Freedom - The political philosophy of our time? : An analysis of the ideas of the international debate about Chávez socialistic politic

Abstract Essay in political science, C-level, by Julia Leonsson, spring semester 2007 Tutor: Susan Marton Freedom – The political philosophy of our time? An analysis of the ideas of the international debate about Chávez socialistic politic Since more than 2000 years there has been an ongoing discussion about whether state interference is a good thing or not. Most international organisations on the international political arena are today founded on neoliberal values, and it has developed in to the hegemonic ideology of the world. The socialistic politics of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez is thereby a somewhat unusual strategy. The purpose of this essay is to examine to what extent the international debate about Chávez socialistic politic can be understood through a neoliberal perspective. My main research question is: Is the international discussion about Chávez socialistic politic imprinted by neoliberal values? The methodological approach is a qualitative text analysis and by using an analyse chart, bases on three dimensions, it is possible to analyse the material. The dimensions, which also was the basis of my specified research questions is: the state, the individual and the economy. The theoretical foundation of the essay is the neoliberal ideology and my material consists of newspaper articles from six different newspapers. I discovered that the topic and dimension most discussed in the articles was the economy. Based on my study the conclusion is that the international debate about Chávez socialistic politic to a large extent can be understood through a neoliberal perspective

Effects of growth hormone on cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis

Hypopituitary patients with growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) have increasedmorbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD). GH treatment has both beneficialand potentially negative cardiovascular effects. The mechanism for the dyslipidemia observedin these patients is not completely understood and animal experiments indicate that GH isimportant for dietary effects on serum cholesterol. The aim was to investigate effects of GHon diet-induced changes in serum cholesterol and on other cardiovascular risk factors andatherosclerosis.Effects of GH on cholesterol metabolism were evaluated in a cross-over study of sixGHD patients during a high-fat and high-cholesterol 17-day diet with and without GHtreatment. GH attenuated the increase in cholesterol biosynthesis induced by the high-fat diet,probably due to maintained LDL receptor activity. In contrast to animal studies, GH did notinfluence serum LDL cholesterol levels during fat feeding in humans.Effects of GH on cardiovascular risk factors in relation to atherosclerosis were studiedin 34 cardiovascularly healthy hypopituitary patients with GHD, in an open prospective 3-year trial. Results were compared with two healthy control groups matched for age, sex andsmoking. Hypopituitary patients with GHD had higher waist-to-hip ratio, resting heart rate,fasting insulin levels, interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations and tissue plasminogen activatorantigen levels together with lipid disturbances including higher serum triglycerides, lowerHDL cholesterol and smaller LDL particles than both the BMI-matched and the non-obesecontrol group. Patients had higher intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid bulb (IMTCAB)than non-obese controls at baseline. Female patients had a more pronouncedcardiovascular risk profile compared to their BMI-matched controls. IMT of the commoncarotid artery (CCA) correlated to serum IL-6 levels at baseline in the patient group.Independent risk factors for high IMT-CAB were age and pituitary disease in the total cohort.The waist circumference and CRP levels decreased but insulin resistance increased inpatients after GH treatment. The IMT-CAB increased during three years in both controlgroups, but was unchanged in GH-treated patients. The IMT-CCA was unchanged in all threegroups. The change in IMT-CCA was independently correlated to the change in serum tumournecrosis factor-á in the patient group, but none of the measured variables correlatedindependently to the change in IMT-CAB.In conclusion, we found that GH attenuated the increased cholesterol synthesis inducedby fat feeding, but GH did not influence the increase in serum LDL cholesterol during diet.Pituitary-deficient GHD patients without manifest CVD demonstrated several cardiovascularrisk factors compared to controls independent of their BMI and female patients were at higherrisk. Despite this high risk pattern, GH treatment in GHD patients reduced the rate ofprogression of atherosclerosis in the CAB. The atherosclerosis progression rate in CCA wassimilar in patients to that observed in healthy BMI-matched as well as non-obese controls

The flow in the U9 Kaplan turbine - preliminary and planned simulations using CFX and OpenFOAM

The present work compares the CFX and OpenFOAM CFD codes with respect to the prediction of the flow in the U9 Kaplan turbine spiral casing, distributor and draft tube. The simulations use similar settings and the same computational grids – unstructured wall-function grids with 10.3M cells in the spiral casing and distributor, and 1.04M cells in the draft tube. The results show that the two codes give similar results in the spiral casing and distributor, and almost identical results in the draft tube. Previous studies [1] have shown the same behaviour in the Turbine-99 draft tube, for a block-structured wall-function grid. There are however no previous studies where the flow in a spiral casing and distributor have been studied and compared using the same settings and computational grid in CFX and OpenFOAM. The next phase of the project consists of comparisons with the results from an on-going experimental investigation

Premature mortality in patients with Addison's disease: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The survival rate of patients with primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) undergoing currently accepted replacement therapy is not known, although well-informed patients are considered to have a normal survival rate. In this study, we evaluated the mortality of patients with Addison's disease in Sweden. METHODS: A population-based, retrospective, observational study was performed, using the National Swedish Hospital and Cause of Death Registers, covering the period from 1987-2001. After a diagnosis of Addison's disease, each patient was followed until the end of follow-up or death. Mortality was compared with that of the Swedish background population. FINDINGS: We identified 1675 patients (995 women and 680 men) diagnosed with primary adrenal insufficiency. The average follow-up from initial diagnosis was 6.5 yr. Five hundred seven patients died during the study period compared with an expected 199. The risk ratio for all-cause mortality was 2.19 (confidence interval 1.91-2.51) for men and 2.86 (confidence interval 2.54-3.20) for women. The excess mortality in both men and women was attributed to cardiovascular, malignant, and infectious diseases. Concomitant diabetes mellitus was observed in 12% of the patients, but only contributed to the increased mortality to a minor extent. INTERPRETATION: Compared with the background population, we observed that the risk ratio for death was more than 2-fold higher in patients with Addison's disease. Cardiovascular, malignant, and infectious diseases were responsible for the higher mortality rate

Tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of the glucokinase activator AZD1656, after single ascending doses in healthy subjects during euglycemic clamp

Item does not contain fulltextOBJECTIVES: AZD1656 is a novel glucokinase activator with a postulated dual mechanism of action by activating glucokinase in both the pancreas and the liver, and with the potential to deliver effective glucose-lowering in Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here, we present the tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of AZD1656 in two single-blind, randomized, placebocontrolled studies, one with Western and the other with Japanese healthy adult male subjects. METHODS: Both studies evaluated oral single ascending doses of AZD1656 of up to 180 mg, administered during euglycemic clamp conditions to explore a wide dose range without risking hypoglycemia. Safety, pharmacokinetics and effects on serum insulin and glucose infusion rate were assessed. A population pharmacokinetics analysis was also conducted. RESULTS: AZD1656 was well tolerated in single doses up to 180 mg in both populations. AZD1656 was rapidly absorbed, and a dose-proportional increase in total exposure was observed for AZD1656 and the equipotent metabolite, AZD5658. Taking differences in body weight into account, there were no differences in pharmacokinetic parameters between Western and Japanese subjects. A dose-dependent blood glucose lowering effect was indirectly demonstrated by the increased glucose infusion rate required to maintain euglycemia, which was of similar magnitude in both populations. Dose-dependent increases in insulin secretion were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: No safety concerns were raised. AZD1656 displayed uncomplicated pharmacokinetics and dose-dependent pharmacodynamics effects were observed. The results suggest no ethnic differences in AZD1656 tolerability, pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics

Visceral Fat and Novel Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With Addison\u27s Disease: A Case-Control Study

Context: Patients with Addison\u27s disease (AD) have increased cardiovascular mortality. Objective: To study visceral fat and conventional and exploratory cardiovascular risk factors in patients with AD. Subjects: Patients (n = 76; n = 51 women) with AD and 76 healthy control subjects were matched for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), and smoking habits. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome variable was visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT) measured using computed tomography. Secondary outcome variables were prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and 92 biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. Results: The mean 6 standard deviation age of all subjects was 53 6 14 years; mean BMI, 25 6 4 kg/ m2; and mean duration of AD, 17 6 12 years. The median (range) daily hydrocortisone dose was 30 mg (10 to 50 mg). Median (interquartile range) 24-hour urinary free cortisol excretion was increased in patients vs controls [359 nmol (193 to 601 nmol) vs 175 nmol (140 to 244 nmol); P, 0.001]. VAT did not differ between groups. After correction for multiple testing, 17 of the 92 studied biomarkers differed significantly between patients and control subjects. Inflammatory, proinflammatory, and proatherogenic risk biomarkers were increased in patients [fold change (FC),.1] and vasodilatory protective marker was decreased (FC