18 research outputs found
Taking Blockchain Seriously
In the present techno-political moment it is clear that ignoring or dismissing the hype surrounding blockchain is unwise, and certainly for regulatory authorities and governments who must keep a grip on the technology and those promoting it, in order to ensure democratic accountability and regulatory legitimacy within the blockchain ecosystem and beyond. Blockchain is telling (and showing) us something very important about the evolution of capital and neoliberal economic reason, and the likely impact in the near future on forms and patterns of work, social organization, and, crucially, on communities and individuals who lack influence over the technologies and data that increasingly shape and control their lives. In this short essay I introduce some of the problems in the regulation of blockchain and offer counter-narratives aimed at cutting through the hype fuelling the ascendency of this most contemporary of technologies
High probability of comorbidities in bronchial asthma in Germany
Clinical experience has shown that allergic and non-allergic respiratory, metabolic, mental, and cardiovascular disorders sometimes
coexist with bronchial asthma. However, no study has been carried out that calculates the chance of manifestation of these
disorders with bronchial asthma in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Using ICD10 diagnoses from health care
institutions, the present study systematically analyzed the co-prevalence and odds ratios of comorbidities in the asthma population
in Germany. The odds ratios were adjusted for age and sex for all comorbidities for patients with asthma vs. without asthma.
Bronchial asthma was strongly associated with allergic and with a lesser extent to non-allergic comorbidities: OR 7.02 (95%
CI:6.83–7.22) for allergic rhinitis; OR 4.98 (95%CI:4.67–5.32) allergic conjunctivitis; OR 2.41 (95%CI:2.33–2.52) atopic dermatitis; OR
2.47 (95%CI:2.16–2.82) food allergy, and OR 1.69 (95%CI:1.61–1.78) drug allergy. Interestingly, increased ORs were found for
respiratory diseases: 2.06 (95%CI:1.64–2.58) vocal dysfunction; 1.83 (95%CI:1.74–1.92) pneumonia; 1.78 (95%CI:1.73–1.84) sinusitis;
1.71 (95%CI:1.65–1.78) rhinopharyngitis; 2.55 (95%CI:2.03–3.19) obstructive sleep apnea; 1.42 (95%CI:1.25–1.61) pulmonary
embolism, and 3.75 (95%CI:1.64–8.53) bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Asthmatics also suffer from psychiatric, metabolic, cardiac
or other comorbidities. Myocardial infarction (OR 0.86, 95%CI:0.79–0.94) did not coexist with asthma. Based on the calculated
chances of manifestation for these comorbidities, especially allergic and respiratory, to a lesser extent also metabolic,
cardiovascular, and mental disorders should be taken into consideration in the diagnostic and treatment strategy of bronchial
asthma
Multiple records of a Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha
Volume: 135Start Page: 190End Page: 19