bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional Characterization and Pharmacological Evaluation of a Novel GLA Missense Mutation Found in a Severely Affected Fabry Disease Family
Authors: Varela Patrícia , Mastroianni Kirsztajn Gianna , Ferrer Henrique , Aranda Carolina , Wallbach Krissia , Ferreira da Mata Gustavo , Moura Luiz A. , Moreira Sílvia R. , Mendes Carmen , Curiati Marco A. , Martins Ana Maria , Bosco Pesquero João
Published: October 2019

Background: Fabry disease (FD) is a rare X-linked storage disorder resulting from the deficient activity of the lysosomal hydrolase α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A). Here we describe a 23-year-old man with FD possessing a novel mutation in the GLA gene, the evaluation of his family, and the functional characterization of the novel variant. Methods: Two generations of a family were screened for FD by clinical symptoms and low enzymatic activity. This step was followed by DNA sequencing that showed a novel GLA missense mutation. To confirm the pathogenicity potential of the mutation, we employed site-directed polymerase chain reaction mutagenesis. GLA wild-type and mutant plasmids were transfected into mammalian cells; RNA and proteins were extracted for expression and analysis of enzymatic activity. Results: The patient presents the variant p.Asn34Asp in the GLA and had several manifestations of FD since adolescence. The investigation of the deficiency of α-Gal A was initiated due to stage 4 of chronic kidney disease. All family members carrying the novel mutation presented early symptoms, including index case’s mother, who received a renal transplant when she was 35 years old. In silico and in vitro analysis confirmed the pathogenic potential of the mutation p.Asn34Asp showing that the enzyme had only 4% of residual activity due to protein misfolding. The ability of the pharmacological chaperone 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin to recover the mutant was confirmed, producing 37.5% of residual activity. Conclusion: In this work, we present a novel missense mutation in GLA that leads to the production of a catalytically competent α-Gal A, which is degraded before its delivery to the lysosome, promoting severe manifestations of FD, with a very similar disease course in affected men and women.
Single-Cell Sequencing of Mouse Heart Immune Infiltrate in Pressure Overload–Driven Heart Failure Reveals Extent of Immune Activation
Authors: Martini Elisa , Kunderfranco Paolo , Peano Clelia , Carullo Pierluigi , Cremonesi Marco , Schorn Tilo , Carriero Roberta , Termanini Alberto , Colombo Federico Simone , Jachetti Elena , Panico Cristina , Faggian Giuseppe , Fumero Andrea , Torracca Lucia , Molgora Martina , Cibella Javier , Pagiatakis Christina , Brummelman Jolanda , Alvisi Giorgia , Mazza Emilia Maria Cristina , Colombo Mario Paolo , Lugli Enrico , Condorelli Gianluigi , Kallikourdis Marinos
Published: October 2019

Background:

Inflammation is a key component of cardiac disease, with macrophages and T lymphocytes mediating essential roles in the progression to heart failure. Nonetheless, little insight exists on other immune subsets involved in the cardiotoxic response.

Methods:

Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to map the cardiac immune composition in the standard murine nonischemic, pressure-overload heart failure model. By focusing our analysis on CD45
+
cells, we obtained a higher resolution identification of the immune cell subsets in the heart, at early and late stages of disease and in controls. We then integrated our findings using multiparameter flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and tissue clarification immunofluorescence in mouse and human.

Results:

We found that most major immune cell subpopulations, including macrophages, B cells, T cells and regulatory T cells, dendritic cells, Natural Killer cells, neutrophils, and mast cells are present in both healthy and diseased hearts. Most cell subsets are found within the myocardium, whereas mast cells are found also in the epicardium. Upon induction of pressure overload, immune activation occurs across the entire range of immune cell types. Activation led to upregulation of key subset-specific molecules, such as oncostatin M in proinflammatory macrophages and PD-1 in regulatory T cells, that may help explain clinical findings such as the refractivity of patients with heart failure to anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy and cardiac toxicity during anti–PD-1 cancer immunotherapy, respectively.

Conclusions:

Despite the absence of infectious agents or an autoimmune trigger, induction of disease leads to immune activation that involves far more cell types than previously thought, including neutrophils, B cells, Natural Killer cells, and mast cells. This opens up the field of cardioimmunology to further investigation by using toolkits that have already been developed to study the aforementioned immune subsets. The subset-specific molecules that mediate their activation may thus become useful targets for the diagnostics or therapy of heart failure.
Antagonism of the Thromboxane‐Prostanoid Receptor as a Potential Therapy for Cardiomyopathy of Muscular Dystrophy
Authors: West James D. , Galindo Cristi L. , Kim Kyungsoo , Shin John Jonghyun , Atkinson James B. , Macias‐Perez Ines , Pavliv Leo , Knollmann Bjorn C. , Soslow Jonathan H. , Markham Larry W. , Carrier Erica J.
Published: October 2019

Background

Muscular dystrophy (
MD
) causes a progressive cardiomyopathy characterized by diffuse fibrosis, arrhythmia, heart failure, and early death. Activation of the thromboxane‐prostanoid receptor (
TP
r) increases calcium transients in cardiomyocytes and is proarrhythmic and profibrotic. We hypothesized that
TP
r activation contributes to the cardiac phenotype of
MD
, and that
TP
r antagonism would improve cardiac fibrosis and function in preclinical models of
MD
.

Methods and Results

Three different mouse models of
MD
(mdx/utrn double knockout, second generation mdx/
mTR
double knockout, and delta‐sarcoglycan knockout) were given normal drinking water or water containing 25 mg/kg per day of the
TP
r antagonist ifetroban, beginning at weaning. After 6 months (10 weeks for mdx/utrn double knockout), mice were evaluated for cardiac and skeletal muscle function before euthanization. There was a 100% survival rate of ifetroban‐treated mice to the predetermined end point, compared with 60%, 43%, and 90% for mdx/utrn double knockout, mdx/mTR double knockout, and delta‐sarcoglycan knockout mice, respectively.
TP
r antagonism improved cardiac output in mdx/utrn double knockout and mdx/
mTR
mice, and normalized fractional shortening, ejection fraction, and other parameters in delta‐sarcoglycan knockout mice. Cardiac fibrosis in delta‐sarcoglycan knockout was reduced with
TP
r antagonism, which also normalized cardiac expression of claudin‐5 and neuronal nitric oxide synthase proteins and multiple signature genes of Duchenne MD.

Conclusions

TP
r antagonism reduced cardiomyopathy and spontaneous death in mouse models of Duchenne and limb‐girdle
MD
. Based on these studies, ifetroban and other
TP
r antagonists could be novel therapeutics for treatment of the cardiac phenotype in patients with
MD
.
Impact of Sex on Clinical Course and Survival in the Contemporary Treatment Era for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Rowin Ethan J. , Maron Martin S. , Wells Sophie , Patel Parth P. , Koethe Benjamin C. , Maron Barry J.
Published: October 2019

Background

The relation of sex to clinical presentation and course in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (
HCM
) remains incompletely resolved. We assessed differences in clinical outcomes between men and women within our large
HCM
cohort.

Methods and Results

Of 2123 consecutive patients, a minority (38%) were women who were diagnosed with
HCM
at older ages or referred for subspecialty evaluation later than men (50±19 versus 44±16 and 55±18 versus 49±16;
P
<0.001). Women more commonly developed advanced New York Heart Association class
III
/
IV
symptoms (53% versus 35% in men;
P
<0.001), predominantly secondary to outflow obstruction. While end‐stage heart failure with systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction <50%) was similar in men (5% versus 4% in women;
P
=0.33), women were 3‐fold more likely to develop heart failure with preserved systolic function (7.5% versus 2.6%;
P
=0.002). Sudden death events terminated by defibrillator therapy were similar in women (0.9%/year) versus men (1.0%/year; hazard ratio, 0.92; 95%
CI
, 0.6–1.5;
P
=0.73).
HCM
mortality was uncommon, with identical rates in both sexes (0.3%/year; hazard ratio, 1.5; 95%
CI
, 0.7–3.4;,
P
=0.25). Age‐adjusted all‐cause mortality also did not differ between women and men (1.7% versus 1.3%/year; hazard ratio, 1.32; 95%
CI
, 0.92–1.91;
P
=0.13).

Conclusions

Survival was not less favorable in women with
HCM
. Contemporary treatments including surgical myectomy to reverse heart failure and defibrillators to prevent sudden death, were effective in both sexes contributing to low mortality. However, despite more frequent outflow obstruction, women with
HCM
are underrecognized and referred to centers later than men, often with more advanced heart failure. Greater awareness of
HCM
in women should lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, with implications for improved quality of life.
Buddha as a God: An Empirical Assessment
Authors: Purzycki Benjamin Grant , Holland Edward C.
Published: October 2019

For at least a century, scholars have argued about whether or not Buddha is considered a god. We treat this question empirically by conducting two ethnographic studies among residents of the Tyva Republic, one of the Buddhist republics in the Russian Federation. Using a mixed methods approach to interrogate the question, this report concludes that Buddha is, in fact, popularly represented as a punitive and moralistic supernatural agent in the republic and demographic factors co-vary with such beliefs. The paper addresses longstanding concerns and situates the results in contemporary social scientific inquiry that addresses questions of when, where, to what degree, and why he is represented as a deity.
Leone Caetani en voyage da Oriente a Occidente
Authors: Rossi Valentina Sagaria
Published: October 2019

Leone Caetani’s life (1869-1935) was definitely not a common one. Prince of Teano and duke of Sermoneta, he was immersed on the cream of Italian and international aristocracy of his age age of colonialism, age of adventurous travelling. On the tracks of his travels in the Middle East and in the far West, his studies and his personal writings, we tried to sketch this extraordinary figure of Orientalist on the field, of refined and renowned historian of the first period of Islam. A life through the life itself. This — we imagine — may be the right keyword to interpret his natural aptitude for extreme travels from East to West and the back to East — in the Sinai (1888-1889) and Sahara deserts (1890), in the Far West and the Rocky Mountains of Canada (1891), and back in Persia (1894) and India (1899) —, his pulsating interest for the Arabs and their origins, his craving desire to be “with boots in the mud” and “geography in his pocket”. Versed in the languages he used them to get in touch with cultures and peoples almost unknown — such as the Yazidi —, steadily convinced that only a first-hand experience could give back the exact taste of the truth. He was among the first Italians to explore the Sinai and the first Italian traveller ever in the sands of the Algerian Sahara.
A new beetle family, Mysteriomorphidae fam. nov. (Coleoptera: Elateriformia incertae sedis), from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar

Authors: ALEKSEEV VITALII I. , ELLENBERGER SIEGHARD
Published: October 2019

A new Cretaceous fossil beetle Mysteriomorphus pelevini gen. et sp. nov. is described from Burmese amber and a new family Mysteriomorphidae fam. nov. is proposed to accommodate this new taxon. The new monogeneric family is characterised by a combination of characters present in different lineages of Elateroidea and Byrrhoidea (Ptilodactylidae) and is therefore placed as incertae sedis in the series Elateriformia.
Diet quality, dietary inflammatory index and body mass index as predictors of response to adjunctiveN-acetylcysteine and mitochondrial agents in adults with bipolar disorder: A sub-study of a randomised placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Ashton Melanie M , Dean Olivia M , Marx Wolfgang , Mohebbi Mohammadreza , Berk Michael , Malhi Gin S , Ng Chee H , Cotton Sue M , Dodd Seetal , Sarris Jerome , Hopwood Malcolm , Faye-Chauhan Keshav , Kim Yesul , Dash Sarah R , Jacka Felice N , Shivappa Nitin , Hebert James R , Turner Alyna
Published: October 2019

Aims:

We aimed to explore the relationships between diet quality, dietary inflammatory potential or body mass index and outcomes of a clinical trial of nutraceutical treatment for bipolar depression.

Methods:

This is a sub-study of a randomised controlled trial of participants with bipolar depression who provided dietary intake data ( n = 133). Participants received 16 weeks adjunctive treatment of either placebo or N-acetylcysteine-alone or a combination of mitochondrial-enhancing nutraceuticals including N-acetylcysteine (combination treatment). Participants were followed up 4 weeks post-treatment discontinuation (Week 20). Diet was assessed by the Cancer Council Victoria Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies, Version 2, converted into an Australian Recommended Food Score to measure diet quality, and energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index score to measure inflammatory potential of diet. Body mass index was also measured. Generalised estimating equation models were used to assess whether diet quality, energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index score and/or body mass index were predictors of response to significant outcomes of the primary trial: depression symptoms, clinician-rated improvement and functioning measures.

Results:

In participants taking combination treatment compared to placebo, change in depression scores was not predicted by Australian Recommended Food Score, dietary inflammatory index or body mass index scores. However, participants with better diet quality (Australian Recommended Food Score) reported reduced general depression and bipolar depression symptoms ( p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively) and greater clinician-rated improvement ( p = 0.02) irrespective of treatment and time. Participants who had a more anti-inflammatory dietary inflammatory index had less impairment in functioning ( p = 0.01). Combination treatment may attenuate the adverse effects of pro-inflammatory diet ( p = 0.03) on functioning. Participants with lower body mass index who received combination treatment ( p = 0.02) or N-acetylcysteine ( p = 0.02) showed greater clinician-rated improvement.

Conclusion:

These data support a possible association between diet (quality and inflammatory potential), body mass index and response to treatment for bipolar depression in the context of a nutraceutical trial. The results should be interpreted cautiously because of limitations, including numerous null findings, modest sample size and being secondary analyses.
Communist Legacies and Left-Authoritarianism
Authors: Pop-Eleches Grigore , Tucker Joshua A.
Published: October 2019

Communist regimes were avowedly leftist authoritarian regimes, a relative rarity among autocracies. The growing literature on regime legacies would lead us to expect that postcommunist citizens would be more likely to exhibit “left-authoritarian” attitudes than their counterparts elsewhere. Finding that this is the case, we rely on 157 surveys from 88 countries to test if a living through Communism legacy model can account for this surplus of left-authoritarian attitudes. Employing both aggregate and micro-level analyses, we find strong support for the predictions of this model. Moving beyond previous legacy studies, we then test a variety of hypothesized mechanisms to explain how exposure to communist rule could have led to the regime congruent left-authoritarian attitudes. Of the mechanisms tested, greater state penetration of society is associated with a strong socialization effect and religious attendance—and in particular attending Catholic religious services—is associated with weaker socialization effects.
Living in Fear: The Dynamics of Extortion in Mexico’s Drug War
Authors: Magaloni Beatriz , Robles Gustavo , Matanock Aila M. , Diaz-Cayeros Alberto , Romero Vidal
Published: October 2019

Why do drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) sometimes prey on the communities in which they operate but sometimes provide assistance to these communities? What explains their strategies of extortion and co-optation toward civil society? Using new survey data from Mexico, including list experiments to elicit responses about potentially illegal behavior, this article measures the prevalence of extortion and assistance among DTOs. In support of our theory, these data show that territorial contestation among rival organizations produces more extortion and, in contrast, DTOs provide more assistance when they have monopoly control over a turf. The article uncovers other factors that also shape DTOs’ strategies toward the population, including the degree of collaboration with the state, leadership stability and DTO organization, and the value and logistics of the local criminal enterprise.
Between patriarchal constraints and neoliberal values: Dimensions of job quality for intimate partner violence survivors
Authors: Krigel Karni , Benjamin Orly
Published: October 2019

Scholars have established the difficulties inherent in proposals that employment may serve as a rescue route for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, they have paid little attention to the possibility that those who do strive for employment experience a clash between the prevailing neoliberal policy and the patriarchal culture dominant in their relationship with their violent partners. Based on 33 in-depth interviews with IPV survivors, this study used a grounded theory approach to follow women’s experiences in the personal and employment life domain. The authors propose that in order to understand employment in the field of IPV survivors, it is necessary to deploy a job quality perspective. Further, they found that a gendered conceptualization of job quality is required, one that is evaluated by three relational dimensions: employment spaces blocking IPV penetration, control over one’s own income and a sense of skill recognition. These relational dimensions show that in participants’ work lives, neoliberalism and patriarchy conflict with one another. Accordingly, the contradiction between these value systems must be taken into account in conceptualizations of their mutual reinforcement. The authors propose reconciling them by focusing on the challenging experience of women’s employment, from which the innovative meaning of job quality arises.
The hunger games: Food prices, ethnic cleavages and nonviolent unrest in Africa
Authors: Abbs Luke
Published: October 2019

Nonviolent movements are more successful when mobilizing large and diverse numbers of participants. However, while there has been considerable research on the outcomes of nonviolent campaigns, far less is known about the initial emergence of nonviolent action. A growing literature suggests ethnic divisions may undermine the ability of activists to engage in mass nonviolent mobilization across diverse social lines. Yet many large and diverse nonviolent movements have successfully emerged in various ethnically divided societies across the world. I argue that nonviolent mobilization is made possible in ethnically polarized contexts when broader cross-cutting grievances are present as they enable local activists to widen their appeal across social lines. I focus on food price spikes as an example of a cross-cutting issue that is likely to affect consumers from different ethnic groups. The unique and symbolic nature of food price spikes facilitates nonviolent mobilization across ethnic lines and provides clear short-term incentives for many people to participate in protests against the government. Using new spatially disaggregated data on government targeted nonviolent action, I analyse grid-cell years across 41 African countries (1990–2008). I find strong evidence that food price spikes increase the likelihood of nonviolent action in politically excluded and ethnically diverse locations.
Development of multifunctional cotton fabric via chemical foam application method
Authors: Basyigit Zeynep Omerogullari , Kut Dilek , Hauser Peter
Published: October 2019

Nowadays, the methods and techniques used in the textile industry are required to be environmentally friendly, and water and energy saving. In addition to these, they should transfer more than one functionality, in other words give multifunctionality to the textile material with reliable and sufficient results in terms of efficiency and permanence. With the increase in and diversification of today's industrial requirements, one functionality on the fabric may be insufficient to meet the requirements, and therefore the subject of multifunctionality holds an important place in the textile industry. Therefore, in this study flame retardant, antibacterial and water-repellent, single-layered multifunctional 100% cotton fabrics with different functionalities on different sides (back and face surfaces) of the fabric were obtained via a chemical foam application method, which has many advantages compared with conventional methods. In some of the experimental parts, impregnation and foam application methods were combined in the process in order to optimize the multifunctionality properties of the fabrics. In order to indicate the performance test of cotton fabric, vertical burning test, contact angle test, antibacterial test against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, color spectrum analysis and tearing strength test were carried out while, in terms of characterization tests, Fourier transform infrared (attenuated total reflectance) and scanning electron microscope analyses were performed. According to the test results, the flame retardancy effect of the samples was improved significantly while antibacterial results showed a 99% reduction of bacteria and the finished fabrics demonstrated improved water repellency with contact angles up to 125°. In addition, the functionalities were durable up to 50 washing and 50 drying cycles.
Reflections on the nature of populism and the problem of stability
Authors: Rasmussen David
Published: October 2019

Beginning with a reference to the concept of the political and the idea of stability, the essay turns to an examination of populism from an historical and a normative point of view. While historically populism can be traced to its Roman origins, from a normative perspective, populism rests on a binary opposition between ‘elites’ and the ‘people’. As such, it undercuts its moral claim to universal representation by taking the part for the whole. In the end, this essay argues that populism cannot provide a moral justification for political stability.
How we got here? Transition failures, their causes and the populist interest in the constitution
Authors: Arato Andrew
Published: October 2019

How is it possible, that after the exhilarating start of democratic transitions in the late 1980s and 1990s, today authoritarian–populist options seem to be emerging in many new, as well as old democracies? Why does populism, that in most of its historical varieties has been anti-institutional and anti-procedural, turn to constitution making and constitutional rhetorics as one of its main arenas of contestation? The answers to these questions are related. In the following, in the form of six theses, I start with what I mean by ‘populism’. Next, I wish to point to the two deficits of liberal democracy that provides the context for the rise of populist politics. These deficits according to me have been intensified in many of the new democracies. I continue by stressing populisms own deficits as the reason for turning to the constituent power. I end with a consideration of what liberal democrats can do to address the causes of the populist temptation.
Where are Jacques and Ernesto when you need them? Rancière and Laclau on populism, experts and contingency
Authors: Claviez Thomas
Published: October 2019

The response of academic intellectuals and political elites to populism is very often characterized by a mixture between outright disgust and helpless perplexity. This cannot come as a surprise, since the one thing that left and right populism have in common is that they consider the elites their enemy. The essay argues that the choice the elites have is either to openly voice their contempt for the uneducated masses, or to help educate them. However, as the contributions of Ernesto Laclau and Jacques Rancière on the topic show, this is more easily said than done. Moreover, to simply discard right-wing populism on the basis of its racist tendencies often simply serves to deflect the focus away from the legitimate grievances of those who follow – or ‘fall for’ – populist parties.
Hollow parties and their movement-ization: The populist conundrum
Authors: Cohen Jean L.
Published: October 2019

This article focuses on the relationship between social movements and political parties in the context of populist challenges to constitutional democracy. There are many reasons for the current plight of democracy but I focus here on one aspect: the decline of mainstream political parties, the emergence of new forms of populist movement parties and the general crisis of political representation in long consolidated Western democracies. This article analyses the specific political logic and dynamics of social movements – the logic of influence, and distinguishes it from that of political parties – the logic of power. It addresses transformations in movements, parties and their relationships. It looks at the shifts in movement and party types that constitute the political opportunity structure for the emergence of new populist movement party forms and relationships, focusing on the hollowing out and movement-ization of political parties. Contemporary populist movement parties are not the cause of the hollowing out or movement-ization of political parties. Rather they are a response to the crisis of political representation exemplified by hollow parties and cartel parties. But it is my thesis that thanks to its specific logic, populism fosters the worst version of movement party relationships, undermining the democratic functions of both.
Under pressure: Understanding the dynamics of coordination in IT functions under business-as-usual and emergency conditions
Authors: Kotlarsky Julia , van den Hooff Bart , Geerts Leonie
Published: October 2019

In an era when technologies have become a backbone of most organizations, IT support functions are under immense pressure not only to ensure provision and reliability of IS and technologies but also to resolve IS incidents of different severity when they disrupt organizations’ “business-as-usual.” This article addresses this challenge by investigating how organizational IT functions coordinate their work under different degrees of uncertainty in order to provide reliable IT services. We conceptualize coordination in IT support functions as a process that unfolds over time through interactions between four underlying coordination practices employed to provide reliable IT services: prioritizing tasks, following procedures, using roles and responsibilities, and utilizing networks. Furthermore, we show how these coordination practices change when IT incidents cause a shift from normal (i.e. “business-as-usual”) to emergency conditions. Our empirical research in two IT functions supporting two types of organizations (traditional and fast-response) demonstrate that IT functions in these two types of organizations respond to emergencies differently. Specifically, in emergencies, an IT function supporting a fast-response organization shifts to emergency coordination practices momentarily, as it abandons “normal” coordination practices to rely on an extensive set of formal practices specifically designed for such situations. In contrast, an IT function supporting a traditional organization is unprepared for emergencies—coordinating under emergency conditions involves improvisation, because coordination practices designed to support business-as-usual are not suitable for dealing with emergency situations.
Efficacy of preoperative progressive resistance training in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty: 12-month follow-up data from a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Skoffer Birgit , Maribo Thomas , Mechlenburg Inger , Korsgaard Christian Gaarden , Søballe Kjeld , Dalgas Ulrik
Published: October 2019

Objective:

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of adding four weeks preoperative progressive resistance training (PRT) to four weeks postoperative PRT on patient function, muscle strength, and other outcomes 12 months after total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Design:

Twelve-month follow-up data from a previously published randomized controlled trial.

Setting:

Aarhus University Hospital, Silkeborg Regional Hospital, and Aarhus University.

Subjects:

A total of 59 patients scheduled for TKA were enrolled in a single-blinded, clinical randomized controlled trial.

Interventions:

Participants were randomized to preoperative PRT (intervention group) or to a control group who “lived as usual” the last four weeks before TKA. The intervention group completed four weeks preoperative and four weeks postoperative PRT, whereas the control group only completed four weeks postoperative PRT. Main follow-up measures were as follows: the 30-second Chair Stand Test (primary outcome), Timed Up and Go Test, walk tests, knee extensor, and knee flexor muscle strength and patient-reported outcomes. Statistical analyses were performed according to the intention-to-treat principle.

Results:

No significant group differences were observed for the primary outcome 30-second Chair Stand Test (4.0 repetitions versus 2.4 repetitions, P = 0.067) or for other functional performance outcomes. The intervention group had significantly higher weight-normalized knee extensor muscle strength (0.5 Nm/kg versus 0.2 Nm/kg, P = 0.002) and knee flexor muscle strength (0.3 Nm/kg versus 0.2 Nm/kg, P = 0.042) in the operated leg when compared to the control group. No significant group differences for patient-reported outcomes.

Conclusion:

The study supports the use of short-term high-intensity resistance training before TKA as it induces a long-lasting effect on muscle strength, while it may have no discernible effect on functional performance.
Cistus salviifolius Toxicity in Cattle
Authors: Mignacca Sebastian Alessandro , Mucciarelli Marco , Colombino Elena , Biasibetti Elena , Muscia Salvatore , Amato Benedetta , Presti Vincenzo Di Marco Lo , Vazzana Irene , Galbo Andrea , Capucchio Maria Teresa
Published: October 2019

Toxicity related to consumption of Cistus sp. pl. has been described in ruminants in some countries. This report describes the clinical and pathological findings of Cistus salviifolius toxicosis in 3 beef cattle herds located in 2 different areas of Sicily, Italy. Outbreaks were observed after grazing in poor winter pasture where C. salviifolius was abundant. Mean morbidity and mortality were 29% and 21%, respectively. Most of the affected animals (6 to 36 months old) showed anorexia, weight loss, and pollakiuria culminating in recumbency and death. Occasionally, abortion and neurological signs were observed. In animals with acute signs, there was a moderate decrease of sodium and chloride concentrations in serum. Animals with chronic signs showed an increase of serum urea, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), aspartate transaminase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and phosphorus and a decrease in total serum protein, calcium, chloride, and magnesium concentrations. Moderate anemia and slight neutropenia, lymphocytosis, and eosinophilia were detected in all groups. At necropsy, the main lesion was severe distention of the urinary bladder with turbid hemorrhagic urine and crystalluria. Histologically, chronic cystitis, interstitial nephritis, eosinophilic enteritis, and nonsuppurative necrotizing hepatitis were observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. salviifolius toxicosis in cattle in Italy.
The Misunderstood Schema of the Strong Black Woman: Exploring Its Mental Health Consequences and Coping Responses Among African American Women
Authors: Liao Kelly Yu-Hsin , Wei Meifen , Yin Mengxi
Published: October 2019

The internalization of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema is associated with negative psychological outcomes. However, not much is known about the mechanisms through which this schema leads to poor health. We examined the direct associations between the SBW schema and depression, anxiety, and loneliness. We also tested four mediators—maladaptive perfectionism, self-compassion, and two Africultural coping strategies of collective coping and spiritual coping—between the schema and psychological outcomes. Moreover, we examined serial mediation effects. A total of 222 African American women participated in an online survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted, and after controlling for age, family income, and level of education, the direct associations were supported, and the mediator roles of maladaptive perfectionism, self-compassion, and collective coping but not spiritual coping were supported. For serial mediation effects, the SBW schema was first positively associated with maladaptive perfectionism, which was associated with low self-compassion and low use of collective coping, which in turn were correlated with negative psychological outcomes. Racial, economic, and structural inequalities that maintain the SBW schema need to be examined and removed. Clinical interventions should focus on reducing maladaptive perfectionism and increasing self-compassion and collective coping among those who have internalized the schema. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684319883198
They Say, “If You Don’t Relax…You’re Going to Make Something Bad Happen”: Women’s Emotion Management During Medically High-Risk Pregnancy
Authors: McCoyd Judith L. M. , Curran Laura , Munch Shari
Published: October 2019

Little is known about how women with medically high-risk pregnancy manage their emotions while worried about their pregnancies. This study aimed to phenomenologically explore 16 hospitalized women’s emotional reactions and coping during medically high-risk pregnancy with a focus on how emotion management techniques were utilized and what rationales women used for employing them, along with their interpretations of health care providers’ and family members’ advice regarding emotional expression. Respondents universally feared that experienced stress and the resulting distress (negative emotions such as anxiety, sadness, and anger) could harm their fetus. They experienced double binds including believing they must “be positive” to enhance fetal health, despite anxiety and sadness; feeling responsible for housework yet being told not to do it; and needing medical treatments they feared would harm their fetus. In attempting to avoid tears and fears, they expended tremendous energy, leaving themselves depleted and less able to cope. Ubiquitous “think positive” messages amplify women’s sense of failure when distress due to the medically high-risk pregnancy spills over. With little attention to women’s emotional experiences, even to the point of complimenting them as “good incubators,” health care providers may unintentionally shift emotional labor onto vulnerable women. Understanding women’s needs for assistance with emotion management during medically high-risk pregnancy provides important guidance for development of best practices for this population.
Comparison of structural equation modelling, item response theory and Rasch measurement theory-based methods for response shift detection at item level: A simulation study
Authors: Blanchin Myriam , Guilleux Alice , Hardouin Jean-Benoit , Sébille Véronique
Published: October 2019

When assessing change in patient-reported outcomes, the meaning in patients’ self-evaluations of the target construct is likely to change over time. Therefore, methods evaluating longitudinal measurement non-invariance or response shift at item-level were proposed, based on structural equation modelling or on item response theory. Methods coming from Rasch measurement theory could also be valuable. The lack of evaluation of these approaches prevents determining the best strategy to adopt. A simulation study was performed to compare and evaluate the performance of structural equation modelling, item response theory and Rasch measurement theory approaches for item-level response shift detection. Performances of these three methods in different situations were evaluated with the rate of false detection of response shift (when response shift was not simulated) and the rate of correct response shift detection (when response shift was simulated). The Rasch measurement theory-based method performs better than the structural equation modelling and item response theory-based methods when recalibration was simulated. Consequently, the Rasch measurement theory-based approach should be preferred for studies investigating only recalibration response shift at item-level. For structural equation modelling and item response theory, the low rates of reprioritization detection raise issues on the potential different meaning and interpretation of reprioritization at item-level.
The Dilemma of Dirty Money
Authors: Tasimi Arber , Gross James J.
Published: October 2019

Money is generally seen as good, but what about when it is morally tainted? Does this affect whether people want money or how they would spend it? In this article, we review a nascent literature on “dirty money” and then organize these findings using a framework that formalizes the idea that dirty money creates a valuation conflict because it is both “good” (the money part) and “bad” (the dirty part). To show how this conflict is adjudicated, we draw on the self-control literature, which provides a way to think about how dueling impulses come into being and wax and wane over time until one prevails. We conclude by outlining promising directions for future research and considering their broader implications for the field.
Neither takers nor makers: The Big-4 auditing firms as regulatory intermediaries
Authors: Herman Lior
Published: October 2019

What are regulatory intermediaries? What roles do regulatory intermediaries play? What is the basis of their regulatory capacity and authority? This article examines these questions by focusing on the Big-4 international audit firms in the context of harmonizing international financial reporting standards. I argue that regulatory intermediaries perform a variety of regulatory market failure correcting functions for both regulatory makers and takers. Intermediation is far from being secondary to the regulatory process, and intermediaries, particularly those of transnational nature, have a pivotal role. Furthermore, regulatory intermediaries, as exemplified in the case of the Big-4, continuously challenge the primacy of the state, and the division of labor and balance of power between regulatory actors. Regulatory entrepreneurship and activism, coupled with unique organizational model based on global networks of partnerships, have led to the ascension of the Big-4 to unprecedented regulatory and market powers.
Free vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composites and sandwich microbeams using a transverse shear-normal deformable beam theory
Authors: Karamanli Armagan , Aydogdu Metin
Published: October 2019

In this paper, the free vibration and buckling responses of laminated composite and sandwich microbeams with arbitrary boundary conditions are investigated. The governing equations based on the modified couple stress theory are derived by using the total potential energy of a microbeam and employing a transverse shear-normal deformable beam theory. Extensive analysis results in terms of dimensionless fundamental frequencies and dimensionless critical buckling loads are introduced for various boundary conditions, aspect ratios, orthotropy ratios, fiber orientation angles, thickness to material length scale parameter ratios, and core thickness to face layer thickness ratios.
Pressure and Persuasion: Young Fijian Women’s Experiences of Sexual and Reproductive Coercion in Romantic Relationships
Authors: Mitchell Elke , Bennett Linda Rae
Published: October 2019

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a violation of women’s human rights and dramatically increases women’s vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health morbidities. This article examines young iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) women’s experiences of, and responses to, nonphysical forms of coercion in romantic relationships. It draws on ethnographic research with young unmarried women attending university in Suva, Fiji. Young women disclosed experiencing a continuum of coercive behaviors, including verbal pressure, deception, and manipulation by male partners to initiate sexual intercourse, unprotected sex, and unsafe abortions. Findings indicate an urgent need to address IPV within premarital relationships in Fiji to promote young women’s sexual and reproductive health and autonomy.
Pro Tips for Advertising Educators: How Ethnic Diversity Can Solve Creative Problems
Authors: Spring Robin , Yang Fang
Published: October 2019

Ethnic diversity in the advertising industry could be a solution for culturally insensitive advertising. Insights from advertising professionals, obtained via in-depth interviews, reveal minorities are hindered by bias, resulting in low hiring ratios and lack of retention. Large segments of minorities may not consider advertising for a career. Findings suggest that advertising educators might mitigate some of these factors through teaching tips and curriculum suggestions to engage minorities. Viewing ethnic diversity as a creative/business solution as opposed to a public relations problem could motivate meaningful change in the advertising industry.
My Experience in Teaching Programmatic Advertising
Authors: Li Hairong
Published: October 2019

This article describes how a programmatic advertising course was developed and taught for undergraduate students. Depending on the resources available when the course was offered each time, different approaches were taken, which were the client–agency approach, consulting approach, and custom learning approach. The course content consisted of seven units: introduction to programmatic, programmatic ecosystem, programmatic creative, programmatic process, programmatic measurement, programmatic optimization, and programmatic future. Each unit is briefly summarized in the article, along with a sketch of course materials and final thoughts on teaching the course in the future.
Near-infrared fundus autofluorescence in early age-related macular degeneration
Authors: Battaglia Parodi Maurizio , Iacono Pierluigi , Papayannis Alexandros , Alto Giorgio , Buzzotta Alessio , Arrigo Alessandro , Cicinelli Maria Vittoria , Bandello Francesco
Published: October 2019

Purpose:

To describe the patterns on near-infrared fundus autofluorescence in eyes affected by early age-related macular degeneration.

Design:

Cross-sectional observational case series.

Participants:

A total of 84 eyes of 84 patients suffering from early age-related macular degeneration (>63 μm but <125 μm drusen and no-to-mild retinal pigment epithelium abnormalities) were enrolled.

Methods:

Patients underwent best-corrected visual acuity, biomicroscopy, infrared reflectance, short-wavelength fundus autofluorescence, and near-infrared fundus autofluorescence. Eyes were classified according to different patterns of near-infrared fundus autofluorescence. Main outcome was definition of relative prevalence and features of each near-infrared fundus autofluorescence pattern; secondary outcomes were correlation between near-infrared fundus autofluorescence and short-wavelength fundus autofluorescence and between near-infrared fundus autofluorescence patterns and best-corrected visual acuity.

Results:

Four different patterns of near-infrared fundus autofluorescence identified: normal foveal signal (Pattern A, 7%); normal foveal signal with hyperautofluorescent/hypoautofluorescent spots not involving the fovea (Pattern B, 65.5%); hyperautofluorescent/hypoautofluorescent spots involving the fovea (Pattern C, 15.5%); patchy pattern (Pattern D, 12%). best-corrected visual acuity was lower in eyes with foveal signal alteration (Patterns C and D).

Conclusion:

Near-infrared fundus autofluorescence pattern in early age-related macular degeneration might be suggestive of visual function deterioration when the fovea is involved. Longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm our preliminary results.
Outcomes for older telecare recipients: The importance of assessments
Authors: Woolham John , Steils Nicole , Fisk Malcolm , Porteus Jeremy , Forsyth Kirsty
Published: October 2019

This article explores the role of telecare assessment, review and staff training in meeting the needs of older people living at home. Using original empirical data obtained from an online survey of English local authorities it reveals considerable variation in assessment and review practice and in training given to social work and other staff who assess and review, which may impact on outcomes for telecare users. The study findings are situated within an English policy context and earlier findings from a large, government funded randomised controlled trial. This trial concluded that telecare did not lead to better outcomes for users.

Findings

Our survey findings suggest that it may be the way in which telecare is used, rather than telecare itself that shapes outcomes for people who use it, and that ‘sub-optimal’ outcomes from telecare may be linked to how telecare is adopted, adapted and used; and that this is influenced by staff training, telecare availability and a failure to regard telecare as a complex intervention.

Application

The findings may help to reconcile evidence which suggests that telecare does not deliver better outcomes and local authority responses to this which either discount or contest its value. The article suggests that to use telecare to achieve optimal outcomes for older people, social workers, care managers and other professionals involved in assessing for telecare will need to be given enhanced training opportunities, and their employers will need to perceive telecare as a complex intervention rather than simply a ‘plug and play’ solution.
Model-based compressor surge avoidance algorithm for internal combustion engines utilizing cylinder deactivation during motoring conditions
Authors: Taylor Alexander H , Odstrcil Troy E , Ramesh Aswin K , Shaver Gregory M , Koeberlein Edward , Farrell Lisa , McCarthy James
Published: October 2019

Cylinder deactivation is an efficient strategy for diesel engine exhaust aftertreatment thermal management. Temperatures in excess of 200 °C are necessary for peak NO x conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment system. However, during non-fired engine operation, known as motoring, conventional diesel engines pump low-temperature air through the aftertreatment system. One strategy to mitigate this is to deactivate valve motion during engine motoring. There is a specific condition where care must be taken to avoid compressor surge during the onset of valve deactivated motoring when following high load operation. This study proposes and validates an algorithm which (1) predicts the intake manifold pressure increase instigated while transitioning into cylinder deactivation during motoring, (2) estimates future mass air flow, and (3) avoids compressor surge by implementing staged cylinder deactivation during the onset of engine motoring operation.