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Background/Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease characterized by demyelination and axonal damage of the central nervous system. Despite the observed benefits, highly effective treatment (HET)-based therapy has adverse effects, which include an increased risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Additionally, the risk grows if the patient has antibodies for the John Cunningham virus (JCV). The appearance of PML is rare, and only one report has been found in Mexico. The objective of this research was to determine and analyze the immunological memory for JCV in a population of Mexican patients with MS under treatment. Methods: All participants underwent a complete medical history and neurological evaluation. Once they signed their informed consent, a blood sample was taken to determine if antibodies against JCV were present in their serum. Results: In total, 121 MS patients were analyzed, and the population consisted of 62.8% women and 37.2% men with an average age of 42.28. The three most common HETs received by the participants were natalizumab (67.76%), followed by teriflunomide and fingolimod. Conclusions: The seropositivity was 62.8%, and in this group, the average duration of disease evolution was 152.33 ± 93.37 months. Natalizumab was the most used HET, and despite this, only a positive association between a positive JCV antibody index with duration of fingolimod and history of depression was found. Also, a positive correlation of the JCV Ab index within the forms of SPMS and PPMS compared to RRMS was observed. No differences were observed between populations, type, and duration of MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophical debate between "radicalism" and "conservatism" in emerging human enhancement technologies (HET) has never ceased. Although their theoretical claims seem to be distinct from each other, they actually share certain commonalities, which are mainly manifested in three aspects: first, they both hold certain illusions about emerging HET; second, they both reflect the loss of human subjectivity in the debate; and third, they both leave the premise of their propositions in suspense. Based on the reflection and grasp of these commonalities, we can grasp the possible boundaries of the dissolution of the two oppositions: let HET be "where it is in," reconfigure anthropocentrism, suspend metaphysical myths, and turn to the "reality of human beings." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Remedia is the property of Medical Tribune CZ, s.r.o. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Internal erosion is a phenomenon that occurs in soils constituting hydraulic structures under the influence of internal flow. This erosion occurs because of pipe erosion which becomes widespread, leading in some cases to the rupture of the structure. Soils susceptible to piping, generally have particle size instability. This study aims to provide an empirical understanding of the initiation and development of erosion in coarse soil obtained near Biskra’s dam in Algeria. To assess the soil’s dispersiveness chemical analyses such as SAR and PS were conducted, as well as the particle size criteria were verified. The soil was examined in-depth using a double hydrometer test along with Crumb tests. A Hole Erosion Test (HET) device is developed to investigate the effect of certain parameters, such as the compaction degree and the hole diameter on internal erosion’s onset and progression. The results have shown the instability of the soil toward internal erosion given the considerably eroded particles. furthermore, an inverse relationship between the eroded particles mass and the degree of compaction and the initial hole’s diameter is observed.

Background/Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease characterized by demyelination and axonal damage of the central nervous system. Despite the observed benefits, highly effective treatment (HET)-based therapy has adverse effects, which include an increased risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Additionally, the risk grows if the patient has antibodies for the John Cunningham virus (JCV). The appearance of PML is rare, and only one report has been found in Mexico. The objective of this research was to determine and analyze the immunological memory for JCV in a population of Mexican patients with MS under treatment. Methods: All participants underwent a complete medical history and neurological evaluation. Once they signed their informed consent, a blood sample was taken to determine if antibodies against JCV were present in their serum. Results: In total, 121 MS patients were analyzed, and the population consisted of 62.8% women and 37.2% men with an average age of 42.28. The three most common HETs received by the participants were natalizumab (67.76%), followed by teriflunomide and fingolimod. Conclusions: The seropositivity was 62.8%, and in this group, the average duration of disease evolution was 152.33 ± 93.37 months. Natalizumab was the most used HET, and despite this, only a positive association between a positive JCV antibody index with duration of fingolimod and history of depression was found. Also, a positive correlation of the JCV Ab index within the forms of SPMS and PPMS compared to RRMS was observed. No differences were observed between populations, type, and duration of MS.

Copyright of Remedia is the property of Medical Tribune CZ, s.r.o. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Light Industry Machinery is the property of Light Industry Machinery Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The development of residential and industrial areas has led to increasing gas consumption and overcrowding in gas supply networks. Accordingly, hazards and risks caused by human errors, processing and mechanical failures in pipelines, and gas leaks are on a rise. Several techniques have been so far proposed for identifying and controlling human errors. The main purpose of this study was to compare two human error evaluation techniques, namely, Human Error Template (HET) and Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA) in gas supply operations using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select a suitable method. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was to identify the human error modes in one of the gas supply projects operating by Kurdistan Gas Company, Kurdistan, Iran. Different tasks in gas supply operations were accordingly determined by the health, safety, and environment (HSE) unit, then the ones susceptible to human errors were selected and analyzed through task analysis technique. The next step was to weight and rank the human errors by evaluating indexes based on many variables including accuracy, sensitivity, and quantity of the errors as well as usability, time, and education analysis using the Expert Choice software (ver. 11). Results: According to the findings of this research, the criteria were ranked based on accuracy (0.339), sensitivity (0.322), quantity of errors (0.118), usability (0.116), time (0.056), education (0.050), and analysis. The inconsistency ratio was also equal to 0.1, which meant that the subjective judgments were accepted. Conclusion: The results also showed that the analysis of human errors, using the HET, required less training and time, while the number of the detected errors and applicability in the SHERPA was greater. Considering the weight of the criteria, their importance in determining the superior technique and the weight of each one in relation to the criteria, the contribution of that method in the relevant criterion was expressed. Calculating the final weight of the techniques revealed that SHERPA with a weight of 0.53 was more practical compared with HET with a weight of 0.46.

Abstract Background an aims: Worldwide statistics declare that 1.2 million people are killed as a result of a road traffic accident (RTA). Besides, 20-50 million are injured every year. Traffic accidents account for leading causes 1.2% of deaths and 23% of injuries. In Iran, 16,000 people are annually cut short in traffic accidents. A great number of people suffer from non-fatal injuries/disabilities, which is estimated not to be less than 335,000. Statistics show that road traffic mortality in Iran has been higher than the global average, which can dramatically increase direct (medical costs, caring disabled people, broken cars, and etc.) and indirect (PTSD, traffic jam, depression in families, losing powers (permanently or temporarily) and etc.) costs. The magnitude of RATs in Iran can be better understood if it is mentioned that accidents are in the position of first place of the ranking of lost years of life. This caveat calls for a focus for urgency in RATs control strategies as a main focal point to improve public health in Iran. Nowadays, a triple-causal approach (vehicle, environment, and human) was accepted in traffic incidents. During recent years, vehicle and environment (as causal factors of traffic incidents) have been greatly improved. In contrast, human behavior has still remained as the most frequent contributing factor (up to 94%). This factor is being the most important and critical factor within any system, including traffic system. In a dangerous traffic situation, which is mostly no room to commit any error, accident prevention remains on driverschr('39') abilities and skills. It seems human factors can play a special role to control human behavior. Therefore, it worth to provide a human factor view on human behavior while driving. During driving, the driver has to collect a large amount of information at any given time and put them in the process of continuous decision making. If any functions of the driverchr('39')s decision-making process cannot be at the optimum level, human error may lead to catastrophic consequences. Driver errors are usually outcomes of mismatch between driving demands and driver abilities, especially psychologic ones. It is better to say human error is mostly the result of defects or improper function of mental information processing, which is familiar to people as forgetfulness, inattention, carelessness, negligence, recklessness, and etc. A group of methodologies which has been introduced in human factors are able to predict cognitive drivers’ errors. Despite the importance of role of human error in traffic accidents, Human error identification methods (HEIs) have been mostly used in high risk environments such as airline industry. Yet, there is few published studies on identification of driver’s errors and transportation industry. The purpose of this study is to predict driver errors using Human Error Template (HET) method meanwhile a real driving task. Methods: This case study was carried out to identify and predict the driverschr('39') error in a specific real driving scenario. At first, the scenario was designed based on agreement of research team members. To fulfill the scenario, an Iranian car (PARS Peugeot) was used which had successfully passed the technical test (with regard to lights, mirrors, glasses, safety belts, horn, oil, outlet emissions, side slides, shock absorbers, brakes, steering, suspension system lever). The driver was a healthy 42 years old man with 20 years driving experience as his career. A direct route with proper traffic signs was considered on a two-way street with mild traffic flow on a sunny day. The scenario was as: “the driver departs from the park and moves in a pre-determined direction. A few moments later, he speeds up to overtakes the front car. Then, he simply continues driving. By getting the destination, he exits the path and park the car”. Since driving consists of several sub-tasks which should be performed simultaneously, a list of sub-tasks which are required to complete the scenario was provided by interviews, as well as, direct observation. The tasks were analyzed based on Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA). Then, the tasks list was used as the input for the HET technique. This technique identifies and classifies external errors (EEMs) in the form of human error detection methods (HEIs). The technique considers EEMs in 12 patterns that are described as follows: 1. Fail to execute, e.g. the driver cannot correctly get the clutch 2. Incomplete task execution, e.g. leaving handbrake in middle position 3. Task execution in a wrong direction, e.g. pressing the gear lever in a wrong direction 4. Wrong task execution, e.g. suddenly change direction 5. Task repeated, e.g. placing the lever twice 6. Task execution on the wrong interface element, e.g. pressing a pedal instead of the others. 7. Task execution too early, e.g. turn on the guide much earlier than the redirection. 8. Task execution too late, e.g. delay in coming back to appropriate line and staying in the overtaking line. 9. Too much task execution, e.g. continuous gear changing 10. Too little task execution, e.g. few frequencies of using brakes 11. Misread information, e.g. misreading information on speed gauge 12. Other. Next, errors types and potential consequences were described. Results: Hierarchical task analysis (HTA) showed that for implementation of the scenario, three main tasks and nine sub-tasks were needed. Among 101 errors detected by HET, 16% were considered as unacceptable errors. Also, the most common types of errors included: “Task execution incomplete” (25.74%), “Task executed too late” (21.78%) and “Fail to execute” (13.86%), respectively. The results from the distribution of human errors in the main tasks and sub-tasks indicate that the main task “scrolling the route” accounts for 48% of all errors. Distribution of this ratio for “acceleration changing”, “line changing” and “distance adjusting” was 49%, 33% and 18%, respectively. Rate of errors were 33% in task of “moving” of which 79% were related to the “starting point of the movement” sub-task, 18% to the “alarms control” sub-task, and 3% to the “fasten seat belt” sub-task. Also, 19% of errors were found in the “parking” task, which 79% were related to “stopping” sub-task, 16% related to “shut downing”, and 5% related to “unlocking seat belt”. The distribution of catastrophic errors for the “scrolling the route”, “moving” and “parking” were found 4, 11, and 1 error, respectively. These were considered as "unacceptable" errors due to the high rate of incident occurrence (for example, suddenly line changing, lack of control of one of the front or rear line, etc.). Conclusion: The majority of identified type of errors in this study were “Fail to execute”. Therefore, to reduce this type of error, it is necessary to use corrective actions, such as periodic retraining drivers, equipping vehicles with visual and audible markers and alarms in relation to incomplete tasks. These actions can have a beneficial effect on reducing the severity and chances of occurrence of errors. Human Error Template (HET) is a comprehensive method that has been used widely in the aviation industry. As previous studies, the results of this study showed HET is capable to identify and classify driving errors. Using the technique in traffic domain can provide a great opportunity to predict drivers’ error. Consequently, there will be a great hope to control them before-the-fact. In spite of the importance of identifying drivers’ error, a few studies have been published. It seems the multi-sub-tasks nature of driving has caused the researchers to avoid involving in HTA for driving. To have a better understand of control strategy in traffic domain, however, it is strongly recommended to apply human error techniques for driving situation. Human factors

In this paper I undertake to analyze the way in which the arrival of HETs may influence the therapeutic relationship between the medical doctor and the patient. I begin with presenting he notion of transhumanism, insisting especially on the fact that some of the technologies that can be classified as HETs are already in use. As a result, the traditionally difficult task of defining health and a disease is becoming even more complicated. This circumstance poses the risk that medical doctors in their relationship with the patient, because of the possibilities offered by new technologies, will oscillate in their professional practice between helping the patient to recover and satisfying needs that are not justified by the considerations of health. I will try to show how the therapeutic relationship between the medical doctor and the patient may be transformed because of new technologies by using the example of IVF procedure applied to postmenopausal patients. In order to understand why the relationship between the medical doctors and their patients is so vulnerable in the context of transhumanism, I propose to re-analyze the most basic notions which help us understand the nature of the therapeutic relationship: the status of medicine as contrasted with technology, basic principles of medical ethics, the notion of a disease and an illness.

Copyright of Remedia is the property of Medical Tribune CZ, s.r.o. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

L’articolo vuole riportare alla luce il contributo delle economiste all’evoluzione del pensiero economico italiano. È un primo passo nella direzione di colmare la sostanziale ignoranza su chi fossero le pioniere della disciplina economica in Italia andandone ad identificare i principali contributi negli articoli pubblicati dalle riviste economiche italiane nel periodo che va dagli anni ’30 agli anni ’70. The paper aims at shedding light on the contributions by women economists to the evolution of the Italian economic thought in a recent past. It is a first attempt to fill the substantial ignorance about who were women pioneers of economics in Italy and how they contributed to the discipline, identifying the evolution of their visibility and trends in their research fields’ specialization in the articles published by Italian economic journals from the 1930s to the 1970s. Jel Codes: A14, A11, B31, B54

Copyright of Moneta e Credito is the property of Associazione Economia Civile and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, I approach Tarkovsky's depiction of the 'Zone', from the film 'Stalker'. I argue that the 'Zone' is a heterotopia. Firstly, I review the perspectives developed by Foucault, Deleuze and Tarkovsky which are relevant for my argument. Next, I emphasize the connections that could be ascertained between Foucault's 'heterotopology' and Tarkovsky's portrayal of the 'Zone', using Deleuze's 'cinematic philosophy'. Afterwards, I compare the 'Zone's' characteristics with the features attributed to heterotopias by Foucault in his 'heterotopology'. I conclude that the 'Zone', just like the ship, could be considered a heterotopia par excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]