bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Digital Archives and Unexpected Crossings
Authors: Faniyi Ololade , Gajjala Radhika
Published: September 2024

This chapter explores the hashtag #EndDiscriminationAgainstHijab within a larger context of digital archives as it connects to transnational hijab struggles. Adopting a data feminist approach, the chapter presents an exploration of Twitter data related to a small, situated part of the larger conversation around the #hijab. Through computational analysis and close feminist reading of tweet clusters, the examination focuses on the contextual implications in Nigeria and reveals instances of context collapse. It examines how users intentionally forge links between distinct hijab struggles in Iran and Nigeria, as well as draw connections between Amada Firdaus’ hijabi resistance and Rosa Parks’ activism. Emphasizing the significance of networked conversations on Twitter, the findings highlight powerful connections that transcend geopolitical borders. By showcasing the navigation and contextual interpretation of these tweet interactions, the chapter aims to highlight the importance of engaging with context, power structures, and agency in social media activism for transnational feminist media studies scholars.
Subaltern Digital Cultures
Authors: Lim Elisha , Kaur-Gill Satveer , Kantachote Krittiya
Published: September 2024

This chapter offers a critical evaluation of TikTok for social justice, particularly inequitable and taken-for-granted assumptions about “creators,” and “users,” typically assumed by social media studies and particularly influencer studies, that users are individuated subjects of social capital or, as Spivak argues, a “naturally articulate subject of oppression.” Instead this chapter considers how platform business models support and repress subaltern communities. For example, in host countries in which it is illegal for migrant domestic workers to participate in civil society, TikTok is used for promoting voice, collectivizing informational resources, and centering identities beyond those marked for workers in host countries. However, this empowerment through social media participation is not without limitations. The chapter discusses domestic workers in Singapore as unfree TikTok users lodged within the employment context of soft violence, economic indenture, and commercial erasure. The question, Can the subaltern TikTok? recognizes their produsage as one of extreme digital (im)mobility.
Health Media Activism
Authors: Hernández Leandra Hinojosa
Published: September 2024

This chapter examines Latin American perspectives on health activism in the mass media through the lens of digital interactivity, leaderless networks, and community resistance to feminicides and violence against women. Specifically, this chapter, building upon previous research, explores the ways in which Latin American activists have engaged in leaderless rebellions through the lens of digital interactivity and hashtag feminism to respond to feminicides or the senseless murdering of women in Latin American contexts because of their gender. The chapter first explores the history of Ni Una Menos, one of the world’s foremost anti-violence and anti-feminicide activist groups. Next, it analyzes Ni Una Menos’ social media and physical engagement in anti-femicide organizing to combat violence against women. Finally, it discusses the evolution of health media activism in social media contexts.
Using Artificial Intelligence to Address Health Disparities
Authors: Merrill Kelly
Published: September 2024

In recent years, researchers and practitioners have demonstrated the various benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) for addressing health disparities. For example, AI can provide health care providers with substantial patient-generated health data and recommendations regarding patient care, which reduce administrative strain and allow the provider to spend more time with the patient. However, limited people have access to AI designed for health, and AI that is currently available tends to serve a specific group of people. Thus, this chapter discusses the various shortcomings of using AI in health care, with a particular focus on accessibility, usability, algorithmic bias, privacy, and trust. This chapter also discusses ways to overcome these shortcomings to ensure that AI for health can benefit a greater number of individuals. The chapter concludes with suggestions regarding the use of AI for health.
Emboldening Democratic Pedagogies About Media and Justice Through Critical Media Literacy and Peer Teaching
Authors: Gambino Andrea , Share Jeff
Published: September 2024

This chapter describes the authors’ experiences teaching critical media literacy to undergraduates at a public university during the COVID-19 pandemic and the authors’ attempts to disrupt traditional power structures that position instructors as experts and students as passive receivers of information. To guide students to critically analyze and create alternative media, the critical media literacy framework and the three pedagogical dimensions of critical awareness, skills, and disposition were used. In the tradition of John Dewey and Paulo Freire, students were invited to design and facilitate lessons for their peers to critically analyze media and act upon the issues that concern them. Peer teachers led their classmates to challenge problematic media representations by collaboratively creating alternative media texts. Incorporating peer teaching with critical media literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic led to online, in-person, and hybrid examples of the potential to improve learning and teaching for social and environmental justice.
LGBT Activism, Social Media, and the Politics of Queer Visibility in Ghana
Authors: Asante Godfried A. , Mohammed Wunpini Fatimata , Appiah-Kubi Ama Boatemaa
Published: September 2024

This chapter explores how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and sassoi (LGBTS) Ghanaian activists use social media to mitigate the tensions around their desire for political visibility and need for personal safety. Same-sex sexual relations continue to be a criminal offense in Ghana under the carnal knowledge clause instituted by the British during colonization. Although the law does not specifically mention same-sex sexual relations, the carnal knowledge clause criminalizes all forms of nonheterosexual sexual activities, creating room for the legitimation of vigilante and state violence against LGBT persons. The criminalization of same-sex sexual relations has sparked intense debates about African subjectivity. In Ghana, such debates are largely shaped by anti-LGBT media organizations that have partnered with anti-LGBT politicians and religious fundamentalists both in Ghana and in the United States to discursively frame LGBT rights as part of Western colonial efforts. In Ghana, it is argued that LGBT rights and gay marriage will morally bankrupt the nation and further entrench Western imperialist control of Ghana’s culture and resources. False arguments such as this have created a rationalization for homophobic violence and discrimination against LGBT Ghanaians. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow for such complex maneuvering to occur by creating room for anonymity and privacy. Nonetheless, such sites are not outside the confines of social hierarchy in face-to-face interaction. As such, these sites should be approached as spaces where desires for social justice intersect with corporate capitalist extractivist tactics and in turn complicate the efficacy of social justice efforts.
Indigenous Media Organizing
Authors: Dutta Mohan J. , Elers Christine Ngā Hau
Published: September 2024

Across diverse global registers, Indigenous media reflect the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people to secure sovereignty over symbolic and material resources. The neo/settler colonial processes that have historically constituted and continue to shape the expulsion and displacement of Indigenous people from land, habits, livelihoods, and ecosystems continue to Indigenous struggles, catalyzed by the accelerated processes of extreme neoliberalism. This chapter explores the nature of Indigenous media as spaces of raising claims to social justice from the framework of Indigenous rights. Drawing on a decolonizing register, and specifically building on the culture-centered approach to communication, the chapter depicts the processes of Indigenous organizing constituted around the co-creation and sustenance of media infrastructures for Indigenous justice.
The Future of Media and Social Justice
Authors: Ramasubramanian Srividya , Banjo Omotayo O.
Published: September 2024

Nation-states, the military–industry–prison complex, and fundamentalist organizations use media and technology as tools for surveillance, violence, exploitation, propaganda, genocide, and apartheid. Against this backdrop, scholars, educators, and community leaders are urged to use media and technology to elevate the voice, agency, and resistance of those in the margins. Centering intersecting structures of social inequalities such as White supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, classism, heteronormativity, casteism, fundamentalism, and colonialism within cultural and media systems means that media scholar–activists have to stay vigilant of how social justice is being weaponized, co-opted, and contained in ways that serve status quo dominant ideologies. Scholar–activists must work collectively to create spaces for solidarity, safety, and sense-making within classrooms, creative industries, and communities for scholar–activists and media-makers who speak out against repression by those in power. Together, they must re-envision the role of media and technology in people’s shared collective futures through reckoning, restoration, and reparative justice for collective healing and flourishing.
Critical Media Effects Framework
Authors: Ramasubramanian Srividya , Banjo Omotayo O.
Published: September 2024

This chapter advances the Critical Media Effects (CME) framework as a way of bridging two major subfields of communication that seldom speak to one another: media effects scholarship and critical cultural communication. CME is situated within the dominant mode of social scientific theorizing within media effects scholarship and draws on four key interrelated concepts from critical cultural communication: power, intersectionality, context, and agency. CME advocates for greater reflexivity, rigor, and nuance in theorizing about media effects to better respond to the complexity and dynamicity of emerging global sociopolitical mediated contexts. Recommendations, salient examples, and future directions for co-creating a shared research roadmap for CME are discussed. Through this work of bridging, the goal is to promote more collaborative partnerships, productive engagement, and mutual solidarity across these two important subfields to address the most pressing social issues and challenges of the world today.
Black Audiences and Media Resistance
Authors: Stamps David
Published: September 2024

Black individuals have always engaged in acts of resistance, and using the media to aid in resistance is not novel. This chapter draws attention to scholarship on Black audiences’ media use and its relationship to the group’s collective efforts of resistance to anti-Blackness. The text draws on salient concepts, including intersectionality, racial centrality, and counterpublics, as concepts that connect the group’s efforts to advocacy and resistance. A discussion is provided of contemporary research and theoretical frameworks that have examined Black representation, media consumption, and the impact on Black audiences’ efforts toward resistance. The chapter argues that resistance is interwoven into Black individuals’ media use. As such, media is one of many tools to engage in resistance and seek liberation.
Queer of Color Approaches to Critical Cultural Media Studies
Authors: Kimura Keisuke , Eguchi Shinsuke
Published: September 2024

LGBTQ+ movements advocating equality and human rights for LGBTQ+ people are gaining visibility throughout the world. Under such trends, queer of color approaches that centralize connections between queerness and race as the analytic method for studying media and social justice are increasing. Queer of color approaches politicize, historicize, and contextualize complexities and contradictions of racialized queerness as non-normative identities, performances, and politics to de/reconstruct taken-for-granted conditions, structures, and relations of power. Accordingly, queer of color approaches value the historically saturated and culturally specific ways of knowing about interactions and processes, institutions, and systems that emerged from the lived experiences of queer people of color mirroring the simultaneous operations of differences. Hence, centering intersectional knowledge as the referring points, scholars who deploy queer of color approaches question and critique media practices that alter, shape, and reinforce situated meanings.
Queer and Transgender Media Studies
Authors: Zhang Erique , Billard Thomas J
Published: September 2024

This chapter examines queer and transgender theoretical approaches to the study of media as it pertains to social justice. The chapter presents a brief overview of queer and trans theory before tracing how media scholars have approached the question of representation in media. It is shown how critical theoretical frameworks such as queer of color critique have intervened into queer and trans media studies to further shed light on the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. The chapter then explores examples of research in emerging digital media technologies that move the field of queer and trans media studies beyond its traditional focus on legacy media (e.g., film and television). It is argued that media scholars must incorporate empirical methods alongside humanistic inquiry to fully account for the complexity of issues in the contemporary media landscape. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research, focusing on digital media and technology.
Popular Republicanism and Racial Exclusion
Authors: Jagmohan Desmond
Published: September 2024

The central claim of this chapter is that Martin R. Delany’s political thought emerged as a counterpoint to two developments in Northern states between 1830 and the mid-1850s. First, these states were disenfranchising their free African American population as they were extending the franchise to propertyless white men. Second, a conventions movement led by free African Americans arose in response to these disenfranchisement efforts. Focusing on both contexts shows that Delany drew on Roman political thought to offer a critique of political inequality that went far beyond the redemptive republicanism of the conventions. Though he emphasized freedom from arbitrary power, his writings centred on political equality, which he said required the right to vote and hold office. Delany also argued that the racialized discourses supporting disenfranchisement would produce social injuries that outlived the laws they ushered into the world. In addressing the political inequality free African Americans suffered in the North, Delany’s writings anticipated the world that emerged after slavery, essentially showing that Jim Crow was a child of the antebellum North that came of age in the postbellum South.
Impact of Agricultural Input Subsidy on Nutritional Outcomes in Malawi
Authors: Novignon Jacob , Chirwa Gowokani Chijere , Frempong Raymond Boadi
Published: September 2024

This chapter examined the impact of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) on nutrition. Household panel data from the Malawi Integrated Household Panel Surveys for 2010 and 2013 was used. Using Poisson and two-stage least square (2SLS) regressions models, results suggest a generally positive impact of the FISP programme on household nutritional status. A gender-disaggregated analysis indicates that while there was no difference in the direction of impact, the magnitude was higher for female-headed households than for male-headed households. There was also evidence of a positive impact of food price fluctuations on nutritional outcomes. The findings emphasize the relevance of farm input subsidy programmes in reshaping agricultural and nutritional outcomes in developing countries.
Constructed Socio-Economic Exclusion
Authors: Manyungwa-Pasani Chikondi Lydia , Nagoli Joseph
Published: September 2024

This chapter highlights gender inequalities that hamper women’s realization of their potential in small-scale fisheries in Malawi. The study uses in-depth analysis of drivers of inequalities and regulatory frameworks in the context of constraints and barriers women face in fish farming based on information from literature on the determinant factors that contribute to marginalization of women. It finds that women have less recourse to legal recognition and protection, lower access to public knowledge and information, and less decision-making power. It notes that law alone cannot guarantee gender equality, hence the need to adopt inclusive and equitable approaches that harness consciousness-raising to enhance women’s participation in small-scale fisheries value chains.
Intensification as a Strategy to Promote Dairy Farming in Malawi
Authors: Kawonga Bettie Sindi , Banda Beatrice
Published: September 2024

The Malawi government’s strategy to enhance dairy productivity has focused on applying technological approaches to reinforce ecological (zero-grazing) and genetic (modern breeding technologies) intensification. Despite these concerted efforts, dairy productivity has faced enormous challenges. The objective of this chapter is to shed light on Malawi’s intensification strategies and the pivotal role played by producer groups in driving this process. A survey was conducted over the period 2016–2017, encompassing three distinct groups: cooperatives, conventional groups, and non-conventional groups. The existence of specialized structures for milk bulking and marketing indicates a coordinated effort in both milk production and market facilitation. Nevertheless, significant differences were observed among the groups concerning farmers’ access to inputs and veterinary services. The study suggests the need for intensification strategies to incorporate the unique characteristics of producer groups to allow for more targeted interventions, to ensure that resources are allocated effectively.
Barriers to Crop Insurance Adoption Among Malawian Farmers
Authors: Kamwana Hamilton , Mangisoni Julius , Machila Ken , Makoka Donald
Published: September 2024

Although crop insurance is ideal to cushion challenges that are associated with climate change, adoption of the product by smallholder farmers remains low. Several researchers have investigated the challenges that affect the adoption of crop insurance. However, what remains unclear is whether the identified challenges have the same influence on adoption decisions. Likewise, it has not yet been determined which crop insurance attributes are considered important in crop insurance adoption decisions. The study used the Problem Confrontation Index (PCI) and the Relative Importance Index (RII) to rank the problems that hinder crop insurance adoption and crop insurance attributes in relation to adoption decisions. Lack of knowledge about crop insurance, inadequate access to credit, limited access to weather and climate information, and limited access to markets are found to be the main barriers to crop insurance adoption.
The Election Commission of India and Its Evolution
Authors: Bora Banasmita
Published: September 2024

Election logistics in India which involves immaculate strategic planning and preparation for around 911 million electorate is however not just about size and magnitude; it is also about enabling the democratic process, while dealing with regional, religious, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity. Over the years, with the emergence of new condition the voting system in India has gone through various changes. The size of the electorate, the number of political parties and candidates contesting elections, election expenditure, and modes of communication have gone up manifold since the first elections. The Election Commission of India has acquired significant public trust in the country and abroad for the remarkable electoral journey in India.
The Party System
Authors: Diwakar Rekha
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides an overview of the party system in India in respect of its evolution, key characteristics, determinants, and consequences. It discusses the various phases of the evolution of the Indian party system, beginning with the Congress’s dominance followed by its decline and the rise of regional parties, leading to fragmentation and emergence of coalition politics, and more recently, a shift towards the BJP’s dominance. The chapter’s main argument is that the party system in India has been shaped by various institutional, sociological and contextual factors. It highlights that parties in India function within the institutional framework of a federal structure and the single-member plurality electoral system (SMPS), and that the multiplicity of parties can be viewed as an outcome of the politicisation of the social cleavages of religion, caste, culture and region. The chapter also outlines the recent developments in the Indian party system especially the rise and dominance of the BJP at the national level as the country approaches its 18th national election in 2024. It concludes that the party system in India is likely to remain fluid and continue to reflect the country’s social and regional diversity amid the workings of the SMPS and a federal form of governance.
The Politics of Public Service Delivery in India
Authors: Maiorano Diego
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides an overview of public service delivery in India, focusing, in particular, on welfare, health, and education. The starting point of the analysis is the poor record of the Indian state in ensuring good living conditions to a large section of its citizens, as reflected in low human development indicators. The chapter then focuses on a key reason why India is unable to provide essential services evenly and effectively: the lack of state capacity, understood as a lack of financial and human resources. The chapters focus on the political determinants of the lack of state capacity, which results in uneven and poor service delivery.
The Lok Sabha
Authors: Madhavan M. R.
Published: September 2024

Lok Sabha is the directly elected House of Parliament with the exclusive right to elect the Prime Minister. Its functioning on various parameters—days met, time lost to disruptions, proportion of bills passed through recorded vote—has been declining over the last few decades. In this paper, we discuss two major aspects that need to be addressed for the House to safeguard its role as an institution of accountability. First, we discuss how the antidefection law has weakened the role of members of parliament as national level representatives of citizens. Second, we discuss the role of the Speaker as a neutral arbiter and whether the office acts in an impartial manner.
The Functions and Challenges of Indian Defence Policy
Authors: Tarapore Arzan
Published: September 2024

The three core functions of Indian defense policy are the defense of India’s territorial boundaries, the management of sub-conventional threats, and the projection of regional influence. The military has carried out these functions with a mixed record in decades past—but whatever its historical performance, India faces a rapidly evolving set of challenges in fulfilling each core function. This chapter takes a functional view, to assess India’s ability to execute the top priorities of its defense policy.
Drivers of India’s South Asia Policy
Authors: Jacob Happymon
Published: September 2024

New Delhi has had a troubled relationship with its immediate neighbourhood, the South Asian region, despite being the region’s biggest state in every sense of the term. The chapter argues that the following key drivers have broadly shaped India’s regional policy, and its troubled relationship with the neighbourhood, since its independence from the British colonial rule in 1947: remnants of the British colonial legacy, India’s Regional Primacy in South Asia, great power aspirations, sense of insecurity, worries about an ascendant China, and New Delhi’s lacklustre desire for regionalism.
Financial Incentives for Improving Maternal Health: A Review of Ethical Considerations
Authors: Jegan Roshni , Rose Anuradha , Dierickx Kris
Published: September 2024

Maternal health is considered a key global priority by the World Health Organization, and several strategies are used to promote it. Especially in lower- and lower-middle-income countries, one widely used strategy employs financial incentives to motivate pregnant women to access available healthcare. While such interventions have been extensively empirically evaluated, their normative aspects appear to have received less attention. To address this gap, we systematically searched and reviewed normative and qualitative literature to map and analyze the ethical considerations of using financial incentives to promote maternal health. Twenty-three articles (four normative and 19 qualitative) were included in the review. We grouped ethical considerations under six categories, namely the program structure, promoting institutional births, of the ethical significance of cash, justifying conditionalities for maternal health, effects on individuals’ decision-making and the experiences of vulnerable groups. While incentives could be used for beneficent goals, we show how they may emphasize global rather than local solutions, impose unfamiliar sociocultural values, unfairly expect behavior change and disempower individuals and groups. We argue that future maternal health policy, especially those targeting vulnerable groups and minorities, would benefit from taking these normative considerations into account.
Moments of Artin–Schreier L-functions
Authors: Florea Alexandra , Jones Edna , Lalin Matilde
Published: September 2024

We compute moments of L-functions associated to the polynomial family of Artin–Schreier covers over $\mathbb{F}_q$, where q is a power of a prime p > 2, when the size of the finite field is fixed and the genus of the family goes to infinity. More specifically, we compute the $k{\text{th}}$ moment for a large range of values of k, depending on the sizes of p and q. We also compute the second moment in absolute value of the polynomial family, obtaining an exact formula with a lower order term, and confirming the unitary symmetry type of the family.
On the up and up: the job mobility of skilled return migrants
Authors: Jacobs Elizabeth
Published: September 2024

This paper examines the labor market incorporation of skilled Indian migrants returning home after working in the United States. I analyze a novel dataset of 7,177 time-varying transnational employment histories from LinkedIn using logistic regression and survival analysis. I find that skilled Indian migrants experience occupational upgrades when re-entering their home labor market, buoyed by foreign human capital and compensating for US legal status restrictions. While immigrants often face initial occupational downgrades and job mobility constraints in foreign labor markets, return migrants experience stability, promotions and accelerated rates of job mobility at home. The paper contributes to the literature on return migration, a significant but understudied dimension of international migration due to data constraints. I offer LinkedIn employment histories as digital data source to address these limitations and leverage their rich spatio-temporal information. These data help expand prior research on return migrant wages to broader questions about transnational migrant career trajectories. The findings shed light into where high-demand migrants might maximize their career growth, and have implications for understanding the policies shaping the recruitment and retention of skilled workers in the global labor market.
Development of Measures for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Stigma: Introduction to the Special Supplement on Stigma Measurement Tools
Authors: Stockton Melissa A. , Francis Howard W. , West Jessica S. , Stelmach Rachel D. , Troutman Adams Elizabeth , Kraemer John D. , Saalim Khalida , Wallhagen Margaret I. , Nyarko Marco , Madson Gabriel , Boafo Neal , Owusu Nana Akua V. , Musa Lawrence G. , Alberg Joni , Chung Jenny Jae Won , Preston Adam , Gyamera Emma , Chadha Shelly , Davis Lisa P. , Garg Suneela , McMahon Catherine , Olusanya Bolajoko O. , Tavartkiladze George A. , Tucci Debara , Wilson Blake S. , Smith Sherri L. , Nyblade Laura
Published: September 2024

People who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) often experience stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. Qualitative research describing their lived experiences has provided useful, in-depth insights into the pervasiveness of stigma. Quantitative measures could facilitate further investigation of the scope of this phenomenon. Thus, under the auspices of the Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss, we developed and preliminarily validated survey measures of different types of stigma related to d/Deafness and hearing loss in the United States (a high-income country) and Ghana (a lower-middle income country). In this introductory article, we first present working definitions of the different types of stigma; an overview of what is known about stigma in the context of hearing loss; and the motivation underlying the development of measures that capture different types of stigma from the perspectives of different key groups. We then describe the mixed-methods exploratory sequential approach used to develop the stigma measures for several key groups: people who are d/DHH, parents of children who are d/DHH, care partners of people who are d/DHH, healthcare providers, and the general population. The subsequent manuscripts in this special supplement of Ear and Hearing describe the psychometric validation of the various stigma scales developed using these methods.
What Patient-related Factors Most Strongly Influence Autologous Fat Grafting Volume Retention in Breast Augmentation?
Authors: Utsunomiya Hiroki , Maruyama Naoki , Onodera Takaaki
Published: September 2024

Background:

Regarding autologous fat grafting for breast augmentation, the factors influencing volume retention are unclear. Few studies have assessed which factors, particularly patient-related variables, could affect volume retention and to what extent, without performing multivariate analysis. In this study, we performed three-dimensional breast volume measurements before and after autologous fat grafting, calculated the volume and volume retention, and investigated factors that may affect volume retention.

Methods:

A total of 204 breasts that underwent autologous fat grafting by the same surgeon at our hospital between May 25 and December 25, 2021 were included. Volumetric measurements were taken preoperatively and at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively using a three-dimensional camera; volume retention was calculated. Linear mixed model analysis was performed to examine the effects of age, body mass index, number of total autologous fat grafting procedures, pregnancy and lactation history, smoking status, fat processing techniques (sedimentation versus centrifugation), preoperative volume, and weight change at the 3- and 6-month postoperative volume retention analyses.

Results:

Using multivariate analysis, the preoperative volume was found to be a significant factor at 3 and 6 months. The preoperative volume affected fat volume retention rate by 0.004 (P = 0.001) and 0.008 (P = 0.011) per 10 mL at 3 and 6 months, respectively.

Conclusions:

The preoperative volume likely affected fat volume retention. Specifically, a 100-mL increase in the preoperative breast volume might increase the volume retention by 4%–8%. Preoperative volume is an important confounding factor for future studies.
Persistent (Nav1.9) sodium currents in human dorsal root ganglion neurons
Authors: Zhang Xiulin , Hartung Jane E. , Gold Michael S.
Published: September 2024

Nav1.9 is of interest to the pain community for a number of reasons, including the human mutations in the gene encoding Nav1.9, SCN11a, that are associated with both pain and loss of pain phenotypes. However, because much of what we know about the biophysical properties of Nav1.9 has been learned through the study of rodent sensory neurons, and there is only 76% identity between human and rodent homologs of SCN11a, there is reason to suggest that there may be differences in the biophysical properties of the channels in human and rodent sensory neurons, and consequently, the contribution of these channels to the control of sensory neuron excitability, if not pain. Thus, the purpose of this study was to characterize Nav1.9 currents in human sensory neurons and compare the properties of these currents with those in rat sensory neurons recorded under identical conditions. Whole-cell patch clamp techniques were used to record Nav1.9 currents in isolated sensory neurons in vitro. Our results indicate that several of the core biophysical properties of the currents, including persistence and a low threshold for activation, are conserved across species. However, we noted a number of potentially important differences between the currents in human and rat sensory neurons including a lower threshold for activation, higher threshold for inactivation, slower deactivation, and faster recovery from slow inactivation. Human Nav1.9 was inhibited by inflammatory mediators, whereas rat Nav1.9 was potentiated. Our results may have implications for the role of Nav1.9 in sensory, if not nociceptive signaling.
The association between bullying victimization and back pain in young people: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis
Authors: Phillips Nichole , Brown Benjamin T. , Jones Michael P. , Magson Natasha , Beynon Amber , Swain Michael S.
Published: September 2024

Back pain is a common and recurrent health complaint in adolescence. Psychosocial factors may be associated with the onset and persistence of back pain symptoms. This systematic review aims to determine the association between bullying victimization and back pain in young people. Observational studies that quantified the association between bullying victimization and back pain in participants were included in this systematic review. Estimates of associations and confidence intervals were extracted. A random effects meta-analysis of estimates of association was performed. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies. Database searches yielded 18,311 citations. Nineteen studies (n = 212,058, 51.4% female) were included in our review. Meta-analysis showed a positive association between bullying victimization and back pain (odds ratio 1.93, confidence interval 1.75-2.13). Subgroup analysis showed no statistically significant effect of sex, age, bullying type, pain type, recall periods, bullying frequency, back pain frequency, risk estimate adjustment, and study critical appraisal rating. All studies were rated at moderate-high risk of bias. Our synthesis of evidence found a weak-moderate association between bullying victimization and back pain in young people. Methodological shortcomings and heterogeneity in the field limit causal inference. Future longitudinal studies are required.
The application value of bacteriophage in patients with severe drug-resistant bacterial infections
Authors: Chen Juan , Huang Man
Published: September 2024

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents one of the most significant global public health threats, imposing substantial economic burdens. To address this critical issue of resistance, one of the most promising alternative strategies for treating antimicrobial resistant bacterial infections is bacteriophage therapy. Bacteriophages exhibit high specificity towards bacteria, capable of lysing and killing specific bacterial strains. Phage cocktails can broaden the spectrum of activity, contribute to target multiple types of bacteria. Personalized bacteriophage therapy, tailored to individual patients, enhances precise targeting of pathogens. Increasing evidence supports the feasibility of phage-antibiotic combinations in treating multidrug-resistant bacteria. Furthermore, genetic engineering, including technologies like clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas, has advanced the development of engineering phages, providing novel ways to kill bacterial hosts. This review discusses the research progress of bacteriophage for refractory infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, the advantages and limitations of phage therapy, and highlights clinical studies and case reports of various phage treatment modalities.
Single center experience developing sustainable genetics clinical care: a model to address workforce challenges in medical genetics
Authors: Kinney Aaron , Dalton Shelisa A. , McCarrier Julie , Basel Donald
Published: September 2024

Purpose of review

The national workforce shortage in genetics is being evaluated in order to identify a sustainable solution to the increasing demand for genomic services. An innovative solution to the short term needs is to integrate advanced practice providers (APPs) and embed genetic counselors into both outpatient and inpatient specialty care. Incorporating APPs into a genetic service is not unique in itself, but the method of implementation at Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) was, at the time, unchartered.

Recent findings

There are >100 vacancies for board certified medical geneticists across the nation, training programs are not enrolling sufficient trainees to meet demand and more than a third of the current workforce plan to retire within the next 10 years.

The integration of advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants etc.) into both primary and specialty care has been an evolving practice since the mid-1900s and incorporating APPs into a genetic service was not unique in itself but the method of implementation was new at that time. This is a model to successfully develop a clinical practice model around a team-based structure incorporating nurse clinicians, advanced practice providers, genetic counselors, nutritionists, and physicians into an academic clinical genetics practice.
A Retrospective Study on Botulinum Toxin Injection in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Related Tremor: A Treatment Option Worth Trying
Authors: Gonul Oner Ozge , Erturk Cetin Ozdem , Serkan Demir
Published: September 2024

Objectives

Multiple sclerosis (MS)-related tremor remains a disabling problem that often responds poorly to medical treatments. This study aims to evaluate the effect of botulinum toxin type A on MS-related upper limb tremor.

Methods

This retrospective observational cohort study included 8 patients who received intramuscular injections of onabotulinum toxin type A for medically refractory MS-related tremor. Hospital records before and 4–6 weeks after treatment, including the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor rating scale (FTM-TRS), electrophysiological tremor analysis, neurological examination findings, and videos, were reviewed retrospectively.

Results

There was significant improvement after botulinum toxin injection in the FTM TRS part A score for tremor (P = 0.011), FTM TRS part B score for hand function (P = 0.011), FTM Part score for activities of daily living (P = 0.012), and FTM TRS total score for overall evaluation (P = 0.012). Electrophysiological tremor analysis revealed maximal tremor amplitudes between 700–2000 μV (before treatment) and between 300–1000 μV (after treatment). The mean tremor amplitudes before and after treatment were 1350 μV and 725 μV, respectively. No adverse reactions were observed after botulinum toxin treatment.

Conclusions

BoNT may improve upper limb tremor and functionality in MS-related tremor. The treatment involved administering BoNT under EMG guidance, with careful muscle selection based on clinical assessment and EMG findings. This approach aimed to optimize treatment efficacy while minimizing potential adverse effects. Further studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
Evaluation of Klebsiella pneumoniae pathogenicity through holistic gene content analysis
Authors: Isogai Miyu , Kawamura Kumiko , Yagi Tetsuya , Kayama Shizuo , Sugai Motoyuki , Doi Yohei , Suzuki Masahiro
Published: September 2024

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes both community- and healthcare-associated infections. Although various virulence factors and highly pathogenic phenotypes have been reported, the pathogenicity of K. pneumoniae is still not fully understood. In this study, we utilized whole-genome sequencing data of 168 clinical K. pneumoniae strains to assess pathogenicity. This work was based on the concept that the genetic composition of individual genomes (referred to as holistic gene content) of the strains may contribute to their pathogenicity. Holistic gene content analysis revealed two distinct groups of K. pneumoniae strains (‘major group’ and ‘minor group’). The minor group included strains with known highly pathogenic clones (ST23, ST375, ST65 and ST86). The minor group had higher rates of capsular genotype K1 and presence of nine specific virulence genes (rmpA, iucA, iutA, irp2, fyuA, ybtS, iroN, allS and clbA) compared to the major group. Pathogenicity was assessed using Galleria mellonella larvae. Infection experiments revealed lower survival rates of larvae infected with strains from the minor group, indicating higher virulence. In addition, the minor group had a higher string test positivity rate than the major group. Holistic gene content analysis predicted possession of virulence genes, string test positivity and pathogenicity as observed in the G. mellonella infection model. Moreover, the findings suggested the presence of as yet unrecognized genomic elements that are either involved in the acquisition of virulence genes or associated with pathogenicity.
Valorization of refined sardine oil in canned Sardina
pilchardus
Authors: Mkadem Hind
Published: September 2024

This study aimed to use refined sardine oil as a covering juice in canned
Sardina pilchardus. The oil’s fatty acid profile,
acidity, peroxide value, and p-anisidine value were analyzed. The biochemical
composition, histamine content, and bacteriological stability of the canned
sardines were determined. The results showed that canned sardines contained
51.40 g of moisture, 27.87 g of fat, 17.91 g of protein, and 1.03 g of salt per
100 g net weight. The fatty acid composition included 10.35% polyunsaturated
fatty acids, 8.86% saturated fatty acids, and 6.27% monounsaturated fatty acids,
with the most abundant fatty acids being eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), palmitic
acid, oleic acid, myristic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). This recipe
provided 8.88 g/100 g (net weight) of EPA and DHA. These findings support the
interest in using refined fish oil to enrich foods with essential marine fatty
acids, highly recommended for their health benefits and leading to encouraging
prospects for sardine canneries to develop new and nutritious value
products.
Surgical hyoid bone repositioning effects on mandibular advancement and upper airway collapsibility
Authors: Tannous Hiba J , Samaha Corine J , Chami Hassan A , Ghafari Joseph G , Amatoury Jason
Published: September 2024

Mandibular advancement serves as a treatment option for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but its effectiveness differs among patients. The position of the hyoid bone is crucial for maintaining upper airway patency and may influence mandibular advancement outcomes. This study aimed to assess the impact of surgical hyoid re-positioning on mandibular advancement-induced changes in upper airway collapsibility in an animal model.

Methods

Twelve anesthetized male New Zealand White rabbits underwent mandibular advancement (0-4mm), combined with hyoid repositioning in various directions (anterior, cranial, caudal, anterior-cranial, anterior-caudal) and increments (0- 4mm). Upper airway collapsibility was quantified as the negative pressure required to close the airway (Pclose) at various mandibular and hyoid positions.

Results

Increasing mandibular advancement alone led to a progressive reduction in Pclose, indicating a decrease in upper airway collapsibility. Similarly, anterior hyoid repositioning alone resulted in incremental reductions in Pclose, with similar outcomes observed for anterior-cranial and anterior-caudal directions. When mandibular advancement was combined with anterior-based hyoid repositioning directions, a further decrease in Pclose was observed compared to when either intervention was applied alone. Cranial and caudal hyoid repositioning had no direct effect on Pclose or on mandibular advancement outcomes.

Conclusions

In summary, decreases in upper airway collapsibility induced by mandibular advancement are dependent on both hyoid repositioning direction and increment. The findings suggest that combining mandibular advancement with anterior-based hyoid repositioning may enhance the effectiveness of mandibular advancement in treating OSA.
MHC class I / II restricted T cell epitopes from clinical isolate ofMycobacterium tuberculosis: A potential candidate for vaccine development for Tuberculosis
Authors: Sharma Niharika , Sharma Bhawna , Joshi Beenu , Kumar Santosh , Mohanty Keshar Kunja , Prakash Hridayesh
Published: September 2024

Tuberculosis is major challenge to the health care system with TB associated death rates increasing annually. Optimum management of TB (particularly latent or MDR cases) warrants use of immunological approaches like subunit or peptide-based vaccination for tailoring effector immunity in patients. Since MHC class I is a potent enhancer element of host immunity and effective in clearing large variety of intracellular pathogens or tumors. In this context, we explore whether MHC-I restricted peptides from clinical isolates ofM. tuberculosiscan be used as an adjuvant for augmenting host immune responses. In the present study, we have synthesized various peptides from clinical isolates ofM. tuberculosiswhich were having high affinity for Class I MHC molecules as potential immune enhancer for T cell or iNKT cell populations. We have evaluated the immunogenic potential of various MHC class I restricted epitopes (Rv2588c, Rv1357, Rv0148, Rv2973, Rv2557 and Rv2445) which were derived from clinical isolates ofM. tuberculosison increased proliferation of T or iNKT cells, release of IFN gamma secreted by T cells as well as NO as indicative parameters of immuno-stimulation. As expected, FACS and ELISA data clearly revealed that these peptides were potentially immunogenic for PBMCs from both healthy as well as 10 HC PTB patients. Our data clearly demonstrated a significant immune response in the PBMC from w PTB patients over healthy individuals which mimicked booster response. Our cytokine and nitric oxide data further revealed the influence of these peptides on sensitizing innate immune response as well.

Significance

Our study demonstrates the significance of MHC class I restricted peptides fromM. tuberculosisfor inducing potential immunogenic responses in host that may qualify them as potent vaccine candidate. To the best of our knowledge this is the first immune monitoring protocol describing the impact of synthetic novel MHC class I restricted T-cell epitope (Rv2588c, Rv0148) on cell mediated and innate immune response in PBMC populations and suggests their potential as vaccine candidate