Dilemmatic human-animal boundaries in Britain and Romania: Post-materialist and materialist dehumanization

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2007 The British Psychological SocietyTheories of dehumanization generally assume a single clear-cut, value-free and non-dilemmatic boundary between the categories ‘human’ and ‘animal.’ The present study highlights the relevance of dilemmas involved in drawing that boundary. In 6 focus groups carried out in Romania and Britain, 42 participants were challenged to think about dilemmas pertaining to animal and human life. Four themes were identified: rational autonomy, sentience, speciesism, and maintaining materialist and postmaterialist values. Sentience made animals resemble humans, while humans’ rational autonomy made them distinctive. Speciesism underlay the human participants’ prioritization of their own interests over those of animals, and a conservative consensus that the existing social system could not change supported this speciesism when it was challenged. Romanian participants appealed to Romania’s lack of modernity and British participants to Britain’s modernity to justify such conservatism. The findings suggest that the human-animal boundary is not essentialized; rather it seems that such boundary is constructed in a dilemmatic and post hoc way. Implications for theories of dehumanization are discussed

Rotational velocities of A-type stars. III. Velocity distributions

Aim - In this work, a sample of vsini of B9 to F2-type main sequence single stars has been built from highly homogeneous vsini parameters determined for a large sample cleansed from objects presenting the Am and Ap phenomenon as well as from all known binaries. The aim is to study the distributions of rotational velocities in the mass range of A-type stars for normal single objects. Methods - Robust statistical methods are used to rectify the vsini distributions from the projection effect and the error distribution. The equatorial velocity distributions are obtained for an amount of about 1100 stars divided in six groups defined by the spectral type, under the assumption of randomly orientated rotational axes. Results - We show that late B and early A-type main-sequence stars have genuine bimodal distributions of true equatorial rotational velocities due probably to phenomena of angular momentum loss and redistribution the star underwent before reaching the main sequence. A striking lack of slow rotators is noticed among intermediate and late A-type stars. The bimodal-like shape of their true equatorial rotational velocity distributions could be due to evolutionary effects.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted in A&

MODELO DE HOSPITALIZACIÓN Y FRECUENCIA DE REINGRESO EN PACIENTES CON EXACERBACIÓN DE EPOC

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Short Stay Unit (USS) in patients who suffer from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that worsens versus conventional hospitalization (CH) in terms of readmission and mortality.Patient and Method. Non randomized retrospective study of cohorts of patients hospitalized due to exacerbation of EPOC during 2004 in a general hospital. The monitoring was prolonged until December 31st 2006 or the occurrence of an event (death or readmission). The statistical analysis was based on the Kaplan-Meier method, the log-rank test and Cox regression.Results. Of the 543 subjects, 252 were admitted in USS and 291 in CH. Those admitted in USS were more advanced in years (75.4 versus 71.7 years; p < 0,001), and with a tendency to a smaller Charlson index (0.46 versus 0.58; p < 0,07) than the patients in HC. The average stay was 3.2 days in UCE versus 8.9 days in CH (p < 0,001). In the univariant analysis, the patients admitted in USS showed a major incidence of death or readmission (Relative Risk [RR] 1.31; p < 0,001), at the expense of the readmission (RR 1.53; p = 0,013), while there were no differences in mortality (RR 0,82; p=0 ,34). After applying the Cox regression for the hospitalization covariables fit, there was no substantial change in the estimates. The analysis of the survival curves demonstrated that the differences were not due to an increase in precocious readmissions.Conclusions. In the field of the study, the patients with exacerbation of COPD admitted in USS had worse results in readmission terms than the patients admitted in CH.Objetivo. Evaluar la efectividad de (UCE) en pacientes con (EPOC) agudizada frente a (HC) en términos de reingreso y mortalidad.Método. Estudio de cohortes retrospectivo no aleatorizado de pacientes hospitalizados por exacerbación de EPOC durante 2004 en un hospital general. El seguimiento se prolongó hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2006. La censura de datos se produce en la fecha final de seguimiento o aparición de muerte o reingreso. El análisis estadístico se basó en Kaplan-Meier, test del log-rank y regresión de Cox.Resultados. De los 543 pacientes incluidos, 252 ingresaron en UCE y 291 en HC. Los pacientes de UCE eran mayores (75,4 frente a 71,7 años; p < 0,001), y tendencia a un menor I. Charlson (0,46 frente a 0,58; p <0,07) que los pacientes de HC. La estancia media fue de 3,2 días en UCE frente a 8,9 días en HC (p <0,001). En el análisis univariante, los pacientes ingresados en UCE mostraron una mayor incidencia de muerte o reingreso (Riesgo Relativo [RR] 1,31; p<0,001), a expensas de los reingresos (RR 1,53; p= 0,013), no hubo diferencias de mortalidad (RR 0,82; p=0,34). Al ajustar para las covariables del modelo de hospitalización mediante regresión de Cox, estas estimaciones no cambiaron El análisis de las curvas de supervivencia demostró que las diferencias no se debieron a un aumento de los reingresos precoces.Conclusiones. En el estudio, los pacientes con exacerbación de EPOC ingresados en UCE tuvieron peores resultados en términos de reingreso que los de H

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Rivaroxaban in the Secondary Prevention of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, coronary heart disease accounts for 7 million deaths each year. In Sweden, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a leading cause of hospitalization and is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this analysis was to assess the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily (BID) in combination with standard antiplatelet therapy (ST-APT) versus ST-APT alone, for the secondary prevention of ACS in adult patients with elevated cardiac biomarkers without a prior history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), from a Swedish societal perspective, based on clinical data from the global ATLAS ACS 2-TIMI 51 trial, literature-based quality of life data and costs sourced from Swedish national databases. METHODS: A Markov model was developed to capture rates of single and multiple myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) major, minor, and "requiring medical attention" bleeds, revascularization events, and associated costs and utilities in patients who were stabilized after an initial ACS event. Efficacy and safety data for the first 2 years came from the ATLAS ACS 2-TIMI 51 trial. Long-term probabilities were extrapolated using safety and effectiveness of acetylsalicylic acid data, which was estimated from published literature, assuming constant rates in time. Future cost and effects were discounted at 3.0%. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. RESULTS: In the base case, the use of rivaroxaban 2.5 mg BID was associated with improvements in survival and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), yielding an incremental cost per QALY of 71,246 Swedish Krona (SEK) (€8045). The outcomes were robust to changes in inputs. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis demonstrated rivaroxaban 2.5 mg BID to be cost-effective in >99.9% of cases, assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of SEK 500,000 (€56,458). CONCLUSION: Compared with ST-APT alone, the use of rivaroxaban 2.5 mg BID in combination with ST-APT can be considered a cost-effective treatment option for ACS patients with elevated cardiac biomarkers without a prior history of stroke/TIA in Sweden. FUNDING: Bayer Pharma AG

Health Industries in the Twentieth Century. Introduction

This article is the introduction to the special issue' Health Industries in the Twentieth Century'. It offers a broad literature review of scholarly works about the history of health and medicine, and stresses the opportunities for business historians to tackle the field of healthcare

Cellular Senescence in Livers from Children with End Stage Liver Disease

Senescent cells occur in adults with cirrhotic livers independent of the etiology. Aim: Investigate the presence rate of cellular senescence and expression of cell cycle check points in livers from children with end stage disease. staining occurred in the areas of ductular transformation and in the interlobular bile ducts.Cellular senescence in livers of children with end stage disease is associated with damage rather than corresponding to an age dependent phenomenon. Further studies are needed to support the hypothesis that these senescence markers correlate with disease progression

Peptide gel in a scaffold as a composite matrix for endothelial cells

[EN] The performance of a composite environment with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) has been studied to provide an in vitro proof of concept of their potential of being easily vascularized. These cells were seeded in 1 mm thick scaffolds whose pores had been filled with a self-assembling peptide gel, seeking to improve cell adhesion, and viability of these very sensitive cells. The combination of the synthetic elastomer poly(ethyl acrylate), PEA, scaffold and the RAD16-I peptide gel provides cells with a friendly ECM-like environment inside a mechanically resistant structure. Immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry and scanning electron microscopy were used to evaluate the cell cultures. The presence of the self-assembling peptide filling the pores of the scaffolds resulted in a truly 3D nanoscale context mimicking the extracellular matrix environment, and led to increased cells survival, proliferation as well as developed cell-cell contacts. The combined system consisting of PEA scaffolds and RAD16-I, is a very interesting approach as seems to enhance endothelization, which is the first milestone to achieve vascularized constructs. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 3293-3302, 2015.Contract grant sponsor: European Commission FP7 project RECATABI; contract grant number: NMP3-SL-2009-229239 Contract grant sponsor: Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion; contract grant numbers: MAT2011-28791-C03-02 and -03 Contract grant sponsor: Spanish Ministry of Education through M. Arnal-Pastor; contract grant number: FPU 2009-1870Martínez Ramos, C.; Arnal Pastor, MP.; Vallés Lluch, A.; Monleón Pradas, M. (2015). Peptide gel in a scaffold as a composite matrix for endothelial cells. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A. 103(10):3293-3302. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.a.35462S329333021031

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT