and provide preliminary evidence that spine length is linked to the chromosomal region 5q15-5q23.1. Bone size phenotype appears to be more useful than traditional height measures to uncover novel genes. Replication and further fine mapping of this region is ongoing to determine potential genes influencing bone size and diseases affecting bone

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation