bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nation and Empire in Northern Atlantic History
Authors: Buchenau Barbara , Furlanetto Elena
Published: July 2019

Nation and empire are intriguing conceptual frameworks for the study of the historical persistence of Atlantic entanglements—especially in the northern hemisphere. The Atlantic might generally be understood to have interlocked the Americas, Africa, and Europe from the beginning of European westward exploration until the official end of both slavery and European imperialism on Northern American soil. But Atlantic ideological battles extended well beyond the 19th century. Today, they are alive and kicking once more. As conceptual frameworks nation and empire organize ideas of belonging, community building, and social cohesion. In addition, they are short-hands for distinct, in fact competing, forms of political and economic hegemony. Since mechanisms of exclusion and seclusion have forged, delimited, and expanded nations as much as empires, this bibliographical essay will focus on studies that draw attention to the commonalities of nation and empire. Within the framework of the (Northern) Atlantic, nations and empires lose their cohesive and exclusivist aura, inviting persistent, if contrastive, comparisons of connective as well as divisive modes of transportation, exchange, and intellectual as well as cultural transformation. The idea of nation evokes several meanings: First used in Anglo-Norman and Middle French to denote birth, lineage, or family, the idea of the nation helped to lay the ground for modern-age ideas of race and biological descent. As a social and cultural concept, the nation organizes communities around questions of kinship, belonging, and culture until today. From the 19th century onward “nation” simultaneously described a political formation established by and for its diverse population. Empire likewise has many layers: etymologically speaking the word is used to speak about extensive territories controlled by a single ruler; politically speaking the term describes a system governed by ideas of supreme sovereignty and extensive subjection or domination; socially speaking it relates practices of command and control. Culturally speaking, empire denotes complex communication among communities with various degrees of authority and power. Scholarly analysis often delineates historical trajectories. From a Eurocentric perspective the New World attracted competing communities of settlers, planters, and traders, rewarding both an unbridled sense of possibility and the ambition to emulate and yet outdo European models. In this ambiguous setting the idea as well as institutional offsprings of empire proliferated long after empire officially ended with the First World War. With the return of empire (and nation) as imaginaries for new forms of coercion and collaboration, future scholarship will need to trace the Atlantic and its history of entanglements well into the 21st century.
Lawyers in Authoritarian Regimes
Authors: Liu Sida , Nasr Gihad
Published: July 2019

Lawyers arguably play critical roles in democracies—Alexis de Tocqueville already told us so after observing the American democracy in the 19th century. However, the legal profession’s social positions and political orientations in authoritarian regimes are ambiguous. Across the world, lawyers are frequently observed in the fight against arbitrary state power and for the basic legal rights of citizens and social groups. In the meantime, they are often regarded by the public as allies of elite politicians and ruling parties. The juxtaposition of those two contrasting images, as well as the limited access to research subjects, makes the social science study of lawyers in authoritarian regimes a challenging topic. This body of literature originated from the scholarly effort to “bring the state back in” to the Anglo-American sociology of professions, which had not taken politics seriously until the 1980s. From the 1990s on, political scientists, sociologists, historians, anthropologists, and legal scholars have examined a variety of authoritarian contexts in which lawyers interact with the state, civil society, religious and ethnic groups, and communities. This growing literature on lawyers in authoritarian regimes can be classified into five main clusters: (1) theoretical foundations; (2) historical studies; (3) lawyers and the authoritarian state; (4) lawyer mobilization and political change; and (5) judges and prosecutors.
Aging
Authors: Danely Jason
Published: July 2019

Anthropological interest in age initially followed two strands that reflected the divide between structural functionalism in the United Kingdom and Europe, and culture and personality in the United States. The former was most interested in the ways societies accorded status based on age. If viewed vertically, age could be seen as a series of statuses one occupied over the life course, structuring the normative timing of events that were important for social reproduction, such as the transition from childhood to adulthood, marriage, and elder status. These statuses entailed ritual, political, and economic obligations between age classifications such as rights of property, ritual knowledge, or political authority. Viewed horizontally, however, age grades or sets formalized bonds between cohorts, stabilizing solidarity across territory or kinship boundaries. American anthropologists, on the other hand, saw the cultural mapping of life-course trajectories as a way of testing emerging psychological theories of human development derived from psychoanalysis and behaviorism. By collecting evidence on the norms and behaviors for different age categories, as well as the social and psychological dynamics within and between age categories, these anthropologists enriched our understanding of the malleability of relationships between age and personality. While culture and personality is most commonly associated with the study of child and adolescent development, anthropology was also vital in bringing attention to the continued developmental changes in adulthood and old age. In both of these strands, cross-cultural comparison yielded strong evidence that age was not only a fundamental axis on which social life revolved but also that the boundaries between groups and the meanings of age were socially rather than biologically determined in the same way that anthropologists now think about gender or race. These strands were further brought together by theories of ritual, wherein age-related status also entailed powerful symbolic reordering of subjective experiences. Other anthropologists pointed out the inequalities and tensions between age groups in ways that highlighted cultural attempts to mediate conflicts. From the 1960s, anthropologists began efforts to promote their perspective within the emerging fields of social gerontology and medical anthropology. Thus, the study of old age began to focus more on the ways health care and modern social welfare systems impacted lives. Anthropology continues to challenge universalizing biomedical reductionism of age though attention to cultural context, narrative, identity, and personhood. It has been further enriched by theories of care, mobility, globalization, and science and technology studies.
The Guaraní and Their Legacy
Authors: Ganson Barbara
Published: July 2019

Caught between tradition and modernity, more than 100,000 indigenous Guaraní-speaking peoples currently reside in southern South America in what is today Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia. With the exception of the Chiriguanos in southeastern Bolivia, few colonial and 19th-century documents make reference to the names of the different Guaraní groups now recognized. Among the Guaraní groups are the Pai-Tavytera, Mbyá-Guaraní, Avá-Chiripá, Ñandeva, and Kaiowá. Like their ancestors, the Guaraní today experience a clash of cultures and new social values and conflicts over land, religious beliefs, and their need to defend their identity and independence. These indigenous peoples also face new issues such as deforestation, the loss of hunting and fishing sites, and even suicide among young male Kaiowá adults in southern Brazil. Traditionally, scholars, such as anthropologist Elman Service, thought little remained of Guaraní culture other than the language. However, some academics now underscore the significance of the popular beliefs in Guaraní folklore, knowledge of botanical plants, use of curanderos by peasants, and how the native Guaraní language is spoken far more widely than Spanish in Paraguay. In 1992, the Guaraní language (which belongs to the Tupí-Guaraní linguistic family) became one of Paraguay’s official languages, along with Spanish. The Guaraní peoples also represent a central element in the national identity in the region with numerous soccer teams named Guaraní in Argentina and Paraguay. The national currency of Paraguay is the Guaraní. The airport in Santo Angelo—Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil—is named after Sepé Tiarajú, one of the major leaders in the Guaraní rebellion against Spain and Portugal in the 1750s. The Guaraní have also been depicted in films, such as The Mission (1986) and Terra Vermelha (2008, released in 2010 in the United States as Birdwatchers.)
Planet of the Apes
Authors: Kilgore De Witt Douglas
Published: July 2019

Planet of the Apes, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, was released in April 1968 and became an unexpected commercial success with modest critical support. That success inspired four sequels, two television series, comic books, toys, video games, and other merchandise. Thus it inspired the almost organic evolution of producing and exploiting popular film in a new way: the cultural business model we now call the franchise. The Apes franchise advanced into the 21st century with a 2001 remake of the first film by Tim Burton, succeeded by a reboot trilogy that has benefited from advances in performance capture acting: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (directed by Rupert Wyatt, 2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (directed by Matt Reeves, 2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (directed by Matt Reeves, 2017). The source of the inaugural film is Pierre Boulle’s novel La Planéte des singes, a satire that tests the pretensions of Western (as human) civilization against the achievements of a futuristic society of intelligent apes. The motion picture reshapes Boulle’s scenario into an allegory for the sociopolitical concerns of 1960s America. Issues such as civil rights, racial conflict, cold war militarism, women’s roles, and the generation gap all have a place in its estranged diegesis. Planet of the Apes follows Taylor (Charlton Heston), an astronaut who lands on a planet that flips the order between human beings and sentient apes. He becomes a caged beast, denied the dignity of membership in a dominant species. Escaping captivity, he is shocked to find a half-buried Statue of Liberty. He is not on some distant planet but in the future of his own world. Written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, this fantastic adventure continues to engage cultural critics as a grim allegory of the inevitable wages of racial conflict. Its persistence in American culture seems due to the nation’s irresolution about race, white male identity, and national destiny. What began as a modest exercise in French colonial critique (Boulle) is now a global cinematic phenomenon that forecasts the end of human (as white, Western, and male) primacy and its displacement by either another mode of being or universal destruction.
Just War
Authors: Hensel Howard , Smith Eric
Published: July 2019

The concept of just war can be seen as an implicit framework for analysis or series of questions within the context of which just war criteria can subsequently be established. Consciously or unconsciously, various Western and non-Western philosophers, theologians, and policymakers have individually or collectively used all or some of the elements inherent within this implicit framework of analysis and attempted to address the inherent questions—thereby explicitly establishing their own individual criteria for the legitimate use of armed force. Consequently, depending in large measure on such political and cultural considerations as ideology and religion, there is a wide variety of definitions and criteria concerning what constitutes “just war.” Regarding the decision to resort to the use of armed force in the resolution of conflicts (jus ad bellum), the implicit categories of analysis or questions are: first, what are the characteristics of the “peace” that is sought; second, what individuals or institutions have the authority to authorize the use of armed force in the conflict resolution process; third, what are the intentions of the authorities who authorize the use of force as an instrument of policy; fourth, what constitutes “just cause” in determining whether to use force; fifth, must all nonviolent means be exhausted before resorting to the use of force; sixth, is it necessary to announce the intention to use force prior to its initiation and, if so, what form should that announcement take; seventh, are the benefits of the peace that is sought greater than the anticipated human and material costs associated with the use of armed force; eighth, must there be a “realistic prospect of victory”; and, finally, do all the above questions or categories of analysis need to be properly addressed for the use of force to be justifiable? There are three categories of analysis or questions to be addressed concerning the considerations governing the actual application of armed force (jus in bello). First, are those planning or actively engaging in military operations and tactical encounters with the adversary motivated by “right intentions”; second, what criteria do the aforementioned individuals use to determine what constitutes legitimate combatants or military targets, as opposed to noncombatants and civilian objects; and third, in planning and executing military operations and tactical encounters, will the collateral damage to civilian objects and injury or death to noncombatants, as well as the anticipated casualties to combatants, be “excessive” or “disproportionate” compared with the operational or tactical gains that are expected? Finally, the implicit categories of analysis following the conclusion of hostilities (jus post bellum) focus on the “justice” of the policies of the victorious power vis-à-vis the defeated adversary.
Simon Ortiz
Authors: Archuleta Elizabeth
Published: July 2019

Simon Joseph Ortiz was born in 1941 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and raised at Acoma Pueblo. He has spent much of his life traveling, witnessing, and writing about the world around him. His observations about and his place in the world as an indigenous person would shape his writing on language, education, colonization, and the effects of colonization on indigenous peoples worldwide. While attending a Bureau of Indian Affairs day school, he learned English as a second language and would later focus on the way language shaped his worldview. Later, he attended several educational institutions, including Saint Catherine’s Indian School in Santa Fe, Albuquerque Indian School, Fort Lewis College (1962–1963), the University of New Mexico (1966–1968), and the University of Iowa (1968–1969). These institutions informed his views on the legacies of boarding school and how they affected generations of indigenous peoples. Having served three years in the army (1963–1966) and holding several teaching positions—San Diego State (1974), the Institute of American Indian Arts (1974), Navajo Community College (1975–1977), the College of Marin (1976–1979), the University of New Mexico, Sinte Gleska College, the University of Toronto, and Arizona State University, where he retired as a Regents’ Professor of English and American Indian Studies—Ortiz’s perspectives expanded beyond New Mexico and the Southwest. His thoughts on traveling, shaped by Pueblo cosmology, and his chance encounters with American Indians focused his attention on indigenous peoples’ persistence despite centuries of colonization. His growing global perspective as well as events connected to the Red Power movement and his involvement in the National Indian Youth Council also influenced his writing. The death of Navajo activist Larry Casuse in Gallup, New Mexico, in 1973 at the hands of the police undoubtedly moved Ortiz to write some of his most powerful and influential work, and issues that fueled indigenous activism nationally and globally are interwoven throughout his writing. Racism, poverty, the exploitation of indigenous lands and peoples, and tribal sovereignty appear prominently in his work, but woven into these legacies of colonization are also stories of survival. His children’s books carry messages of hope, because indigenous peoples’ ultimate survival lay in the hands of children. As a whole, Ortiz’s work presents a message of hope, triumph, and survival in spite of more than five hundred years of attempts to mold American Indians into US citizens. Ultimately, his work exemplifies political and cultural resurgence, documenting indigenous peoples’ survival, as stated in his poem “Survival This Way.”
David Bergelson
Authors: Murav Harriet Lisa
Published: July 2019

David Bergelson (b. 1884–d. 1952) was the most important Yiddish modernist prose writer of the 20th century. His innovations in style, character, and especially atmospherics, or “mood,” earned him immediate praise from literary critics, who saw him as the first Yiddish modernist. The fates and feelings of his characters, the settings, and his elliptical, decentered style reflect a unified artistic emotion, the highlight of his fiction. Bergelson wrote short stories, novels, essays, plays, and articles for newspapers and journals, including Eygns, Milgroym, and In shpan, which he founded and edited. Bergelson’s oeuvre can be divided into his Kiev period (until 1919), during which he wrote the novels The End of Everything and Departure, his self-imposed exile in Berlin (1921–1933), and the Soviet period (1934–1952). The Berlin exile was a time of great creativity, as well as a political turning point. Bergelson rather ambiguously proclaimed his turn to communism in 1926. This ideological turn, and the tragedy of his death (he was one of the prominent Soviet Yiddish writers killed on Stalin’s orders on August 12, 1952), has until recently overshadowed engagement with his literary work. Reappraisals of his literary creativity as a whole, and especially after his self-proclaimed turn to communism after 1926, are changing the overall evaluation.
Capitalists in the Twenty-First Century*
Authors: Smith Matthew , Yagan Danny , Zidar Owen , Zwick Eric
Published: July 2019

How important is human capital at the top of the U.S. income distribution? A primary source of top income is private “pass-through” business profit, which can include entrepreneurial labor income for tax reasons. This article asks whether top pass-through profit mostly reflects human capital, defined as all inalienable factors embodied in business owners, rather than financial capital. Tax data linking 11 million firms to their owners show that top pass-through profit accrues to working-age owners of closely held mid-market firms in skill-intensive industries. Pass-through profit falls by three-quarters after owner retirement or premature death. Classifying three-quarters of pass-through profit as human capital income, we find that the typical top earner derives most of her income from human capital, not financial capital. Growth in pass-through profit is explained by both rising productivity and a rising share of value added accruing to owners.
Impact of incarceration on tuberculosis incidence and its interaction with income distribution inequality in Brazil
Authors: Pelissari Daniele Maria , Diaz-Quijano Fredi Alexander
Published: July 2019

Background

Deteriorated conditions in the non-prison population can lead to an approximation of its tuberculosis (TB) risk to that in the prison population. We evaluated the association between incarceration and TB incidence rate and its interaction with population income distribution inequality in Brazilian municipalities (2013–2015).

Methods

We included 954 municipalities with at least one prison. Interaction between the Gini coefficient and prison exposure was analysed in a multiple regression model. We estimated the fraction of TB in the population attributable fraction (PAF) to exposure to prisons according the Gini coefficient.

Results

Compared with the non-prison population, the prisoners had 22.07 times (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.38 to 23.89) the risk of TB in municipalities where the Gini coefficient was <0.60 and 14.96 times (95% CI 11.00 to 18.92) the risk where the Gini coefficient was ≥0.60. A negative interaction in the multiplicative scale was explained by a higher TB incidence in the non-prison population in municipalities with a Gini coefficient ≥0.60. The PAF ranged from 50.06% to 5.19% in municipalities with Gini coefficients <0.40 and ≥0.60, respectively.

Conclusions

Interventions to reduce prison exposure would have an ostensible impact in population TB incidence rates mainly in settings with lower Gini coefficients. In those with extreme inequality in income distribution, strategies focused on mitigating the effects of socio-economic factors should also be prioritized.
RGS14414 treatment induces memory enhancement and rescues episodic memory deficits
Authors: Masmudi‐Martin Mariam , Navarro‐Lobato Irene , López‐Aranda Manuel F. , Delgado Gloria , Martín‐Montañez Elisa , Quiros‐Ortega Maria E. , Carretero‐Rey Marta , Narváez Lucía , Garcia‐Garrido Maria F. , Posadas Sinforiano , López‐Téllez Juan F. , Blanco Eduardo , Jiménez‐Recuerda Inmaculada , Granados‐Durán Pablo , Paez‐Rueda Jose , López Juan C. , Khan Zafar U.
Published: July 2019

Memory deficits affect a large proportion of the human population and are associated with aging and many neurologic, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric diseases. Treatment of this mental disorder has been disappointing because all potential candidates studied thus far have failed to produce consistent effects across various types of memory and have shown limited to no effects on memory deficits. Here, we show that the promotion of neuronal arborization through the expression of the regulator of G‐protein signaling 14 of 414 amino acids (RGS14414) not only induced robust enhancement of multiple types of memory but was also sufficient for the recovery of recognition, spatial, and temporal memory, which are kinds of episodic memory that are primarily affected in patients or individuals with memory dysfunction. We observed that a surge in neuronal arborization was mediated by up‐regulation of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling and that the deletion of BDNF abrogated both neuronal arborization activation and memory enhancement. The activation of BDNF‐dependent neuronal arborization generated almost 2‐fold increases in synapse numbers in dendrites of pyramidal neurons and in neurites of nonpyramidal neurons. This increase in synaptic connections might have evoked reorganization within neuronal circuits and eventually supported an increase in the activity of such circuits. Thus, in addition to showing the potential of RGS14414 for rescuing memory deficits, our results suggest that a boost in circuit activity could facilitate memory enhancement and the reversal of memory deficits.—Masmudi‐Martín, M., Navarro‐Lobato, I., López‐Aranda, M. F., Delgado, G., Martín‐Montañez, E., Quiros‐Ortega, M. E., Carretero‐Rey, M., Narváez, L., Garcia‐Garrido, M. F., Posadas, S., López‐Téllez, J. F., Blanco, E., Jiménez‐Recuerda, I., Granados‐Durán, P., Paez‐Rueda, J., López, J. C., Khan, Z. U. RGS14414 treatment induces memory enhancement and rescues episodic memory deficits. FASEB J. 33, 11804‐11820 (2019). www.fasebj.org
Bacterial dynamin‐like protein DynA mediates lipid and content mixing
Authors: Guo Lijun , Bramkamp Marc
Published: July 2019

Many bacterial species contain dynamin‐like proteins (DLPs). However, so far the functional mechanisms of bacterial DLPs are poorly understood. DynA in Bacillus subtilis is a 2‐headed DLP, mediating nucleotide‐independent membrane tethering in vitro and contributing to the innate immunity of bacteria against membrane stress and phage infection. Here, we employed content mixing and lipid mixing assays in reconstituted systems to study if DynA induces membrane full fusion, characterize its subunits in membrane fusion, and further test the possibility that GTP hydrolysis of DynA may act on the fusion‐through‐hemifusion pathway. Our results based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer indicated that DynA could induce aqueous content mixing even in the absence of GTP. Moreover, DynA‐induced membrane fusion in vitro is a thermo‐promoted slow process, and it has phospholipid and membrane curvature preferences. The D1 part of DynA is crucial for membrane binding and fusion, whereas D2 subunit plays a role in facilitating membrane fusion. Surprisingly, digestion of DynA mediated an instant rise of content exchange, supporting the assumption that disassembly of DynA is a driving force for fusion‐through‐hemifusion. DynA is a rare example of a membrane fusion catalyst that lacks a transmembrane domain and hence sets this system apart from well‐characterized fusion systems such as the soluble N‐ethyl maleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor complexes.—Guo, L., Bramkamp, M. Bacterial dynamin‐like protein DynA mediates lipid and content mixing. FASEB J. 33, 11746–11757 (2019). www.fasebj.org
Electric brushes improve outcomes in caregiver-assisted oral hygiene
Authors: Vannah Courtney E. , Sammarco Valia R.
Published: July 2019

An effective means of maintaining oral health is imperative for the health of long-term-care patients. This article assesses oral hygiene using an electric toothbrush compared with a manual toothbrush.
Whose Patient Is This? A Scoping Review of Patient Ownership
Authors: Kiger Michelle E. , Meyer Holly S. , Hammond Caitlin , Miller Katherine M. , Dickey Kara J. , Hammond Daniel V. , Varpio Lara
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The scope of physicians’ responsibility toward patients is becoming increasingly complicated to delimit as interdisciplinary care delivery and degrees of subspecialization increase. Patients can easily be lost across multiple transitions involved in care. Preparing learners to engage in safe and responsible patient care requires that we be clear about parameters of patient ownership. This scoping review (1) explores and synthesizes definitions of patient ownership and (2) describes the factors that influence patient ownership.

Method

Searching PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO, the authors sought out publications of any format (i.e., original research papers, review articles, commentaries, editorials, and author discussions) that (1) addressed patient ownership directly or a closely related concept that explicitly affected patient ownership, (2) included medical care providers (attending/faculty physicians, medical residents, and/or medical students), and (3) were published in English. The authors analyzed findings to construct common themes and categorize findings.

Results

Of 411 papers screened, 82 met our inclusion criteria. Twenty-three papers defined patient ownership in highly variable ways. Common themes across definitions included responsibility for patient care, personally carrying out patient care tasks, knowledge of patients’ medical information, independent decision making, and putting patients’ needs above one’s own. Factors influencing patient ownership were (1) logistical concerns, (2) personal attributes, and (3) socially or organizationally constructed expectations.

Conclusions

A new definition of patient ownership is proposed encompassing findings from the review, while also respecting the shift from individual to a team-based patient care, and without removing the centrality of an individual provider’s commitment to patients.
Comparison of plate and screw constructs versus screws only for anterior distal femoral hemiepiphysiodesis in children
Authors: Nazareth Alexander , Gyorfi Michael J. , Rethlefsen Susan A. , Wiseley Benjamin , Noonan Kenneth , Kay Robert M.
Published: July 2019

The study aim was to compare methods of anterior distal femoral hemiepiphysiodesis (ADFH) for treatment of fixed knee flexion deformities in ambulatory children with neuromuscular conditions and flexed knee gait. This is a retrospective review of 47 children (14 female, 33 male, age at surgery: 12.1 ± 2.7 years) who underwent ADFH between 2009 and 2016. Subjects were grouped by ADFH construct: one transphyseal screw (N = 11), two transphyseal screws (N = 28) or plates and screws (P/S group, N = 8). Clinical/radiographic variables were analyzed using paired t tests, χ
2 tests, multiple regression and analysis of covariance. Participants experienced significant reduction in knee flexion contractures (Δ12°, P < 0.006), with no difference among groups (P = 0.43). Postoperative knee pain was significantly more prevalent in the P/S group (5/8, 63%) than the 1-SCR group (0/11, 0%) and the 2-SCR group (2/28, 7%) (P = 0.002). ADFH results in significant reduction of knee flexion deformity and improved knee extension during gait. Plate and screw constructs, the 1 and 2 transphyseal screw techniques are equally effective, but plate and screw constructs may be associated with a higher risk of persistent postoperative knee pain.
The Complexity of Genotype‐Phenotype Correlations in Hereditary Spherocytosis: A Cohort of 95 Patients
Authors: van Vuren Annelies , van der Zwaag Bert , Huisjes Rick , Lak Nathalie , Bierings Marc , Gerritsen Egbert , van Beers Eduard , Bartels Marije , van Wijk Richard
Published: July 2019

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text
FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL OUTCOMES AFTER FOVEA-SPARING INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING FOR MYOPIC MACULAR RETINOSCHISIS BY MICROPERIMETRY
Authors: Shinohara Kosei , Shimada Noriaki , Takase Hiroshi , Ohno-Matsui Kyoko
Published: July 2019

Purpose:

To determine the morphological and physiological outcomes and safety of vitrectomy with fovea-sparing internal limiting membrane peeling for myopic macular retinoschisis (MRS).

Methods:

Highly myopic eyes (refractive error greater than −8.0 diopters or an axial length longer than 26.5 mm) with MRS that underwent vitrectomy with fovea-sparing internal limiting membrane peeling were analyzed retrospectively. The best-corrected visual acuity, retinal morphology, and the central and paracentral retinal sensitivities at 2°/6° by microperimetry were evaluated before and after the surgery. Postoperative microscotomas were also determined.

Results:

Thirty-three eyes with MRS; 16 eyes with and 17 eyes without a foveal retinal detachment, were studied. All 33 eyes had an improvement of MRS and foveal retinal detachment partially or completely after surgery, and none developed a full thickness macular hole. The postoperative best-corrected visual acuity, the central retinal sensitivity, and the retinal sensitivity at 2° were significantly better than the preoperative values. Sixteen eyes developed postoperative microscotomas at paracentral 2° and/or 6°.

Conclusion:

The results showed that vitrectomy with fovea-sparing internal limiting membrane peeling is an effective and safe method to treat an MRS regardless of the presence of a foveal retinal detachment. However, careful follow-up should be performed to detect postoperative microscotomas.
Multiligamentous Knee Injuries in the Military Tactical Athlete
Authors: Richards John T. , Dickens Jonathan F.
Published: July 2019

Multiligament knee injuries pose a significant challenge to military service members looking to return to active duty service. They represent a diverse injury pattern and recovery is often complicated by other ipsilateral extremity trauma and systemic injuries. There is a paucity of high-quality evidence guiding the treatment of these injuries. Despite this, orthopedic surgeons are tasked with a young, active, high demand population looking to maximize their recovery after these complex injuries. We present a synthesis of the available civilian and military literature and provide an evidence-based review with considerations specific to a military population.
Postoperative management of patients with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak
Authors: Stevens Shawn M. , Smith Cody J. , Lawton Michael
Published: July 2019

Purpose of review

To explore key management principles and outcomes following surgical intervention for spontaneous CSF leaks of the lateral skull base.

Recent findings

Outcomes following surgery for spontaneous CSF leaks of the lateral skull base depend on the surgical approach utilized. The approach reported most frequently in the literature is currently the middle fossa approach. Mean leak recurrence rates, regardless of approach, were approximately 6%. The lowest leak recurrence rates were associated with the combined middle cranial fossa-transmastoid approach. A multilayer closure was employed in all of the reviewed investigations, but the choice of reconstructive material did not significantly affect outcomes. Direct surgical complications rates, overall, were low at less than 2%. Meningitis, intracranial hemorrhage, and perioperative seizure activity were only rarely encountered. A concomitant diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension was found to be associated with increased rates of leak recurrence and sequential leak development at other skull base sites.

Postoperative management of patients with spontaneous CSF leaks of the lateral skull base has unique challenges. Observation of key treatment principles can lead to good outcomes and limit morbidity. A high index of suspicion should exist for concomitant idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
Trans-mastoid approach for cerebrospinal fluid leak repair
Authors: Karkas Alexandre , Khneisser Edwina
Published: July 2019

Purpose of review

To describe the technique and discuss the advantages and outcomes of the trans-mastoid approach (TMA) for temporal bone cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak.

Recent findings

TMA for CSF leak repair is an alternative to middle cranial fossa approach (MCFA) with less morbidity and good outcomes.

Persistent CSF leak in the temporal bone whether idiopathic, congenital or acquired, is an indication for surgery. TMA is a valid option for surgery, competing with MCFA in selected cases. Surgical technique consists of a standard mastoidectomy, exposure of the osteodural defect, and repairing it using multiple layers in an inlay and overlay fashion. Outcomes show low recurrence and complication rates with good hearing results. However, long-term follow-up should be made, as recurrences can be delayed.
Rosai-Dorfman Disease of the Pancreas Shows Significant Histologic Overlap With IgG4-related Disease
Authors: Tracht Jessica , Reid Michelle D. , Xue Yue , Madrigal Emilio , Sarmiento Juan M. , Kooby David , Alese Olatunji B. , Krasinskas Alyssa M.
Published: July 2019

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare entity characterized by proliferating S100-positive histiocytes. Originally described in lymph nodes, it can involve extranodal sites. Pancreatic involvement is rare, with <10 cases previously reported. Recent studies demonstrate a possible overlap between RDD and the more common IgG4-related disease (IRD), which could further complicate pathologic diagnosis. We describe distinct morphologic characteristics as well as overlapping histologic features of IRD in 5 cases of pancreatic RDD at our institution and compare these to a cohort of nonpancreatic extranodal RDD cases. All pancreatic cases were mass forming and had spindled patterns of elongated histiocytes with smaller areas of more classical appearing RDD; all cases had areas of storiform fibrosis and dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates with no increase in IgG4-positive plasma cells, and all cases had some degree of vasculitis (4 cases had obliterative vasculitis). Thirteen nonpancreatic extranodal RDD cases had dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates; most (85%) had some fibrosis with 46% showing storiform fibrosis, 85% had vasculitis with 31% demonstrating obliterative vasculitis and 2 cases had increased IgG4 staining. Extranodal (pancreatic and nonpancreatic) RDD often shows overlapping morphologic features with IRD, including lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, storiform fibrosis with elongated histiocytes and vasculitis. This can create a diagnostic challenge in the pancreas where IRD is more commonly encountered. Pathologists need to be aware that RDD can occur in the pancreas and should include RDD in the differential of any mass forming pancreatic lesion in which morphologic features of IRD are present.
Patient Understanding of “Flare” and “Remission” of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Trivedi Itishree , Darguzas Erin , Balbale Salva N. , Bedell Alyse , Reddy Shilpa , Rosh Joel R. , Keefer Laurie
Published: July 2019

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have adopted medical jargon terms of “flare” and “remission,” but what they mean by these terms is ill-defined and may have implications for nurse–patient communication and treatment expectancy. The aim of this study was to elicit patients' understanding of “flare” and “remission.” Individuals with self-reported inflammatory bowel disease were recruited through social media. A web-based survey, with closed and open-ended questions, was administered. Conventional content analysis was used to evaluate respondents' perceptions of jargon terms. A word cloud was generated to augment analysis by visualization of word use frequency. A majority of the 34 respondents had a symptom-focused understanding and described these terms as alternating states. Various symptoms were understood to signify “flare,” which was largely attributed to lifestyle factors. Corroborated by the word cloud, there was rare mention of inflammation or tissue damage. This study demonstrates that an understanding of “flare” and “remission” by patients with inflammatory bowel disease is largely symptom-based. The role of inflammation, medication failure, and targets of inflammatory bowel disease treatment beyond symptom control are not currently well known to patients with inflammatory bowel disease. To create a shared understanding of symptoms and treatment goals between the patient and the nurse, patient education on emerging expectations of inflammatory bowel disease care should be prioritized.
Impact of Trainee Participation on Inguinal Hernia Repair Outcome
Authors: Lederhuber Hans , Hanßke Bengt , Dahlstrand Ursula
Published: July 2019

Objective:

The aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in postoperative outcome exist between open inguinal hernia repairs performed by surgical trainees and those performed by specialist surgeons.

Summary of Background Data:

Inguinal hernia repair is the prototype educational surgical procedure. The impact of trainee participation on postoperative outcome is still controversial and despite earlier studies no reliable hernia-specific data exist.

Methods:

The study cohort was based on the Swedish Hernia Register and consisted of 61,161 cases of male patients aged 18 years and older with open anterior mesh repair of a primary inguinal hernia between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2014. The study cohort was selected to represent the typical trainee procedure in Sweden. Primary outcome measures were reoperation due to hernia recurrence and postoperative 30-day complications.

Results:

Procedures with longer operating times were at a higher risk for reoperation when performed by supervised trainees [57 to 72 minutes: hazard ratio (HR) 1.55, 99% confidence interval (99% CI) 1.05–2.27] or unsupervised trainees (57 to 72 minutes: HR 1.60, 99% CI 1.18–2.17; >72 minutes: HR 1.72, 99% CI 1.25–2.37). The same was true for specialist and trainee-assisted specialists with operating times <43 minutes (HR 1.63, 99% CI 1.25–2.13; HR 1.58, 99% CI 1.09–2.28). Postoperative 30-day complications were generally associated with longer operating times and occurred at all levels of experience.

Conclusion:

Trainee participation in open inguinal repair in combination with longer operating time is a risk factor associated with higher reoperation rates. This calls for a more structured supervision of trainees in an assumedly basic procedure.
Bilirubin Improves the Quality and Function of Hypothermic Preserved Islets by Its Antioxidative and Anti-inflammatory Effect
Authors: Yao Qing , Jiang Xue , Huang Zhi-Wei , Lan Qing-Hua , Wang Li-Fen , Chen Rui , Li Xin-Ze , Kou Longfa , Xu He-Lin , Zhao Ying-Zheng
Published: July 2019

Background.

Islet transplantation is a promising option for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. However, the current lack of practical techniques for the isolated islets preservation still hampers the advancement of life-saving islet transplantation. Islet suffers from internal or external stimuli–induced oxidative stress and subsequent inflammation during preservation, which leads to disappointing outcomes regarding islet yield, survival, and function. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction is the primary cause of oxidative stress that induces islet loss and dysfunction. Thus, in this article, we hypothesized that an endogenous antioxidant, bilirubin, that could efficiently scavenge ROS and inhibit inflammatory reactions could be beneficial for islet preservation.

Methods.

Herein, we studied the effect of bilirubin on the hypothermic preserved (4°C) islets and evaluate the islets viability, insulin secretory function, oxidative stress levels, and in vivo transplantation performance.

Results.

Bilirubin could prevent cellular damages during short-term preservation and maintain the cocultured islets viability and function. The protective role of bilirubin is associated with its antioxidative ability, which dramatically increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) and decreased the levels of ROS and malondialdehyde. Diabetic mice transplanted with bilirubin preserved islets were normoglycemic for 28 days, even overmatched the diabetic mouse transplanted with fresh islets. Mice receiving bilirubin cocultured islets required the least time to achieve normoglycemia among all groups and exhibited minimum inflammatory responses during the early transplantation stage.

Conclusions.

By utilizing bilirubin, we achieved highly viable and functional islets after hypothermic preservation to reverse diabetes in mice.
Role of Pregabalin in Treatment of Polyneuropathy in Multiple Myeloma Patients: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Maschio Marta , Mengarelli Andrea , Zarabla Alessia , Giannarelli Diana , Maialetti Andrea , Gumenyuk Svetlana , Renzi Daniela , Palombi Francesca , Pisani Francesco , Romano Atelda , Spadea Antonio , Galiè Edvina , Marchesi Francesco
Published: July 2019

Objectives

Polyneuropathy (PN) is a frequent and significant clinical manifestation of multiple myeloma that may be observed at onset of disease or induced during treatment as a therapy-related complication. Polyneuropathy may be a relevant issue in myeloma patients owing to its significant impact on the quality of life, considering that it may lead to dose reduction or treatment discontinuation. The present retrospective study intended to evaluate efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) in treatment of PN in multiple myeloma patients.

Materials and Methods

Medical charts of 108 consecutive PN myeloma patients were reviewed. Data regarding the tumor history and therapy as well as the clinical and neurophysiological examinations 6 months before and after initiation of PGB therapy were collected.

Results

Thirty-eight medical charts had all the requested information. All patients (n = 38) underwent bortezomib-based treatment; 19 were previously treated and 19 were treatment naive. At first neurologic visit, all patients had PN symptoms (grade 2 of National Cancer Institute—Common Toxicity Criteria) without relevant pain. Neurophysiological evaluation showed a significant decrease in sensory nerve action potential amplitude (P = 0.006), conduction velocity (P = 0.006), and distal latency (P = 0.03) of sensory nerves between the first and the last neurological examination, in all patient population. Similar results were observed in treatment-naive patients, when the study cohort was stratified according to previous treatment. On the contrary, no significant differences were found between the first and the last neurophysiological follow-up evaluation in previously treated patients. Six months after PGB treatment, all patients reported disappearance of neurological symptoms (grade 0 National Cancer Institute—Common Toxicity Criteria).

Conclusions

In this retrospective study, improvement in neurological symptoms during PGB therapy was observed in the total population, despite the presence of a distal, sensory axonal neuropathy, as evidenced by neurophysiological examination.
Obligately silent males sire more offspring than singers in a rapidly evolving cricket population
Authors: Heinen-Kay Justa L. , Urquhart Ellen M. , Zuk Marlene
Published: July 2019

How sexual traits are gained and lost in the wild remains an important question in evolutionary biology. Pacific field crickets (
Teleogryllus oceanicus
) in Hawaii provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the factors facilitating evolutionary loss of a sexual signal in real time. Natural selection from an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly drove rapid evolution of a novel, silent male morph. While silent (flatwing) males enjoy protection from the fly, they face difficulty attracting mates. We tested how offspring production varies in association with three male attributes affected by the spread of flatwing: wing morph (flatwing or normal-wing), age (flatwings should survive longer than singers) and exposure to calling song during rearing (wild populations with many flatwings lack ambient calling song). Per mating event, flatwings sired more offspring than singers and older males were mounted more quickly by females when presented with standard courtship song. Despite prior work showing that male age and acoustic experience influence sperm characteristics associated with fertilization, age and song exposure had no influence on male offspring production per mating. This represents the first evidence that the silent male morph possesses a reproductive advantage that may help compensate for precopulatory barriers to mate attraction.
Generalist birds outperform specialist sunbirds as pollinators of an AfricanAloe
Authors: Diller Carolina , Castañeda-Zárate Miguel , Johnson Steven D.
Published: July 2019

Bird pollination systems are dominated by specialist nectarivores, such as hummingbirds in the Americas and sunbirds in Africa. Opportunistic (generalist) avian nectarivores such as orioles, weavers and bulbuls have also been implicated as plant pollinators, but their effectiveness as agents of pollen transfer is poorly known. Here, we compare the single-visit effectiveness of specialist and opportunistic avian nectarivores as pollinators ofAloe ferox,a plant that relies almost exclusively on birds for seed production. We found that the number of pollen grains on stigmas of flowers receiving single visits by opportunistic avian nectarivores was approximately threefold greater than on those receiving single visits by specialist sunbirds and about twofold greater than on those that received single visits by honeybees. The number of pollen grains on stigmas of flowers visited by sunbirds was similar to that on stigmas of unvisited flowers. These results show that opportunistic birds are highly effective pollinators ofA. ferox, supporting the idea that some plants are specialized for pollination by opportunistic birds.