Autonomous Systems as Legal Agents: Directly by the Recognition of Personhood or Indirectly by the Alchemy of Algorithmic Entities

The clinical manifestations of platelet dense (δ) granule defects are easy bruising, as well as epistaxis and bleeding after delivery, tooth extractions and surgical procedures. The observed symptoms may be explained either by a decreased number of granules or by a defect in the uptake/release of granule contents. We have developed a method to study platelet dense granule storage and release. The uptake of the fluorescent marker, mepacrine, into the platelet dense granule was measured using flow cytometry. The platelet population was identified by the size and binding of a phycoerythrin-conjugated antibody against GPIb. Cells within the discrimination frame were analysed for green (mepacrine) fluorescence. Both resting platelets and platelets previously stimulated with collagen and the thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRN was analysed for mepacrine uptake. By subtracting the value for mepacrine uptake after stimulation from the value for uptake without stimulation for each individual, the platelet dense granule release capacity could be estimated. Whole blood samples from 22 healthy individuals were analysed. Mepacrine incubation without previous stimulation gave mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values of 83±6 (mean ± 1 SD, range 69–91). The difference in MFI between resting and stimulated platelets was 28±7 (range 17–40). Six members of a family, of whom one had a known δ-storage pool disease, were analysed. The two members (mother and son) who had prolonged bleeding times also had MFI values disparate from the normal population in this analysis. The values of one daughter with mild bleeding problems but a normal bleeding time were in the lower part of the reference interval

Living with diabetes - development of learning patterns over a 3-year period

Background: Learning involves acquiring new knowledge and skills, and changing our ways of thinking, acting, and feeling. Learning in relation to living with diabetes is a lifelong process where there is limited knowledge of how it is experienced and established over time. It was considered important to explore how learning was developed over time for persons living with diabetes. Aim: The aim of the study was to identify patterns in learning when living with diabetes, from recently being diagnosed, and over a 3-year period. Materials and methods: A longitudinal qualitative descriptive design was used. Thirteen participants, with both type I and type II diabetes, were interviewed at three different occasions during a 3-year period. Qualitative content analysis was used in different steps in order to distinguish patterns. Findings: Five main patterns of learning were identified. Two of the patterns (I and II) were characterized by gradually becoming comfortable living with diabetes, whereas for one pattern (IV) living with diabetes became gradually more difficult. For pattern V living with diabetes was making only a limited impact on life, whereas for Pattern III there was a constant management of obstacles related to illness. The different patterns in the present study showed common and different ways of learning and using different learning strategies at different timespans. Conclusion: The present study showed that duration of illness is not of importance for how far a person has come in his own learning process. A person-centered care is needed to meet the different and changing needs of persons living with diabetes in relation to learning to live with a lifelong illness

The competitiveness of nations and implications for human development

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.Human development should be the ultimate objective of human activity, its aim being healthier, longer, and fuller lives. Thus, if the competitiveness of a nation is properly managed, enhanced human welfare should be the key expected consequence. The research described here explores the relationship between the competitiveness of a nation and its implications for human development. For this purpose, 45 countries were evaluated initially using data envelopment analysis. In this stage, global competitiveness indicators were taken as input variables with human development index indicators as output variables. Subsequently, an artificial neural network analysis was conducted to identify those factors having the greatest impact on efficiency scores

Membranes by the Numbers

Many of the most important processes in cells take place on and across membranes. With the rise of an impressive array of powerful quantitative methods for characterizing these membranes, it is an opportune time to reflect on the structure and function of membranes from the point of view of biological numeracy. To that end, in this article, I review the quantitative parameters that characterize the mechanical, electrical and transport properties of membranes and carry out a number of corresponding order of magnitude estimates that help us understand the values of those parameters.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figure

Human Development and Tourism Specialization. Evidence from a Panel of Developed and Developing Countries

In the present study we analyze the relationship between tourism and human development for a selection of 63 countries from 1996 to 2008. Findings confirm that, on average, tourism is positively associated with human development. By decomposing the effect of tourism on each human development indicator, we find that literacy rate appears to be the most affected. This result suggests that the impact of tourism in the host country is much broader respect to the purely economic effect. Furthermore, it suggests the need of further investigating the relationship between human development and tourism

Responsible, Inclusive Innovation and the Nano-divide

Policy makers from around the world are trying to emulate successful innovation systems in order to support economic growth. At the same time, innovation governance systems are being put in place to ensure a better integration of stakeholder views into the research and development process. In Europe, one of the most prominent and newly emerging governance frameworks is called Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This article aims to substantiate the following points: (1) The concept of RRI and the concept of justice can be used to derive similar ethical positions on the nano-divide. (2) Given the ambitious policy aims of RRI (e.g. economic competitiveness enhancer), the concept may be better suited to push for ethical outcomes on access to nanotechnology and its products rather than debates based on justice issues alone. It may thus serve as a mediator concept between those who push solely for competitiveness considerations and those who push solely for justice considerations in nano-technology debates. (3) The descriptive, non-normative Systems of Innovation approaches (see below) should be linked into RRI debates to provide more evidence on whether the approach advocated to achieve responsible and ethical governance of research and innovation (R&I) can indeed deliver on competitiveness (in nano-technology and other fields)