What do you mean, I have a right to health? Participatory action research on health and human rights

What does the right to health mean to people who face inequalities and may struggle to access support? This is a pressing issue in Scotland where there is a national commitment to human rights, but where deep seated health inequalities are a major public health concern. The right to the highest attainable standard of health is recognised within the European Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and should be equally available, accessible, acceptable and of good quality to everyone

Prognostic value of estimated glomerular filtration rate in hospitalised older patients (over 65) with COVID-19 : a multicentre, European, observational cohort study

Acknowledgements: COPE Team Members (collaborators). Funding: No funding declared for this study. The Study was sponsored by Cardiff University who had no role on the study design, analysis or interpretation of the findings. BC is partially supported by the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and King's College London. EAR received the Gwyn Seymour Scholarship from the Department of Medicine for the Elderly, NHS Grampian, as part of the Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship Scheme, Aberdeen Clinical Academic Training Programme, University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Increased Population Prevalence of Low Pertussis Toxin Antibody Levels in Young Children Preceding a Record Pertussis Epidemic in Australia

Background: Cross-sectional serosurveys using IgG antibody to pertussis toxin (IgG-PT) are increasingly being used to estimate trends in recent infection independent of reporting biases. Methods/Principal Findings: We compared the age-specific seroprevalence of various levels of IgG-PT in cross-sectional surveys using systematic collections of residual sera from Australian diagnostic laboratories in 1997/8, 2002 and 2007 with reference to both changes in the pertussis vaccine schedule and the epidemic cycle, as measured by disease notifications. A progressive decline in high-level ($62.5 EU/ml) IgG-PT prevalence from 19 % (95 % CI 16–22%) in 1997/98 to 12 % (95 % CI 11–14%) in 2002 and 5 % (95 % CI 4–6%) in 2007 was consistent with patterns of pertussis notifications in the year prior to each collection. Concomitantly, the overall prevalence of undetectable (,5 EU/ml) levels increased from 17 % (95 % CI 14– 20%) in 1997/98 to 38 % (95 % CI 36–40%) in 2007 but among children aged 1–4 years, from 25 % (95 % CI 17–34%) in 1997/98 to 62 % (95 % CI 56–68%) in 2007. This change followed withdrawal of the 18-month booster dose in 2003 and preceded record pertussis notifications from 2008 onwards. Conclusions/Significance: Population seroprevalence of high levels of IgG-PT is accepted as a reliable indicator of pertussis disease activity over time within and between countries with varying diagnostic practices, especially in unimmunised age groups. Our novel findings suggest that increased prevalence of undetectable IgG-PT is an indicator of waning immunit

Strange Quark Contributions to Parity-Violating Asymmetries in the Backward Angle G0 Electron Scattering Experiment

We have measured parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton and quasi-elastic electron-deuteron scattering at Q^2 = 0.22 and 0.63 GeV^2. They are sensitive to strange quark contributions to currents in the nucleon, and to the nucleon axial current. The results indicate strange quark contributions of < 10% of the charge and magnetic nucleon form factors at these four-momentum transfers. We also present the first measurement of anapole moment effects in the axial current at these four-momentum transfers.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, changed references, typo, and conten

Mutual optimism and war

W hy do states fight costly wars when less costly negotiated settlements are possible? Must there not be some mutually agreeable alternative to war that can produce the same result without incurring the social loss? Could not decision makers agree to distribute the disputed territory or assets in a way consistent with their beliefs about the likely outcome of conflict, saving both sides significant death and destruction? In this article, we address one specific rationalist answer to these questions. As Blainey (1988) intimates, the high hopes on the eve of war suggest a sad conclusion: wars only occur when both rivals believe they can achieve more through fighting than through peaceful means. How might this be so? Obviously, when two countries are involved in a war, if one side wins then the other loses. We might then conclude that at least one side, in particular the loser, would prefer some peaceful method of resolving the dispute if she were certain of the outcome. But war is an uncertain process. Given this uncertainty, the leaders of the two countries must each form expectations about the results of a conflict to guide their decision making. The Mark Fey is associate professor of political science, 109E Harkness Hall, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 (mark.fey@ rochester.edu). Kristopher W. Ramsay is assistant professor of politics, 033 Corwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 ([email protected]). Earlier versions of this article were presented at the University of Rochester, Columbia University, and NYU. We thank Scott Ashworth, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Songying Fang, Tanisha Fazal, Erik Gartzke, Shigeo Hirano, Adam Meirowitz, John Patty, Pablo Pinto, Robert Powell, Quinn Ramsay, Anne Sartori, Curt Signorino, Branislav Slantchev, Allan Stam, Randy Stone, and Robert Walker, as well as other seminar participants. We would also like to thank the editor of the AJPS and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. Any remaining errors are our own. Kris Ramsay acknowledges financial support from NSF grant SES-0413381

Transverse Beam Spin Asymmetries at Backward Angles in Elastic Electron-Proton and Quasi-elastic Electron-Deuteron Scattering

We have measured the beam-normal single-spin asymmetries in elastic scattering of transversely polarized electrons from the proton, and performed the first measurement in quasi-elastic scattering on the deuteron, at backward angles (lab scattering angle of 108 degrees) for Q2 = 0.22 GeV^2/c^2 and 0.63 GeV^2/c^2 at beam energies of 362 MeV and 687 MeV, respectively. The asymmetry arises due to the imaginary part of the interference of the two-photon exchange amplitude with that of single photon exchange. Results for the proton are consistent with a model calculation which includes inelastic intermediate hadronic (piN) states. An estimate of the beam-normal single-spin asymmetry for the scattering from the neutron is made using a quasi-static deuterium approximation, and is also in agreement with theory

Transverse Beam Spin Asymmetries in Forward-Angle Elastic Electron-Proton Scattering

We have measured the beam-normal single-spin asymmetry in elastic scattering of transversely-polarized 3 GeV electrons from unpolarized protons at Q^2 = 0.15, 0.25 (GeV/c)^2. The results are inconsistent with calculations solely using the elastic nucleon intermediate state, and generally agree with calculations with significant inelastic hadronic intermediate state contributions. A_n provides a direct probe of the imaginary component of the 2-gamma exchange amplitude, the complete description of which is important in the interpretation of data from precision electron-scattering experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters; shortened to meet PRL length limit, clarified some text after referee's comment

Strange Quark Contributions to Parity-Violating Asymmetries in the Forward G0 Electron-Proton Scattering Experiment

We have measured parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton scattering over the range of momentum transfers 0.12 < Q^2 < 1.0 GeV^2. These asymmetries, arising from interference of the electromagnetic and neutral weak interactions, are sensitive to strange quark contributions to the currents of the proton. The measurements were made at JLab using a toroidal spectrometer to detect the recoiling protons from a liquid hydrogen target. The results indicate non-zero, Q^2 dependent, strange quark contributions and provide new information beyond that obtained in previous experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Pain, opioid tolerance and sensitisation to nociception in the neonate

Pain is commonplace in newborn infants. Opioid analgesics have become increasingly used to reduce different types of pain in neonates, including pain from surgery, medical procedures and chronic conditions. Adverse effects of opioids include respiratory depression, hypotension and tolerance. These adverse effects can be minimised by utilising specific administration techniques and constant monitoring. Recent studies have demonstrated that untreated pain can have long-term effects on infant pain behaviours months beyond the events, thus, opioid analgesics may have a beneficial role that extends beyond the immediate painful event(s)