The ethics of digital well-being: a multidisciplinary perspective

This chapter serves as an introduction to the edited collection of the same name, which includes chapters that explore digital well-being from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, economics, health care, and education. The purpose of this introductory chapter is to provide a short primer on the different disciplinary approaches to the study of well-being. To supplement this primer, we also invited key experts from several disciplines—philosophy, psychology, public policy, and health care—to share their thoughts on what they believe are the most important open questions and ethical issues for the multi-disciplinary study of digital well-being. We also introduce and discuss several themes that we believe will be fundamental to the ongoing study of digital well-being: digital gratitude, automated interventions, and sustainable co-well-being

Critical animal and media studies: Expanding the understanding of oppression in communication research

Critical and communication studies have traditionally neglected the oppression conducted by humans towards other animals. However, our (mis)treatment of other animals is the result of public consent supported by a morally speciesist-anthropocentric system of values. Speciesism or anthroparchy, as much as any other mainstream ideologies, feeds the media and at the same time is perpetuated by them. The goal of this article is to remedy this neglect by introducing the subdiscipline of Critical Animal and Media Studies. Critical Animal and Media Studies takes inspiration both from critical animal studies – which is so far the most consolidated critical field of research in the social sciences addressing our exploitation of other animals – and from the normative-moral stance rooted in the cornerstones of traditional critical media studies. The authors argue that the Critical Animal and Media Studies approach is an unavoidable step forward for critical media and communication studies to engage with the expanded circle of concerns of contemporary ethical thinking

Irish general practitioner attitudes toward decriminalisation and medical use of cannabis: results from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Governmental debate in Ireland on the de facto decriminalisation of cannabis and legalisation for medical use is ongoing. A cannabis-based medicinal product (Sativex®) has recently been granted market authorisation in Ireland. This unique study aimed to investigate Irish general practitioner (GP) attitudes toward decriminalisation of cannabis and assess levels of support for use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP). METHODS: General practitioners in the Irish College of General Practitioner (ICGP) database were invited to complete an online survey. Anonymous data yielded descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) to summarise participant demographic information and agreement with attitudinal statements. Chi-square tests and multi-nominal logistic regression were included. RESULTS: The response rate was 15% (n = 565) which is similar to other Irish national GP attitudinal surveys. Over half of Irish GPs did not support the decriminalisation of cannabis (56.8%). In terms of gender, a significantly higher proportion of males compared with females (40.6 vs. 15%; p < 0.0001) agreed or strongly agreed with this drug policy approach. A higher percentage of GPs with advanced addiction specialist training (level 2) agreed/strongly agreed that cannabis should be decriminalised (54.1 vs. 31.5%; p = 0.021). Over 80% of both genders supported the view that cannabis use has a significant effect on patients' mental health and increases the risk of schizophrenia (77.3%). Over half of Irish GPs supported the legalisation of cannabis for medical use (58.6%). A higher percentage of those who were level 1-trained (trained in addiction treatment but not to an advanced level) agreed/strongly agreed cannabis should be legalised for medical use (p = 0.003). Over 60% agreed that cannabis can have a role in palliative care, pain management and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). In the regression response predicator analysis, females were 66.2% less likely to agree that cannabis should be decriminalised, 42.5% less likely to agree that cannabis should be legalised for medical use and 59.8 and 37.6% less likely to agree that cannabis has a role in palliative care and in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (respectively) than males. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of Irish GPs do not support the present Irish governmental drug policy of decriminalisation of cannabis but do support the legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Male GPs and those with higher levels of addiction training are more likely to support a more liberal drug policy approach to cannabis for personal use. A clear majority of GPs expressed significant concerns regarding both the mental and physical health risks of cannabis use. Ongoing research into the health and other effects of drug policy changes on cannabis use is required

Breast cancer risk variants at 6q25 display different phenotype associations and regulate ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170.

We analyzed 3,872 common genetic variants across the ESR1 locus (encoding estrogen receptor α) in 118,816 subjects from three international consortia. We found evidence for at least five independent causal variants, each associated with different phenotype sets, including estrogen receptor (ER(+) or ER(-)) and human ERBB2 (HER2(+) or HER2(-)) tumor subtypes, mammographic density and tumor grade. The best candidate causal variants for ER(-) tumors lie in four separate enhancer elements, and their risk alleles reduce expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170, whereas the risk alleles of the strongest candidates for the remaining independent causal variant disrupt a silencer element and putatively increase ESR1 and RMND1 expression.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.352

Justice and Corporate Governance: New Insights from Rawlsian Social Contract and Sen’s Capabilities Approach

By considering what we identify as a problem inherent in the ‘nature of the firm’—the risk of abuse of authority—we propound the conception of a social contract theory of the firm which is truly Rawlsian in its inspiration. Hence, we link the social contract theory of the firm (justice at firm’s level) with the general theory of justice (justice at society’s level). Through this path, we enter the debate about whether firms can be part of Rawlsian theory of justice showing that corporate governance principles enter the “basic structure.” Finally, we concur with Sen’s aim to broaden the realm of social justice beyond what he calls the ‘transcendental institutional perfectionism’ of Rawls’ theory. We maintain the contractarian approach to justice but introduce Sen’s capability concept as an element of the constitutional and post-constitutional contract model of institutions with special reference to corporate governance. Accordingly, rights over primary goods and capabilities are (constitutionally) granted by the basic institutions of society, but many capabilities have to be turned into the functionings of many stakeholders through the operation of firms understood as post-constitutional institutional domains. The constitutional contract on the distribution of primary goods and capabilities should then shape the principles of corporate governance so that at post-constitutional level anyone may achieve her/his functionings in the corporate domain by exercising such capabilities. In the absence of such a condition, post-constitutional contracts would distort the process that descends from constitutional rights and capabilities toward social outcomes

Lowe syndrome

Lowe syndrome (the oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe, OCRL) is a multisystem disorder characterised by anomalies affecting the eye, the nervous system and the kidney. It is a uncommon, panethnic, X-linked disease, with estimated prevalence in the general population of approximately 1 in 500,000. Bilateral cataract and severe hypotonia are present at birth. In the subsequent weeks or months, a proximal renal tubulopathy (Fanconi-type) becomes evident and the ocular picture may be complicated by glaucoma and cheloids. Psychomotor retardation is evident in childhood, while behavioural problems prevail and renal complications arise in adolescence. The mutation of the gene OCRL1 localized at Xq26.1, coding for the enzyme phosphatidylinositol (4,5) bisphosphate 5 phosphatase, PtdIns (4,5)P2, in the trans-Golgi network is responsible for the disease. Both enzymatic and molecular testing are available for confirmation of the diagnosis and for prenatal detection of the disease. The treatment includes: cataract extraction, glaucoma control, physical and speech therapy, use of drugs to address behavioural problems, and correction of the tubular acidosis and the bone disease with the use of bicarbonate, phosphate, potassium and water. Life span rarely exceeds 40 years

Trapping in irradiated p-on-n silicon sensors at fluences anticipated at the HL-LHC outer tracker

The degradation of signal in silicon sensors is studied under conditions expected at the CERN High-Luminosity LHC. 200 $\mu$m thick n-type silicon sensors are irradiated with protons of different energies to fluences of up to $3 \cdot 10^{15}$ neq/cm$^2$. Pulsed red laser light with a wavelength of 672 nm is used to generate electron-hole pairs in the sensors. The induced signals are used to determine the charge collection efficiencies separately for electrons and holes drifting through the sensor. The effective trapping rates are extracted by comparing the results to simulation. The electric field is simulated using Synopsys device simulation assuming two effective defects. The generation and drift of charge carriers are simulated in an independent simulation based on PixelAV. The effective trapping rates are determined from the measured charge collection efficiencies and the simulated and measured time-resolved current pulses are compared. The effective trapping rates determined for both electrons and holes are about 50% smaller than those obtained using standard extrapolations of studies at low fluences and suggests an improved tracker performance over initial expectations

Correction to: The genetic architecture of Plakophilin 2 cardiomyopathy

PURPOSE: The genetic architecture of Plakophilin 2 (PKP2) cardiomyopathy can inform our understanding of its variant pathogenicity and protein function. METHODS: We assess the gene-wide and regional association of truncating and missense variants in PKP2 with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) specifically. A discovery data set compares genetic testing requisitions to gnomAD. Validation is performed in a rigorously phenotyped definite ARVC cohort and non-ACM individuals in the Geisinger MyCode cohort. RESULTS: The etiologic fraction (EF) of ACM-related diagnoses from truncating variants in PKP2 is significant (0.85 [0.80,0.88], p < 2 × 10-16), increases for ARVC specifically (EF = 0.96 [0.94,0.97], p < 2 × 10-16), and is highest in definite ARVC versus non-ACM individuals (EF = 1.00 [1.00,1.00], p < 2 × 10-16). Regions of missense variation enriched for ACM probands include known functional domains and the C-terminus, which was not previously known to contain a functional domain. No regional enrichment was identified for truncating variants. CONCLUSION: This multicohort evaluation of the genetic architecture of PKP2 demonstrates the specificity of PKP2 truncating variants for ARVC within the ACM disease spectrum. We identify the PKP2 C-terminus as a potential functional domain and find that truncating variants likely cause disease irrespective of transcript position

The genetic architecture of Plakophilin 2 cardiomyopathy

PURPOSE: The genetic architecture of Plakophilin 2 (PKP2) cardiomyopathy can inform our understanding of its variant pathogenicity and protein function. METHODS: We assess the gene-wide and regional association of truncating and missense variants in PKP2 with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) specifically. A discovery data set compares genetic testing requisitions to gnomAD. Validation is performed in a rigorously phenotyped definite ARVC cohort and non-ACM individuals in the Geisinger MyCode cohort. RESULTS: The etiologic fraction (EF) of ACM-related diagnoses from truncating variants in PKP2 is significant (0.85 [0.80,0.88], p < 2 × 10-16), increases for ARVC specifically (EF = 0.96 [0.94,0.97], p < 2 × 10-16), and is highest in definite ARVC versus non-ACM individuals (EF = 1.00 [1.00,1.00], p < 2 × 10-16). Regions of missense variation enriched for ACM probands include known functional domains and the C-terminus, which was not previously known to contain a functional domain. No regional enrichment was identified for truncating variants. CONCLUSION: This multicohort evaluation of the genetic architecture of PKP2 demonstrates the specificity of PKP2 truncating variants for ARVC within the ACM disease spectrum. We identify the PKP2 C-terminus as a potential functional domain and find that truncating variants likely cause disease irrespective of transcript position

Dignity and Narrative Medicine

Critiques of the dehumanising aspects of contemporary medical practice have generated increasing interest in the ways in which health care can foster a holistic sense of wellbeing. We examine the relationship between two areas of this humanistic endeavour: narrative and dignity. This paper makes two simple arguments that are intuitive but have not yet been explored in detail: that narrative competence of carers is required for maintaining or recreating dignity, and that dignity promotion in health care practice is primarily narrative in form. The multiple meanings that dignity has in a person’s life are what give the concept power and can only be captured by narrative. This has implications for health care practice where narrative work will be increasingly required to support patient dignity in under-resourced and over-subscribed health care system