Credibility and creativity in network society

The authors of this article claim that the network society is organised around such flow of information in which each entity constitutes its specific centre. Through the network entities obtain information from other entities. The amount of information and the fact that it is difficult to verify it are the reasons why the issue of credibility plays the key role in such a society. Aiming at being credible within the network society involves various methods and techniques of making other entities acknowledge one’s credibility. In result credibility is strongly related to creativity. In the pragmatic sense, credibility becomes the objective of creativity. In the moral aspect creativity assumes credibility due to the need to shape a person (education and upbringing) in and by the society in such a way that they may become a creative entity, stimulate their creativity and use it through the interaction with other entities. Santrauka Šio straipsnio autoriai tvirtina, kad tinklo visuomenę organizuoja toks informacijos srautas, kurio sąlygomis bet kokia esatis steigia savąjį specifinį centrą. Per tinklą esatys pasiekia informaciją iš kitų esačių. Informacijos kiekis ir faktas, kad sudėtinga ją patikrinti, tokioje visuomenėje atlieka pagrindinį vaidmenį. Siekimas būti patikimu tinklo visuomenėje apima įvairius metodus ir technikas, skirtas tam, kad kas nors būtų pripažintas kaip patikimas. Išplaukia, kad patikimumas yra glaudžiai susijęs su kūrybiškumu. Pragmatiniu požiūriu patikimumas tampa kūrybiškumo tikslu. Moralės aspektu kūrybiškumas įgauna patikimumo dėl poreikio formuoti asmenį (švietimas ir ugdymas) visuomenėje ir pasitelkiant ją taip, kad tai taptų kūrybine esatimi, žadintų asmens kūrybiškumą ir išnaudotų jį sąveikaujant su kitomis esatimis. Reikšminiai žodžiai: kūrybiškumas, patikimumas, etika, informacija, moralinis patikimumas, tinklo visuomenė, pragmatizmas

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Human Drama in Aristotle’s Poetics

Ludzki dramat w Poetyce Arystotelesa Celem artykułu jest ukazanie dramatu jako wydarzenia ludzkiego w Poetyce Arystotelesa. Zdaniem autora, odwrócenie mechanizmu naśladownictwa (mimesis), używanego przez Arystotelesa do tworzenia tragedii, pozwala potraktować Poetykę przede wszystkim jako nośnik wiedzy o dramacie człowieka jako bohatera tragedii. Uczucia litości i trwogi, których powinna dostarczyć tragedia, ujawniają, co jest dramatem człowieka, a zarazem co sprawia, że człowiek może doświadczyć dramatu. Dramat ten wynika nie tylko z siły i nieuchronności zła, na które natrafia człowiek w swoim życiu, ale także jest następstwem jego niedoskonałości. Przejawia się ona w podatności człowieka na błąd, nietrwałości i niepewności jego sytuacji oraz podatności na egzystencjalne zranienie.The aim of this paper is to present drama as it figures in Aristotle’s Poetics as a human event. According to the author, reversing the mechanism of imitation (mimesis) used to create tragedy makes it possible to treat the Poetics as primarily a bearer of knowledge about actual persons. The feelings of pity and fear that should be aroused by tragedy reveal the essence of human drama per se. Such drama results from the fact that a person faces evil in the sense of a deficiency or lack of something affecting such aspects of their life as their integrity or self-perfection. It thus manifests our human proneness to mistakes, as well as susceptibility to existential injury, and in so doing emphasizes the impermanence of the human situation and existence itself

Ticagrelor in patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease with a history of previous percutaneous coronary intervention (THEMIS-PCI) : a phase 3, placebo-controlled, randomised trial

Background: Patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes with previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), particularly those with previous stenting, are at high risk of ischaemic events. These patients are generally treated with aspirin. In this trial, we aimed to investigate if these patients would benefit from treatment with aspirin plus ticagrelor. Methods: The Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in diabEtes Mellitus patients Intervention Study (THEMIS) was a phase 3 randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, done in 1315 sites in 42 countries. Patients were eligible if 50 years or older, with type 2 diabetes, receiving anti-hyperglycaemic drugs for at least 6 months, with stable coronary artery disease, and one of three other mutually non-exclusive criteria: a history of previous PCI or of coronary artery bypass grafting, or documentation of angiographic stenosis of 50% or more in at least one coronary artery. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either ticagrelor or placebo, by use of an interactive voice-response or web-response system. The THEMIS-PCI trial comprised a prespecified subgroup of patients with previous PCI. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (measured in the intention-to-treat population). Findings: Between Feb 17, 2014, and May 24, 2016, 11 154 patients (58% of the overall THEMIS trial) with a history of previous PCI were enrolled in the THEMIS-PCI trial. Median follow-up was 3·3 years (IQR 2·8–3·8). In the previous PCI group, fewer patients receiving ticagrelor had a primary efficacy outcome event than in the placebo group (404 [7·3%] of 5558 vs 480 [8·6%] of 5596; HR 0·85 [95% CI 0·74–0·97], p=0·013). The same effect was not observed in patients without PCI (p=0·76, p interaction=0·16). The proportion of patients with cardiovascular death was similar in both treatment groups (174 [3·1%] with ticagrelor vs 183 (3·3%) with placebo; HR 0·96 [95% CI 0·78–1·18], p=0·68), as well as all-cause death (282 [5·1%] vs 323 [5·8%]; 0·88 [0·75–1·03], p=0·11). TIMI major bleeding occurred in 111 (2·0%) of 5536 patients receiving ticagrelor and 62 (1·1%) of 5564 patients receiving placebo (HR 2·03 [95% CI 1·48–2·76], p<0·0001), and fatal bleeding in 6 (0·1%) of 5536 patients with ticagrelor and 6 (0·1%) of 5564 with placebo (1·13 [0·36–3·50], p=0·83). Intracranial haemorrhage occurred in 33 (0·6%) and 31 (0·6%) patients (1·21 [0·74–1·97], p=0·45). Ticagrelor improved net clinical benefit: 519/5558 (9·3%) versus 617/5596 (11·0%), HR=0·85, 95% CI 0·75–0·95, p=0·005, in contrast to patients without PCI where it did not, p interaction=0·012. Benefit was present irrespective of time from most recent PCI. Interpretation: In patients with diabetes, stable coronary artery disease, and previous PCI, ticagrelor added to aspirin reduced cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, although with increased major bleeding. In that large, easily identified population, ticagrelor provided a favourable net clinical benefit (more than in patients without history of PCI). This effect shows that long-term therapy with ticagrelor in addition to aspirin should be considered in patients with diabetes and a history of PCI who have tolerated antiplatelet therapy, have high ischaemic risk, and low bleeding risk

Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation and History of Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from GARFIELD-AF

BACKGROUND: Many patients with atrial fibrillation have concomitant coronary artery disease with or without acute coronary syndromes and are in need of additional antithrombotic therapy. There are few data on the long-term clinical outcome of atrial fibrillation patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome. This is a 2-year study of atrial fibrillation patients with or without a history of acute coronary syndromes