"Lose 30lbs in 30 days" : assigning responsibility for deceptive advertising of weight-loss products

Purpose &ndash; The aim of this paper is to outline key social marketing issues apparent in deceptive weight-loss advertising, from the perspective of government policy-makers, manufacturers, the media, and consumers. The purpose is to examine the complexity of one aspect of the obesity battle and provide a framework for coordinated and integrated social marketing initiatives from a multiple stakeholder perspective.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The results of deceptive weight-loss advertising are framed using the harm chain model, and the paper offers recommended solutions based on a framework of marketing, education and policy changes across the network of stakeholders.Findings &ndash; This paper concludes that a resolution to the harm created by deceptive weight-loss advertising can be achieved by the creation of a more holistic, system-wide solution to this important health and policy issue. This networked approach must involve all aspects of harm in a multi-stakeholder solution, including both upstream and downstream integration. Specific recommendations are made for policy-makers, manufacturers, the media, and consumers to achieve this goal.Social implications &ndash; From a marketing perspective, analyzing the issue of deceptive weight-loss advertising using the harm chain allows for the creation of a more holistic, system-wide solution involving stakeholders in all aspects of harm for this important health and policy issue.Originality/value &ndash; This research examines the problem of obesity and weight-loss advertising from the unique perspective of the harm chain framework. The authors make unified recommendations for various stakeholders including industry, media, government and consumers, in order to direct integrated social marketing and consumer-oriented strategies within this industry.<br /

Anthony Browne : Un diálogo entre literatura propia y apropiada

Estas reflexiones sobre la obra del escritor e ilustrador británico Anthony Browne son el resultado del trabajo desarrollado en el Espacio de la Práctica (1.er año) y en el Taller de literatura infantil (3.er año) del Profesorado de Educación Inicial del ISFD N.° 51 (Pilar, Buenos Aires). En nuestros encuentros con las alumnas, era recurrente el desconocimiento no solo acerca de autores y títulos de la literatura infantil, sino también acerca de la complejidad del discurso literario, de esta literatura en particular y de las estrategias a través de las cuales esta contribuye en la construcción de la experiencia lectora. Expresiones como ¨librito¨, ¨dibujos¨, ¨historia sencilla¨ son términos de circulación frecuente en las primeras clases, así como también la idea de que la literatura adecuada para niños del nivel inicial es aquella que por su simpleza resultaría accesible (¨fácil¨) a niños pequeños. En la concepción de literatura que proponemos, se trata de pensar al discurso literario como aquel que desafía al lector, que brinda oportunidades para progresar en su experiencia y lo conquista por medio de claves que abren las primeras lecturas a muchas más, a textos e imágenes que en cada lectura se enriquecen en diálogo con la subjetividad, pero también con la experiencia lectora de los niños, cualquiera sea su edad o su nivel de escolarización (Colomer, 2005).Departamento de Letra

It’s Lit: A Critical Qualitative Case Study on the Intersections of Hip Hop Education, Spirituality, and Race

This dissertation is a qualitative case study exploring the understandings, beliefs, and practices of Youth Spoken Word Poetry (YSW) educators who work within the field of Hip Hop-Based Education (HHBE) and have grown from youth participants to adult professionals within an international YSW Network. This study examines how current YSW practitioners describe and understand their work, along with the multiple literacy practices they utilize related to spirituality and race. This study is framed by a sociocultural lens of education, includes a blend of qualitative research methods related to narrative approaches, and is inspired by literature grounded in Hip Hop-Based Education; Race and Education; and Spirituality and Education. It is a hope of this study that the findings lead to a more nuanced understanding of how HHBE functions within the landscape of education and impact how we approach HHBE moving forward. Major findings revealed that the participants describe themselves as racialized and spiritual beings in implicit and explicit ways. YSW participants in this study described the field of YSW as grounded in African American lineages and acknowledged that the field currently functions as pluralistic and multicultural. YSW participants describe spirituality as personal, collective, and transcendent experiences. Though participants defined spirituality differently, they described it as something that is present, naming it as an important factor to be considered when examining YSW practice. Core literacy practices participants engaged with and enacted within the YSW community related to race and spirituality included acknowledging their voice as something that was expressed individually, collectively, and universally and across time (past, present, and future). These findings highlight the value of communities that support: (1) Reflection, or honoring individual identities; (2) Refraction, or honoring Communities of Practice that shape our paths; and (3) Dispersion, or the use of stories to support dreaming, sharing, and revolutionizing the world as we know it

Catastrophic health expenditures: who is at risk

In today’s global healthcare context, financial barrier limit accessibility to essential health services, burdening millions with immediate financial obligations in the event of illness. The paper analyses Portugal, a high-income country with high out-of-pocket expenses. It aims to identify vulnerable groups susceptible to catastrophic health expenditures using data from the 2015/16-Portuguese Household Budget Survey. A logistic model is applied to determine the statistical significance and economic effects of 42 variables. The analysis reveals significant associations with old age, income, education, and rural residence. Additionally, the study delves into the depth of CHE impact, highlighting medicines as a substantial financial burden

Results of pancreas transplantation after steroid withdrawal under tacrolimus immunosuppression

Purpose. The results of steroid withdrawal in pancreas transplant recipients under tacrolimus immunosuppression were analyzed. Methods. From July 4, 1994 until April 30, 1998, 147 pancreas transplantations were performed in 141 patients, including 126 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantations, 13 pancreas after kidney transplantation, and 8 pancreas transplantations alone. Baseline immunosuppression consisted of tacrolimus and steroids without antilymphocyte induction. Twenty-three patients were excluded from analysis because of early graft loss in 17 cases, retransplantation in 5 cases, and simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation after heart transplantation in 1 patient. Results. With a mean follow-up of 2.8±1.1 years (range 1.0 to 4.8 years), complete steroid withdrawal was achieved in 58 (47%) patients with a mean time to steroid withdrawal of 15.2±8 months (range 4 to 40 months after transplantation). Of the entire cohort of 141 patients, overall 1-, 2-, and 4-year patient survival rates were 98%, 95.5%, and 86%, respectively. Overall 1-, 2-, and 4- year graft survival rates were 83%, 80%, and 71% (pancreas) and 95%, 91%, and 84% (kidney), respectively. Of the 124 patients analyzed for steroid withdrawal, 1-, 2-, and 4-year patient survival rates were 98%, 97%, and 92%, respectively. Overall 1-, 2-, and 4-year graft survival rates were 98%, 91.5%, 83% (pancreas) and 97%, 95%, and 91% (kidney). Patient, pancreas, and kidney survival rates at 1 year were 100%, 100%, and 98% (off steroids) versus 97%, 91%, and 96% (on steroids, all NS) and at 4 years were 100%, 94%, and 95% (off steroids) versus 78%, 68%, and 85% (on steroids, P=0.01, 0.002, and NS, respectively). The cumulative risk of rejection at the time of follow-up was 76% for patients on steroids versus 74% for patients off steroids (P=NS). Seven patients originally tapered off steroids were treated for subsequent rejection episodes, which were all steroid sensitive, and two of these seven patients are currently off steroids. Thirteen patients received antilymphocyte therapy for steroid-resistant rejection, five of whom are now off steroids. Tacrolimus trough levels were 9.3±2.4 ng/ml (off steroids) and 9.7±4.3 (on steroids, P=NS). Mean fasting glucose levels were 98±34 mg/dl (off steroids) and 110±41 mg/dl (on steroids, P=NS). Mean glycosylated hemoglobin levels were 5.2±0.9% (off steroids) and 6.2±2.1% (on steroids, P=0.02), and mean serum creatinine levels were 1.4±0.8 mg/dl (off steroids) and 1.7±1.0 mg/dl (on steroids, P=0.02). Conclusion. These data show for the first time that steroid withdrawal can be safely accomplished in pancreas transplant recipients maintained on tacrolimus-based immunosuppression. Steroid withdrawal is associated with excellent patient and graft survival with no increase in the cumulative risk of rejection

Continuous-Flow Matrix Transposition Using Memories

In this paper, we analyze how to calculate the matrix transposition in continuous flow by using a memory or group of memories. The proposed approach studies this problem for specific conditions such as square and non-square matrices, use of limited access memories and use of several memories in parallel. Contrary to previous approaches, which are based on specific cases or examples, the proposed approach derives the fundamental theory involved in the problem of matrix transposition in a continuous flow. This allows for obtaining the exact equations for the read and write addresses of the memories and other control signals in the circuits. Furthermore, the cases that involve non-square matrices, which have not been studied in detail in the literature, are analyzed in depth in this paper. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is capable of transposing matrices of 8192 times 8192 32-bit data received in series at a rate of 200 mega samples per second, which doubles the throughput of previous approaches. © 2004-2012 IEEE

Evaluation of penalty functions for semi-global matching cost aggregation

The stereo matching method semi-global matching (SGM) relies on consistency constraints during the cost aggregation which are enforced by so-called penalty terms. This paper proposes new and evaluates four penalty functions for SGM. Due to mutual dependencies, two types of matching cost calculation, census and rank transform, are considered. Performance is measured using original and degenerated images exhibiting radiometric changes and noise from the Middlebury benchmark. The two best performing penalty functions are inversely proportional and negatively linear to the intensity gradient and perform equally with 6.05 % and 5.91 % average error, respectively. The experiments also show that adaptive penalty terms are mandatory when dealing with difficult imaging conditions. Consequently, for highest algorithmic performance in real-world systems, selection of a suitable penalty function and thorough parametrization with respect to the expected image quality is essential

Long-term results of pancreas transplantation under tacrolimus immunosuppression

Background. The long-term safety and efficacy of tacrolimus in pancreas transplantation has not yet been demonstrated. The observation of prolonged pancreatic graft function under tacrolimus would indicate that any potential islet toxicity is short-lived and clinically insignificant. We report herein the results of pancreas transplantation in patients receiving primary tacrolimus immunosuppression for a minimum of 2 years. Methods. From July 4, 1994 until April 18, 1996, 60 patients received either simultaneous pancreas- kidney transplant (n=55), pancreas transplant only (n=4), or pancreas after kidney transplantation (n=1). Baseline immunosuppression consisted of tacrolimus and steroids without antilymphocyte induction. Azathioprine was used as a third agent in 51 patients and mycophenolate mofetil in 9. Rejection episodes within the first 6 months occurred in 48 (80%) patients and were treated with high-dose corticosteroids. Antilymphocyte antibody was required in eight (13%) patients with steroid-resistant rejection. Results. With a mean follow-up of 35.1±5.9 months (range: 24.3-45.7 months), 6-month and 1-, 2-, and 33-year graft survival is 88%, 82%, 80%, and 80% pancreas) and 98%, 96%, 93%, and 91% (kidney), respectively. Six-month and 1-, 2-, and 3-year patient survival is 100%, 98%, 98%, and 96.5%. Mean fasting glucose is 91.6±13.8 mg/dl, and mean glycosylated hemoglobin is 5.1±0.7% (normal range: 4.3-6.1%). Mean tacrolimus dose is 6.5±2.6 mg/day and mean prednisone dose 2.0±2.9 mg/day at follow-up. Complete steroid withdrawal was possible in 31 (65%) of the 48 patients with functioning pancreases. Conclusions. These data show for the first time that tacrolimus is a safe and effective long-term primary agent in pancreas transplantation and provides excellent long-term islet function without evidence of toxicity while permitting steroid withdrawal in the majority of patients