Years of good life is a well-being indicator designed to serve research on sustainability

Sustainable development (SD) as popularized by the Brundtland Commission and politically enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals has been the explicit focus of sustainability science. While there is broad agreement that the trend of human well-being (W) over time should serve as a sustainability criterion, the literature so far has mostly addressed this in terms of its determinants rather than focusing on W itself. There is broad agreement that an indicator for W should have multiple constituents, clearly going beyond gross domestic product. Here, we propose a tailor-made indicator to serve precisely this purpose following a set of specified desiderata, including its applicability to flexibly defined subnational populations by gender, place of residence, ethnicity, and other relevant characteristics. The indicator, years of good life (YoGL), reflects the evident fact that in order to be able to enjoy any quality of life, one has to be alive and thus is primarily based on life expectancy. However, since mere survival is not considered good enough, life years are counted conditional on meeting minimum standards in two dimensions: the objective dimension of capable longevity (consisting of being out of absolute poverty and enjoying minimal levels of physical and cognitive health) and the subjective dimension of overall life satisfaction. We illustrate the calculation of this indicator for countries and subpopulations at different stages of development and with different degrees of data availability.

Sustainability science refers to the most comprehensive scholarly effort to understand the interactions between natural and social systems in order to assess whether certain developmental pathways can be considered sustainable. This should also include the possible negative effects of environmental changes, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, on future human well-being. In this paper, we propose a tailor-made indicator to assess long-term human well-being as the ultimate end of sustainable development. This indicator, called “years of good life” (YoGL), is designed in such a way that it can be both empirically measured—which is the focus of this paper—and modeled in its long-term future trends—which will be the focus of future work.When assessing changes over time in the well-being of certain human populations (or subpopulations, as defined, e.g., by gender, ethnicity, urban/rural place of residence, or other social groupings), one can focus on the determinants or the constituents of well-being. In sustainability science, thus far, empirical and theoretical research has placed more emphasis on studying the determinants, including environmental services (1), whereas specifying its constituents has received less systematic attention, often leaving us with nothing but the unspecific notion of “utility.” The focus on determinants has led to the concept of “inclusive wealth” (IW) which can be used to assess whether a society is on a sustainable development trajectory in terms of the productive base necessary to maintain a high standard of living in the future (2). However, empirically measuring the values and relative effects of the different capitals determining human well-being remains extremely challenging and “no current attempt to date can be said to be fully inclusive” (3).The idea behind YoGL, on the other hand, is to study sustainability by focusing explicitly on the constituents of well-being and its change over time. In doing so, YoGL avoids several of the pitfalls by which the IW approach is plagued (3, 4). For example, rather than making contestable quantitative assessments of the relative contributions of the different determinants of well-being, the demographic approach underlying YoGL provides numerical values of human well-being directly, expressed as the average number of years of good life a person can expect to live as part of a given subpopulation under the conditions of a specified point in time. Based on the assumed universal nature of its unit of measurement—YoGL lived today in one specific population has the same meaning as YoGL lived in the future or in another population—the indicator has a time-independent meaning. This also avoids the pitfalls of specifying a rate at which to discount future well-being, which have become apparent at least since the debates around the Stern report (5). YoGL allows us to directly compare human well-being across different subpopulations and generations. Moreover, while all estimates of the different determinants of future human well-being are highly sensitive to population growth, as a measure referring to per-person well-being the derivation of YoGL is not directly affected by assumptions about the future trajectory of population size. Finally, as stressed by Dasgupta (6), the nature of determinants can change over time and across places depending on different commodities and technological regimes, whereas the constituents of well-being—as used in YoGL—are arguably shared across space and time.In the following, we will first present the proposed design of the indicator. We will then provide a step-by-step user’s guide for empirically deriving YoGL based on the most appropriate available data source, before offering examples of how it can be calculated based on auxiliary information on populations for which the necessary data are not yet fully available. We will close with a discussion and brief outlook as to what is still needed to use this indicator for the assessment of sustainability.     

The effect of orlistat-induced weight loss on interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein levels in obese subjects

OBJECTIVE: Inflammation plays a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which may be mediated by increased secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by adipose tissue. The aim of this study is to investigate changes in the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) during weight reduction with orlistat treatment in obese patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-six obese (BMI: 36.1 +/- 3.4 kg/m2) and II non-obese (BMI: 22.9 +/- 1.7 kg/m2) subjects were studied. IL-6 and hs-CRP levels were evaluated at baseline. In obese subjects after treatment of orlistat 120 mg three times daily for 6 months, IL-6 and hs-CRP levels were repeated. Levels of circulating IL-6 (p < 0.05) and hs-CRP (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in the obese group than in the non-obese group. Plasma IL-6 (r = 0.29 and p < 0.05) and CRP (r = 0.35 and p < 0.05) concentrations correlated positively with the level of obesity assessed by BMI at baseline. After 6 months of orlistat treatment in obese subjects, the mean weight of the patients decreased by 6.8 kg, the BMI by 3.2 kg/m2. Compared with baseline, weight loss was associated with significant reductions of IL-6 (p < 0.001) and hs-CRP (p < 0.001) levels. CONCLUSION: In summary plasma IL-6 and hs-CRP levels were increased in obese patients. Orlistat-induced weight reduction was associated with decreasing levels of both IL-6 and hs-CRP in obese subjects. Because inflammatory mediators may be directly involved in atherogenesis, this would suggest that interventions to reduce IL-6 and CRP levels could be cardioprotective.     

The effects of iloprost on ischemia-reperfusion injury in skeletal muscles in a rodent model

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of iloprost (IL) on ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rodent model.

Materials and methods

Twenty-four Wistar Albino rats were randomized into four groups (n = 6). Laparotomy was performed in all groups under general anesthesia. Only laparotomy was applied in group S (Sham). Ischemia-reperfusion group (group I/R) underwent ischemia and reperfusion performed by clamping and declamping of the infrarenal abdominal aorta for 120 min. The iloprost group (group IL) received intravenous infusion of IL 0.5 ng/kg/min, without I/R. Group I/R + IL received intravenous infusion of IL 0.5 ng/kg/min immediately after 2 h period of ischemia. At the end of the reperfusion period, all rats were killed under anesthesia and skeletal muscle samples of lower extremity were harvested for biochemical and histopathologic analyses.

Results

Tissue levels of endothelial nitric oxide were significantly higher in I/R groups than those in groups S and IL. The heat shock protein 60 levels were higher in group I/R than the other groups. But the heat shock protein 60 levels in group I/R + IL were found to be similar with the groups S and IL. Malondialdehyde levels were significantly higher in group I/R. On the other hand, in group I/R + IL, malondialdehyde levels were higher than those in groups S and IL but lower than those in group I/R. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activities were found to be significantly lower in group I/R than the other groups. Also in group I/R/I, the SOD enzyme activities were higher than those in group I/R. But, in group I/R + IL, SOD levels were found to be higher than those in group I/R but lower than those in groups S and IL.

Conclusions

These results indicate that IL has protective effects on I/R injury in skeletal muscle in a rodent model.     

Orally disintegrating tablets and orally disintegrating mini tablets – novel dosage forms for pediatric use

The oral administration route is considered to be the most widely used route because of its convenience of administration and manufacturing. Dosage forms, like orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs), mini tablets, and orally disintegrating mini tablets (ODMTs), are recognized as promising for use in pediatric patients. ODTs are known to be suitable drug delivery systems, especially for pediatric patients, because of their rapid disintegration properties, use without water, and no swallowing problems. In addition, in recent years, a new formulation approach has been developed. ODMTs, are the newest drug delivery systems. They combine the advantageous properties of ODTs and the small size of mini tablets, aimed for pediatric use. These tablets, which can be formulated as 2–4?mm in diameter, are known as drug delivery systems that have children acceptability age as low as 6-months old. The fact that the ODTs and the ODMTs can be formulated with acceptable flavors for children further increases the importance of these carrier systems in the treatment. The objective of this article is to highlight the development of ODTs and mini-ODTs, their significance, ideal characteristics, various techniques, and aspects related to design and formulation, marketed preparations, and future perspectives, especially for the pediatric patients.     

Relationship between serum leptin level and disease activity in patients with systemic sclerosis

To determine the relationship between serum leptin levels and disease activity in systemic sclerosis (SSc). A total of 60 subjects (30 controls and 30 patients) were included. The inflammatory markers and leptin levels were evaluated and body mass index (BMI) was measured for both groups. The assessment of the skin involvement was performed based on the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS). Disease activity was evaluated according to the Valentini scleroderma disease activity index. There was a significant difference between the patient and control groups in terms of BMI (p?<?0.05); however there was no difference with regards to age and gender (p?>?0.05). Valentini scores and mRSS were determined to be significantly higher in active patients (n?=?14) than in inactive patients (n?=?16) (p?<?0.05). No significant difference was determined between groups in terms of leptin levels (p?>?0.05). However, leptin levels were significantly lower in active patients than in inactive patients (p?<?0.05). We found a significant positive correlation between serum leptin and BMI (p?<?0.05), and leptin and serum C3 levels (p?<?0.05); no relationship was detected between leptin and other parameters. Leptin can be used as an activity marker in SSc. Further studies, including larger series, should be carried out to clarify this relationship.     

Sex Estimation From Sternal Measurements Using Multidetector Computed Tomography

We aimed to show the utility and reliability of sternal morphometric analysis for sex estimation.Sex estimation is a very important step in forensic identification. Skeletal surveys are main methods for sex estimation studies. Morphometric analysis of sternum may provide high accuracy rated data in sex discrimination.In this study, morphometric analysis of sternum was evaluated in 1 mm chest computed tomography scans for sex estimation. Four hundred forty 3 subjects (202 female, 241 male, mean age: 44 ± 8.1 [distribution: 30–60 year old]) were included the study. Manubrium length (ML), mesosternum length (2L), Sternebra 1 (S1W), and Sternebra 3 (S3W) width were measured and also sternal index (SI) was calculated. Differences between genders were evaluated by student t-test. Predictive factors of sex were determined by discrimination analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.Male sternal measurement values are significantly higher than females (P < 0.001) while SI is significantly low in males (P < 0.001). In discrimination analysis, MSL has high accuracy rate with 80.2% in females and 80.9% in males. MSL also has the best sensitivity (75.9%) and specificity (87.6%) values. Accuracy rates were above 80% in 3 stepwise discrimination analysis for both sexes. Stepwise 1 (ML, MSL, S1W, S3W) has the highest accuracy rate in stepwise discrimination analysis with 86.1% in females and 83.8% in males.Our study showed that morphometric computed tomography analysis of sternum might provide important information for sex estimation.     

Quantitative evaluation of interstitial fibrosis with Sirius Red in IgA nephritis

Objective: Tubulointerstitial fibrosis is one of the strongest independent predictive factors in determining the prognosis in IgA nephritis. Recently, software-based quantitative measurement of interstitial fibrosis with Sirius Red staining has entered the practice. The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of measurement of interstitial nephritis with this method in IgA nephritis. Method: Forty-three patients diagnosed with IgA nephritis with renal biopsy between the years 2005 and 2009 were included in this retrospective observational study. The diagnostic biopsies of 37 patients were examined. Basal data included age, gender, creatinine level, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), presence of proteinuria, hypertension, glomerulosclerosis, mesangial proliferation, and interstitial fibrosis and fibrosis index calculated by the measurement of computed images of Sirius Red positive areas. Final visit included evaluation of development of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and GFR (whether?=?60?mL/min or <60?mL/min). Results: Numbers of patients with hypertension (75% vs. 34.5%; p?=?0.050), ESRD development (62.5% vs. 20.7%, p?=?0.035), GFR?<60?mL/min (87.5% vs. 31%; p?=?0.007) were greater; and basal GFR (34.25?±?25.29 vs. 64.14?±?35.34; p?=?0.048) was lower in high-intensity interstitial fibrosis group (>1000?μm2) compared to low-intensity interstitial fibrosis group (≤1000?μm²). Conclusion: Quantitative analysis of computed imaging of areas of Sirius Red positive tubulointerstitial fibrosis might serve as an effective novel method to determine the prognosis in IgA nephritis.