Reconsidering prenatal screening: an empirical-ethical approach to understand moral dilemmas as a question of personal preferences

In contrast to most Western countries, routine offer of prenatal screening is considered problematic in the Netherlands. The main argument against offering it to every pregnant woman is that women would be brought into a moral dilemma when deciding whether to use screening or not. This paper explores whether the active offer of a prenatal screening test indeed confronts women with a moral dilemma. A qualitative study was developed, based on a randomised controlled trial that aimed to assess the decision-making process of women when confronted with a test offer. A sample of 59 women was interviewed about the different factors balanced in decision-making. Participants felt themselves caught between a need for knowledge and their unwillingness to take on responsibility. Conflict was reported between wishes, preferences and ethical views regarding parenthood; however, women did not seem to be caught in a choice between two or more ethical principles. Participants balanced the interests of the family against that of the fetus in line with their values and their personal circumstances. Therefore, we conclude that they are not so much faced with an ethical dilemma as conflicting interests. We propose that caregivers should provide the opportunity for the woman to discuss her wishes and doubts to facilitate her decision. This approach would help women to assess the meaning of testing within their parental duties towards their unborn child and their current offsprin

The global diffusion of inequality since 1970

Since 1970 income inequality has been stable or rising in almost every country in the world. It has not, however, risen at the same time or at the same rate throughout the world. This suggests the globalization, skills premium, and technological change explanations that prevail in the economics literature are likely incorrect, since all of these processes should in principle have relatively uniform global impacts. Instead, the timing and geo-cultural patterns of rising inequality bear the hallmarks of a diffusion model. Inequality has not arisen simultaneously around the world; it has "spread" from country to country in recognizable and sensible patterns. The diffusion model offers a simple, intuitively-appealing alternative to extraordinarily complex regression models of rising inequality. Diffusion can occur either through emulation (a macrophenomenological mechanism) or through coercion (a macrorealist mechanism). These two mechanisms are not mutually exclusive. Either or both can be used by national elites to effect major changes of policy regime. Diffusion by emulation and diffusion by coercion are two macro-level mechanisms that can be used as a template for understanding the implementation of inequality-increasing social and economic policies in diverse countries around the world. They can be differentiated through examination of the micro-level mechanisms through which diffusion occurred in specific historical cases. This injection of agency into the inequality debates requires extensive microlevel work on individual countries, but the clear existence of macro-level trends suggests that this micro-level work should be done within the context of some form of macro-level diffusion model.Collective Behavior & Social Movements section of the American Sociological Association, the Development Sociology section of the American Sociological Association, the Human Rights section of the American Sociological Association, the RC02 (Economy and Society) of the International Sociological Association and the School of Social & Political Sciences of the University of Sydney

Onderzoek naar risico van bollenmijt in Zantedeschia: welke mijt geeft schade in Zantedeschia

Sinds 2002 zijn enkele gevallen bekend waarbij bollenmijten grote schade aanrichtten in Zantedeschiaknollen tijdens de bewaring. Tot dat moment werden bollenmijten alleen gevonden als opruimers van dood of aangetast materiaal (rotte of verkalkte knollen). Een eerste oriënterende proef gaf aan dat deze mijten actief Zantedeschiaknollen konden aantasten. Het doel van dit onderzoek was om vast te stellen: a) om welke bollenmijt gaat het in deze aangetaste Zantedeschia b) kunnen mijten uit Zantedeschia, lelie, narcis en tulp schadelijk kunnen zijn voor Zantedeschiaknollen en lelieschubben. Daarvoor zijn mijten afkomstig van de verschillende bolgewassen gekweekt en daarna op Zantedeschiaknollen of lelieschubben gezet. Bij determinatie van de mijten afkomstig van Zantedeschiaknollen door de Plantenziektenkundige Dienst te Wageningen bleek het om Rhizoglyphus echinopus te gaan. Het was geen R. robini, die als agressiever bekend staat. Zantedeschiaknollen bleken actief te kunnen worden aangetast door mijten afkomstig van Zantedeschia, lelie en ook in een enkele geval van narcis. Lelieschubben werden hoofdzakelijk aangetast door mijten afkomstig van lelie (R. robini). Mijten van Zantedeschia gaven nauwelijks schade. Mijten van narcis en tulp gaven geen schade. De aantasting in dit onderzoek was minder groot dan in de oriënterende proef en zoals soms in de praktijk wordt waargenomen. Blijkbaar zijn de omstandigheden, die niet goed bekend zijn, sterk van invloed op de mate van aantasting

Calicivirus from Novel Recovirus Genogroup in Human Diarrhea, Bangladesh

To identify unknown human viruses in the enteric tract, we examined 105 stool specimens from patients with diarrhea in Bangladesh. A novel calicivirus was identified in a sample from 1 patient and subsequently found in samples from 5 other patients. Phylogenetic analyses classified this virus within the proposed genus Recovirus

Criticality in confined ionic fluids

A theory of a confined two dimensional electrolyte is presented. The positive and negative ions, interacting by a $1/r$ potential, are constrained to move on an interface separating two solvents with dielectric constants $\epsilon_1$ and $\epsilon_2$. It is shown that the Debye-H\"uckel type of theory predicts that the this 2d Coulomb fluid should undergo a phase separation into a coexisting liquid (high density) and gas (low density) phases. We argue, however, that the formation of polymer-like chains of alternating positive and negative ions can prevent this phase transition from taking place.Comment: RevTex, no figures, in press Phys. Rev.

Clustering transitions in vibro-fluidized magnetized granular materials

We study the effects of long range interactions on the phases observed in cohesive granular materials. At high vibration amplitudes, a gas of magnetized particles is observed with velocity distributions similar to non-magnetized particles. Below a transition temperature compact clusters are observed to form and coexist with single particles. The cluster growth rate is consistent with a classical nucleation process. However, the temperature of the particles in the clusters is significantly lower than the surrounding gas, indicating a breakdown of equipartition. If the system is quenched to low temperatures, a meta-stable network of connected chains self-assemble due to the anisotropic nature of magnetic interactions between particles.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Blue laser cooling transitions in Tm I

We have studied possible candidates for laser cooling transitions in $^{169}$Tm in the spectral region 410 -- 420 nm. By means of saturation absorption spectroscopy we have measured the hyperfine structure and rates of two nearly closed cycling transitions from the ground state $4\textrm{f}^{13}6\textrm{s}^2(^2\textrm{F}_0)(J_g=7/2)$ to upper states $4\textrm{f}^{12}(^3\textrm{H}_5)5\textrm{d}_{3/2}6\textrm{s}^2(J_e=9/2)$ at 410.6 nm and $4\textrm{f}^{12}(^3\textrm{F}_4)5\textrm{d}_{5/2}6\textrm{s}^2(J_e=9/2)$ at 420.4 nm and evaluated the life times of the excited levels as 15.9(8) ns and 48(6) ns respectively. Decay rates from these levels to neighboring opposite-parity levels are evaluated by means of Hartree-Fock calculations. We conclude, that the strong transition at 410.6 nm has an optical leak rate of less then $2\cdot10^{-5}$ and can be used for efficient laser cooling of $^{169}$Tm from a thermal atomic beam. The hyperfine structure of two other even-parity levels which can be excited from the ground state at 409.5 nm and 418.9 nm is also measured by the same technique. In addition we give a calculated value of $7(2)$ s$^{-1}$ for the rate of magnetic-dipole transition at 1.14 $\mu$m between the fine structure levels $(J_g=7/2)\leftrightarrow(J'_g=5/2)$ of the ground state which can be considered as a candidate for applications in atomic clocks.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Somatic hits in mismatch repair genes in colorectal cancer among non-seminoma testicular cancer survivors

Background Non-seminoma testicular cancer survivors (TCS) have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) when they have been treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Previously we demonstrated that among Hodgkin lymphoma survivors (HLS) there is enrichment of rare mismatch repair (MMR) deficient (MMRd) CRCs with somatic hits in MMR genes. We speculate that this phenomenon could also occur among other cancer survivors. We therefore aim to determine the MMR status and its underlying mechanism in CRC among TCS (TCS-CRC). Methods Thirty TCS-CRC, identified through the Dutch pathology registry, were analysed for MMR proteins by immunohistochemistry. Next-generation sequencing was performed in MMRd CRCs without MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (n = 4). Data were compared with a male cohort with primary CRC (P-CRC, n = 629). Results MMRd was found in 17% of TCS-CRCs vs. 9% in P-CRC (p = 0.13). MMRd was more often caused by somatic double or single hit in MMR genes by mutation or loss of heterozygosity in TCS-CRCs (3/30 (10%) vs. 11/629 (2%) in P-CRCs (p < 0.01)). Conclusions MMRd CRCs with somatic double or single hit are more frequent in this small cohort of TCS compared with P-CRC. Exposure to anticancer treatments appears to be associated with the development of these rare MMRd CRC among cancer survivors.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog