Con-sequence

Con-sequence considers connections and disconnections within personal, technological and spiritual realms. Your own perceptions of trust, power and vulnerability may be reflected as forms of deceit or windows of great strength. Con-sequence uses energy and sensations to illuminate what is untouchable.

Asymmetric Nash bargaining solutions: a simple Nash program

This article proposes a simple Nash program. Both our axiomatic characterization and our noncooperative procedure consider each distinct asymmetric and symmetric Nash solution. Our noncooperative procedure is a generalization of the simplest known sequential Nash demand game analyzed by Rubinstein etal. (1992). We then provide the simplest known axiomatic characterization of the class of asymmetric Nash solutions, in which we use only Nash's crucial Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives axiom and an asymmetric modification of the well-known Midpoint Domination axiom.

The international society for bipolar disorders (ISBD) task force report on antidepressant use in bipolar diosrders

Objective:
The risk-benefit profile of antidepressant medications in bipolar disorder is controversial. When conclusive evidence is lacking, expert consensus can guide treatment decisions. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) convened a task force to seek consensus recommendations on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorders.

Method:  
An expert task force iteratively developed consensus through serial consensus-based revisions using the Delphi method. Initial survey items were based on systematic review of the literature. Subsequent surveys included new or reworded items and items that needed to be rerated. This process resulted in the final ISBD Task Force clinical recommendations on antidepressant use in bipolar disorder.

Results:  
There is striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar disorder. Few well-designed, long-term trials of prophylactic benefits have been conducted, and there is insufficient evidence for treatment benefits with antidepressants combined with mood stabilizers. A major concern is the risk for mood switch to hypomania, mania, and mixed states. Integrating the evidence and the experience of the task force members, a consensus was reached on 12 statements on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorder.

Conclusions:
Because of limited data, the task force could not make broad statements endorsing antidepressant use but acknowledged that individual bipolar patients may benefit from antidepressants. Regarding safety, serotonin reuptake inhibitors and bupropion may have lower rates of manic switch than tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants and norepinephrine-serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The frequency and severity of antidepressant-associated mood elevations appear to be greater in bipolar I than bipolar II disorder. Hence, in bipolar I patients antidepressants should be prescribed only as an adjunct to mood-stabilizing medications.

Proving a negative in history: the non-appearance of the Hungarian football team at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956

In this article we examine why Hungary, despite having the best football team in the world, did not enter the competition at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. We examine several explanations and find them to be based on errors and misconceptions. Given the significance of sport in socialist societies, we believe that the most likely explanation lies in the relationship between the Hungarian communist regime and that of the Soviet Union. Ongoing archival research suggests that the Hungarian regime did not enter a football team because it wanted to assist the Soviet Union in winning the gold medal, which it was thought would demonstrate the moral superiority of communism. This proposition is supported by a 2012 interview with Jenö Buzánszky, one of the two survivors of the Hungarian team.

Siobhan Davies Replay: The Archive of Siobhan Davies Dance

The Siobhan Davies Archive project began in January 2007, with the aim of bringing together all of the materials and documentation associated with Davies' choreographies into a single collection. It is the first online dance archive in the UK and contains thousands of fully searchable digital records including moving image, still image, audio and text. Many of the objects within the archive collection have been sourced directly from Davies and her collaborators' personal collections, whilst other items have been kindly lent by institutions and private contributors. Almost all of these objects that would otherwise remain inaccessible and unavailable appear online for the first time, and in many cases represent the first time objects have been viewed by anyone since their original date of creation.

Older prisoners: a human rights perspective

This researcher enhances understandings about the psychological and surrounding circumstances, contributing towards older prisoners' treatment by others. Participants completed a questionnaire, interviews, and mention that older prisoners, and themselves as professionals, could be at risk of harm. This is linked to such conditions as budget constraints and other prison conditions.

Coiled polymeric growth factor gradients for multi-luminal neural chemotaxis

In the injured adult nervous system, re-establishment of growth-promoting molecular gradients is known to entice and guide nerve repair. However, incorporation of three-dimensional chemotactic gradients in nerve repair scaffolds, particularly in those with multi-luminal architectures, remains extremely challenging. We developed a method that establishes highly tunable three-dimensional molecular gradients in collagen-filled multi-luminal nerve guides by anchoring growth-factor releasing coiled polymeric fibers onto the walls of collagen-filled hydrogel microchannels. Differential pitch in the coiling of neurotrophin-eluting fibers generated sustained three-dimensional chemotactic gradients that appropriately induced the differentiation of Pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells into neural-like cells along an increasing concentration of nerve growth factor (NGF). Computer modeling estimated the stability of the molecular gradient within the luminal collagen, which we confirmed by observing the significant effects of neurotrophin gradients on axonal growth from dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Neurons growing in microchannels exposed to a NGF gradient showed a 60% increase in axonal length compared to those treated with a linear growth factor concentration. In addition, a two-fold increment in the linearity of axonal growth within the microchannels was observed and confirmed by a significant reduction in the turning angle ratios of individual axons. These data demonstrate the ability of growth factor-loaded polymeric coiled fibers to establish three-dimensional chemotactic gradients to promote and direct nerve regeneration in the nervous system and provides a unique platform for molecularly guided tissue repair.

The effect of a staged, emergency department specific rapid response system on reporting of clinical deterioration

BACKGROUND: Despite emerging evidence regarding clinical deterioration in emergency department (ED) patients, the widespread uptake of rapid response systems (RRS) in EDs has been limited. AIMS: To evaluate the effect of an ED RRS on reporting of clinical deterioration and determine if there were differences between patients who did, and did not, deteriorate during ED care. METHODS: A retrospective cross sectional design was used to conduct this single site study in Melbourne, Australia. Stratified random sampling identified 50 patients with shortness of breath, chest pain or abdominal pain per each year studied (2009-2012) giving a total of 600 patients. The intervention was an ED RRS implemented in stages. RESULTS: The frequency of clinical deterioration was 14.8% (318 episodes/89 patients). Unreported deterioration decreased each year (86.7%; 68.8%; 55.3%; 54.0%, p=0.141). Patients who deteriorated during ED care had a longer median ED length of stay (2.8h; p<0.001), were 31.9% more likely to need hospital admission (p<0.001) and 4.9% more likely to die in hospital (p=0.044). CONCLUSIONS: A staged ED specific RRS decreased the frequency of unreported clinical deterioration. Controlled multi-site studies of ED specific RRSs are needed to examine the effect of formal ED RRSs on patient outcomes.

Imidazoline receptors of the paraventricular nucleus on the pressor response induced by stimulation of the subfornical organ

In the present experiments we investigated a possible involvement of imidazoline receptors of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus on the presser effects of the angiotensin LI (ANG II) injected into the subfornical organ (SFO), in male Holtzman rats (250-300 g) with a cannula implanted into the third ventricle (3rdV), PVN and SFO. At first we tested the participation of alpha(2) and imidazoline agonist and antagonist compounds on the presser effect of ANG II injected into the 3rdV. Based on the results we may conclude that clonidine associated with rilmenidine was able to block the hypertensive response to ANG IT. The ANG II (20 pmol) injected into SFO induced a robust increase in blood pressure (37 +/- 2 mmHg). Isotonic saline (0.15 M) NaCl did not produce any change in blood pressure (5 +/- 2 mmHg). The injection of rilmenidine (30 mu g/kg/l mu L), an imidazoline agonist agent injected into PVN before ANG II injection into SFO, blocked the presser effect of ANG II (5 +/- 2 mmHg). Also, the injection of idazoxan (60 mu g/kg/mu L) before rilmenidine blocked the inhibitory effect of rilmenidine on blood pressure (39 +/- 4 mmHg). The injection of clonidine (20 nmol/mu L) prior to ANG II into the 3rdV produced a decreased in arterial blood pressure (37 +/- 2 mmHg) to (15 +/- 4 mmHg). The injection of yohimbine (80 nmol/mu L) prior to clonidine blocked the effect of clonidine on the effect of ANG II (27 +/- 2 mmHg). The injection of rilmenidine prior to ANG TI also induced a decrease in arterial blood pressure (10 +/- 3 mmHg). The injection of idazoxan prior to rilmenidine also blocked the inhibitory effect of rilmenidine (24 +/- 3 mmHg). In summary, the present study demonstrated that rilmenidine decreases the hypertensive effect of ANG II, with more potency than clonidine, even when injected into 3rdV or PVN. This study established that the PVN interacts with SFO by imidazoline receptors in order to control the arterial blood pressure. (C) Elsevier, Paris.

Predictive factors of outcome following staphylococcal peritonitis in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Background and aims: Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the most common agents of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) peritonitis. Episodes caused by Staphylococcus aureus evolve with a high method failure rate while CoNS peritonitis is generally benign. The purpose of this study was to compare episodes of peritonitis caused by CoNS species and S. aureus to evaluate the microbiological and host factors that affect outcome. Material and methods: Microbiological and clinical data were retrospectively studied from 86 new episodes of peritonitis caused by staphylococci species between January 1996 and December 2000 in a university dialysis center. The influence of microbiological and host factors (age, sex, diabetes, use of vancomycin, exchange system and treatment time on CAPD) was analyzed by logistic regression model. The clinical outcome was classified into two results (resolution and non-resolution). Results: the odds of peritonitis resolution were not influenced by host factors. Oxacillin susceptibility was present in 30 of 35 S. aureus lineages and 22 of 51 CoNS (p = 0.001). There were 32 of 52 (61.5%) episodes caused by oxacillin-susceptible and 20 of 34 (58.8%) by oxacillin-resistant lineages resolved (p = 0.9713). of the 35 cases caused by S. aureus, 17 (48.6%) resolved and among 51 CoNS episodes 40 (78.4%) resolved. Resolution odds were 7.1 times higher for S. epidermidis than S. aureus (p = 0.0278), while other CoNS had 7.6 times higher odds resolution than S. epidermidis cases (p = 0.052). Episodes caused by S. haemolyticus had similar resolution odds to S. epidermidis (p = 0.859). Conclusions: S. aureus etiology is an independent factor associated with peritonitis non-resolution in CAPD, while S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus have a lower resolution rate than other CoNS. Possibly the aggressive nature of these agents, particularly S. aureus, can be explained by their recognized pathogenic factors, more than antibiotic resistance.