Euthanasia and Other Medical Decisions at the End of Life: Societal Control and Cultural Aspects

Death is a socially and culturally embedded phenomenon.1 It is inevitably understood and experienced within a complex web of cultural meanings that differ within and across countries. During the past century, acute death due to infectious diseases has to a great extent been replaced by death due to conditions that involve a more protracted dying process, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.2 Currently, approximately 70% of all deaths are non-sudden3 and are likely to involve some form of end-of-life care. Advances in medicine have greatly improved the possibilities to treat seriously ill patients and to prolong life and postpone death. It is also increasingly recognized that prolonging life is not always the most appropriate goal of medicine. Preserving quality of life and alleviating the patient’s suffering are other important care goals at the end of life. In some cases hastening of death can be an acceptable or even desired result of end of life care as well. Euthanasia, that is, deliberately ending a person’s life at the person’s request, and physician-assisted suicide, where the person self-administers lethal medication that is prescribed by a physician, are among the most controversial acts

Why Ni3_3Al is an itinerant ferromagnet but Ni3_3Ga is not

Ni$_3$Al and Ni$_3$Ga are closely related materials on opposite sides of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. The Stoner factor of Ni is virtually the same in both compounds and the density of states is larger in Ni$_3$Ga. So, according to the Stoner theory, it should be more magnetic, and, in LDA calculations, it is. However, experimentally, it is a paramagnet, while Ni$_3$Al is an itinerant ferromagnet. We show that the critical spin fluctuations are stronger than in Ni$_3$Ga, due to a weaker q-dependence of the susceptibility, and this effect is strong enough to reverse the trend. The approach combines LDA calculations with the Landau theory and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem using the same momentum cut-off for both materials. The calculations provide evidence for strong, beyond LDA, spin fluctuations associated with the critical point in both materials, but stronger in Ni$_3$Ga than in Ni$_3$Al.Comment: replaced (incorrect version submitted

Friendship during patients' stable and unstable phases of incurable cancer:a qualitative interview study

Objectives:Little is known about the added value of friendship during the care of intensive cancer disease trajectories. Friends, however, can play an important (caring-)role to increase their friends' (mental) well-being. We explored the experiences and desires of friends while their ill friends were-most of the time-in a stable phase of incurable cancer. Design:Qualitative study in the Netherlands based on 14 in-depth interviews with friends of patients living with incurable cancer. Interviews were performed at the home setting or the friend's office. Data gathering was inspired by grounded theory and analysed with a thematic analysis. Setting:The home setting/friend's office. Results:Friends reported to experience difficulties in how and how often they wanted to approach their ill friends. They emphasised the ever-present knowledge of cancer inside their friends' body as a time bomb'. They seemed to balance between the wish to take care for their ill friend, having a good time and not knowing what their ill friend desired at specific times. Some friends felt burdened with or forced to provide more care than they could, although they acknowledged that this relationship provided space to reflect about their own life. Conclusions:Friends are constantly negotiating and renegotiating their relationship depending on the severity of the disease, transparency of patients about their illness, their previous experiences and personal circumstances in life. Although a decrease in friendship may impact a patient's quality of life, friends also need to be protected against providing more care than they are willing or able to give. Healthcare professionals, being aware of this phenomenon, can assist in this.</p

Catálogo sobre edad media y musicología

Sección: NoticiasEntre los catálogos informatizados de la Red de Bibliotecas del CSIC en Cataluña se puede consultar el de referencias bibliográficas sobre edad media y musicologíaN

Информационные технологии в управлении интеллектуальным капиталом организации

The report examines how organization can use information technologies for management of intellectual capital

Detection of aberrant DNA methylation in unique Prader — Willi syndrome patients and its diagnostic implications

Most patients with Prader - Willi syndrome have a deletion of 15q11 - 13 or maternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 15. The shortest region of deletion overlap is presently defined by the gene for the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein N (SNRPN). We have investigated the integrity of SNRPN as well as the methylation status of D15S63 (PW71) in two patients with apparently normal chromosomes 15 of biparental origin. SNRPN is normal in one patient and deleted in the other one. Both patients are intact at the D15S63 locus, but have an abnormal methylation pattern. These results suggest that a DNA sequence close to SNRPN determines the methylation status of D15S63 and that the methylation test does not only detect the common deletions and uniparental disomy, but other rare lesions as wel

Understanding provision of chemotherapy to patients with end stage cancer: qualitative interview study

Objective To examine health professionals’ experiences of and attitudes towards the provision of chemotherapy to patients with end stage cancer

Исследование и разработка гистерезисных электрических машин на основе деформируемого сплава Fe-Cr-Co

В ходе научно-квалификационной работы исследован материал ротора синхронного гистерезисного двигателя (СГД) из сплава 22Х15КА ГОСТ 24897-81. Получены динамические магнитные характеристики сплава на частотах перемагничивания от 50 Гц до 2 кГц. Представлены результаты исследования СГД в программной среде AnsysMaxwell 2D/3D.In the course of the scientific and qualifying work, the rotor material of the synchronous hysteresis motor from alloy 22Х15КА GOST 24897-81 was investigated. Dynamic magnetic characteristics of the alloy at the magnetization reversal frequencies from 50 Hz to 2 kHz are obtained. The results of the study of a synchronous hysteresis motor in the software environment of AnsysMaxwell 2D / 3D are presented