bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Disruption of PCDH10 and TNRC18 Genes due to a Balanced Translocation
Authors: Zamariolli Malú , Di-Battista Adriana , Moysés-Oliveira Mariana , de Mello Cláudia B. , de Paula Ramos Marco A. , Liehr Thomas , Melaragno Maria I.
Published: June 2020

Balanced chromosomal rearrangements are usually associated with a normal phenotype, although in some individuals, phenotypic alterations are observed. In these patients, molecular characterization of the breakpoints can reveal the pathogenic mechanism, providing the annotation of disease-associated loci and a better genotype-phenotype correlation. In this study, we describe a patient with a balanced reciprocal translocation between 4q27 and 7p22 associated with neurodevelopmental delay. We performed cytogenetic evaluation, next-generation sequencing of microdissected derivative chromosomes, and Sanger sequencing of the junction points to define the translocation's breakpoints at base pair resolution. We found that the PCDH10 and TNRC18 genes were disrupted by the breakpoints at chromosomes 4 and 7, respectively, with the formation of chimeric genes at the junction points. Gene expression studies in the patient's peripheral blood showed reduced expression of TNRC18, a gene with unknown function and clinical significance. PCDH10 plays a role in the development of the nervous system and might be involved with the patient's neurodevelopmental delay. In this study, the full molecular characterization of the junction points was shown as an efficient tool for fine breakpoint mapping in balanced translocations in order to unmask gene disruptions and investigate the potential pathogenic role of the disrupted genes.
Efficacy of Aflibercept Treatment and Its Effect on the Retinal Perfusion in the Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Mouse Model of Retinopathy of Prematurity
Authors: Amin Sarina M. , Gonzalez Andres , Guevara Jade , Bolch Charlotte , Andersen Lorick , Smith W. Clay , Agarwal-Sinha Swati
Published: June 2020

Introduction: Bevacizumab and ranibizumab, which are anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) medications, are used frequently in the treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in infants. Aflibercept, or VEGF Trap, has been used anecdotally, but translation and clinical studies are lacking. Objective: This study investigates the efficacy of aflibercept at reducing areas of non-perfused retina and studies its effect on normal angiogenesis in the oxygen-induced retinopathy mouse model of ROP. Methods: C57BL/6 J mice were assigned to room air control (n = 21 eyes) or hyperoxia with 75% oxygen (n = 84 eyes). The hyperoxic mice were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 0 ng (n = 14 eyes), 100 ng (n = 35 eyes), or 1,000 ng (n = 35 eyes) of intravitreal aflibercept administered on postnatal day 14. Eyes were enucleated at PN17 and PN25 postinjection. Retinas were stained with anti-collagen IV antibody and photographed with microscopy. Areas of perfused and non-perfused retina were quantified using ImageJ software. Statistical comparisons were made using ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparisons. Results: At PN17, there was no significant difference in the area of non-perfused retina between the hyperoxic control and the 100 and 1,000 ng aflibercept groups. At PN25, the 100 ng (p < 0.05) and 1,000 ng (p = 0.008) treatment groups displayed less non-perfusion compared to hyperoxic controls. At the 1,000 ng dose, there was increased non-perfusion compared to the 100 ng dose (p = 0.02). There was reduced non-perfusion by PN25 compared to PN17 for the 100 ng group (p < 0.05), with no difference in the 1,000 ng group. Conclusions: The study shows that the area of non-perfused retina decreases effectively with aflibercept at PN25 with 100 ng dosage. With the 1,000 ng dosage, there is an inhibition of the physiologic angiogenesis with a higher area of non-perfused retina.
Management of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Complications
Authors: Doll Jacob A. , Hira Ravi S. , Kearney Kathleen E. , Kandzari David E. , Riley Robert F. , Marso Steven P. , Grantham James A. , Thompson Craig A. , McCabe James M. , Karmpaliotis Dimitrios , Kirtane Ajay J. , Lombardi William
Published: June 2020

Complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may have significant impact on patient survival and healthcare costs. PCI procedural complexity and patient risk are increasing, and operators must be prepared to recognize and treat complications, such as perforations, dissections, hemodynamic collapse, no-reflow, and entrapped equipment. Unfortunately, few resources exist to train operators in PCI complication management. Uncertainty regarding complication management could contribute to the undertreatment of patients with high-complexity coronary disease. We, therefore, coordinated the Learning From Complications: How to Be a Better Interventionalist courses to disseminate the collective experience of high-volume PCI operators with extensive experience in chronic total occlusion and high-risk PCI. From these conferences in 2018 and 2019, we developed algorithms that emphasize early recognition, effective treatment, and team-based care of PCI complications. We think that an algorithmic approach will result in a logical and systematic response to life-threatening complications. This construct may be useful for operators who plan to perform complex PCI procedures.
B55α/PP2A Limits Endothelial Cell Apoptosis During Vascular Remodeling
Authors: Ehling Manuel , Celus Ward , Martín-Pérez Rosa , Alba-Rovira Roser , Willox Sander , Ponti Donatella , Cid Maria C. , Jones Elizabeth A.V. , Di Conza Giusy , Mazzone Massimiliano
Published: June 2020

Rationale:

How endothelial cells (ECs) migrate and form an immature vascular plexus has been extensively studied. Yet, mechanisms underlying vascular remodeling remain poorly established. A better understanding of these processes may lead to the design of novel therapeutic strategies complementary to current angiogenesis inhibitors.

Objective:

Starting from our previous observations that PP2A (protein phosphatase 2) regulates the HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor)/PHD-2 (prolyl hydroxylase 2)-constituted oxygen machinery, we hypothesized that this axis could play an important role during blood vessel formation, tissue perfusion, and oxygen restoration.

Methods and Results:

We show that the PP2A regulatory subunit B55α is at the crossroad between vessel pruning and vessel maturation. Blood vessels with high B55α counter cell stress conditions and thrive for stabilization and maturation. When B55α is inhibited, ECs cannot cope with cell stress and undergo apoptosis, leading to massive pruning of nascent blood vessels. Mechanistically, we found that the B55α/PP2A complex restrains PHD-2 activity, promoting EC survival in a HIF-dependent manner, and furthermore dephosphorylates p38, altogether protecting ECs against cell stress occurring, for example, during the onset of blood flow. In tumors, EC-specific B55α deficiency induces pruning of immature-like tumor blood vessels resulting in delayed tumor growth and metastasis, without affecting nonpathological vessels. Consistently, systemic administration of a pan-PP2A inhibitor disrupts vascular network formation and tumor progression in vivo without additional effects on B55α-deficient vessels.

Conclusions:

Our data underline a unique role of the B55α/PP2A phosphatase complex in vessel remodeling and suggest the use of PP2A-inhibitors as potent antiangiogenic drugs targeting specifically nascent blood vessels with a mode-of-action complementary to VEGF-R (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor)-targeted therapies.

Graphical Abstract:

A graphical abstract is available for this article.
Epigenomes of Human Hearts Reveal New Genetic Variants Relevant for Cardiac Disease and Phenotype
Authors: Tan Wilson Lek Wen , Anene-Nzelu Chukwuemeka George , Wong Eleanor , Lee Chang Jie Mick , Tan Hui San , Tang Sze Jing , Perrin Arnaud , Wu Kan Xing , Zheng Wenhao , Ashburn Robert John , Pan Bangfen , Lee May Yin , Autio Matias Ilmari , Morley Michael P. , Tam Wai Leong , Cheung Christine , Margulies Kenneth B. , Chen Leilei , Cappola Thomas P. , Loh Marie , Chambers John , Prabhakar Shyam , Foo Roger S.Y. , Assa Solmaz , Ellinor Patrick , Felix Janine , van der Harst Pim , Meder Benjamin , Smith Gustav J. , Tappu Rewati
Published: June 2020

Rationale:

Identifying genetic markers for heterogeneous complex diseases such as heart failure is challenging and requires prohibitively large cohort sizes in genome-wide association studies to meet the stringent threshold of genome-wide statistical significance. On the other hand, chromatin quantitative trait loci, elucidated by direct epigenetic profiling of specific human tissues, may contribute toward prioritizing subthreshold variants for disease association.

Objective:

Here, we captured noncoding genetic variants by performing epigenetic profiling for enhancer H3K27ac chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing in 70 human control and end-stage failing hearts.

Methods and Results:

We have mapped a comprehensive catalog of 47 321 putative human heart enhancers and promoters. Three thousand eight hundred ninety-seven differential acetylation peaks (FDR [false discovery rate], 5%) pointed to pathways altered in heart failure. To identify cardiac histone acetylation quantitative trait loci (haQTLs), we regressed out confounding factors including heart failure disease status and used the G-SCI (Genotype-independent Signal Correlation and Imbalance) test

1

to call out 1680 haQTLs (FDR, 10%). RNA sequencing performed on the same heart samples proved a subset of haQTLs to have significant association also to gene expression (expression quantitative trait loci), either in
cis
(180) or through long-range interactions (81), identified by Hi-C (high-throughput chromatin conformation assay) and HiChIP (high-throughput protein centric chromatin) performed on a subset of hearts. Furthermore, a concordant relationship between the gain or disruption of TF (transcription factor)-binding motifs, inferred from alternative alleles at the haQTLs, implied a surprising direct association between these specific TF and local histone acetylation in human hearts. Finally, 62 unique loci were identified by colocalization of haQTLs with the subthreshold loci of heart-related genome-wide association studies datasets.

Conclusions:

Disease and phenotype association for 62 unique loci are now implicated. These loci may indeed mediate their effect through modification of enhancer H3K27 acetylation enrichment and their corresponding gene expression differences (bioRxiv:
https://doi.org/10.1101/536763
).

Graphical Abstract:

A graphical abstract is available for this article.
The Prospective Sense of Agency is Rooted in Local and Global Properties of Intrinsic Functional Brain Networks
Authors: Di Plinio Simone , Perrucci Mauro Gianni , Ebisch Sjoerd J. H.
Published: June 2020

The sense of agency (SoA) refers to a constitutional aspect of the self describing the extent to which individuals feel in control over their actions and consequences thereof. Although the SoA has been associated with mental health and well-being, it is still unknown how interindividual variability in the SoA is embedded in the intrinsic brain organization. We hypothesized that the prospective component of an implicit SoA is associated with brain networks related to SoA and sensorimotor predictions on multiple spatial scales. We replicated previous findings by showing a significant prospective SoA as indicated by intentional binding effects. Then, using task-free fMRI and graph analysis, we analyzed associations between intentional binding effects and the intrinsic brain organization at regional, modular, and whole-brain scales. The results showed that intermodular connections of a frontoparietal module including the premotor cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and dorsal precuneus are associated with individual differences in prospective intentional binding. Notably, prospective intentional binding effects were also related to global brain modularity within a specific structural resolution range. These findings suggest that an implicit SoA generated through sensorimotor predictions relies on the intrinsic organization of the brain connectome on both local and global scales.
Inferring Causality from Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Cognitive Neuroscience
Authors: Bergmann Til Ole , Hartwigsen Gesa
Published: June 2020

Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation, are advocated as measures to enable causal inference in cognitive neuroscience experiments. Transcending the limitations of purely correlative neuroimaging measures and experimental sensory stimulation, they allow to experimentally manipulate brain activity and study its consequences for perception, cognition, and eventually, behavior. Although this is true in principle, particular caution is advised when interpreting brain stimulation experiments in a causal manner. Research hypotheses are often oversimplified, disregarding the underlying (implicitly assumed) complex chain of causation, namely, that the stimulation technique has to generate an electric field in the brain tissue, which then evokes or modulates neuronal activity both locally in the target region and in connected remote sites of the network, which in consequence affects the cognitive function of interest and eventually results in a change of the behavioral measure. Importantly, every link in this causal chain of effects can be confounded by several factors that have to be experimentally eliminated or controlled to attribute the observed results to their assumed cause. This is complicated by the fact that many of the mediating and confounding variables are not directly observable and dose–response relationships are often nonlinear. We will walk the reader through the chain of causation for a generic cognitive neuroscience NIBS study, discuss possible confounds, and advise appropriate control conditions. If crucial assumptions are explicitly tested (where possible) and confounds are experimentally well controlled, NIBS can indeed reveal cause–effect relationships in cognitive neuroscience studies.
1. Europe Needs More Public Investment
Authors: Bubbico Rocco Luigi , Brutscher Philipp-Bastian , Revoltella Debora
Published: June 2020

The initial chapter by Rocco Luigi Bubbico, Philipp-Bastian Brutscher, Andreas Kappeler and Debora Revoltella from the European Investment Bank (EIB) outlines the experience of Europe as a whole. The picture is as follows: between 2008 and 2016 public investment in the EU declined from 3.4% of GDP to 2.7%. Despite a slight rebound in 2017 and 2018, public investment still stands at only 2.9% of GDP, 15% below its pre-crisis levels. Fiscal consolidation pressure was at the core of such decline in public investment especially in countries that experienced a strong pressure to tighten their budgets. The negative effect of fiscal consolidation was in many cases amplified by a re-prioritization of public outlays away from investment towards current expenditures. Infrastructure investment was disproportionately affected by the decline in public investment. EIB estimates show that overall infrastructure investment declined by about 25% between 2008 and 2016, with the government sector accounting for the lion’s share of this fall. From a sectorial perspective, investment in transport and education infrastructure experienced the strongest decline. The chapter clearly documents that the fall in government infrastructure investment does not reflect a saturation effect, the annual infrastructure investment gap is estimated to be about €155 bn and that construction of new infrastructure seems to continue to produce large positive economic spillover effects. This chapter advises, as a policy lesson, sound project selection: preparation and implementation are the keys to reversing the negative trend in investment activities in the EU, besides overcoming funding constraints. Obviously, to ensure the efficient use of available funds, sound infrastructure governance is also a key factor.
4. Public Investment Trends across Levels of Government in Italy
Authors: Cerniglia Floriana , Rossi Federica
Published: June 2020

Chapter 4, by Floriana Cerniglia and Federica Rossi, addresses the case of Italy. They start from the premise that this country, over the last decade, has experienced the worst economic crisis, which has had a huge impact on the already weak public finance conditions. Italy had to implement extraordinary actions to contain and reduce its public debt. Public investments have been curtailed the most, with respect to other functional areas of expenditure. The chapter provides an overview of major trends in public capital expenditure, including local and national public companies, which in Italy are significant contributors to public investment. The chapter considers also the breakdown of public investment by levels of government. Since the reform of the Italian Constitution in 2001, the interactions between levels of government in Italy have become increasingly challenging. Coordination issues between the central government and sub-national governments in running current and capital expenditures as well as the financing of local expenditures (both current and capital) remain unsolved problems, which most obviously impact the time required to make an investment. Moreover, Italy’s regional divide remains large, and sadly, it continues to grow. The issue of having shares of public investments in North-Central Italy and the Mezzogiorno, that proportionally reflect the population in those areas, has been a serious political concern these last years. Finally, the chapter discusses some legislative and bureaucratic factors that keep investments in Italy from taking off and hinder the transformation of resources into actual construction sites. The authors conclude by an assessment of some policy prescriptions for the relaunch of Italian public investment.
6. In Search of a Strategy for Public Investment in Research and Innovation
Authors: Palma Daniela , Silvani Alberto , Stilo Alessandra Maria
Published: June 2020

Chapter 6, by Daniela Palma, Alberto Silvani and Alessandra Maria Stilo, analyses the role of research and innovation as key drivers of economic growth, and as an object of renewed concern in the European policy agenda. In this regard, however, special attention has been paid to the role played by public funding with respect to the now more than ever complex evolution of technological innovation and the need for the productive structure to be supported to continuously capture the potential of new technologies. Starting from a well-established ground of most recent analyses carried out on main R&D indicators by major institutional organizations, the authors present a work aimed at bringing out the nature of “system infrastructure” of European research activity, calling for the need to assess to what extent the resources dedicated to R&D and the relative spending modes are able to turn into an effective development lever, starting from the structural characteristics of the entire research and innovation system. They claim that, in order to overcome the existing differential between EU countries in research and innovation performances, rebalancing public funding, while orienting intervention towards common initiatives, is not enough. The implementation of a new course of public investment research policies should instead envisage a renewed orientation of the strategies consistent with the new course of missions/objectives formulated at the European level and, at the same time, point to a coordination with policies aimed at increasing the innovative potential of the economic system, in relation to the characteristics of the productive specialization of each country.
7. Social Investment and Infrastructure
Authors: Hemerijck Anton , Mazzucato Mariana , Reviglio Edoardo
Published: June 2020

Anton Hemerijck, Mariana Mazzucato and Edoardo Reviglio, in chapter 7, offer an original perspective: the most competitive economies in the EU spend more on social policy and public services than the less successful ones. However, the twenty-first century knowledge economies are ageing societies and require European welfare states to focus as much – if not more – on ex-ante social investment capacitation than on ex-post social security compensation. The growing needs for social services will require new and updated social infrastructure. According to a report on social infrastructure in Europe coordinated by former President of the European Commission Romano Prodi in 2018, the minimal gap is estimated at €100–150 bn per annum and represents a total gap of over 1.5 tn in 2018–2030. Long-term, flexible and efficient investment in education, health and affordable housing is considered essential for the economic growth of the EU, the well-being of its people and a successful move towards upward convergence in the EU. But how do we finance the great new needs with such a pressure on public finances? The chapter suggests innovative financial solutions using institutional and community resources to lower to cost of funding of social infrastructure. One such solution is the creation of a large European Fund for Social Infrastructure, owned by State Investment Banks (SIBs) and institutional long-term investors, which would fund its operations by issuing a European Social Bond. In this endeavour, a central role must be played by the EIB and by State Investment Banks. The authors discuss the potential role of these “mission-oriented” SIBs in social innovation by changing their mission. They should not simply “compensate market failures” but also become institutions that “shape the market” and become major providers of sustainable long-term and patient finance to deliver public value.
8. From Trans-European (Ten-T) to Trans-Global (Twn-T) Transport Infrastructure Networks. A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Costa Paolo , Haralambides Hercules , Roson Roberto
Published: June 2020

Paolo Costa, Hercules Haralambides and Roberto Roson, in chapter 8, look back at the genesis – in Europe – of the transnational transport infrastructure which has long coincided with the Ten-T network, developed – sometimes as a weak Keynesian stimulus – as a tool for strengthening the cohesiveness and economic efficiency of the internal market. Following the enlargement of the EU, Ten-T has been evolving from 1996 to 2013, and has been encouraging modal shifts from road and air to rail, inland navigation and short-sea shipping, in order to achieve higher environmental sustainability and combat climate change. However, during these notable efforts, little attention has been paid to the external dimension of European connectivity. Along with addressing a number of technical disruptions affecting transport and its infrastructure, the new wave of Ten-T revision – due by December 2023 – must depart from what has thus far been an introverted view of Europe as a single market (something that has often penalized European competitiveness) to an extroverted orientation of the Union as a key player in a global market. The growing economic centrality of Asia since China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO); China’s strong interest in the Mediterranean Basin as the “super-hub” that connects four continents; and the eastward shift of the European economic barycentre: all of these developments indicate possible solutions for addressing the “geographical obsolescence” of the current Ten-T. In parallel, innovation-driven disruption of the worldwide maritime freight transport network and its infrastructure necessitates the streamlining of port nodes and rail networks around the world, in a way that at the same time addresses efficiently the current “technological obsolescence” of big parts of European infrastructure, predominantly of ports. The authors argue that new Ten-T network evolving into a Twn-T (Trans-Global) one ought to no longer be the product solely of European decisions: dovetailing Ten-T with China’s "Belt and Road Initiative - BRI" will not only be unavoidable but also, rather, a most welcome development.
Expiratory Muscle Strength Training in patients After Total Laryngectomy; A Feasibility Pilot Study
Authors: van Sluis Klaske E. , Kornman Anne F. , Groen Wim G. , van den Brekel Michiel W. M. , van der Molen Lisette , Hoffman-Ruddy Bari , Stuiver Martijn M.
Published: June 2020

Objectives:

Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) is a threshold based device-driven treatment for improving expiratory pressure. EMST proved to be effective in different patient groups to improve cough function. To date, EMST has not been tested in the total laryngectomy population (TL).

Methods:

This prospective, randomized case-series study examined feasibility, safety, and compliance of EMST in a group of TL participants and its effects on pulmonary function, physical exertion, fatigue, and vocal functioning. Ten TL participants were included in the study to perform a 4 till 8 weeks of EMST. Objective and subjective outcome measures included manometry, spirometry, cardio pulmonary exercise testing (CPET), voice recordings, and patient reported outcome measures. Group means were reported and estimates of the effect are shown with a 95% confidence interval, using single sample t-tests.

Results:

Nine participants completed the full study protocol. Compliance to the training program was high. All were able to perform the training, although it requires adjustments of the device and skills of the participants. Maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) and vocal functioning in loudness improved over time. After EMST no changes were seen in other objective and subjective outcomes.

Conclusions:

EMST appears to be feasible and safe after total laryngectomy. MEP improved over time but no improvement in the clinically relevant outcome measures were seen in this sample of relatively fit participants. Further investigation of the training in a larger group of participants who report specifically pulmonary complaints is recommended to investigate if the increase in MEP results in clinical benefits.

Level of Evidence:

4
Not a home: Shelter families living in Canadian motels
Authors: Vandenbeld Giles Melinda
Published: June 2020

Given the precarity and mobility of neoliberalism, there has been increasing interest into constructs of ‘home’. In this article, the author defines ‘home’ as an active and relational process encompassing interactions between materiality and immateriality. Participant observation research conducted amongst shelter families in Toronto, Canada, living in motels can shed light on some of these larger global conversations about what ‘home’ is, and particularly, what it is not. These motels are utilized as part of the City of Toronto Shelter, Support and Housing Administration providing free shelter to impoverished families in need. Social workers, shelter managers and local faith group volunteers assert that the motels should be considered ‘home’ and the problem is that the women living in the motels with their children treat the physical space as transitory. In contrast, the women assert that the motel space is not a home and can never be made into one. The author argues that for these women, there are three critical elements missing in the motel: control over space, safety/security and privacy. The assertion that the motel space is not a home is a significant form of resistance to the regulatory bureaucratic structuring of daily life. However, despite this absence of home, the women feel strong identification as mothers and have formed systems of informal shared networks. This research helps to further illuminate not only our understandings of ‘home’, but also deepen and complicate normative associations equating ‘home’ with physical structure, domesticity and family.
Home experiences and homemaking practices of single Syrian refugees in an innovative housing project in Amsterdam
Authors: Kim Kyohee , Smets Peer
Published: June 2020

Recent socio-political situations in the Middle East and elsewhere have resulted in a large number of refugees searching for new places to settle. To understand how a new place could become a home, the authors conducted qualitative research in the Netherlands. The study looked at the home experiences and (micro)homemaking practices of young Syrian refugees in an innovative housing project in Amsterdam. In this project, Dutch and Syrian young adults are housed together to foster integration. This article also looks at Boccagni’s model for understanding immigrant live-in workers’ homes. The authors further develop the model by introducing a mobility lens, which offers the possibility of elaborating on theoretical notions between now-and-then and here-and-there and the empirical findings derived from this study.
Architectures of asylum: Making home in a state of permanent temporariness
Authors: Steigemann Anna Marie , Misselwitz Philipp
Published: June 2020

Urban research in Germany has started to address the socio-spatial distribution and architectures of so-called collective accommodation for asylum seekers, refugee camps, and new forms of ethnic segregation triggered by refugee movements in recent years. The spatial practices of refugees themselves within these processes have not yet been a subject of substantive research. Combining research methods from social and architectural sciences, this article investigates the physical, material, social and symbolic appropriation processes and the spatial dimension of homemaking by Syrian refugees currently housed in refugee accommodation in Berlin, Germany. What spatial knowledge is mobilized at the place of asylum in order to turn the accommodation into a home? How do spatial practices and knowledge hybridize practices of the place of origin, experiences made during the flight and the arriving and uncertain period of stay at an unfamiliar place of asylum? How do spatial appropriation processes collide with humanitarian logics and technocratic emergency management approaches at the place of asylum? With these questions, the article focuses on the ways in which refugees perceive, adapt to, appropriate and alter their new urban environment physically and socially, and how they thereby draw on existing and evolving stocks of urban knowledge, urban experiences and social relationships. It argues that to develop a homelike space in temporary accommodation, arriving refugees mobilize knowledge at the place of asylum which can only be understood as a re-figuration process that is equally at work in the case of other migrants, migration and translocal processes. Studying these urban re-figurations thus helps us to reveal how the interplay of refugees’ agency and their knowledge and the technocratic regime – as a state of permanent temporariness – affects the making of a ‘home’.
Supporting adults with mental health problems through further education
Authors: Buchanan Denise , Warwick Ian
Published: June 2020

Aim:

To identify how a college of further (tertiary) education might promote the wellbeing of adults with mental health problems.

Study design:

Qualitative study of the college-related experiences of people with mental health problems.

Setting:

A further education college in inner-city London, UK.

Methods:

Fifteen students, all of whom had been diagnosed with mental health problems, were selected from a range of courses, including those attending a special cookery class, those on mainstream courses, and former-students who had studied on one of a number of courses and who might or might not have completed their studies. Data were collected through two individual semi-structured interviews.

Results:

Findings focus on barriers to learning outside and inside college and how these were overcome, as well as participants’ perceived links between learning and their mental health and wellbeing.

Conclusion:

Discussion highlights the necessity of ‘bridging’ between health and education services in order to enable adults with mental health problems to benefit from lifelong learning opportunities in a potentially transformative way.
Physical activity in and out-of-school and academic performance in Spain
Authors: Gómez-Fernández Nerea , Albert Juan-Francisco
Published: June 2020

Background:

Academic performance in school stems from an interaction of factors associated with students, families and schools. Among these factors, physical activity could play a very relevant role.

Objective:

The goal of this study was to determine whether students’ physical activities in and outside school were related to their academic performance.

Design, setting and method:

We used the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 database for Spain using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to answer our research questions.

Results:

Results suggest a positive association between the number of days per week doing moderate physical activities and academic performance in science, reading and mathematics. However, a higher number of days per week doing vigorous physical activities was associated with lower scores in reading and science. We also find a negative association between exercising or practising sports before going to school and the scores achieved in the three competences evaluated.

Conclusions:

Our results show that physical activity can play an important role in academic performance and that the effects of physical activity on children and teenagers should be further investigated.
The effect of Balint training on the psychological skills of residents beyond family medicine residency
Authors: Hamadeh Gracia , Antoun Jumana , Romani Maya
Published: June 2020

Background:

Engaging with the psychological well-being of patients is central to patient care. The empathy and psychological skills of practitioners may be enhanced by Balint training during the residency years. However, there is scarce evidence concerning the outcomes of Balint training beyond graduation.

Objective:

The aim of the study was to compare the psychological skills of practising family medicine graduates who had received Balint training during their residency compared to the skills of those who did not.

Design:

Cross-sectional, mixed-methods study.

Setting:

Family medicine graduates at the American University of Beirut.

Methods:

A telephone-based interview or an online-based questionnaire was used to survey family medicine graduates between 2007 and 2018. Those who graduated between 2012 and 2018 had received Balint training, whereas the remainder had not. Psychological skills and abilities were measured using an 11-item Psychological Medicine Inventory (PMI) questionnaire.

Results:

Thirty-seven family medicine graduates participated in the study, with a response rate of 69.8%. There was no difference in the PMI item scores between those who received Balint training as compared to those who did not. In response to an open-ended question, participants emphasised the importance of Balint seminars in improving their communication abilities, dealing with ‘difficult’ patients, finding blind spots and developing the doctor–patient relationship. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three components that explained 80.6% of the total variance. None of these components was associated with Balint training.

Conclusion:

Although PMI scores did not differ between those who received Balint and those who did not, Balint training may improve family medicine graduates’ confidence to engage with the psychological problems of patients beyond residency based on the statements made by the practising graduates.
Rite of passage in the Great War: The long march of Northeast Indian labourers to France, 1917–1918
Authors: Guite Jangkhomang
Published: June 2020

This article focuses on the little-known Indian Labour Corps (ILC) who hailed from the Northeast frontier of India during the Great War (WW1). It engages with the labour recruitment process, their collective experience during the long march to France, the nature of their work and life at the warzone camps, their heroic homecoming and subsequently, their life back into the heart of the hills. It argues that large numbers of hill people from the region joined the War as coolies with different perceptions, meanings and expectations closely connected to their warrior traditions. They enrolled into the ILC in large numbers for the coveted ‘ornaments’ of the hill ‘warrior’, which the War could offer to them upon their return home. Their war experiences engendered new ideas and practices, significantly reconfiguring their worldviews and their ‘homes’. Their experiences reflect the frontier dimensions of WW1.
Genomic Signature of Mismatch Repair Deficiency in Areca Nut–Related Oral Cancer
Authors: Yang W.F. , Qin N. , Song X. , Jiang C. , Li T. , Ji P. , Li Y. , Ding D. , Wang C. , Dai J. , Jin G. , Chen T.W. , Chang Y.S. , Ouyang D.Q. , Liao G.Q. , Hu Z. , Chang K.P. , Su Y.X. , Ma H.
Published: June 2020

Areca nut (AN) chewing contributes to an increase of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases in South and Southeast Asia; however, genomic events underlying the carcinogenesis process of AN-related OSCC remain unclear. Here, we comprehensively describe the genomic and transcriptome alterations of 113 Chinese OSCC patients (89 AN related and 24 AN negative) by whole-exome sequencing and RNA sequencing, and we compared the genomic differences between AN-related and AN-negative samples by integrating sequencing data of 325 OSCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and 50 from a published Taiwanese study. We identified 11 significantly mutated genes for OSCC, including 4 novel ones ( ATG2A, WEE1, DST, and TSC2), of which WEE1 and ATG2A mutated with significantly higher rates in AN-related samples ( P = 0.04 and P = 0.003, respectively). Mutational signature analysis revealed that AN-related OSCCs were specially characterized by the genomic signature of mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), which could also predict the prognosis status of AN-related OSCC. In addition, an elevated PD-L1 expression was also observed in both AN-related patients ( P = 3.71 × 10−11) and those with a high dMMR level ( P = 1.99 × 10−4). Further differential expression analysis and in vitro experiments confirmed the role of dMMR in the development of OSCC induced by AN exposure. Taken together, this study first revealed the molecular profiles and highlighted the role of dMMR in AN-related OSCC among the Chinese population and identified that AN-related OSCC may represent a potential cohort for effective anti-PD-1/L1 immunotherapy.
Divergent understandings of agroecology in the era of the African Green Revolution
Authors: Bellwood-Howard Imogen , Ripoll Santiago
Published: June 2020

Agroecology is increasingly recognized within mainstream development. Yet, this is controversial, due to disagreement over what it does and should mean. This article takes a ‘knowledge politics’ approach to show how different understandings of agroecology create contexts where contrasting agricultural development narratives thrive, albeit often unintentionally. It draws on literature and media review and 37 elite interviews with agricultural researchers and decision makers around the world. Four agricultural development narratives or ‘regimes’ are identified, each presented by different actor groups as part of their vision of what agricultural development should look like. Simultaneously, five different understandings of agroecology are described. A political understanding of agroecology is promoted to support the regime of agroecological agriculture. Simultaneously, an understanding of agroecology as a descriptive science is conducive to the African Green Revolution narrative. Actor groups tend to emphasize the differences between these understandings and regimes. They pay less attention to unpacking the divergent ways agroecological science has been framed since the early 20th century. This has the effect of concealing the way different understandings of agroecology support different development paradigms, and thus the political nature of the construction of science.
Engagement and Challenges in Supervisory Feedback: Supervisors’ and Students’ Perceptions
Authors: Neupane Bastola Madhu
Published: June 2020

Engagement with feedback from supervisors is central to developing graduate students’ research and writing skills. Such engagement, however, is not the students’ sole responsibility because different factors might mediate the process. Supervisors’ and students’ differing perceptions of supervisory feedback can create misunderstandings, might inhibit the latter’s engagement with such feedback, and reduce its learning affordances. This article reports a study examining the perceptions that Nepalese Master’s supervisors and students held of student engagement with and challenges in supervisory feedback. The study drew on questionnaire data collected from 30 thesis supervisors and 50 Master’s students and the follow-up interviews with five supervisors and five students at a public university in Nepal. The findings show a marked difference in supervisors’ and the students’ perceptions. The observed differences are considered in terms of the nature of student engagement, the participants’ research experience, and factors contributing to the perceived challenges in supervisory feedback.
Bounded Solidarity and Mobile Technology: The Decline of Core Networks in Kerala
Authors: Fan Jiabin , Garretson Oliver , Palackal Antony , Miller Paige , Shrum Wesley
Published: June 2020

We examine whether the widespread adoption of mobile technology is associated with changes in core social networks over the main decade of mobile diffusion in India. We focus primarily on network size, as well as the type and location of relationships. Grounded in interaction ritual theory, Ling’s bounded solidarity thesis suggests that mobile communication may reconfigure social bonds, leading to a focus on family and friends over workmates and acquaintances, as well as more local networks. This study analyses data from three waves of data (2002–2013) from the state of Kerala. Our key findings are generally consistent with bounded solidarity: family ties increased at the expense of work ties, and there was a shift away from regional and international ties towards local relationships.
The logic of non-enforcement: Entanglements between state and non-state law in Bangladesh
Authors: Berger Tobias
Published: June 2020

This article investigates the ways in which state and non-state laws become intricately intertwined in practices of conflict resolution in rural Bangladesh. Instead of inhabiting separate legal universes, I show how state and non-state laws become entangled in what I call the logic of non-enforcement. People in rural Bangladesh frequently appeal to state courts—yet they frequently do so not in order to get binding and enforceable verdicts, but to alter the outcomes of a non-state justice institution like the shalish in their favour. This leads to unexpected patterns of political accountability: people expect local elected politicians to intervene in the state courts, stop pending cases and bring them back to community-based resolution in non-state fora. Elected politicians are thus held accountable according to their ability to prevent the enforcement of state laws. At the same time, state agencies frequently bring legal cases to trial in non-state courts. I conceptualise this blurring between state and non-state laws, its underlying social dynamics as well as its normative justifications as a distinct ‘logic of non-enforcement’. According to this logic, state courts decisively affect the outcomes of processes of conflict resolution in rural Bangladesh while state laws nonetheless are systematically not enforced.
Rethinking the Bangladesh state
Authors: Lewis David , van Schendel Willem
Published: June 2020

The study of the Bangladesh state continues to be a path less travelled for scholars of South Asia. The articles in this special issue aim to offer fresh perspectives based on recent ethnographic work on a variety of aspects of the state by new young national and international scholars. Overall, there is a pressing need to pay closer attention to the state and to think about it in new ways, and in this brief concluding article, we offer some thoughts on where we are and some pointers towards where we may need to go. While there are many strengths to the small quantity of literature that exists on this theme, there are also some important limitations.
Book review: Nosheen Ali. 2019. Delusional States: Feeling Rule and Development in Pakistan’s Northern Frontier
Authors: Malik Aatina Nasir
Published: June 2020

Nosheen Ali. 2019. Delusional States: Feeling Rule and Development in Pakistan’s Northern Frontier. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. xiv + 304 pp. Maps, figures, notes, bibliography, index. ₹795 (hardback).
Book review: Sidharthan Maunaguru. 2019. Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War
Authors: Maqsood Ammara
Published: June 2020

Sidharthan Maunaguru. 2019. Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War. Global South Asia. Seattle: University of Washington Press. xii + 188 pp. Figures, notes, bibliography, index. US$30 (paperback).
The mohol: The hidden power structure of Bangladesh local politics
Authors: Ruud Arild Engelsen
Published: June 2020

It is a common view that power in Bangladesh is exercised through patron–client forms of exchange. These patron–client relationships are held together by moral proximity and intimacy and are diffused and multidimensional. Most recently, Basu et al. (2018, Politics and Governance in Bangladesh: Uncertain Landscapes, 1–16. London: Routledge) argue for the persuasive presence of patron–client relationships and its role as the informal, ‘real’ structure as opposed to the formal state structure. The portrait, however, leaves us with the image of a vast undifferentiated web where the only node is the one at the centre. This article seeks to temper this portrait by arguing that at a certain point the web is no longer undifferentiated. It has locally real, tangible nodes of substantial power—often referred to as mohol (quarter) in Bangla. These nodes of power are often albeit not invariably centred on the local MP. The existence of these nodes indicates a decentralised power structure, wherein power is located in numerable nodes across the country rather than centralised in Dhaka.
Book review: Salah Punathil. 2019. Interrogating Communalism: Violence, Citizenship and Minorities in South India
Authors: Ahmad Zarin
Published: June 2020

Salah Punathil. 2019. Interrogating Communalism: Violence, Citizenship and Minorities in South India. London and New York: Routledge. xiv + 161 pp. Figures, notes, bibliography, index. ₹995 (hardback).
The Nexus Between Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking: Examining the Arrest Decision
Authors: Garza Alondra D. , Franklin Cortney A. , Goodson Amanda
Published: June 2020

The present study used a stratified random sample of 332 case files from a sizable, urban police department located in one of the five largest and most diverse U.S. cities to examine the effect of previous stalking on arrest decisions among intimate partner violence (IPV) cases. Relevant extralegal and legal case factors were estimated in a multivariate binary logistic regression model to determine correlates of arrest. Findings revealed that previous stalking behavior was not related to arrest. Evidence and physical injury significantly increased the odds of arrest. Presence of witnesses, alcohol involvement, and history of IPV also significantly increased the odds of arrest. Future research and policy implications are discussed.