Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy)

In the hunt for a better--and more substantial--awareness of the “law,” The author intends to analyze the different notions related to the “rule of law” and to criticize the conceptions that equate it either to the sum of “law” and “rule” or to the formal assertion that “law rules,” regardless of its relationship to certain principles, including both “negative” and “positive” liberties. Instead, he pretends to scrutinize the principles of the “rule of law,” in general, and in a “constitutional democracy,” in particular, to conclude that the tendency to reduce the “democratic principle” to the “majority rule” (or “majority principle”), i.e. to whatever pleases the majority, as part of the “positive liberty,” is contrary both to the “negative liberty” and to the “rule of law” itself

Factors associated with failed treatment : an analysis of 121,744 women embarking on their first IVF cycles

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Validation of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire with parents of 10-to-12-year-olds

Abstract Background: There is a lack of validated instruments for quantifying feeding behavior among parents of older children and adolescents. The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) is a self-report measure to assess multiple parental feeding practices. The CFPQ is originally designed for use with parents of children ranging in age from about 2 to 8 years. It is previously validated with American and French parents of children within this age range. The aim of the present study was to adapt and test the validity of this measure with parents of older children (10-to-12-year-olds) in a Norwegian setting. Methods: A sample of 963 parents of 10-to-12-year-olds completed a Norwegian, slightly adapted version of the CFPQ. Scale analyses were performed to test the validity of the instrument in our sample. Results: Although a few problematic items and scales were revealed, scale analyses showed that the psychometric properties of the slightly adapted, Norwegian version of the CFPQ were surprisingly similar to those of the original CFPQ. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the CFPQ, with some small modifications, is a valid tool for measuring multiple parental feeding practices with parents of 10-to12-year-olds

Diclofenac Prolongs Repolarization in Ventricular Muscle with Impaired Repolarization Reserve

Background: The aim of the present work was to characterize the electrophysiological effects of the non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drug diclofenac and to study the possible proarrhythmic potency of the drug in ventricular muscle. Methods: Ion currents were recorded using voltage clamp technique in canine single ventricular cells and action potentials were obtained from canine ventricular preparations using microelectrodes. The proarrhythmic potency of the drug was investigated in an anaesthetized rabbit proarrhythmia model. Results: Action potentials were slightly lengthened in ventricular muscle but were shortened in Purkinje fibers by diclofenac (20 mM). The maximum upstroke velocity was decreased in both preparations. Larger repolarization prolongation was observed when repolarization reserve was impaired by previous BaCl 2 application. Diclofenac (3 mg/kg) did not prolong while dofetilide (25 mg/kg) significantly lengthened the QT c interval in anaesthetized rabbits. The addition of diclofenac following reduction of repolarization reserve by dofetilide further prolonged QT c . Diclofenac alone did not induce Torsades de Pointes ventricular tachycardia (TdP) while TdP incidence following dofetilide was 20%. However, the combination of diclofenac and dofetilide significantly increased TdP incidence (62%). In single ventricular cells diclofenac (30 mM) decreased the amplitude of rapid (I Kr ) and slow (I Ks ) delayed rectifier currents thereby attenuating repolarization reserve. L-type calcium current (I Ca ) was slightly diminished, but the transient outward (I to ) and inward rectifier (I K1 ) potassium currents were not influenced. Conclusions: Diclofenac at therapeutic concentrations and even at high dose does not prolong repolarization markedly and does not increase the risk of arrhythmia in normal heart. However, high dose diclofenac treatment may lengthen repolarization and enhance proarrhythmic risk in hearts with reduced repolarization reserve

Foliar δ15N values characterize soil N cycling and reflect nitrate or ammonium preference of plants along a temperate grassland gradient

The natural abundance of stable 15N isotopes in soils and plants is potentially a simple tool to assess ecosystem N dynamics. Several open questions remain, however, in particular regarding the mechanisms driving the variability of foliar δ15N values of non-N2 fixing plants within and across ecosystems. The goal of the work presented here was therefore to: (1) characterize the relationship between soil net mineralization and variability of foliar Δδ15N (δ15Nleaf − δ15Nsoil) values from 20 different plant species within and across 18 grassland sites; (2) to determine in situ if a plant’s preference for NO3− or NH4+ uptake explains variability in foliar Δδ15N among different plant species within an ecosystem; and (3) test if variability in foliar Δδ15N among species or functional group is consistent across 18 grassland sites. Δδ15N values of the 20 different plant species were positively related to soil net mineralization rates across the 18 sites. We found that within a site, foliar Δδ15N values increased with the species’ NO3− to NH4+ uptake ratios. Interestingly, the slope of this relationship differed in direction from previously published studies. Finally, the variability in foliar Δδ15N values among species was not consistent across 18 grassland sites but was significantly influenced by N mineralization rates and the abundance of a particular species in a site. Our findings improve the mechanistic understanding of the commonly observed variability in foliar Δδ15N among different plant species. In particular we were able to show that within a site, foliar δ15N values nicely reflect a plant’s N source but that the direction of the relationship between NO3− to NH4+ uptake and foliar Δδ15N values is not universal. Using a large set of data, our study highlights that foliar Δδ15N values are valuable tools to assess plant N uptake patterns and to characterize the soil N cycle across different ecosystems

Mechanical contributors to sex differences in idiopathic knee osteoarthritis

The occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) increases with age and is more common in women compared with men, especially after the age of 50 years. Recent work suggests that contact stress in the knee cartilage is a significant predictor of the risk for developing knee OA. Significant gaps in knowledge remain, however, as to how changes in musculoskeletal traits disturb the normal mechanical environment of the knee and contribute to sex differences in the initiation and progression of idiopathic knee OA. To illustrate this knowledge deficit, we summarize what is known about the influence of limb alignment, muscle function, and obesity on sex differences in knee OA. Observational data suggest that limb alignment can predict the development of radiographic signs of knee OA, potentially due to increased stresses and strains within the joint. However, these data do not indicate how limb alignment could contribute to sex differences in either the development or worsening of knee OA. Similarly, the strength of the knee extensor muscles is compromised in women who develop radiographic and symptomatic signs of knee OA, but the extent to which the decline in muscle function precedes the development of the disease is uncertain. Even less is known about how changes in muscle function might contribute to the worsening of knee OA. Conversely, obesity is a stronger predictor of developing knee OA symptoms in women than in men. The influence of obesity on developing knee OA symptoms is not associated with deviation in limb alignment, but BMI predicts the worsening of the symptoms only in individuals with neutral and valgus (knockkneed) knees. It is more likely, however, that obesity modulates OA through a combination of systemic effects, particularly an increase in inflammatory cytokines, and mechanical factors within the joint. The absence of strong associations of these surrogate measures of the mechanical environment in the knee joint with sex differences in the development and progression of knee OA suggests that a more multifactorial and integrative approach in the study of this disease is needed. We identify gaps in knowledge related to mechanical influences on the sex differences in knee OA. © 2012 Nicolella et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

O-GlcNAc transferase invokes nucleotide sugar pyrophosphate participation in catalysis

Protein O-GlcNAcylation is an essential post-translational modification on hundreds of intracellular proteins in metazoa, catalyzed by O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) using unknown mechanisms of transfer and substrate recognition. Through crystallographic snapshots and mechanism-inspired chemical probes, we define how human OGT recognizes the sugar donor and acceptor peptide and uses a new catalytic mechanism of glycosyl transfer, involving the sugar donor α-phosphate as the catalytic base as well as an essential lysine. This mechanism seems to be a unique evolutionary solution to the spatial constraints imposed by a bulky protein acceptor substrate and explains the unexpected specificity of a recently reported metabolic OGT inhibitor. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force consensus proposal: Medical treatment of canine epilepsy in Europe

In Europe, the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) licensed for dogs has grown considerably over the last years. Nevertheless, the same questions remain, which include, 1) when to start treatment, 2) which drug is best used initially, 3) which adjunctive AED can be advised if treatment with the initial drug is unsatisfactory, and 4) when treatment changes should be considered. In this consensus proposal, an overview is given on the aim of AED treatment, when to start long-term treatment in canine epilepsy and which veterinary AEDs are currently in use for dogs. The consensus proposal for drug treatment protocols, 1) is based on current published evidence-based literature, 2) considers the current legal framework of the cascade regulation for the prescription of veterinary drugs in Europe, and 3) reflects the authors’ experience. With this paper it is aimed to provide a consensus for the management of canine idiopathic epilepsy. Furthermore, for the management of structural epilepsy AEDs are inevitable in addition to treating the underlying cause, if possible

Development of a questionnaire to assess sedentary time in older persons -- a comparative study using accelerometry

Background: There is currently no validated questionnaire available to assess total sedentary time in older adults. Most studies only used TV viewing time as an indicator of sedentary time. The first aim of our study was to investigate the self-reported time spent by older persons on a set of sedentary activities, and to compare this with objective sedentary time measured by accelerometry. The second aim was to determine what set of self-reported sedentary activities should be used to validly rank people's total sedentary time. Finally we tested the reliability of our newly developed questionnaire using the best performing set of sedentary activities. Methods. The study sample included 83 men and women aged 65-92 y, a random sample of Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam participants, who completed a questionnaire including ten sedentary activities and wore an Actigraph GT3X accelerometer for 8 days. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the association between self-reported time and objective sedentary time. The test-retest reliability was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Mean total self-reported sedentary time was 10.4 (SD 3.5) h/d and was not significantly different from mean total objective sedentary time (10.2 (1.2) h/d, p = 0.63). Total self-reported sedentary time on an average day (sum of ten activities) correlated moderately (Spearman's r = 0.35, p < 0.01) with total objective sedentary time. The correlation improved when using the sum of six activities (r = 0.46, p < 0.01), and was much higher than when using TV watching only (r = 0.22, p = 0.05). The test-retest reliability of the sum of six sedentary activities was 0.71 (95% CI 0.57-0.81). Conclusions: A questionnaire including six sedentary activities was moderately associated with accelerometry-derived sedentary time and can be used to reliably rank sedentary time in older persons. © 2013 Visser and Koster; licensee BioMed Central Ltd