bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sugary Drink Consumption and Subsequent Colorectal Cancer Risk: The Japan Public Health Center–Based Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Leung Chi Yan , Abe Sarah Krull , Sawada Norie , Ishihara Junko , Takachi Ribeka , Yamaji Taiki , Iwasaki Motoki , Hashizume Masahiro , Inoue Manami , Tsugane Shoichiro
Published: February 2021

Background:

Most studies examining the associations of sugary drink consumption on colorectal cancer risk have been conducted in Western populations.

Methods:

This study consisted of 74,070 participants in the Japan Public Health Center–based Prospective Study who completed a food frequency questionnaire (1995–1999). The participants were followed until December 2013 to investigate the associations between sugary drink consumption and colorectal cancer risk using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results:

Among the 74,070 participants, mean age was 56.5 years at baseline, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 23.5 and a mean daily consumption of 286 mL/day for men and 145 mL/day for women. During a follow-up of 15 years, 1,648 colorectal cancer cases were identified. No overall greater risk of colorectal cancer was observed among men [multivariable HR = 0.84; 95% confidence of interval (CI), 0.70–1.02; ≥254 mL/day vs. nonconsumers] and women (HR = 1.20; 95% CI, 0.96–1.50, ≥134 mL/day vs. nonconsumers). Sugary drink consumption was associated with colon cancer among women (HR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.03–1.78, ≥134 mL/day vs. nonconsumers). HRs for proximal colon cancer among women who consumed sugary drinks, as compared with nonconsumers, were 1.47 (95% CI, 1.03–2.10) for sugary drink consumption less than 134 mL/day, and 1.45 (95% CI, 1.01–2.09) for at least 134 mL/day.

Conclusions:

In this large prospective cohort of Japanese with a moderate sugary drink consumption level and low prevalence of obesity, we observed a 36% increased risk of colon cancer in women.

Impact:

Our findings highlight the importance of subsite- and sex-specific investigation.
Modernizing Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Recommendations of the ASCO-Friends of Cancer Research Laboratory Reference Ranges and Testing Intervals Work Group
Authors: Spira Alexander I. , Stewart Mark D. , Jones Suzanne , Chang Elaine , Fielding Anitra , Richie Nicole , Wood Laura S. , Thompson Michael A. , Jones Lee , Nair Abhilasha , Mahal Brandon A. , Gerber David E.
Published: February 2021

Purpose:

In clinical research, eligibility criteria promote patient safety and optimize the evidence generated from clinical trials. However, overly stringent eligibility criteria, including laboratory requirements, may limit enrollment, resulting in delayed trial completion and potentially limiting applicability of trial results to a general practice population.

Experimental Design:

Starting in 2018, a working group consisting of experts in direct patient care, the FDA, industry, and patient advocacy developed recommendations to guide the optimal use of laboratory reference ranges and testing intervals in clinical trial eligibility criteria and study procedures. The working group evaluated current eligibility criteria across different clinical trial phases and performed a literature review to evaluate the impact of and justification for laboratory test eligibility requirements and testing intervals in clinical trials. Recommendations were developed on the basis of the goals of promoting safety and optimizing the evidence generated, while also expanding eligibility and applicability, and minimizing excess burden of trial participation.

Results:

In general, we found little variation over time and trial phase in laboratory test requirements, suggesting that these eligibility criteria are not refined according to ongoing clinical experience. We propose recommendations to optimize the use of laboratory tests when considering eligibility criteria.

Conclusions:

Tailoring the use of laboratory test requirements and testing intervals may increase the number and diversity of patients in clinical trials and provide clinical data that more closely represent the general practice populations.

See related commentary by Giantonio, p. 2369
Modernizing Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Recommendations of the ASCO–Friends of Cancer Research Prior Therapies Work Group
Authors: Osarogiagbon Raymond U. , Vega Diana Merino , Fashoyin-Aje Lola , Wedam Suparna , Ison Gwynn , Atienza Sol , De Porre Peter , Biswas Tithi , Holloway Jamie N. , Hong David S. , Wempe Madison M. , Schilsky Richard L. , Kim Edward S. , Wade James L.
Published: February 2021

Purpose:

Restrictive eligibility criteria induce differences between clinical trial and “real-world” treatment populations. Restrictions based on prior therapies are common; minimizing them when appropriate may increase patient participation in clinical trials.

Experimental Design:

A multi-stakeholder working group developed a conceptual framework to guide evaluation of prevailing practices with respect to using prior treatment as selection criteria for clinical trials. The working group made recommendations to minimize restrictions based on prior therapies within the boundaries of scientific validity, patient centeredness, distributive justice, and beneficence.

Recommendations:

(i) Patients are eligible for clinical trials regardless of the number or type of prior therapies and without requiring a specific therapy prior to enrollment unless a scientific or clinically based rationale is provided as justification. (ii) Prior therapy (either limits on number and type of prior therapies or requirements for specific therapies before enrollment) could be used to determine eligibility in the following cases: a) the agents being studied target a specific mechanism or pathway that could potentially interact with a prior therapy; b) the study design requires that all patients begin protocol-specified treatment at the same point in the disease trajectory; and c) in randomized clinical studies, if the therapy in the control arm is not appropriate for the patient due to previous therapies received. (iii) Trial designers should consider conducting evaluation separately from the primary endpoint analysis for participants who have received prior therapies.

Conclusions:

Clinical trial sponsors and regulators should thoughtfully reexamine the use of prior therapy exposure as selection criteria to maximize clinical trial participation.

See related commentary by Giantonio, p. 2369
Modernizing Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Recommendations of the ASCO-Friends of Cancer Research Washout Period and Concomitant Medication Work Group
Authors: Harvey R. Donald , Mileham Kathryn F. , Bhatnagar Vishal , Brewer Jamie R. , Rahman Atiqur , Moravek Cassadie , Kennedy Andrew S. , Ness Elizabeth A. , Dees E. Claire , Ivy S. Percy , Ebbinghaus Scot W. , Schenkel Caroline , Uldrick Thomas S.
Published: February 2021

Purpose:

Washout periods and concomitant medication exclusions are common in cancer clinical trial protocols. These exclusion criteria are often applied inconsistently and without evidence to justify their use. The authors sought to determine how washout period and concomitant medication allowances can be broadened to speed trial enrollment and improve the generalizability of trial data to a larger oncology practice population without compromising the safety of trial participants.

Experimental Design:

A multistakeholder working group was convened to define problems associated with excessively long washout periods and exclusion of patients due to concomitant medications. The group performed a literature search and evaluated study data from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA), and the FDA to understand recent approaches to these eligibility criteria. The group convened to develop consensus recommendations for broadened eligibility criteria.

Results:

The data analysis found that exclusion criteria based on washout periods and concomitant medications are frequently inconsistent and lack scientific rationale. Scientific rationale for appropriate eligibility criteria are presented in the article; for washout periods, rationale is presented by treatment type.

Conclusions:

Arbitrary or blanket washout and concomitant medication exclusions should be eliminated. Where there is evidence to support them, clinically relevant washout periods and concomitant medication–related eligibility criteria may be included.

See related commentary by Giantonio, p. 2369
Modernizing Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Recommendations of the ASCO-Friends of Cancer Research Performance Status Work Group
Authors: Magnuson Allison , Bruinooge Suanna S. , Singh Harpreet , Wilner Keith D. , Jalal Shadia , Lichtman Stuart M. , Kluetz Paul G. , Lyman Gary H. , Klepin Heidi D. , Fleury Mark E. , Hirsch Brad , Melemed Allen , Arnaldez Fernanda I. , Basu Roy Upal , Schenkel Caroline , Sherwood Shimere , Garrett-Mayer Elizabeth
Published: February 2021

Purpose:

Performance status (PS) is one of the most common eligibility criteria. Many trials are limited to patients with high-functioning PS, resulting in important differences between trial participants and patient populations with the disease. In addition, existing PS measures are subjective and susceptible to investigator bias.

Experimental Design:

A multidisciplinary working group of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Friends of Cancer Research evaluated how PS eligibility criteria could be more inclusive. The working group recommendations are based on a literature search, review of trials, simulation study, and multistakeholder consensus. The working group prioritized inclusiveness and access to investigational therapies, while balancing patient safety and study integrity.

Results:

Broadening PS eligibility criteria may increase the number of potentially eligible patients for a given clinical trial, thus shortening accrual time. It may also result in greater participant diversity, potentially reduce trial participant and patient disparities, and enable clinicians to more readily translate trial results to patients with low-functioning PS. Potential impact on outcomes was explored through a simulation trial demonstrating that when the number of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS2 participants was relatively small, the effect on the estimated HR and power was modest, even when PS2 patients did not derive a treatment benefit.

Conclusions:

Expanding PS eligibility criteria to be more inclusive may be justified in many cases and could result in faster accrual rates and more representative trial populations.

See related commentary by Giantonio, p. 2369
Distinct Genomic Alterations in Prostate Tumors Derived from African American Men
Authors: Liu Wennuan , Zheng S. Lilly , Na Rong , Wei Lin , Sun Jishan , Gallagher Johnie , Wei Jun , Resurreccion W. Kyle , Ernst Sarah , Sfanos Karen S. , Isaacs William B. , Xu Jianfeng
Published: February 2021

We aim to understand, from acquired genetic alterations in tumors, why African American (AA) men are more likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer. By analyzing somatic mutations in 39 genes using deeper next-generation sequencing with an average depth of 2,522 reads for tumor DNA and genome-wide DNA copy-number alterations (CNA) in prostate cancer in a total of 171 AA/black men and comparing with those in 860 European American (EA)/white men, we here present several novel findings. First, >35% of AA men harbor damaging mutations in APC, ATM, BRCA2, KDM6A, KMT2C, KMT2D, MED12, ZFHX3, and ZMYM3, each with >1% of mutated copies. Second, among genes with >10% of mutated copies in tumor cells, ZMYM3 is the most frequently mutated gene in AA prostate cancer. In a patient's tumor with >96% frameshift mutations of ZMYM3, we find allelic imbalances in 10 chromosomes, including losses of five and gains of another four chromosomes, suggesting its role in maintaining genomic integrity. Third, when compared to prostate cancer in EA/white men, a higher frequency of CNAs of MYC, THADA, NEIL3, LRP1B, BUB1B, MAP3K7, BNIP3L and RB1, and a lower frequency of deletions of RYBP, TP53, and TMPRSS2-ERG are observed in AA/black men. Finally, for the above genes with higher frequency of CNAs in AA than in EA, deletion of MAP3K7, BNIP3L, NEIL3 or RB1, or gain of MYC significantly associates with both higher Gleason grade and advanced pathologic stage in AA/black men. Deletion of THADA associates with advanced pathologic stage only.

Implications:

A higher frequency of damaging mutation in ZMYM3 causing genomic instability along with higher frequency of altered genomic regions including deletions of MAP3K7, BNIP3L, RB1, and NEIL3, and gain of MYC appear to be distinct somatically acquired genetic alterations that may contribute to more aggressive prostate cancer in AA/black men.
Cancer Risk in Normal Weight Individuals with Metabolic Obesity: A Narrative Review
Authors: Liu Bethina , Giffney Hugh E. , Arthur Rhonda S. , Rohan Thomas E. , Dannenberg Andrew J.
Published: February 2021

Obesity represents one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide. Current clinical practice relies on body mass index (BMI) to define the obesity status of an individual, even though the index has long been recognized for its limitations as a measure of body fat. In normal BMI individuals, increased central adiposity has been associated with worse health outcomes, including increased risks of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. The condition leading to these outcomes has been described as metabolic obesity in the normal weight (MONW). More recent evidence suggests that MONW is associated with increased risk of several obesity-related malignancies, including postmenopausal breast, endometrial, colorectal, and liver cancers. In MONW patients, the false reassurance of a normal range BMI can lead to lost opportunities for implementing preventive interventions that may benefit a substantial number of people. A growing body of literature has documented the increased risk profile of MONW individuals and demonstrated practical uses for body composition and biochemical analyses to identify this at-risk population. In this review, we survey the current literature on MONW and cancer, summarize pathophysiology and oncogenic mechanisms, highlight potential strategies for diagnosis and treatment, and suggest directions for future research.
Association Between Coffee Intake and Incident Heart Failure Risk
Authors: Stevens Laura M. , Linstead Erik , Hall Jennifer L. , Kao David P.
Published: February 2021

Background:

Coronary heart disease, heart failure (HF), and stroke are complex diseases with multiple phenotypes. While many risk factors for these diseases are well known, investigation of as-yet unidentified risk factors may improve risk assessment and patient adherence to prevention guidelines. We investigated the diet domain in FHS (Framingham Heart Study), CHS (Cardiovascular Heart Study), and the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) to identify potential lifestyle and behavioral factors associated with coronary heart disease, HF, and stroke.

Methods:

We used machine learning feature selection based on random forest analysis to identify potential risk factors associated with coronary heart disease, stroke, and HF in FHS. We evaluated the significance of selected variables using univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis adjusted for known cardiovascular risks. Findings from FHS were then validated using CHS and ARIC.

Results:

We identified multiple dietary and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease outcomes including marital status, red meat consumption, whole milk consumption, and coffee consumption. Among these dietary variables, increasing coffee consumption was associated with decreasing long-term risk of HF congruently in FHS, ARIC, and CHS.

Conclusions:

Higher coffee intake was found to be associated with reduced risk of HF in all three studies. Further study is warranted to better define the role, possible causality, and potential mechanism of coffee consumption as a potential modifiable risk factor for HF.
Effects of a 2-Year Primary Care Lifestyle Intervention on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
Authors: Höchsmann Christoph , Dorling James L. , Martin Corby K. , Newton Robert L. , Apolzan John W. , Myers Candice A. , Denstel Kara D. , Mire Emily F. , Johnson William D. , Zhang Dachuan , Arnold Connie L. , Davis Terry C. , Fonseca Vivian , Lavie Carl J. , Price-Haywood Eboni G. , Katzmarzyk Peter T. ,   For the PROPEL Research Group
Published: February 2021

Background:

Intensive lifestyle interventions (ILIs) are the first-line approach to effectively treat obesity and manage associated cardiometabolic risk factors. Because few people have access to ILIs in academic health centers, primary care must implement similar approaches for a meaningful effect on obesity and cardiometabolic disease prevalence. To date, however, effective lifestyle-based obesity treatment in primary care is limited. We examined the effectiveness of a pragmatic ILI for weight loss delivered in primary care among a racially diverse, low-income population with obesity for improving cardiometabolic risk factors over 24 months.

Methods:

The PROPEL trial (Promoting Successful Weight Loss in Primary Care in Louisiana) randomly allocated 18 clinics equally to usual care or an ILI and subsequently enrolled 803 (351 usual care, 452 ILI) adults (67% Black, 84% female) with obesity from participating clinics. The usual care group continued to receive their normal primary care. The ILI group received a 24-month high-intensity lifestyle-based obesity treatment program, embedded in the clinic setting and delivered by health coaches in weekly sessions initially and monthly sessions in months 7 through 24.

Results:

As recently demonstrated, participants receiving the PROPEL ILI lost significantly more weight over 24 months than those receiving usual care (mean difference, −4.51% [95% CI, −5.93 to −3.10];
P
<0.01). Fasting glucose decreased more in the ILI group compared with the usual care group at 12 months (mean difference, −7.1 mg/dL [95% CI, −12.0 to −2.1];
P
<0.01) but not 24 months (mean difference, −0.8 mg/dL [95% CI, −6.2 to 4.6];
P
=0.76). Increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were greater in the ILI than in the usual care group at both time points (mean difference at 24 months, 4.6 mg/dL [95% CI, 2.9–6.3];
P
<0.01). Total:high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and metabolic syndrome severity (
z
score) decreased more in the ILI group than in the usual care group at both time points, with significant mean differences of the change of −0.31 (95% CI, −0.47 to −0.14;
P
<0.01) and −0.21 (95% CI, −0.36 to −0.06;
P
=0.01) at 24 months, respectively. Changes in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure did not differ significantly between groups at any time point.

Conclusions:

A pragmatic ILI consistent with national guidelines and delivered by trained health coaches in primary care produced clinically relevant improvements in cardiometabolic health in an underserved population over 24 months.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02561221.
Predicting MEG resting-state functional connectivity from
microstructural information
Authors: Messaritaki Eirini , Foley Sonya , Schiavi Simona , Magazzini Lorenzo , Routley Bethany , Jones Derek K. , Singh Krish D.
Published: February 2021

Understanding how human brain microstructure influences functional connectivity is an important endeavor. In this work, magnetic resonance imaging data from 90 healthy participants were used to calculate structural connectivity matrices using the streamline count, fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, and a myelin measure (derived from multicomponent relaxometry) to assign connection strength. Unweighted binarized structural connectivity matrices were also constructed. Magnetoencephalography resting-state data from those participants were used to calculate functional connectivity matrices, via correlations of the Hilbert envelopes of beamformer time series in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. Nonnegative matrix factorization was performed to identify the components of the functional connectivity. Shortest path length and search-information analyses of the structural connectomes were used to predict functional connectivity patterns for each participant. The microstructure-informed algorithms predicted the components of the functional connectivity more accurately than they predicted the total functional connectivity. This provides a methodology to understand functional mechanisms better. The shortest path length algorithm exhibited the highest prediction accuracy. Of the weights of the structural connectivity matrices, the streamline count and the myelin measure gave the most accurate predictions, while the fractional anisotropy performed poorly. Overall, different structural metrics paint very different pictures of the structural connectome and its relationship to functional connectivity.
Integrated clinical animal behaviour
Authors: Wynne Clive D.L.
Published: February 2021

In this paper I outline the drawbacks with the two main behavioural approaches to animal behaviour problems and argue that each alone is insufficient to underpin a field of clinical animal behaviour. Applied ethology offers an interest in an animal’s spontaneous behaviour in natural contexts, understood within an ecological and evolutionary framework but lacks an awareness of mechanisms that can be manipulated to modify the behaviour of individual animals. Behaviourism in the form of Applied Behavior Analysis offers a toolkit of techniques for modifying the behaviour of individual animals, but has seldom been applied to non-human species, and often overlooks phylogenetic aspects of behaviour. Notwithstanding the historical animosities between the two fields of animal behaviour they are philosophically highly compatible — both being empiricist schools stemming ultimately from Darwin’s insights. Though each individually is incomplete, I argue that an integrated approach that synthesizes the strengths of each holds great promise in helping the many animals who need our assistance to survive and thrive in human-dominated environments.
Capitalism Has No Clothes: the Unexpected Shock of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Authors: Cárdenas-García Jaime F. , Soria De Mesa Bruno , Castro Diego Romero
Published: February 2021

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 has undeniably changed the world forever. Capitalism in the United States and Europe can no longer feel immune from the effects of epidemics that were at one point in time the concern of minor countries, such as the recent (2014–2016) Ebola epidemic in Western Africa. This article examines how COVID-19 not only showed that Capitalism has no clothes in its inability to respond effectively to this momentous event, but shows the burgeoning of the impact on its slow-motion decline. This is evident from the still-unresolved healthcare crisis in the United States, which allows runaway contagion, sickness, and death due to a careless governmental attitude that prioritizes capital over human lives; the economic impact, which sidelines millions of workers into unemployment, leaving them without a way to sustain themselves due to a miserly and short-sighted governmental response; and the political and social cost that is yet to be determined.
Contribution of Business Entities in the Fight against COVID-19 in South Africa
Authors: Bala Samkelo , Kang’ethe Simon M.
Published: February 2021

Unequivocally, South Africa, amid an environment of paucity of resources and ever-increasing cases of coronavirus, faces an arduous challenge of fighting the scourge of coronavirus. This has necessitated the need to assess the role of business entities as complementary stakeholders. This article applied qualitative paradigm and case-study design that allowed an investigation of 13 postgraduate participants to explore the contribution of business entities against coronavirus in South Africa. The article established gaps embedded in the contribution made by business entities against COVID-19; weaker support by Eastern Cape business entities against COVID-19; and business entities donating personal protective equipment to communities and food to the disadvantaged communities. This article recommends that business entities increase their complementary role to the government by increasing their contribution to needy communities.
Staying or Moving
Authors: Sprenger Guido
Published: February 2021

James C. Scott claimed that upland Southeast Asians consider their good life as dependent on their autonomy from the state. Given that the state today is present in various forms in the uplands, current uplanders can be considered as post-Zomian. Staying and moving represent two contrastive values in this region whose realisation serves to make a good life possible. This article considers these values through the issue of resettlement in Laos, a situation in which local values intersect with or contradict government planning. Even in situations in which the state demonstrates its hegemony and force, ethnic Rmeet uplanders tend to stress their own agency. Therefore, resettlement and its avoidance may both appear as the realisation of local values, sometimes in the shape of ‘village agency’, as the good life is seen as life in a community.
Erasmus on Miracles and the Gift of Languages
Authors: Krans Jan
Published: February 2021

This contribution explores an important New Testament annotation by Erasmus, in which he deals with miracles and the quality of the Greek of the New Testament. A side remark in the short 1516 form of the annotation immediately provoked fierce opposition, which is shown to have led to significant expansions by Erasmus. The annotation also had a significant reception history in New Testament scholarship, the beginnings of which are sketched below.
Polyzosteria cockroaches in Tasmania (Blattodea: Blattidae: Polyzosteriinae) represent a new, endemic species, with allopatric alpine and coastal sub-populations
Authors: HENRY SHASTA C. , CAMERON STEPHEN L. , SMOLENSKI ADAM , MCQUILLAN PETER
Published: February 2021

We describe the endemic Tasmanian cockroach, Polyzosteria yingina sp. nov. (Henry), 78 years after it was first documented. Evidence from morphology, biogeography and CO1 barcodes is used to distinguish this species from related mainland Australian taxa it has previously been confused with. Polyzosteria yingina sp. nov. has two strongly allopatric populations: a compact alpine population above 1000m and a dispersed east coastal one at sealevel. However, mitochondrial Control Region D-loop molecular analysis suggests a single species identity for these disparate populations. Detailed internal and external morphological descriptions and photographs of living and preserved type material are presented. We also speculate on some hypotheses which could account for the unusual distribution of this charismatic insect.
The Mechanism of Long Non-Coding RNA Plasmacytoma Variant Translocation 1 Regulating Hepatoma Cells Proliferation and Apoptosis—Targeting the Transcription Factor Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1 to Promote the Expression of Downstream Baculoviral IAP Repeat Containing 5
Authors: Zang Shuyuan , Li Zuoan , Zhang Fumin
Published: February 2021

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) PVT1 has been reported to be involved in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of anti-apoptosis protein baculoviral IAP repeat containing 5 (BIRC5) is also increased in hepatoma cells and can be activated by lymphoid enhancer
binding factor 1 (LEF1), which is one of the potential markers for HCC. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between PVT1, BIRC5, and LEF1, so as to uncover the pathways and mechanisms of PVT1 promoting HCC. BIRC5 and PVT1 expression in normal liver cells and hepatoma
cells was analyzed by RT-qPCR and western blotting. PVT1 short hairpin (sh)-RNA plasmids were transfected into PLC/PRF5 hepatoma cells to knockdown PVT1 expression, and then cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis and expression of related proteins were assessed. Besides, the interaction
between PVT1 and miR-409-5p together with LEF1 and miR-409-5p was detected by dual luciferase assay. Results showed that the expression of BIRC5 and PVT1 were significantly increased in hepatoma cells and was highest in PLC/PRF5 compared with other hepatoma cells. Knockdown of PVT1 obviously
reduced the ability of PLC/PRF5 cell proliferation and colony formation, whereas enhanced cell apoptosis. The protein expression of BIRC5 and LEF1 was also decreased after PVT1 was knockdown. Moreover, miR-409-5p level was increased after PVT1 silencing and it can interact with both PVT1 and
LEF1. In conclusion, lncRNA PVT1 may exert its accelerative effect on HCC by targeting LEF1 in Hippo signaling pathway through miR-409-5p, thereby enhancing the expression of apoptosis inhibitor BIRC5.
Effects of miR-1305 on Proliferation and Apoptosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells via Regulating High Mobility Group Box-1 Level
Authors: Zhao Wenpu , Yang Xiaolian , Dong Yishan , Quan Jin , Huang Li
Published: February 2021

Abnormal expression of HMGB1 is closely related to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). miR-1305 regulates HMGB1 level by MiRDB analysis. Therefore, we investigated whether miR-1305 affects NSCLC cell proliferation and apoptosis by regulating HMGB1. The control group (NC group), miR-1305
Mimics group and miR-1305 Mimics+pcDNA-HMGB1 group were set followed by analysis of miR-1305 and HMGB1 mRNA level real time-PCR, relationship between miR-1305 and HMGB1 by dual fluorescein reporter assay, HMGB1 and Tubulin level by Western blot, cell proliferation by clone formation assay,
cell apoptosis by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Compared with normal tissues, miR-1305 was significantly downregulated in NSCLC tissues (P <0.01), while HMGB1 mRNA was upregulated (P <0.01). HMGB1 was the target gene of miR-1305. Compared to NC group, HMGB1 level in miR-1305
Mimics group was significantly reduced (P <0.01). Compared with miR-1305 Mimics group, HMGB1 level was significantly increased in miR-1305 Mimics+pcDNA-HMGB1group (P <0.05). HMGB1 mRNA level was not significantly changed. In addition, the number of cell clones and proliferation
ability was decreased in miR-1305 Mimics group, which were reversed in miR-1305 Mimics+pcDNA-HMGB1 group. miR-1305 can bind HMGB1 3′-UTR, reduce its protein level, thereby inhibiting NSCLC cell proliferation and promoting cell apoptosis. HMGB1 overexpression can prevent the effect of
miR-1305.
Via Ripetta 155: The last piece of Clara Sereni’s life writing story
Authors: Po DeLisle Giulia
Published: February 2021

Clara Sereni’s writing journey began in 1974 with Sigma Epsilon and went on to flourish through the years with the publication of numerous inspiring and thought-provoking literary works. Many of her autobiographical and fictional texts delve into the years between 1968 and 1977, a crucial decade that changed Italy and forever impacted the author’s life and political thinking. In Via Ripetta 155, Sereni found a renewed desire to bear witness to those politically revolutionary times by revisiting the experiences of her private self and her interaction with the public realm. This study engages with the analysis of this last piece of the complex puzzle that encompasses the written story of her life, and argues that the text represents a final self-empowering act in which the apartment of Via Ripetta becomes the stage for a dialectical discourse between personal achievements and socio-political changes, personal conflicts and public turmoil.
Microfinancial Drivers of Women Empowerment: Do Self-help Group Membership and Family Size Moderate the Relation?
Authors: Rai Vinita , Shrivastava Monica
Published: February 2021

This study aims at developing a model that would assess women empowerment due to microfinance activities and evaluates the moderating role of self-help group (SHG) membership and family size in women empowerment. Factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modelling are employed to meet the objective of the study. Multigroup analysis is used to assess the moderating role of SHG membership and family size. The data are examined using SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.3.2 software. Findings reveal that the overall empowerment of women who belong to SHG is more influenced by social empowerment due to microfinance, while non-SHG members who have availed microfinance services feel more empowered due to their economic and psychological empowerment. Women with family size of four or less are more empowered due to their economic and social empowerment, while psychology played a more significant role in women with family size of more than four. The government and microfinance institutions (MFIs) should organise more awareness programmes to help women avail the microfinance services so that the economic activities conducted by them can lift the country’s economy. Women should be motivated to joins SHGs to reduce the chances of domestic violence and to increase their social holding.

JEL Classification: C380, D140, G210
Dental Emergencies Management in COVID-19 Pandemic Peak: A Cohort Study
Authors: Beauquis J. , Petit A.E. , Michaux V. , Sagué V. , Henrard S. , Leprince J.G.
Published: February 2021

Due to the global coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the high risk of cross-contamination and the overload of hospital facilities have resulted in a real urgency for restricting dental emergency patient flow. In this context, the objectives of the current work were to 1) measure the ability of a triage-based management strategy to limit patient admission and 2) evaluate the success rate of both on-site and remote emergency management regarding symptom relief and pain control over a 1-mo period. We included all patients contacting the dental medicine department for an emergency consultation during the lockdown, between April 1 and April 30, 2020 ( N = 570). Following a telephone consultation and based on preestablished admission guidelines, a decision was made at baseline (T0) to either admit the patient for treatment or perform remote management by providing advice and/or drug prescription. Patients were then followed up systematically at 1 wk and 1 mo. Management failure was defined as the need for emergency admission for patients managed remotely since T0 and for new emergency admission for those admitted at T0. The global follow-up rate of patients with a complete data set was 91.4% ( N = 521). Of included patients, 49.3% could be managed without admission for emergency reasons for 1 mo. The proportion of successful management was 71.8% and 90.2% at 1 mo for remote and on-site management, respectively. To conclude, the proposed triage-based emergency management strategy with systematic follow-up was a good compromise between limiting patient admission and ensuring effective symptom relief and pain control. The strategy can be useful in situations where regulation of the emergency patient flow is required.
Role of Dentistry in Global Health: Challenges and Research Priorities
Authors: Hugo F.N. , Kassebaum N.J. , Marcenes W. , Bernabé E.
Published: February 2021

Despite some improvements in the oral health of populations globally, major problems remain all over the planet, most notably among underprivileged communities of low- and middle-income countries but also in high-income countries. Furthermore, essential oral health care has been a privilege, instead of a right, for most individuals. The release of the Lancet issue on oral health in July 2019 built up some momentum and put oral conditions and dental services in the limelight. Yet, much work is still needed to bridge the gap between dental research and global health and get oral health recognized as a population health priority worldwide. Using the framework proposed by Shiffman, we argue that a global health network for oral health must be harnessed to influence global health policy and drive health system reform. We have identified challenges around 4 key areas (problem definition, positioning, coalition building, and governance) from our experience working in the global health arena and with collaborators in multidisciplinary teams. These challenges are outlined here to validate them externally but also to call the attention of interested players inside and outside dentistry. How well our profession addresses these challenges will shape our performance during the Sustainable Development Goals era and beyond. This analysis is followed by a discussion of fundamental gaps in knowledge, particularly in 3 areas of oral health action: 1) epidemiology and health information systems; 2) collection, harmonization, and rigorous assessment of evidence for prevention, equity, and treatment; and 3) optimal strategies for delivering essential quality care to all who need it without financial hardship.
“Following Your Gut” or “Questioning the Scientific Evidence”: Understanding Vaccine Skepticism among More-Educated Dutch Parents
Authors: Ten Kate Josje , Koster Willem De , Van der Waal Jeroen
Published: February 2021

This study aims to understand vaccine skepticism among a population where it is remarkably prevalent—more-educated Dutch parents—through 31 in-depth interviews. Whereas all respondents ascribe a central role to the individual in obtaining knowledge (i.e., individualist epistemology), this is expressed in two repertoires. A neoromantic one focuses on deriving truth through intuition and following a “natural” path and informs a risk typology: embracing (refusing) “natural” (“unnatural”) risks such as “childhood diseases” (“pharmaceutical substances”). A critical-reflexive repertoire centers on scientific methods but is skeptical about the scientific consensus and informs a risk calculation: opting for the choice perceived to bear the smallest risk. Thus, the same vaccine can be rejected because of its perceived harm to natural processes (neoromantic repertoire) or because its scientific basis is deemed insufficient (critical-reflexive repertoire). Moreover, these opposing repertoires are likely to inspire different responses to the same health-related information.
Looking Up at the Ivory Tower: Juvenile Court Judges’ and Attorneys’ Perceptions of Research Use
Authors: Murphy Kelly , Hickman Shelby , Jones Rebecca M.
Published: February 2021

Objectives:

Explore how judges and attorneys define, acquire, interpret (i.e., determine the accuracy and relevancy), and use research in their decision-making in delinquency cases.

Methods:

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 judges, 15 prosecutors, and 13 defense attorneys. We used stratified purposeful sampling, stratifying participants by region of the U.S. and urbanicity.

Results:

Judges and attorneys have a sound understanding of how research can enhance their work. Typically, judges and attorneys acquire research from intermediaries. Beyond being a conduit for research, intermediaries play an important role in vetting the quality of research and identifying viable recommendations for practice. While practitioners are willing to use research, they feel that their ability to do so is limited by factors such as state policy, funding, and inaccessibility of research.

Conclusions:

While we caution generalization of the findings, this study contributes to the evidence-base on the use of research by documenting that judges and attorneys most often use research conceptually (i.e., research changes their perspective which then changes their behavior). Although respondents also reported using research-based tools to make specific decisions (instrumental use), many reported overriding research when they felt it conflicted with their judgment, suggesting that political use of research may be prevalent.
Robust Testing in Outpatient Settings to Explore COVID-19 Epidemiology: Disparities in Race/Ethnicity and Age, Salt Lake County, Utah, 2020
Authors: Ahmed Sharia M. , Shah Rashmee U. , Fernandez Valerie , Grineski Sara , Brintz Benjamin , Samore Matthew H. , Ferrari Matthew J. , Leung Daniel T. , Keegan Lindsay T.
Published: February 2021

Objective

US-based descriptions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have focused on patients with severe disease. Our objective was to describe characteristics of a predominantly outpatient population tested for SARS-CoV-2 in an area receiving comprehensive testing.

Methods

We extracted data on demographic characteristics and clinical data for all patients (91% outpatient) tested for SARS-CoV-2 at University of Utah Health clinics in Salt Lake County, Utah, from March 10 through April 24, 2020. We manually extracted data on symptoms and exposures from a subset of patients, and we calculated the adjusted odds of receiving a positive test result by demographic characteristics and clinical risk factors.

Results

Of 17 662 people tested, 1006 (5.7%) received a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2. Hispanic/Latinx people were twice as likely as non-Hispanic White people to receive a positive test result (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3-3.1), although the severity at presentation did not explain this discrepancy. Young people aged 0-19 years had the lowest rates of receiving a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2 (<4 cases per 10 000 population), and adults aged 70-79 and 40-49 had the highest rates of hospitalization per 100 000 population among people who received a positive test result (16 and 11, respectively).

Conclusions

We found disparities by race/ethnicity and age in access to testing and in receiving a positive test result among outpatients tested for SARS-CoV-2. Further research and public health outreach on addressing racial/ethnic and age disparities will be needed to effectively combat the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the United States.
Adolescents Like Instagram! From Secret Dangers to an Educational Model by its Use Motives and Features: An Analysis of Their Mind Maps
Authors: Fidan Mustafa , Debbağ Murat , Fidan Başak
Published: February 2021

This study investigates the adolescents’ perceptions toward Instagram as a social network site via their mind maps and tries to understand this social phenomenon that affect them by its use motives and features. It also offers a general profile of social network site use among adolescents. Data were collected from 540 adolescents majoring in high schools of Turkey. The participants created their mind maps on Instagram in the visual arts course. Qualitative data were resolved using thematic analysis. Results highlighted the popularity of Instagram among adolescents. According to their mental images on Instagram, we found four categories: “communication and interaction,” “knowledge acquisition,” “entertainment and sharing,” and “negative effects of Instagram.” In addition to their positive perceptions toward Instagram, the majority of adolescents focused on the negative effects such as addiction, mood disorders, narcissistic acts, and ethics violations. Based on the findings, we also suggested a theoretical model for educational use of Instagram and directions for future research.
Transforming Family Resemblance Concepts into Fuzzy Sets
Authors: Veri Francesco
Published: February 2021

This article aims to clarify fundamental aspects of the process of assigning fuzzy scores to conditions based on family resemblance (FR) structures by considering prototype and set theories. Prototype theory and set theory consider FR structures from two different angles. Specifically, set theory links the conceptualization of FR to the idea of sufficient and INUS (Insufficient but Necessary part of a condition, which is itself Unnecessary but Sufficient for the result) sets. In contrast, concept membership in prototype theory is strictly linked to the notion of similarity (or resemblance) in relation to the prototype, which is the anchor of the ideational content of the concept. After an introductive section where I elucidate set-theoretic and prototypical aspects of concept formation, I individuate the axiomatic properties that identify the principles of transforming FR structures into fuzzy sets. Finally, I propose an algorithm based on the power mean that is able to operationalize FR structures considering both set-theoretic and prototype theory perspectives.
Gender discrimination in societal and familial realms: Understanding agency among Chinese marriage migrant women in Switzerland
Authors: Chen Yali
Published: February 2021

To understand the agency of Chinese marriage migrant women in Switzerland in their everyday life, the present article examines the reasons why Chinese women marry European men and their post-migratory life in Switzerland. Based on interviews with Chinese marriage migrant women, the article discusses their gendered representations before migration (as “leftover women” or “divorced women”) to being “foreign wives” after migration to Switzerland. Their migration from China to Switzerland also resulted to a change in their roles from “professional women” to “homemakers.” The gender-related discrimination the women encountered from China to their post-migration life in Switzerland demonstrates a continuum of gender discrimination in which they highly exert their agency that has also been enhanced by acts of resistance.
What Jesus Did, Does and May Do in Future: Gospel Miracles, Human Augmentation, Transhumanism and the Future of New Testament Studies
Authors: Lyons William John
Published: February 2021

The quest of New Testament studies for a well-resourced future would be substantially aided by its explicit abandonment of a narrow methodological focus in favour of building links with other disciplines and by its acknowledgment that exegetical insights may arise from examining the impact of biblical texts down the centuries. In the potential appropriation of Jesus by Christian transhumanists interested in human bodily enhancement, for example, the healings of his earthly ministry are ignored because they are understood to restore human bodies to a previous form (a position recognizable in much of New Testament scholarship) rather than augment them to a new one. Building on deaf nineteenth-century interpretations which see the mental abilities of the deaf man in Mk 7.32-37 as being enhanced beyond human norms by Jesus, this article examines the healings of three blind men (Mk 8.22-26, Mk 10.46-52 and Jn 9.1-41). While the Johannine blind man is explicitly said to be blind from birth (whatever New Testament translations have often been made to say!), this article proposes that Blind Bartimaeus in Mk 10 should also be viewed this way. While their becoming sighted restores them to a common human pattern, their lack of prior sighted-experience means that it is their ability to see instantly that strongly implies the presence of an augmentative element to their healings. A postscript notes the different attitudes to the permission required to transform the human body within these narratives and suggests transhumanists consider the ethical implications of each story carefully before they incorporate the earthly Jesus into their arguments.