A randomised, controlled, double blind, non-inferiority trial of ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block vs. spinal morphine for analgesia after primary hip arthroplasty

We performed a single centre, double blind, randomised, controlled, non-inferiority study comparing ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block with spinal morphine for the primary outcome of 24-h postoperative morphine consumption in patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty under spinal anaesthesia with levobupivacaine. One hundred and eight patients were randomly allocated to receive either ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block with 2 mg.kg−1 levobupivacaine (fascia iliaca group) or spinal morphine 100 μg plus a sham ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block using saline (spinal morphine group). The pre-defined non-inferiority margin was a median difference between the groups of 10 mg in cumulative intravenous morphine use in the first 24 h postoperatively. Patients in the fascia iliaca group received 25 mg more intravenous morphine than patients in the spinal morphine group (95% CI 9.0–30.5 mg, p < 0.001). Ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca block was significantly worse than spinal morphine in the provision of analgesia in the first 24 h after total hip arthroplasty. No increase in side-effects was noted in the spinal morphine group but the study was not powered to investigate all secondary outcomes

Empirical Challenges to Studying Terrorism and Homicide

The study of terrorism has bridged multiple scholarly domains. Terrorism is discussed within political science as a form of political violence (Crenshaw 1981) related to civil conflict (Findley and Young 2012) and interstate war (Findley, Piazza, and Young 2012). Terrorism is studied within criminology as a form of criminal violence along with homicide and assault, and under political crime as a form of oppositional action put alongside sedition and treason (J.I. Ross 2006). In scholarly work, it is becoming increasingly more common to see works on terrorism connected to political violence (e.g., Thomas 2014) or political crimes (e.g., Chermak, Freilich, and Suttmoeller 2013), but less so with other forms of crime (e.g., Mullins and Young 2012). How is studying homicide different from studying terrorism? And how is it similar? The term terrorism evokes images of 9/11, the Boston Bombing, or other grizzly attacks committed for an ideological reason. Conversely, the term homicide brings to mind shootings on the streets or in one’s home, generally for personal reasons. At first glance, these two concepts may not appear connected to one another. LaFree and Dugan (2004), for instance, explore the relationship between terrorism and crime, including homicide, and suggest a long list of affinities and differences. While their investigation is theoretical, this chapter provides an empirical approach. We use standard modeling approaches from the homicide and terrorism literatures to predict each outcome cross‐nationally. Potentially surprising to some who feel these are wholly distinct phenomena, we find more similarities than differences between the factors that predict each. In what follows, we discuss the issues with defining, operationalizing, and measuring both terrorism and homicide, and challenges with finding valid and reliable cross‐national data on both. We discuss the cross‐national study of both terrorism and homicide, including their similarities, differences, and what lessons could be learned from the study of other cross‐national forms of political violence. We then use cross‐national data to see if models of homicide can predict terrorist attacks and vice versa. We conclude with a discussion of the replication results, research that blends violence types, and future research directions

Contents Full Article Content List Abstract Introduction How Media Affects Attitudes Media and Law Enforcement Public Perception of and Support for Torture Linking Public Opinion and Policy Experimental Design Participants Results Discussion Future Directions Policy Implications Acknowledgements Notes References Did you struggle to get access to this article? This product could help you Lean Library Figures & Tables Article Metrics Related Articles Cite Share Request Permissions Explore More Download PDF Open EPUB “If Torture Is Wrong, What About 24?” Torture and the Hollywood Effect

Since 9/11, entertainment media has focused on depictions of terrorism and counterterrorism. How do dramatic depictions of counterterrorism practices—specifically torture—affect public opinion and policy? Using a mixed within-subjects and between-subjects experimental design, we examine how framing affects support for torture. Participants (n = 150) were randomly assigned to a condition for dramatic depictions showing torture as (a) effective, (b) ineffective, or (c) not present (control). Participants who saw torture as effective increased their stated support for it. Participants who saw torture—regardless of whether or not it was effective—were more likely to sign a petition on torture. We discuss the policy implications of our findings on how framing affects opinion and action regarding torture

Type II Seesaw Dominance in Non-supersymmetric and Split Susy SO(10) and Proton Life Time

Recently type II seesaw dominance in a supersymmetric SO(10) framework has been found useful in explaining large solar and atmospheric mixing angles as well as larger values of $theta_{13}$ while unifying quark and lepton masses. An important question in these models is whether there exists consistency between coupling unification and type II seesaw dominance. Scenarios where this consistency can be demonstrated have been given in a SUSY framework. In this paper we give examples where type II dominance occurs in SO(10) models without supersymmetry but with additional TeV scale particles and also in models with split-supersummetry. Grand unification is realized in a two-step process via breaking of SO(10) to SU(5) and then to a TeV scale standard model supplemented by extra fields and an SU(5) Higgs multiplet ${15}_H$ at a scale about $10^{12}$ GeV to give type-II seesaw. The predictions for proton lifetime in these models are in the range $\tau_p^0 = 2\times 10^{35}$ yrs. to $\tau_p^0 = 6\times 10^{35}$ yrs.. A number of recent numerical fits to GUT-scale fermion masses can be accommodated within this model.Comment: 7 pages LaTeX, 3 figures, related areas: hep-ex, hep-th, astro-ph; Reference added, typo corrected, version to appear in Physical Review

Lying About Terrorism

Conventional wisdom holds that terrorism is committed for strategic reasons as a form of costly signaling to an audience. However, since over half of terrorist attacks are not credibly claimed, conventional wisdom does not explain many acts of terrorism. This article suggests that there are four lies about terrorism that can be incorporated in a rationalist framework: false claiming, false flag, the hot-potato problem, and the lie of omission. Each of these lies about terrorism can be strategically employed to help a group achieve its desired goal(s) without necessitating that an attack be truthfully claimed

Private Aggregation from Fewer Anonymous Messages

Consider the setup where $n$ parties are each given a number $x_i \in \mathbb{F}_q$ and the goal is to compute the sum $\sum_i x_i$ in a secure fashion and with as little communication as possible. We study this problem in the anonymized model of Ishai et al. (FOCS 2006) where each party may broadcast anonymous messages on an insecure channel. We present a new analysis of the one-round "split and mix" protocol of Ishai et al. In order to achieve the same security parameter, our analysis reduces the required number of messages by a $\Theta(\log n)$ multiplicative factor. We complement our positive result with lower bounds showing that the dependence of the number of messages on the domain size, the number of parties, and the security parameter is essentially tight. Using a reduction of Balle et al. (2019), our improved analysis of the protocol of Ishai et al. yields, in the same model, an $\left(\varepsilon, \delta\right)$-differentially private protocol for aggregation that, for any constant $\varepsilon > 0$ and any $\delta = \frac{1}{\mathrm{poly}(n)}$, incurs only a constant error and requires only a constant number of messages per party. Previously, such a protocol was known only for $\Omega(\log n)$ messages per party.Comment: 31 pages; 1 tabl

Comparison of next-generation portable pollution monitors to measure exposure to PM2.5 from household air pollution in Puno, Peru.

Assessment of personal exposure to PM2.5 is critical for understanding intervention effectiveness and exposure-response relationships in household air pollution studies. In this pilot study, we compared PM2.5 concentrations obtained from two next-generation personal exposure monitors (the Enhanced Children MicroPEM or ECM; and the Ultrasonic Personal Air Sampler or UPAS) to those obtained with a traditional Triplex Cyclone and SKC Air Pump (a gravimetric cyclone/pump sampler). We co-located cyclone/pumps with an ECM and UPAS to obtain 24-hour kitchen concentrations and personal exposure measurements. We measured Spearmen correlations and evaluated agreement using the Bland-Altman method. We obtained 215 filters from 72 ECM and 71 UPAS co-locations. Overall, the ECM and the UPAS had similar correlation (ECM ρ = 0.91 vs UPAS ρ = 0.88) and agreement (ECM mean difference of 121.7 µg/m3 vs UPAS mean difference of 93.9 µg/m3 ) with overlapping confidence intervals when compared against the cyclone/pump. When adjusted for the limit of detection, agreement between the devices and the cyclone/pump was also similar for all samples (ECM mean difference of 68.8 µg/m3 vs UPAS mean difference of 65.4 µg/m3 ) and personal exposure samples (ECM mean difference of -3.8 µg/m3 vs UPAS mean difference of -12.9 µg/m3 ). Both the ECM and UPAS produced comparable measurements when compared against a cyclone/pump setup

Notorious places: image, reputation, stigma: the role of newspapers in area reputations for social housing estates

This paper reviews work in several disciplines to distinguish between image, reputation and stigma. It also shows that there has been little research on the process by which area reputations are established and sustained through transmission processes. This paper reports on research into the portrayal of two social housing estates in the printed media over an extended period of time (14 years). It was found that negative and mixed coverage of the estates dominated, with the amount of positive coverage being very small. By examining the way in which dominant themes were used by newspapers in respect of each estate, questions are raised about the mode of operation of the press and the communities' collective right to challenge this. By identifying the way regeneration stories are covered and the nature of the content of positive stories, lessons are drawn for programmes of area transformation. The need for social regeneration activities is identified as an important ingredient for changing deprived-area reputations

Fermion mixing in quasi-free states

Quantum field theoretic treatments of fermion oscillations are typically restricted to calculations in Fock space. In this letter we extend the oscillation formulae to include more general quasi-free states, and also consider the case when the mixing is not unitary.Comment: 10 pages, Plain Te

A General Analysis of Corrections to the Standard See-saw Formula in Grand Unified Models

In realistic grand unified models there are typically extra vectorlike matter multiplets at the GUT scale that are needed to explain the family hierarchy. These contain neutrinos that, when integrated out, can modify the usual neutrino see-saw formula. A general analysis is given. It is noted that such modifications can explain why the neutrinos do not exhibit a strong family hierarchy like the other types of fermions.Comment: 30 page