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Examination under anesthesia in anterior posterior compression pelvic ring injuries; additional assessment of the posterior pelvic ring reveals occult sacroiliac joint instability
No full textPURPOSE: To investigate the added value of directly observing sacroiliac (SI) diastasis with a modified examination under anaesthesia (EUA) protocol, including obturator inlet SI joint projections, in patients with anterior-posterior compression (APC) pelvic ring injuries.METHODS: This prospective cohort study, conducted in a level-1 trauma centre in 2017–2024, included patients > 18 years old with an APC injury, who underwent the modified EUA protocol. The modified protocol includes anterior-posterior projections of the anterior pelvis (as in the original EUA protocol), with additional obturator inlet projections of the SI joints. The primary outcomes were reclassification and detection of occult SI joint diastasis, either anterior or complete, following the modified EUA protocol.RESULTS: Thirty-five patients, with a mean age of 53, were included, 80% sustaining high-energy trauma. Following modified EUA, 23 (65.7%) of injuries were reclassified compared to classifications from CTs: 9 of 12 (75%) APC1s to APC2, 1 of 12 (8.3%) APC1s to APC3, and 13 of 23 (56.5%) APC2s to APC3. In 16 cases (45.7%), examining the SI joint during EUA enabled localisation of SI diastasis. Eleven patients of 13 (84.6%) with symphyseal diastasis less than the standard cut-off value of 2.5 cm had occult SI diastasis visible on the obturator inlet images. Four of 14 (28.5%) patients with rotational instability less than the standard cut-off value of 1.0 cm had complete SI diastasis visible on obturator inlet images.CONCLUSIONS: A modified EUA protocol, including obturator inlet projections of the SI joints, in patients with APC pelvic ring injuries has been proposed. This protocol allows for direct detection of SI joint diastasis that was not visible on the CT scans, allows for localization of SI joint diastasis, and reveals SI joint diastasis that would remain undetected if only the anterior ring was visualized.</p
Does heat tolerance vary with rates of oxygen production in photosymbiotic cnidarians?
No full textOxygen acquisition and delivery to tissues is believed to be a key factor in heat tolerance, but testing this link has been challenging owing to methodological limitations to separate processes related to oxygen acquisition and oxygen delivery. In this study, we altered tissue oxygenation by manipulating light intensity using cnidarians that host endosymbiotic algae as model species. We first verified that light intensity determines net photosynthetic rates, showing that all species produced oxygen at the highest light intensity, and that chemically inhibiting photosynthesis successfully reduced oxygen production. We then tested the prediction that heat tolerance would be higher at higher light intensities and lower in specimens that no longer have internal oxygen production due to photosynthesis (chemical inhibition). Overall, photosynthetic specimens had a higher heat tolerance than inhibited specimens and increased light intensity improved heat tolerance for two of the three species we examined. Because inhibited specimens had lower heat tolerances, we conclude that oxygen dynamics are involved in shaping heat tolerance. Interestingly, light intensity also affected oxygen uptake and heat tolerance in some of the chemically inhibited specimens, indicating that either we did not achieve complete inhibition of photosynthesis or that light modulates aspects of cnidarian metabolism that are related to thermal tolerance, but which may extend beyond oxygen dynamics and the photosynthesis occurring in their algae
Catalytic processes for synthetic fuel production
No full textCO₂ and hydrogen can be turned into fuels. To make this reaction efficient, you need a catalyst and a well-designed process. In this research, both the catalyst and the process were developed, characterized, and optimized. Hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy, while CO₂ is released when burning fuels. In this way, CO₂ can be converted back into fuel, closing the loop
Freedom under Laws:Essays on Kant's Moral and Political Philosophy
No full textThis thesis consists of four chapters, each addressing a distinct foundational issue in Kant’s moral and political philosophy. The first chapter is concerned with Kant’s philosophy of action and its implications for his account of moral evil. I argue that Kant’s account of the structure of agency, together with his account of immoral action, show that he endorses a strong reading of the classical principle that all actions are willed under the guise of the good. I then explore Kant’s metaethical position in light of recent constitutivist interpretations of his moral theory. While contemporary constitutivists aim at justifying moral norms by grounding their validity in the constitutive features of agents, Kant adopts this strategy with the goal of explaining how moral obligation is possible. In the third chapter, I further argue that Kant’s explanation for the bindingness of moral principles in his seminal Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals relies on the often-neglected concept of the proper self.Finally, I turn to the foundation of Kant’s theory of rights and his political philosophy: the innate right to freedom. I show that instead of being grounded in the value of our capacity to set and pursue ends, Kant regards this right as the very condition of possibility of a system of rights – as he calls it, it is the axiom of right. This bears profound implications for how we understand the nature and justification of the state in Kant’s political philosophy
Observation of the Singly Cabibbo Suppressed Decay D<sup>0</sup> →b<sub>1</sub> (1235)<sup>-</sup>e<sup>+</sup>ν<sub>e</sub> and Evidence for D<sup>+</sup> →b<sub>1</sub> (1235)<sup>0</sup>e<sup>+</sup>ν<sub>e</sub>
No full textBy analyzing a data sample of eþe− collisions with center-of-mass energy ffiffis p ¼ 3.773 GeV,corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7.9 fb−1 collected with the BESIII detector operating at theBEPCII collider, we study semileptonic decays of the D0ðþÞ mesons into the axial-vector meson b1ð1235Þ viathe decay b1ð1235Þ → ωπ. The decay D0 → b1ð1235Þ−eþνe is observed with a significance of 5.2σ afterconsidering systematic uncertainty, while evidence for the decay Dþ → b1ð1235Þ0eþνe is obtained with a3.1σ significance. The product branching fractions are determined to be B½D0 → b1ð1235Þ−eþνe×B½b1ð1235Þ− → ωπ−¼ð0.72 0.18þ0.06 −0.08 Þ×10−4 and B½Dþ → b1ð1235Þ0eþνe×B½b1ð1235Þ0 → ωπ0 ¼ð1.16 0.44 0.16Þ×10−4, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The ratioof their partial decay widths is determined to be fΓ½D0 → b1ð1235Þ−eþνe=2Γ½Dþ → b1ð1235Þ0eþνeg ¼0.78 0.19þ0.04 −0.05 , which is consistent with unity, predicted by isospin invariance, within uncertainties
AMBITION STATEMENT ROADMAP FOR THE IMMUNOLOGICAL RESEARCH FIELD IN THE NETHERLANDS: VISION 2.0
No full textBeyond the Autopilot:The Value of Habitual Behaviors for Employee Self-Regulation, Performance, and Well-being
No full textIn today’s demanding workplace, employees must constantly manage multiple goals, which often requires significant mental effort. Traditionally, this self-regulation is viewed as a process of willpower and conscious decision-making. Iustina-Carmen Armașu’s PhD thesis, “Beyond the Autopilot: The Value of Habitual Behaviors for Employee Self-Regulation, Performance, and Well-being”, challenges this view by highlighting the critical value of habitual behaviors - habits, routines, and routinized task behaviors - as efficient self-regulatory tools. The research identifies three types of habitual behaviors and demonstrates that they allow employees to achieve goals with less cognitive effort, freeing up mental energy for more complex tasks. Beyond efficiency, these behaviors provide affective benefits, such as a sense of control and safety, and motivational benefits by signaling goal progress. A key study within the dissertation examined work routine disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings showed that employees who recovered their routines more quickly performed better, and that scheduling autonomy significantly accelerated this recovery. Additionally, the dissertation introduces a newly developed and validated Work Routine Scale (WRS), a tool to measure the characteristics and functions of routines, finding that routines have both daily and long-term benefits for performance and well-being outcomes. Ultimately, this dissertation shows that successful performance and well-being do not rely solely on deliberate effort. Instead, sustainable progress is often driven by the "ordinary magic" of habitual behaviors. By integrating automatic processes into our understanding of self-regulation, organizations can better support employee productivity and mental health, particularly in times of disruption
Empathic accuracy in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis:Using a task with dynamic real-life emotional stimuli
No full textBackground: Empathy as a key component of social cognition may be impaired in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. The Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT) was designed to address the dynamic and interactive nature of real-world social interactions. This study aimed to examine empathic accuracy (EA) in UHR individuals compared to controls and to explore the relationship between EAT and traditional empathy measures and social functioning.Methods: UHR individuals (n = 39) and healthy controls (n = 40) completed the EAT alongside the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, the Faux Pas Test and the Time Use Survey (TUS). Group differences in EAT performance were analyzed, and within-group correlations were examined between EAT scores and the TUS. Additionally, we investigated whether target characteristics (target gender, expressivity, and clip valence) moderated empathic accuracy.Results: No significant differences in EAT performance were found between groups. However, age emerged as a moderating factor, with older UHR individuals showing lower EA compared to younger UHR individuals and controls. Both groups performed better with positive videos and expressive targets. While UHR individuals reported lower social functioning and lower empathy scores on self-report measures, EAT performance did not correlate with these scores.Conclusion: Cognitive empathy appears preserved in UHR individuals, though subtle deficits may emerge with age. The lack of association between EA, self-reported empathy, and social functioning suggests that these approaches might assess distinct aspects of empathy, underscoring the complexity of empathy as an interpersonal process.</p
Contract and Power in the Age of AI:Algorithmic Discrimination and Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments
No full textIn present times, abuses of contractual power that lead to direct or indirect discrimination of certain groups of persons are often perpetrated through algorithms or artificial intelligence (AI). This paper deals with the fundamental rights related aspects of algorithmic discrimination. It attempts to bridge the gap between two discourses: the old discourse on the binding force of fundamental rights on private contractual actors on the one hand, and the new discourse on fundamental rights impact assessments concerning algorithms or AI on the other. This paper focuses on two impact assessment models aiming at mitigating risks for fundamental rights related to the use of algorithms or AI systems. The first one is a national model: the Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA), developed in the Netherlands few years ago to prevent violations of fundamental rights through algorithms. However, the FRAIA is designed to apply to public authorities, not in the private sector. It targets risks for fundamental rights such as the ones realized by the ‘xenophobic machines’ in the Dutch public administration, which in 2021 let the Rutte III government collapse. The second model addressed in this paper is the fundamental rights impact assessment prescribed by Article 28 of the EU AI Act. The AI Act requires not only public bodies but also several categories of private actors to conduct a fundamental rights impact assessment (FRIA) prior to the use of a high-risk AI system. The AI Act is arguably designed to apply primarily in the private sector. However, the models that most likely inspired the FRIA is the public-sector oriented Dutch FRAIA.This paper explores the lights and shadows of fundamental rights impact assessments under the AI Act in relation to their intended application to powerful private organizations in the EU, to prevent discrimination and promote diversity and inclusion.<br/