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Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences May 2020This report is an ethical analysis based on both facts and values. In fertilization (IVF), there is an intricate interaction between rapid scientific development and... (Review)
Review
This report is an ethical analysis based on both facts and values. In fertilization (IVF), there is an intricate interaction between rapid scientific development and changing societal values. In most countries, the ethical discussion is no longer on whether or not IVF in itself is ethically justifiable. Therefore, in this review, I discuss other ethical aspects that have emerged since IVF was first introduced, such as upper age limits, 'ownership' of gametes and embryos, IVF in single women and same-sex couples, preimplantatory genetic testing, social egg freezing, commercialization, public funding, and prioritization of IVF. Despite secularization, since religion still plays an important role in regulation and practices of IVF in many countries, positions on IVF among the world religions are summarized. Decision-making concerning IVF cannot be based only on clinical and economic considerations; these cannot be disentangled from ethical principles. Many concerns regarding the costs, effects, and safety of IVF subtly transcend into more complex questions about what it means to society to bear and give birth to children.
Topics: Age Factors; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Fertilization in Vitro; Global Health; Humans; Ownership; Patient Safety; Religion and Medicine
PubMed: 31686575
DOI: 10.1080/03009734.2019.1684405 -
South African Medical Journal =... Aug 2022To the Editor: The article by Bhorat et al. [1] in the SAMJ, entitled 'Cerebral palsy and criteria implicating intrapartum hypoxia in neonatal encephalopathy - an...
To the Editor: The article by Bhorat et al. [1] in the SAMJ, entitled 'Cerebral palsy and criteria implicating intrapartum hypoxia in neonatal encephalopathy - an obstetric perspective for the South African setting', starts off by raising concerns about 'steep rises in insurance premiums, placing service delivery under serious threat'. It does not acknowledge any service delivery issues that already exist in the public sector obstetric services in South Africa (SA). According to Whittaker,[2] in 2019, there were 303 obstetricians and gynaecologists employed in the SA public sector and 579 in the private sector, and of those employed in the public sector, 190 were performing private sector work. That a large number of the children with cerebral palsy (CP) were delivered in the public sector service was not noted by Bhorat et al.,[1] nor was the fact that the overwhelming majority of court cases are against the state (not against individual doctors) in provinces and hospitals with significant medical staffing and resource issues. For example, the liabilities for Eastern Cape Province in the 2019/20 period were ZAR36 751 207 v. only ZAR33 155 in Western Cape Province for the same period.[2].
Topics: Cerebral Palsy; Child; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Private Sector; Public Sector; South Africa
PubMed: 36214404
DOI: 10.7196/SAMJ.2022.v112i8.16702 -
JAMA Network Open Dec 2023It remains unclear whether pet ownership is associated with cognitive decline and to what extent pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and...
IMPORTANCE
It remains unclear whether pet ownership is associated with cognitive decline and to what extent pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and cognitive decline.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the association of pet ownership with cognitive decline, the interaction between pet ownership and living alone, and the extent to which pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and cognitive decline in older adults.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This cohort study used data from waves 5 (June 2010 to July 2011) to 9 (from June 2018 to July 2019) in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Participants included adults 50 years and older. Data were analyzed from April 1 to June 30, 2023.
EXPOSURES
Pet ownership and living alone in wave 5.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
In waves 5 to 9, verbal memory and verbal fluency were assessed, and composite verbal cognition was further calculated.
RESULTS
Of the 7945 participants included, the mean (SD) age was 66.3 (8.8) years, and 4446 (56.0%) were women. Pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β = 0.008 [95% CI, 0.002-0.014] SD/y), verbal memory (β = 0.006 [95% CI, 0.001-0.012] SD/y), and verbal fluency (β = 0.007 [95% CI, 0.001-0.013] SD/y). Three-way interaction tests showed that living alone was a significant modifier in all 3 associations. Stratified analyses showed that pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β = 0.023 [95% CI, 0.011-0.035] SD/y), verbal memory (β = 0.021 [95% CI, 0.008-0.034] SD/y), and verbal fluency (β = 0.018 [95% CI, 0.005-0.030] SD/y) among individuals living alone, but not among those living with others. Joint association analyses showed no significant difference in rates of decline in composite verbal cognition, verbal memory, or verbal fluency between pet owners living alone and pet owners living with others.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In this cohort study, pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among older adults living alone, but not among those living with others, and pet ownership offset the associations between living alone and declining rates in verbal memory and verbal fluency. Further studies are needed to assess whether pet ownership slows the rate of cognitive decline in older adults living alone.
Topics: Female; Humans; Aged; Male; Cohort Studies; Home Environment; Longitudinal Studies; Ownership; Cognitive Dysfunction
PubMed: 38147332
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.49241 -
Scientific Reports May 2021Body ownership concerns what it is like to feel a body part or a full body as mine, and has become a prominent area of study. We propose that there is a closely related...
Body ownership concerns what it is like to feel a body part or a full body as mine, and has become a prominent area of study. We propose that there is a closely related type of bodily self-consciousness largely neglected by researchers-experiential ownership. It refers to the sense that I am the one who is having a conscious experience. Are body ownership and experiential ownership actually the same phenomenon or are they genuinely different? In our experiments, the participant watched a rubber hand or someone else's body from the first-person perspective and was touched either synchronously or asynchronously. The main findings: (1) The sense of body ownership was hindered in the asynchronous conditions of both the body-part and the full-body experiments. However, a strong sense of experiential ownership was observed in those conditions. (2) We found the opposite when the participants' responses were measured after tactile stimulations had ceased for 5 s. In the synchronous conditions of another set of body-part and full-body experiments, only experiential ownership was blocked but not body ownership. These results demonstrate for the first time the double dissociation between body ownership and experiential ownership. Experiential ownership is indeed a distinct type of bodily self-consciousness.
Topics: Body Image; Female; Galvanic Skin Response; Humans; Male; Ownership; Touch; Young Adult
PubMed: 34012048
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90014-y -
JAMA Network Open Oct 2023
Topics: Humans; Child; Young Adult; Adult; Ownership; Violence; Firearms
PubMed: 37851450
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.40564 -
PloS One 2023This paper uses firm-level data worldwide to investigate productivity gaps between female and male-managed companies in developing and developed countries and compare...
This paper uses firm-level data worldwide to investigate productivity gaps between female and male-managed companies in developing and developed countries and compare the outcomes obtained for different regions in the world. The main aim is to shed some light on the debate around the existence of performance differences when females participate in managerial activities. The main results indicate that it is crucial to distinguish between female management and female ownership and the confluence between both. We find that when the firms have a top female manager and ownership is exclusively male, firms show higher average labor productivity. We argue that firms owned by males belong to male-dominated corporate culture and would only select a female manager if she is more competent than potential male candidates. These results are very heterogeneous among regions, of which South Saharan Africa, East Asia, and South Asia are driving the main results.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Asia, Eastern; Organizational Culture; Ownership; South Africa; Africa, Northern
PubMed: 36791054
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273976 -
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric... Oct 2022Several publications explored a relationship between pet ownership and lower levels of loneliness and social isolation. However, to the best of our knowledge, no... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
Several publications explored a relationship between pet ownership and lower levels of loneliness and social isolation. However, to the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has yet synthesized the evidence on these associations. Thus, this systematic review aims to evaluate the findings regarding the relations between pet ownership, loneliness, and social isolation.
METHODS
PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycInfo were searched in January 2022. Observational studies relying on appropriate instruments to assess the exposure and the outcome variables were included. Two reviewers independently executed study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment.
RESULTS
n = 24 studies were included. Among adult samples, the studies examining the relationship between pet ownership and social isolation found that owning a pet was associated with lower levels of social isolation. Concerning loneliness, studies that were conducted after the outbreak of COVID-19 mostly showed that pet ownership can contribute to lower levels of loneliness, but did not reveal an overall significant association until then. In turn, the studies that examined child and adolescent samples suggest that pet ownership was related to reduced loneliness before COVID-19. Furthermore, most of the studies did not reveal any differences between dogs, cats, and other kinds of pets regarding their relationship to loneliness and social isolation.
CONCLUSION
All in all, only a part of the studies detected a significant association between pet ownership, loneliness and social isolation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to strengthen this relationship, so that future research is required to assess the longevity of this potential effect.
Topics: Animals; COVID-19; Dogs; Humans; Loneliness; Ownership; Pandemics; Social Isolation
PubMed: 35816194
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-022-02332-9 -
Journal of Athletic Training Mar 2022Psychological ownership (PO) is a state in which an individual feels possession over an object, organization, or entity (eg, PO over the organization where one works, PO...
CONTEXT
Psychological ownership (PO) is a state in which an individual feels possession over an object, organization, or entity (eg, PO over the organization where one works, PO over the profession one serves). Understanding PO could provide insight into the "vitality of the profession" as defined in the Prioritized Research Agenda for the Athletic Training Profession.
OBJECTIVE
To explore athletic trainers' (ATs') PO over their employing organizations and the athletic training profession.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.
SETTING
Web-based survey.
PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS
Clinically practicing ATs who were active members of the National Athletic Trainers' Association.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Demographic variables, Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (POQ) scores, and Psychological Ownership Questionnaire for athletic training (POQ-AT) scores were the primary outcomes measured. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the demographic variables, POQ and POQ-AT overall scores, form scores, and dimension scores. Nonparametric tests were used to investigate differences between the POQ and POQ-AT by demographic characteristics.
RESULTS
The ATs indicated greater PO over the athletic training profession (Z = -3.45, P = .001) than over their employing organizations. They displayed greater belongingness (Z = -9.51, P < .001) and self-identity (Z = -8.71, P < .001) and less territoriality (Z = -5.52, P < .001) and accountability (Z = -5.33, P < .001) over their profession than their organization. Those ATs who supervised others had higher overall POQ (Mann-Whitney U test = 34 372, P < .001) and overall POQ-AT (U = 36 624, P = .014) scores than ATs who did not supervise others. A difference was evident in overall POQ (Kruskal-Wallis statistical analysis H4 = 20.47, P < .001) and overall POQ-AT (H4 = 21.34, P < .001) scores by years of experience.
CONCLUSIONS
Respondents indicated greater PO over their profession than their employing organizations. They demonstrated greater self-identity and belongingness and less territoriality and accountability over the athletic training profession than over their employing organization, suggesting that they were connecting aspirations and accomplishments with the profession but connecting duty and responsibility with their organizations. Years of experience and supervisor status may play roles in the level of organizational PO.
Topics: Cross-Sectional Studies; Employment; Humans; Ownership; Sports; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35302616
DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-0638.20 -
Tidsskrift For Den Norske Laegeforening... Nov 2023
Topics: Humans; Ownership; Peer Review, Research; Publishing; Peer Group
PubMed: 37987061
DOI: 10.4045/tidsskr.23.0751 -
Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery Sep 2023Unowned 'stray' domestic cats threaten wildlife, as well as create a community nuisance and contribute to high rates of euthanasia in animal shelters. These cats can...
OBJECTIVES
Unowned 'stray' domestic cats threaten wildlife, as well as create a community nuisance and contribute to high rates of euthanasia in animal shelters. These cats can experience poor welfare, contribute to the pet cat population and compromise attempts to control feral cats. However, many unowned domestic cats are cared for by semi-owners who do not consider they own these cats; therefore, semi-owners are a potentially important target population for human behaviour change interventions. The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of cat semi-owners and compare these with the general population of cat owners and non-cat owners to inform future cat management interventions.
METHODS
An online questionnaire open to all residents of New South Wales, Australia was developed and advertised. Respondents were asked 'do you care for other free-roaming or stray cats (not including the cats you own)?', whether they owned cats, about characteristics of their home and their agreement with 15 capability, social opportunity and motivation (COM) items relating to cat containment.
RESULTS
Questionnaire responses were received from 8708 people, including 588 semi-owners (7%). Semi-owners were significantly more likely to be female, live in urban areas, live in lower socioeconomic areas and rent their home. Most semi-owners also owned their own cats and owned more cats than non-semi-owners.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Semi-owners of unowned 'stray' cats are a valuable potential target audience for human behaviour change interventions. Understanding that these semi-owners often have their own cats, might already be overwhelmed with cat-caring responsibilities and are disproportionately from lower socioeconomic backgrounds should guide intervention design. A nuanced approach is needed that prioritises the wellbeing of cats and semi-owners for semi-owners to 'buy in'. Any intervention should also recognise that semi-owners often face multiple, complex barriers to neutering or claiming ownership of the cats they care for, especially cost, and trust in the authorities.
Topics: Cats; Animals; Humans; Female; Male; Australia; Ownership
PubMed: 37751179
DOI: 10.1177/1098612X231194225