The official anti-Covid-19 policies and the backlash they sparked from a substantial portion of the population in both the EU and USA might be seen as part of a long series of events which highlight ...a growing polarization amongst the citizens of the Western democracies today, along ideological fault lines, regarding the extent of the executive powers, the individual freedoms versus the common good, the environmental protection versus the economic realities etc. In part, this polarization arises, in our opinion, from the un balanced relationship between ideology, economy and law. The present paper endeavours to examine some facets of this relationship, presenting the current tensions between ideology, on one hand, and law and economy, on the other, as an example of a typical carrot and stick approach, which relegates the law to an ancillary, strictly technical role. To this purpose, several cases will be considered, such as the European Green Deal, the immigration (a common and hotly debated topic in the EU and USA today) and the anti-Covid vaccination policies. We will attempt to show that, far from being a mere avatar of a “stick” within the framework of the Western democracies, the law could and should offer solutions to the pervasive divisiveness in our society, by reevaluating concepts such as sovereignty and democratic representation, and in doing so, acting as a social glue, where economic incentives or ideological tenets are bound to fail.
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is characterized by a complex genetic component. We aimed to investigate the association between variations in genes related to cardiac ion handling and AFib in a cohort of ...Romanian patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Forty-five unrelated probands with HCM were genotyped by targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) for 24 genes associated with cardiac ion homeostasis. Subsequently, the study cohort was divided into two groups based on the presence (AFib+) or absence (AFiB-) of AFib detected during ECG monitoring. We identified two polymorphisms (rs1805127 located in
and rs55742440 located in
) linked to AFib susceptibility. In AFib+, rs1805127 was associated with increased indexed left atrial (LA) maximal volume (LAVmax) (58.42 ± 21 mL/m
vs. 32.54 ± 6.47 mL/m
,
< 0.001) and impaired LA strain reservoir (LASr) (13.3 ± 7.5% vs. 24.4 ± 6.8%,
< 0.05) compared to those without respective variants. The rs55742440 allele was less frequent in patients with AFib+ (12 out of 25, 48%) compared to those without arrhythmia (15 out of 20, 75%,
= 0.05). Also, AFib+ rs55742440 carriers had significantly lower LAVmax compared to those who were genotype negative. Among patients with HCM and AFib+, the rs1805127 variant was accompanied by pronounced LA remodeling, whereas rs55742440's presence was related to a milder LA enlargement.
The inflammatory hypothesis of atherosclerosis is appealing in acute coronary syndromes, but the dynamics and precise role are not established.
The study investigates the levels of C reactive protein ...(CRP), interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and stromal-derived factor 1α (SDF-1α) at the time of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and at 1 and 6 months afterwards, compared with a control group.
In the acute phase of AMI, CRP and SDF-1α were significantly higher, while IL-1β showed lower levels compared with controls. CRP positively correlated with coronary stenosis severity (rho = 0.3, p=.05) and negatively related with left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) at 1 month (rho= −0.43, p=.05). IL-1β weakly correlated with the severity of coronary lesions (rho =0.29, p=.02) and strongly with LVEF (rho= −0.8, p=.05). SDF-1α, slightly correlated with LVEF at 1 month (rho = 0.22, p=.01) and with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis (rho= −0.41, p=.003).
CRP, IL-1β and SDF-1α have important dynamic in the first 6 months after AMI and CRP and SDF-1α levels correlated with the severity of coronary lesions and LVEF at 1 month after the acute ischaemic event.
Despite diagnostic and therapeutic advances, coronary artery disease and especially its extreme manifestation, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), remain the leading causes of morbidity and ...mortality worldwide. Early and prompt diagnosis is of great importance regarding the prognosis of STEMI patients. In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising tools involved in many pathophysiological processes in various fields, including cardiovascular diseases. In acute coronary syndromes (ACS), circulating levels of miRNAs are significantly elevated, as an indicator of cardiac damage, making them a promising marker for early diagnosis of myocardial infarction. They also have prognostic value and great potential as therapeutic targets considering their key function in gene regulation. This review aims to summarize current information about miRNAs and their role as diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets in STEMI patients.
Molecular Research in Cardiovascular Disease Dorobantu, Maria; Simionescu, Maya; Popa-Fotea, Nicoleta-Monica
International journal of molecular sciences,
07/2021, Letnik:
22, Številka:
13
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Cardiovascular diseases have attracted our full attention not only because they are the main cause of mortality and morbidity in many countries but also because the therapy for and cure of these ...maladies are among the major challenges of the medicine in the 21st century ...
In the last decades, the influence of the economic approach to law has expanded constantly, sometimes alarmingly so, efficiency and utility considerations steeping deep into the fabric of all aspects ...pertaining to the creation and application of law. Following a brief overview of the economic analysis of law, with references to utilitarianism, the Chicago School and their modern spin-offs, this article will attempt to convey the limitations that such an approach inevitably presents and some of its the practical consequences in the legal field. The main tenant is that the economic analysis of law is neither applicable to all subject matters, nor is it ideologically-neutral. The methodological instruments used for this research include, inter alia, the comparative method and case studies of both legislation and jurisprudence. The Covid-19 crisis of 2020 will inevitably augment the importance of the economic factors in shaping future public policies and legislation. The tendency to prioritise the economic considerations will prove difficult to resist for governments confronted with receding economies, rising public debt and social pressures of various origins. Therefore, we consider that a realistic debate on the pitfalls of the economic approach to law is necessary and serves not merely theoretical purposes, but practical ones as well.
Ischemic heart disease represent a heavy burden for the medical systems irrespective of the methods used for diagnosis and treatment of such patients in the daily medical routine. The present paper ...depicts the protocol of a study whose main aim is to develop, implement and test an artificial intelligence algorithm and cloud based platform for fully automated PCI guidance using coronary angiography images. We propose the utilisation of multiple artificial intelligence based models to produce three-dimensional coronary anatomy reconstruction and assess function- post-PCI FFR computation- for developing an extensive report describing and motivating the optimal PCI strategy selection. All the relevant artificial intelligence model outputs (anatomical and functional assessment–pre- and post-PCI) are presented to the clinician via a cloud platform, who can then take the utmost treatment decision. The physician will be provided with multiple scenarios and treatment possibilities for the same case allowing a real-time evaluation of the most appropriate PCI strategy planning and follow-up. The artificial intelligence algorithms and cloud based PCI selection workflow will be verified and validated in a pilot clinical study including subjects prospectively to compare the artificial intelligence services and results against annotations and invasive measurements.
Background:
The present paper focuses on compulsive buying, outlining the need to tackle this phenomenon using a social marketing approach, for the wellbeing of the affected individuals, their ...families and contacts, and for the health of our society at large.
Focus of the Article:
This conceptual development article is centered on behavior change and social marketing strategies that can address compulsive buying.
Research Questions:
How can social marketers help in curbing compulsive buying? What conceptual components and practical guidelines can be used in marketing programs for addressing compulsive shopping?
Program Design/Approach:
The platform developed herein outlines segmentation, targeting, product, price, place and promotional strategies recommended based on theoretical elements across disciplines.
Importance to the Social Marketing Field:
To date, compulsive buying has largely been ignored in the social marketing field, despite its relevance and prevalence. This paper provides a framework that can be employed in developing social marketing programs.
Method:
The proposed platform was created by bridging the literatures on compulsive buying and social marketing, identifying useful theoretical elements (e.g., the potential of the Thranstheoretical model), adapting and customizing these elements to provide actionable insights for intervention programs. The toolkit used for tackling other addictions was taken into account and integrated into the current development.
Future Research:
This paper offers an initial framework for social marketing efforts aimed at compulsive buying. It hopes to inspire significantly more work in this area to explore the potential of other theories and approaches to foster behavioral change for the better.
The present research aims to describe a new methodology to obtain biocompatible hydrogels based on
used for wound healing applications. The properties of two hydrogels (differing in
concentration, ...AV5 and AV10) prepared by an all-green synthesis method from raw, natural, renewable and bioavailable materials such as salicylic acid, allantoin and xanthan gum were investigated. The morphology of the
based hydrogel biomaterials was studied by SEM analysis. The rheological properties of the hydrogels, as well as their cell viability, biocompatibility and cytotoxicity, were determined. The antibacterial activity of
based hydrogels was evaluated both on Gram-positive,
and on Gram-negative,
strains. The obtained novel green
based hydrogels showed good antibacterial properties. In vitro scratch assay demonstrated the capacity of both AV5 and AV10 hydrogels to accelerate cell proliferation and migration and induce closure of a wounded area. A corroboration of all morphological, rheological, cytocompatibility and cell viability results indicates that this
based hydrogel may be suitable for wound healing applications.
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