Electrical Characterisation of Aδ-Fibres Based on Human in vivo Electrostimulation Threshold

Electrical stimulation of small fibres is gaining attention in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathies, such as diabetes mellitus, and pain research. However, it is still challenging to characterise the electrical characteristics of axons in small fibres (Aδ and C fibres). In particular, in vitro measurement for human Aδ-fibre is difficult due to the presence of myelin and ethical reason. In this study, we investigate the in vivo electrical characteristics of the human Aδ-fibre to derive strength–duration (S–D) curves from the measurement. The Aδ-fibres are stimulated using coaxial planar electrodes with intraepidermal needle tip. For human volunteer experiments, the S–D curve of Aδ-fibre is obtained in terms of injected electrical current. With the computational analysis, the standard deviation of the S–D curve is mostly attributed to the thickness of the stratum corneum and depth of the needle tip, in addition to the fibre thickness. Then, we derive electrical parameters of the axon in the Aδ-fibre based on a conventional fibre model. The parameters derived here would be important in exploring the optimal stimulation condition of Aδ-fibres.

New approaches for testing non-inferiority for three-arm trials with Poisson distributed outcomes

Summary With the availability of limited resources, innovation for improved statistical method for the design and analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is of paramount importance for newer and better treatment discovery for any therapeutic area. Although clinical efficacy is almost always the primary evaluating criteria to measure any beneficial effect of a treatment, there are several important other factors (e.g., side effects, cost burden, less debilitating, less intensive, etc.), which can permit some less efficacious treatment options favorable to a subgroup of patients. This leads to non-inferiority (NI) testing. The objective of NI trial is to show that an experimental treatment is not worse than an active reference treatment by more than a pre-specified margin. Traditional NI trials do not include a placebo arm for ethical reason; however, this necessitates stringent and often unverifiable assumptions. On the other hand, three-arm NI trials consisting of placebo, reference, and experimental treatment, can simultaneously test the superiority of the reference over placebo and NI of experimental treatment over the reference. In this article, we proposed both novel Frequentist and Bayesian procedures for testing NI in the three-arm trial with Poisson distributed count outcome. RCTs with count data as the primary outcome are quite common in various disease areas such as lesion count in cancer trials, relapses in multiple sclerosis, dermatology, neurology, cardiovascular research, adverse event count, etc. We first propose an improved Frequentist approach, which is then followed by it’s Bayesian version. Bayesian methods have natural advantage in any active-control trials, including NI trial when substantial historical information is available for placebo and established reference treatment. In addition, we discuss sample size calculation and draw an interesting connection between the two paradigms.

Muslim Business Women in Indonesia

This study examines the intersection between religion and economic performance through investigating religious ethics and tradition among devout businesswomen. This study also focuses on the issue of spiritual business enterprise. I observed seven Muslim business women as subjects who negotiate a religious and cultural perception of their gendered role in society. During their entrepreneurial journey, Muslim business women transform their conventional company into spiritual – based operations for religious and ethical reason. I undertook nine weeks of fieldwork in urban areas of Jakarta, Purworejo and Yogyakarta. I also conduct life story interview sessions and participatory observation with the seven Muslim business women’s project of business including director, manager, employee, and so – called spiritual division. Significantly, the products that they sell reflect spiritual and moral underpinnings. Moreover, the spiritual design of company plays a role in employee screening, training, and benefit, which all incorporate aspects of Islamic practice. This research demonstrates the strong role of religion namely Islam, as evidenced in the Muslim business women’s narratives, in functioning as a support system that can greatly enhance the economic and life prosperity. Keywords: Muslim business women, religious ethics, spiritual economics, Indonesia

The case against meta-consent: not only do Ploug and Holm not answer it, they make it even stronger

In a recent article, I argued that Ploug and Holm’s ‘meta-consent’ proposal should be rejected for biobank governance. This was because, although meta-consent is permissible, it is both burdensome and ethically omissible. There is no ethical reason why funders should undertake the additional costs. Ploug and Holm have sought to respond to these arguments. Here, it is noted that not only do they fail to adequately refuse the case against meta-consent, they fail to even engage with the arguments, either misunderstanding them or ignoring them. In their response, Ploug and Holm unwittingly provide the basis of an even stronger case against meta-consent. They argue that broad consent has a built in tendency to expire, while also holding that broad consent should be one of the options available in meta-consent. Meta-consent thus ends up being more like dynamic consent, but, arguably, even more burdensome and costly.

The ethical relevance of two types of adverse health effects on research bystanders as applied to HIV, mosquito bednet and organ transplant trials

Using cases from this symposium, I illustrate a distinction between clinical trials that harm research non-participants’ health and clinical trials that reduce a distinct health benefit to research non-participants. This distinction is ethically relevant for the design and justification of clinical trials. The relative stringency of the ethical duty to avoid harm makes it more important, all other things being equal, to avoid harms rather than avoid reduction of benefits. This is especially ethically important as it is often difficult to identify research non-participants who will suffer health harms due to research, let alone obtain their informed consent. In these difficult cases, all other things being equal, we have ethical reason to prefer clinical trials that only reduce non-participants’ health benefits to those that only involve harms to non-participants’ health. When such trials are not feasible and we are unable to get consent for the significant harms to research non-participants, these (and other) countervailing considerations must be outweighed by substantial social benefits in order for the trial to be ethically justified. Ethical research design must not just be concerned with the magnitude of adverse health effects on research non-participants but also the types of those effects.

REINTERPRETATION OF HIJAB CONCEPT IN THE VIEW OF MURTADHA MUTAHHARI

In the view of Millennial society, Hijab was better known as fashion for woman to look beautiful. It’s proven by the presence of so many tutorials wearing Hijab with various models showed on Youtube. Those tutorials influenced women views that to make them look completely enchanting they should wear Hijab. As the consequence, Hijab what must be believed to be an obligation and the guidance of the Shari’a, it’s even understood by women as a form of need and desire only, and it’s especially just to attract man attentions. Former times, Hijab was understood by people as a symbol of glory and a form of the obedience of a woman to God. But, now, due to misunderstanding of the meaning and the essence of Hijab, it’s misused by women in this Millennial era. To solve this problem, it’s required a philosophical study. This study is expected to be one way to refine meaning of the essence of Hijab. To look further, we can study some views of Sayid Murtadha Muthahhari. He was one of contemporary Iranian philosophers who refined the essence of Hijab. In Murtadha Mutahhari philosophical views, he offered to us four meaning of the essence of Hijab, those were the first was psychological tranquility, the second was strengthen the relationship of husband and wife, the third was the glory and honor of women, and the fourth was strengthen of the society. In another hand, he also offered to us three reasons that why women must wear Hijab. It’s economic reasons, social reason, and ethical reason. This Study is trying to refine and inform the meaning of the essence of hijab to Moslem society through Murtadha Mutahhari philosophical view.

Time for change – HR’s role in eradicating workplace sexual harassment

Purpose In the space of just a few months or so, there has been nothing short of a tectonic shift in the expected approach to sexual harassment allegations especially where the alleged harasser is in a position of power in relation to the accuser. The allegations against Harvey Weinstein, MPs and other public figures together with the #metoo campaign arguably mark a step change in public perception. HR professionals are no strangers to this issue. The authors look at what, if anything, has changed when handling sexual harassment complaints in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine whether this is just a media news story or is it backed up by evidence. They look at statistics from a Trades Union Congress (TUC) survey and the Everyday Sexism Project. The authors define “what is sexual harassment” from a legal view point and provide advice to HR professionals in dealing with such complaints and in examining risk to their organisation. Findings There are solid business and ethical reason to stamp out discriminatory practices. Organisations with good equality and diversity practices are in a good position but should guard against complacency. Originality/value The allegations against Harvey Weinstein, MPs and other public figures together with the #metoo campaign arguably mark a step change in public perception. HR professionals are no strangers to this issue. Time spent examining your organisation’s vulnerability to such claim and refreshing your knowledge could be time well spent when considering the potential costs and reputational damage of a case.

The Ethics of Keeping fur Animals, the Estonian Context

The discussion of the ethics of fur farming is currently important in Estonia, where the Estonian Parliament is due to make a judgement on the legality of farming animals for fur in the state. Although there is significant opposition among the local general population, and discussion in the popular and social media, there is little evidence of a coherent ethical reason why fur animals should not be farmed while we continue to permit the farming of other livestock animals. Ethical viewpoints of the rights and welfare of animals are presented here and these are contextualised with regard to fur farming and fur farming in Estonia in particular.

Common origins and the ethics of planetary seeding

Faced with a choice between attempting to seed another world with terrestrially-sourced microbes (with which we would have a shared origin) and microbes sourced from elsewhere within the solar system (whose origins might therefore differ), would we have any non-instrumental ethical reason to favour the terrestrial microbes? What follows will argue that in relation to the goals of promoting life similar to our own, or even simply microbial life, we might conceivably make such an appeal and do so in a defensible manner. However, in no case would such a consideration operate as a silencer for rival considerations (such as likelihood of success, enhancing diversity or historical justice). The thought experiment serves to highlight the diversity of considerations which are in play in ethical deliberation about matters of astrobiology and the role of practical wisdom rather than trumping considerations.