bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Predicament of Writing Political History: The Challenge of the Tacit
Authors: Jones Adrian
Published: March 2016

Political histories composed by contemporaries (or near contemporaries) are affected by the predicament of confronting the tacit in a past. Three case studies of famous writers of histories of politics in their own times are used to suggest an additional epistemology for political history which relies rather less on representations than has been common since the “Linguistic Turn” privileged the propositional thrall of discourses. My extra element attends to the tacit in human lives: affects and effects in context of the lived‐in and lived‐around of politics. My three case studies suggest that histories of politics and policies by contemporaries and near‐contemporaries do not simply amount to a re‐representation (broadly defined) of past representations (broadly defined). A wide angle is adopted; three case studies treat renowned political historians, ancient, mediæval and modern: Procopius in the mid‐sixth, Commynes in the late‐fifteenth, and A.J.P. Taylor in the mid‐twentieth centuries. Each of these “great” historians of politics was driven to discount the lived‐out‐loud of politics they narrated in, or close to, their own times. The predicament and the response is more general, I believe: all historians of politics have to try to situate and narrate things once taken‐for‐granted. That predicament prompted each of my three — and still prompts historians — to have to transcend “representationalism”. The three cases show how and why history writing about politics also needs to attend to the habitual and tacit in a past, the ubiquitous things seldom represented. A controversial foundation for such an “extra” epistemology is then suggested: Dasein, the being‐of‐being, a key concept of Martin Heidegger's. The writing of political history by contemporaries (or near‐contemporaries) is then conceived as also a (ethnography‐like) study of past life‐worlds‐in‐being. This extra foundation for (very‐old and still current!) writing practices about power and politics emphasises metonyms over metaphors. Surprises discerned from contexts are emphasised over propositions peddled in representations. The metonyms disclosed by my three case studies, which I think apply in most writing about politics by contemporaries or near contemporaries, had to be inferred from contexts, rather than read as discourses. The tacit is elicited by contemporaries from (1) records and recollects of predicaments and situations, and from (2) reading actions as texts. Histories of politics are really about things people once felt and did, more than what they said, in their there‐and‐then.
The Grand Deception: Churchill and the Dardanelles
Authors: Newton Douglas
Published: March 2016

The Grand Deception: Churchill and the Dardanelles. By Tom Curran, edited by Andrew Bonnell (Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2015), pp.318. Fourteen illustrations and two maps. AU$34.99 (cloth).
The Protest Years: The Official History of ASIO 1963–1975
Authors: Reynolds Wayne
Published: March 2016

The Protest Years: The Official History of ASIO 1963–1975. By John Blaxland (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2015), pp.xxv + 565. AU$49.99 (cloth).
The Making of a Party System: Minor Parties in the Australian Senate
Authors: Clune David
Published: March 2016

The Making of a Party System: Minor Parties in the Australian Senate. By Zareh Ghazarian (Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing, 2015), pp.233, AU$49.99 (pb).
Time and Politics: Parliament and the Culture of Modernity in Britain and the British World
Authors: Tregenza Ian
Published: March 2016

Time and Politics: Parliament and the Culture of Modernity in Britain and the British World. By Ryan A. Vieira (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp.vi + 199. £60.00 (cloth).
Stalin. New Biography of a Dictator
Authors: Markwick Roger D.
Published: March 2016

Stalin. New Biography of a Dictator. By Oleg V. Khlevniuk. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov (New Haven and London: Yale university Press, 2015), pp.xvi + 392. Notes. Photographs. Index. AU$64.00 (cloth), distributed by Footprint Books in Australia.
The Inner Enemies of Democracy
Authors: Mercer Ben
Published: March 2016

The Inner Enemies of Democracy. By Tzvetan Todorov, trans. Andrew Brown (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2014), pp.vi + 201. £20.00 (cloth).
The Recognition of Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets in Business Combinations – The Portuguese Case
Authors: Carvalho Carla , Rodrigues Ana Maria , Ferreira Carlos
Published: March 2016

In this study, we investigate the magnitude of goodwill recognised in business combinations during the years 2005 to 2009 by the Portuguese companies listed on Euronext Lisbon, and characterise the amount of the other intangible assets recognised separately from goodwill. We also analyse the level of compliance of those companies with the main disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 3 – Business Combinations. Our study, which involves the analysis of 197 business combinations, reveals that the amounts of goodwill continue to be highly material, while conversely, the value of identifiable intangible assets in those acquisitions is very low. The results suggest that Portuguese companies do not undertake sufficient efforts to individually identify and disclose intangibles acquired in business combinations. This fact is reinforced by the reduced level of compliance with the disclosures required by IFRS 3, particularly the factors that contribute to the recognition of goodwill. Our findings provide feedback to standard setters in an effort to improve practice in the application of IFRS 3. Moreover, they reinforce their recent concerns regarding the post‐implementation review of business combinations, as well as the ongoing project of the IASB, whose objective is to improve disclosures in existing standards.
Contingent Factors, Extent of Budget Use and Performance: A Structural Equation Approach
Authors: Uyar Ali , Kuzey Cemil
Published: March 2016

The present study investigates the contextual factors that impact the extent of budget use and performance based on contingency theory. For this purpose, we carried out a questionnaire survey of Turkish firms. In order to analyse the data, confirmatory factor analysis and covariance‐based structural equation modelling were used. We find that the extent of budget use and performance are affected significantly by contextual factors. Size, structure, perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) and information technology (IT) determine the extent of budget use. The study also finds that performance is significantly affected by the extent of budget use and other contingent factors (i.e., structure, PEU, functionality of IT). Furthermore, there is a mediating role of budget use between contextual factors and performance.
Protein Kinase C Activation as a Potential Therapeutic Strategy in Alzheimer's Disease: Is there a Role for Embryonic Lethal Abnormal Vision‐like Proteins?
Authors: Talman Virpi , Pascale Alessia , Jäntti Maria , Amadio Marialaura , Tuominen Raimo K.
Published: March 2016

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is an irreversible and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. It affects predominantly brain areas that are critical for memory and learning and is characterized by two main pathological hallmarks: extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. Protein kinase C (PKC) has been classified as one of the cognitive kinases controlling memory and learning. By regulating several signalling pathways involved in amyloid and tau pathologies, it also plays an inhibitory role in AD pathophysiology. Among downstream targets of PKC are the embryonic lethal abnormal vision (ELAV)‐like RNA‐binding proteins that modulate the stability and the translation of specific target mRNAs involved in synaptic remodelling linked to cognitive processes. This MiniReview summarizes the current evidence on the role of PKC and ELAV‐like proteins in learning and memory, highlighting how their derangement can contribute to AD pathophysiology. This last aspect emphasizes the potential of pharmacological activation of PKC as a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of AD.
Factors Associated with the Combined Use of Antidepressants and Benzodiazepines in Major Depression: A Case–Control Study
Authors: Fulone Izabela , Silva Marcus T. , Lopes Luciane C.
Published: March 2016

The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with the combined use of antidepressants and benzodiazepines (BDZs) in patients with major depression. We conducted a case–control study in the public health service of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The participants were all patients being treated with antidepressants, who were diagnosed with major depression. Patients who received a combination of antidepressants and BDZs were classified as cases, and those who used only antidepressants, as controls. Data were obtained from a pharmacy database, medical records and interviews with the healthcare team. The association of predisposing factors for combined therapy was analysed using logistic regression analysis, and the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Of the 1355 users of antidepressants, 265 had major depression, of whom 138 were cases and 127 were controls. The factors associated with combined use were age older than 35 years (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0–4.7), absence of comorbidities (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.4–4.1) and no use of other drugs (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.3). Patients with combined use were more likely to exhibit inadequate prescribing, including inappropriate antidepressants (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.2–9.9), inadequate dosages (OR 3.62, 95% CI 1.4–9.6) and/or a non‐recommended duration (OR 66.6, 95% CI 18.4–240.7). The factors identified showed the groups most susceptible to combined use in this population, who in turn are more likely to receive inappropriate prescriptions.
A Generalized Abundance Index for Seasonal Invertebrates
Authors: Dennis Emily B. , Morgan Byron J. T. , Freeman Stephen N. , Brereton Tom M. , Roy David B.
Published: March 2016

At a time of climate change and major loss of biodiversity, it is important to have efficient tools for monitoring populations. In this context, animal abundance indices play an important rôle. In producing indices for invertebrates, it is important to account for variation in counts within seasons. Two new methods for describing seasonal variation in invertebrate counts have recently been proposed; one is nonparametric, using generalized additive models, and the other is parametric, based on stopover models. We present a novel generalized abundance index which encompasses both parametric and nonparametric approaches. It is extremely efficient to compute this index due to the use of concentrated likelihood techniques. This has particular relevance for the analysis of data from long-term extensive monitoring schemes with records for many species and sites, for which existing modeling techniques can be prohibitively time consuming. Performance of the index is demonstrated by several applications to UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme data. We demonstrate the potential for new insights into both phenology and spatial variation in seasonal patterns from parametric modeling and the incorporation of covariate dependence, which is relevant for both monitoring and conservation. Associated R code is available on the journal website.
Skin autofluorescence in dermatology – is photography an option?
Authors: Stamatas G.N.
Published: March 2016

Linked Article:  Franco, et al. Br J Dermatol 2016; 174:499–504.
Diverse methodologies for assessing photoaged skin
Authors: Langton A.K. , Graham H.K. , Watson R.E.B.
Published: March 2016

Linked Article:  Mercurio et al. Br J Dermatol 2016; 174:553–561.
Attachment anxiety predicts depression and anxiety symptoms following coronary artery bypass graft surgery
Authors: Kidd Tara , Poole Lydia , Ronaldson Amy , Leigh Elizabeth , Jahangiri Marjan , Steptoe Andrew
Published: March 2016

Objective

Depression and anxiety are associated with poor recovery in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients, but little is known about predictors of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Design

We tested the prospective association between attachment orientation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in CABG patients, 6–8 weeks, and 12 months following surgery.

Method

One hundred and fifty‐five patients who were undergoing planned CABG surgery were recruited. Patients completed questionnaires measuring attachment, depression, and anxiety prior to surgery, then 6–8 weeks, and 12 months after surgery.

Results

Attachment anxiety predicted symptoms of depression and anxiety at both follow‐up time points, whereas attachment avoidance was not associated with depression or anxiety symptoms. The findings remained significant when controlling for baseline mood scores, social support, demographic, and clinical risk factors.

Conclusion

These results suggest that attachment anxiety is associated with short‐term and long‐term depression and anxiety symptoms following CABG surgery. These results may offer important insight into understanding the recovery process in CABG surgery.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?

Depression and anxiety symptoms are twice more likely to occur in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) populations than in any other medical group.

Depression and anxiety are associated with poor recovery following cardiac surgery.

Predictors of depression and anxiety in CABG patients have been underexplored.

What does this study add?

This study highlights the importance of close interpersonal relationships on health.

Attachment anxiety was prospectively associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety.

These results add to understanding mechanisms linked to recovery following CABG.
Novel p53 target gene FUCA1 encodes a fucosidase and regulates growth and survival of cancer cells
Authors: Ezawa Issei , Sawai Yuichiro , Kawase Tatsuya , Okabe Atsushi , Tsutsumi Shuichi , Ichikawa Hitoshi , Kobayashi Yuka , Tashiro Fumio , Namiki Hideo , Kondo Tadashi , Semba Kentaro , Aburatani Hiroyuki , Taya Yoichi , Nakagama Hitoshi , Ohki Rieko
Published: March 2016

The tumor suppressor p53 functions by inducing the transcription of a collection of target genes. We previously attempted to identify p53 target genes by microarray expression and ChIP‐sequencing analyses. In this study, we describe a novel p53 target gene, FUCA1, which encodes a fucosidase. Although fucosidase, α‐l‐1 (FUCA1) has been reported to be a lysosomal protein, we detected it outside of lysosomes and observed that its activity is highest at physiological pH. As there is a reported association between fucosylation and tumorigenesis, we investigated the potential role of FUCA1 in cancer. We found that overexpression of FUCA1, but not a mutant defective in enzyme activity, suppressed the growth of cancer cells and induced cell death. Furthermore, we showed that FUCA1 reduced fucosylation and activation of epidermal growth factor receptor, and concomitantly suppressed epidermal growth factor signaling pathways. FUCA1 loss‐of‐function mutations are found in several cancers, its expression is reduced in cancers of the large intestine, and low FUCA1 expression is associated with poorer prognosis in several cancers. These results show that protein defucosylation mediated by FUCA1 is involved in tumor suppression.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor‐related hypophysitis and endocrine dysfunction: clinical review
Authors: Joshi M.N , Whitelaw B.C. , Palomar M.T.P. , Wu Y. , Carroll P.V.
Published: March 2016

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a new and effective class of cancer therapy, with ipilimumab being the most established drug in this category. The drugs’ mechanism of action includes promoting the effector T cell response to tumours and therefore increased autoimmunity is a predictable side effect. The endocrine effects of these drugs include hypophysitis and thyroid dysfunction, with rare reports of adrenalitis. The overall incidence of hypophysitis with these medications is up to 9%. Primary thyroid dysfunction occurs in up to 15% of patients, with adrenalitis reported in approximately 1%. The mean onset of endocrine side effects is 9 weeks after initiation (range 5–36 weeks). Investigation and/or screening for hypophysitis requires biochemical and radiological assessment. Hypopituitarism is treated with replacement doses of deficient hormones. Since the endocrine effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors are classed as toxic adverse events, most authors recommend both discontinuation of the immune checkpoint inhibiting medication and ‘high‐dose’ glucocorticoid treatment. However, this has been challenged by some authors, particularly if the endocrine effects can be managed (e.g. pituitary hormone deficiency), and the therapy is proving effective as an anticancer agent. This review describes the mechanism of action of immune checkpoint inhibitors and details the key clinical endocrine‐related consequences of this novel class of immunotherapies.
Torsional power study using CENTURION phacoemulsification technology
Authors: Jensen Jason D , Shi Dallas S , Robinson Mark S , Kramer Gregory D , Zaugg Brian , Stagg Brian C , Pettey Jeff H , Barlow William R , Olson Randall J
Published: March 2016

Background

To evaluate the effect of varying levels of power on phacoemulsification efficiency using the CENTURION Vision System.

Methods

Formalin‐soaked porcine lenses were divided into 2‐mm cubes; 0.9‐mm, balanced tips were used. Torsional power levels were tested from 10% to 100% at 10% intervals. Vacuum was set to 550 mmHg, aspiration to 50 ml/min, and intraocular pressure at 50 mmHg. Efficiency (time to lens removal) and chatter (number of lens fragment repulsions from the tip) were determined.

Results

Increasing torsional power up to 60% increased efficiency. This effect was linear from 30 to 60% power (R2 = .90; P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in efficiency past 60%. Chatter was highest at 10% power and decreased linearly (R2 = .87; P = 0.007) as power was increased up to 60% power, and chatter did not improve above this power level.

Conclusions

Power improved efficiency only up to a 60% power level, and then was negligible. Chatter correlated well with power up to the 60% level, so that as power was increased, chatter decreased. Because there are no additional benefits in efficiency past 60% power, and because chatter is minimal at 60% power, we recommend torsional ultrasound at 60% as the optimal power setting for using the CENTURION System for phacoemulsification.l
Phenotype‐driven molecular autopsy for sudden cardiac death
Authors: Cann F. , Corbett M. , O'Sullivan D. , Tennant S. , Hailey H. , Grieve J.H.K. , Broadhurst P. , Rankin R. , Dean J.C.S.
Published: March 2016

A phenotype‐driven approach to molecular autopsy based in a multidisciplinary team comprising clinical and laboratory genetics, forensic medicine and cardiology is described. Over a 13 year period, molecular autopsy was undertaken in 96 sudden cardiac death cases. A total of 46 cases aged 1–40 years had normal hearts and suspected arrhythmic death. Seven (15%) had likely pathogenic variants in ion channelopathy genes [KCNQ1 (1), KCNH2 (4), SCN5A (1), RyR2(1)]. Fifty cases aged between 2 and 67 had a cardiomyopathy. Twenty‐five had arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), 10 dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 15 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Likely pathogenic variants were found in three ARVC cases (12%) in PKP2, DSC2 or DSP, two DCM cases (20%) in MYH7, and four HCM cases (27%) in MYBPC3 (3) or MYH7 (1). Uptake of cascade screening in relatives was higher when a molecular diagnosis was made at autopsy. In three families, variants previously published as pathogenic were detected, but clinical investigation revealed no abnormalities in carrier relatives. With a conservative approach to defining pathogenicity of sequence variants incorporating family phenotype information and population genomic data, a molecular diagnosis was made in 15% of sudden arrhythmic deaths and 18% of cardiomyopathy deaths.
Neurophysiological changes associated with implant placement
Authors: Hartmann Amely , Welte‐Jzyk Claudia , Seiler Marcus , Daubländer Monika
Published: March 2016

Objectives

The objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of a standardized Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) protocol extra‐ and intraoral in patients to detect and quantify sensory disturbances of the inferior alveolar nerve due to the proximity of implantation procedures to the inferior alveolar nerve canal.

Material and Methods

Patients who had obtained an implant placement were examined by implementing a comprehensive QST protocol for extra‐ and intraoral use. The study included 33 patients after implant placement in the lower jaw and one patient suffering from an inferior alveolar nerve injury. Patients were tested bilaterally (chin and mucosal lower lip).

Results

Comparing the implanted vs. the control side, QST parameters revealed no significant neurophysiological changes in all parameters. Evaluating the development of sensory disturbances in dependency of the proximity of the implant to the inferior alveolar nerve canal, mechanical QST parameters showed no significant correlation. The mean distance of the inserted implant to the inferior nerve canal was 2.65 ± 1.75 mm. In the case of one patient suffering from impairment of the nerve function due to implant placement, we found abnormal sensory responses to touch coexisting with numbness and temperature algesia.

Conclusions

Monitoring of trigeminal nerve fiber functions by QST intra‐ and extraoral is feasible to evaluate oral sensory pattern after implantation procedures. Sensory disturbances of the inferior alveolar nerve were shown to be avoided by keeping an average safety zone of 2.65 mm between implant and nerve.
Vocabulary, Grammar, Sex, and Aging
Authors: Moscoso del Prado Martín Fermín
Published: March 2016

Understanding the changes in our language abilities along the lifespan is a crucial step for understanding the aging process both in normal and in abnormal circumstances. Besides controlled experimental tasks, it is equally crucial to investigate language in unconstrained conversation. I present an information‐theoretical analysis of a corpus of dyadic conversations investigating how the richness of the vocabulary, the word‐internal structure (inflectional morphology), and the syntax of the utterances evolves as a function of the speaker's age and sex. Although vocabulary diversity increases throughout the lifetime, grammatical diversities follow a different pattern, which also differs between women and men. Women use increasingly diverse syntactic structures at least up to their late fifties, and they do not deteriorate in terms of fluency through their lifespan. However, from age 45 onward, men exhibit a decrease in the diversity of the syntactic structures they use, coupled with an increased number of speech disfluencies.
Mitigating the Impact of Functional Dominance in Cross‐Functional Process Improvement Teams
Authors: Malhotra Manoj K. , Ahire Sanjay , Shang Guangzhi
Published: March 2016

Manufacturing process improvement teams often draw upon cross‐functional expertise. However, teams dominated by a single or few functions often do not achieve the desired interdisciplinary learning and cooperation, which in turn could negatively affect the performance of that cross‐functional team. Through an empirical analysis of 149 manufacturing process improvement teams in six SIC industrial categories, we show that even after controlling for several factors such as team size, number of functions, gender diversity, ethnicity, number of management levels, and geographic dispersion of team members, psychological safety of work environment fully mediates the relationship between functional dominance and team performance. We also confirm that a team leader possessing high interpersonal justice mitigates the deficiency of dominated teams and improves team performance by fostering a psychologically safe work environment. Our recommendation therefore is that when a dominated team is unavoidable due to the needed skill sets or other organizational considerations, to ensure success it is imperative that the firm chooses a team leader who can promote psychological safety by being just, and who can effectively encourage input from all functional team members and give them objective feedback.
Reintervention for stent occlusion after bilateral self‐expandable metallic stent placement for malignant hilar biliary obstruction
Authors: Inoue Tadahisa , Naitoh Itaru , Okumura Fumihiro , Ozeki Takanori , Anbe Kaiki , Iwasaki Hiroyasu , Nishie Hirotada , Mizushima Takashi , Sano Hitoshi , Nakazawa Takahiro , Yoneda Masashi , Joh Takashi
Published: March 2016

Background and Aim

Endoscopic reintervention for stent occlusions following bilateral self‐expandable metallic stent (SEMS) placement for malignant hilar biliary obstruction (MHBO) is challenging, and time to recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO) of the revisionary stent remains unclear. We aimed to clarify a suitable reintervention method for stent occlusions following bilateral SEMS placement for MHBO.

Methods

Between 2002 and 2014, 52 consecutive patients with MHBO who underwent endoscopic reintervention for stent occlusion after bilateral SEMS placement were enrolled at two university hospitals and one tertiary care referral center. We retrospectively evaluated the technical and functional success rates of the reinterventions, and the time to RBO of the revisionary stents.

Results

Technical and functional success rates of the reinterventions were 92% (48/52) and 90% (43/48), respectively. Univariate analysis did not determine any significant predictive factors for technical and functional failures. Median time to RBO of the revisionary stents was 68 days. Median time to RBO was significantly longer for revisionary SEMS placement than for plastic stent placement (131 days vs 47 days, respectively; log–rank test, P = 0.005). Revisionary SEMS placement was the only independent factor that was significantly associated with a longer time to RBO of the revisionary stent in the multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis (hazard ratio 0.37; 95% confidence interval 0.14–0.95; P = 0.039).

Conclusion

Revisionary SEMS placement is a suitable endoscopic reintervention method for stent occlusion following bilateral SEMS placement from the perspective of time to RBO of the revisionary stent.
Endoscopic ultrasonography is not required for staging malignant esophageal strictures that preclude the passage of a diagnostic gastroscope
Authors: Bang Ji Young , Ramesh Jayapal , Hasan Muhammad , Navaneethan Udayakumar , Holt Bronte A. , Hawes Robert , Varadarajulu Shyam
Published: March 2016

Background and Aim

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is considered the most sensitive modality for local staging of esophageal cancer (ECA) and current guidelines recommend EUS in all patients with non‐metastatic disease. Our aim was to identify a subset of patients with stenotic, non‐metastatic ECA who will not benefit from staging EUS.

Methods

This multicenter study evaluated consecutive patients with newly diagnosed non‐metastatic ECA referred for local staging by EUS. All patients had endoscopic evaluation of malignant strictures with 9.8/9.9‐mm diagnostic gastroscope prior to EUS. Main outcome measure was to evaluate the relationship between degree of malignant stenosis and tumor staging by EUS.

Results

Of 100 patients (median age, 65 years; male 81%), gastroscope could not be advanced past the stricture in 46, all of whom (100%) had locally advanced disease at EUS: T3N0/N+ in 39 and T4N0/N+ in seven. Echoendoscope could not traverse the stricture in any of these patients. Gastroscope could be advanced through the stricture in 54 patients in whom EUS staging was T1N0 in five, T2N0/N+ in eight and T3N0/N+ in 41; echoendoscope could not pass through the stricture in 24 of these 54 (44.4%) patients, all of whom had T3N0/N+ disease. On logistic regression analysis, inability to pass a gastroscope through the stricture was significantly associated with advanced (T3/4) tumor stage (OR = 28.7, 95% CI = 1.64–501.2; P = 0.021).

Conclusion

Routine EUS examination may not be required in all patients with ECA as the inability to advance a diagnostic gastroscope past a malignant stricture correlates 100% with locally advanced disease on EUS.
Prediction of disease-free survival using relative change in FDG-uptake early during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for potentially curable esophageal cancer: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Hagen P. v. , Heijl M. v. , van Berge Henegouwen Mark. I. , Boellaard R. , Bossuyt P. M. M. , Kate F. J. W. t. , Dekken H. v. , Hoekstra O. S. , Sloof G. W. , Lanschot J. J. B. v.
Published: March 2016

18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has been investigated as a tool for monitoring response to neoadjuvant chemo- and chemoradiotherapy (CT and CRT, respectively) and as a predictor for survival in patients with esophageal cancer. In contrast to patients who undergo neoadjuvant CT, it is not known whether patients who are clinically identified as responders after neoadjuvant CRT show better disease-free survival (DFS) than patients identified as nonresponders. The aim of the study was to determine the predictive value of FDG-uptake measured prior to and early during neoadjuvant CRT. Patients treated with neoadjuvant CRT between 2004 and 2009 within a randomized trial were included. FDG-uptake was measured at baseline and after 14 days of CRT. According to the PERCIST-criteria, patients were allocated to have metabolic response, stable disease, or progression. Patients were followed until recurrence of disease or death. The predictive value of FDG-PET was determined with univariable and multivariable analysis in patients who underwent potentially curative surgery. One-hundred and six patients were included in the analysis. Minimal follow-up for surviving patients was 60 months. No significant differences in DFS were found between patients with metabolic response, stable disease, or progression, with 5-year DFS rates of 66%, 53%, and 67%, respectively (P = 0.39). Relative change in FDG uptake after 14 days of CRT is not associated with DFS in patients with esophageal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. These measurements should not be used for prognostication in this specific group of patients.
Upregulated thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor expression in children with asthma
Authors: Lin Sheng‐Chieh , Huang Jian‐Jhang , Wang Jiu‐Yao , Chuang Hsiao‐Chi , Chiang Bor‐Luen , Ye Yi‐Ling
Published: March 2016

Background

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays an important role in pathogenesis in patients with asthma. However, the role of thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor (TSLPR) and correlation with IL‐7Rα and clinical severity in asthmatic or nonasthmatic children remain unclear. We investigated TSLPR and IL‐7Rα mRΝΑ levels in asthma and nonasthma and assessed TSLPR expression in children who were sensitive to mites.

Materials and methods

We enrolled asthmatic and nonasthmatic children. To minimize the influence of allergy, we also divided participants into following 4 groups: nonallergic and nonasthmatic group (NN) (healthy children), allergic but nonasthmatic group (AN), nonallergic but asthmatic group (NA) and allergic asthmatic group (AA). We drew blood samples to check total IgE, allergen‐specific IgE and TSLP and measured the expression of the TSLPR and IL‐7Rα genes using reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and real‐time PCR. Asthma symptom score was also recorded.

Results

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin and TSLPR levels were found to be significantly higher in asthmatic than in nonasthmatic children. The levels of TSLP were found to be significantly different between AA and NN groups (P < 0·05). TSLPR expression in NA and AA groups was found to be significantly higher than in NN group (P < 0·05). TSLPR did not differ significantly between NA and AA groups. The TSLPR expression correlated strongly with IL‐7Rα and weakly with mite‐specific IgE. Clinical asthmatic severity of children was found to exert no influence on TSLPR level.

Conclusion

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor might be a significant disease biomarker for asthma. The levels of TSLPR were found to be higher in asthmatic patients than in healthy children, but were found to be not different between allergic and nonallergic asthmatic patients.
Behavioural evidence for separate mechanisms of audiovisual temporal binding as a function of leading sensory modality
Authors: Cecere Roberto , Gross Joachim , Thut Gregor
Published: March 2016

The ability to integrate auditory and visual information is critical for effective perception and interaction with the environment, and is thought to be abnormal in some clinical populations. Several studies have investigated the time window over which audiovisual events are integrated, also called the temporal binding window, and revealed asymmetries depending on the order of audiovisual input (i.e. the leading sense). When judging audiovisual simultaneity, the binding window appears narrower and non‐malleable for auditory‐leading stimulus pairs and wider and trainable for visual‐leading pairs. Here we specifically examined the level of independence of binding mechanisms when auditory‐before‐visual vs. visual‐before‐auditory input is bound. Three groups of healthy participants practiced audiovisual simultaneity detection with feedback, selectively training on auditory‐leading stimulus pairs (group 1), visual‐leading stimulus pairs (group 2) or both (group 3). Subsequently, we tested for learning transfer (crossover) from trained stimulus pairs to non‐trained pairs with opposite audiovisual input. Our data confirmed the known asymmetry in size and trainability for auditory–visual vs. visual–auditory binding windows. More importantly, practicing one type of audiovisual integration (e.g. auditory–visual) did not affect the other type (e.g. visual–auditory), even if trainable by within‐condition practice. Together, these results provide crucial evidence that audiovisual temporal binding for auditory‐leading vs. visual‐leading stimulus pairs are independent, possibly tapping into different circuits for audiovisual integration due to engagement of different multisensory sampling mechanisms depending on leading sense. Our results have implications for informing the study of multisensory interactions in healthy participants and clinical populations with dysfunctional multisensory integration.
Effect of natalizumab on brain atrophy and disability progression in multiple sclerosis patients over 5 years
Authors: Zivadinov R. , Hojnacki D. , Bergsland N. , Kennedy C. , Hagemeier J. , Melia R. , Ramasamy D. P. , Durfee J. , Carl E. , Dwyer M. G. , Weinstock‐Guttman B.
Published: March 2016

Background and purpose

The long‐term benefit of natalizumab on brain atrophy progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is unknown. Our aim was to investigate its effect over 5 years.

Methods

This prospective study included 60 relapsing MS patients who started natalizumab treatment in years 2006−2007.

Results

At the 5‐year follow‐up, 20 patients discontinued natalizumab after an average of 29.5 cycles, 27 continued natalizumab treatment with some periods of honeymoon (average of 38.4 infusions) and 13 never stopped natalizumab (average of 60.6 infusions). In multiple linear regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex and baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) status, the number of natalizumab infusions was associated with decrease of relapse rate (adjusted P = 0.037), but no association was found with the progression of disability, accumulation of lesion burden or brain volume loss. However, only one (8%) patient in the continuous monthly group experienced disability progression compared to 10 (37%) in the non‐continuous and seven (35%) in the discontinuation natalizumab groups. At the follow‐up, two patients had died [one from a fatal case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and one from a car accident] and 15 patients were lost to follow‐up. There was another case of non‐fatal PML over the follow‐up.

Conclusions

In line with previous reports, MS patients with longer and continuous use of natalizumab had fewer relapses and remained stable in their disability status. No difference in lesion burden accumulation or brain atrophy development was found in relation to the duration of natalizumab use. PML occurred in 2.5% of patients in this small sample cohort. Given the increased risk of PML and uncertain benefit of prolonged natalizumab use on clinical and MRI outcomes of disease progression found in this study, a careful risk−benefit therapeutic assessment is mandatory.
Restless legs syndrome in migraine patients: prevalence and severity
Authors: van Oosterhout W. P. J. , van Someren E. J. W. , Louter M. A. , Schoonman G. G. , Lammers G. J. , Rijsman R. M. , Ferrari M. D. , Terwindt G. M.
Published: March 2016

Background and purpose

Our aim was to study not only the prevalence but more importantly the severity and the correlation between sleep quality and restless legs syndrome (RLS) in a large population of well‐defined migraine patients as poor sleep presumably triggers migraine attacks.

Methods

In a large cross‐sectional and observational study, data on migraine and RLS were collected from 2385 migraine patients (according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders ICHD‐IIIb) and 332 non‐headache controls. RLS severity (International RLS Study Group severity scale) and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) were assessed. Risk factors for RLS and RLS severity were calculated using multivariable‐adjusted regression models.

Results

Restless legs syndrome prevalence in migraine was higher than in controls (16.9% vs. 8.7%; multivariable‐adjusted odds ratio 1.83; 95% confidence interval 1.18–2.86; P = 0.008) and more severe (adjusted severity score 14.5 ± 0.5 vs. 12.0 ± 1.1; P = 0.036). Poor sleepers were overrepresented amongst migraineurs (50.1% vs. 25.6%; P < 0.001). Poorer sleep quality was independently associated with RLS occurrence (odds ratio 1.08; P < 0.001) and RLS severity (P < 0.001) in migraine patients.

Conclusion

Restless legs syndrome is not only twice as prevalent but also more severe in migraine patients, and associated with decreased sleep quality.
Family Socioeconomic Status, Immigration, and Children's Transitions into School
Authors: Crosnoe Robert , Ansari Arya
Published: March 2016

Family scholars have contributed a great deal to the growing literature documenting how children's transitions into elementary school serve as a critical period in their educational careers and, more broadly, in socioeconomic and demographic disparities in long‐term educational attainment. The purpose of this review is to describe how this school transition works, why it has short‐ and long‐term ramifications for educational inequality, and how it may be amenable to policy intervention. The review then elucidates how research that looks inside children—including neuroscience—may deepen and build on what is already known in meaningful ways. Throughout, the discussion focuses on children from low‐income families and children from Latin American immigrant families, two groups of children who are central to child‐ and family‐focused efforts to understand and remedy educational inequality.
Neurobiological, Neuroimaging, and Neuropsychological Studies of Children and Adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders
Authors: Puzzo Ignazio , Smaragdi Areti , Gonzalez Karen , Martin‐Key Nayra , Fairchild Graeme
Published: March 2016

The aim of this article is to review findings from the neurobiological, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological literature that have contributed to our understanding of the etiology and development of disruptive behavior disorders, with particular reference to conduct disorder. This review focuses on neurobiological systems such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and neuroimaging evidence linking disruptive behavior disorders to changes in brain functioning or structure. Overall, this research suggests that brain areas involved in emotional processing and regulation are particularly compromised in children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder, which fits with evidence obtained from neuropsychological studies. This review highlights the importance of neuroscientific research in characterizing reliable brain‐based functional and structural biomarkers that may contribute to an increased understanding of, and the development of new treatments for, antisocial and aggressive behavior in children and adolescents.
The Impact of Formal and Informal Support on Health in the Context of Caregiving Stress
Authors: Gouin Jean‐Philippe , da Estrela Chelsea , Desmarais Kim , Barker Erin T.
Published: March 2016

Caregiving stress increases risk for poor health. The overproduction of inflammatory markers is a core process contributing to this effect. In this study the authors investigated whether formal and informal social support act as protective factors against stress‐induced immune dysregulation. Fifty‐six parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder completed questionnaires on formal support services, informal social support, self‐rated health, and daily somatic symptoms, and they provided a blood sample for analysis of C‐reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of inflammation. The results indicated that greater informal social support was associated with lower CRP and that a higher number of formal support services received by the family was related to better self‐rated health, fewer daily somatic symptoms, and lower CRP. Moreover, the impact of support services on the parents' CRP levels increased with child age. These findings highlight the role of formal and informal support in protecting the health of individuals facing caregiving stress across the life course.
FBXL12 regulates T‐cell differentiation in a cell‐autonomous manner
Authors: Nita Akihiro , Nishiyama Masaaki , Muto Yoshiharu , Nakayama Keiichi I.
Published: March 2016

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a hallmark of stem cells including embryonic, adult tissue and cancer stem cells. The SCFFBXL12 complex is an authentic ubiquitin ligase that targets ALDH3 for degradation. FBXL12 is essential for the differentiation of trophoblast stem cells into specific cell types in the placenta during mouse embryogenesis, but its physiological functions in adult tissues have remained unknown. We have now investigated the role of the FBXL12‐ALDH3 axis in the thymus, in which FBXL12 was most abundant among adult mouse tissues examined. During T‐cell differentiation, FBXL12 is most abundant in CD4+CD8+ (DP) cells, with its expression declining as these cells differentiate into CD4+CD8− or CD4−CD8+ (SP) cells. T cells of FBXL12‐null mice manifested a differentiation block at the DP–SP transition that was associated with ALDH3 accumulation in DP cells. This differentiation block was also apparent in wild‐type mouse recipients of FBXL12‐null bone marrow transplants as well as in FBXL12‐null fetal thymic organ culture, suggesting that it is a cell‐autonomous phenomenon in the thymus rather than an indirect effect of altered systemic conditions. Our results thus indicate that, in addition to its role in placental development, the FBXL12‐ALDH3 axis is required for maturation of undifferentiated thymocytes.
A Coalitional Approach to Theorizing Decolonial Communication
Authors: Veronelli Gabriela
Published: March 2016

This article begins by examining the importance that critical intercultural dialogues have within the Modernity/Coloniality Research Program toward reaching an alternative geopolitics and body‐politics of knowledge, in order to raise the question whether the colonial difference creates conditions for dialogical situations that bring together critiques of coloniality emerging from different experiences of coloniality. The answer it offers is twofold. On the one hand, if one imagines such situations to be communicative exchanges à la Bakhtin that put logos at the center, given what is termed thecoloniality of language and speech, the possibility of such exchanges is feasible only as an abstract gesture. On the other hand, when one faces the complications of the erasure of dialogue produced by coloniality, the kind of decolonial communicative relations that seem possible among people thinking and acting from thecolonial differenceare less conscious or agential than emotive. By articulating the relations between coalitional methodologies (María Lugones) and a global sense of connection (Édouard Glissant) the article proposes anondialogicaltheory of decolonial communication: a way of orienting ourselves with a sense of permeability and recognition of being on the same side that doesn't need to be politically motivated but is always active.
Linguistic Alterity and the Multiplicitous Self: Critical Phenomenologies in Latina Feminist Thought
Authors: Ruíz Elena Flores
Published: March 2016

Latina feminists like Gloria Anzaldúa and Mariana Ortega have developed anti‐essentialist accounts of selfhood that are responsive to the problem of alterity and hermeneutic alienation experienced by multiplicitous subjects, understood as those who must navigate between multiple cultural norms and often conflicting interpretive traditions (due to colonial legacies and intersectional oppressions). These accounts can be fortified by examining the sense of inarticulacy that arises from having to name conditions of existence undergirded by social and historical contradictions and ambiguities—especially under the experiential stress of gendered social violence, cultural trauma, and state terror. To address phenomenological accounts of “linguistic terrorism” and the role language plays in multiplicitous accounts of selfhood, I turn to a strategic reading of Nietzsche's existential conception of the self as a living multiplicity, and to his related account of the impoverishment of language. In doing so, I argue more generally that philosophies of agency that critique agential narratives of rupture, instability, and interpretive loss (as part of liberal emancipatory projects) often do so without sufficient attunement to the ways concepts of alterity and liminality operate in North–South contexts or Latina feminist thought. I end by highlighting the critical, decolonial impetus of these concepts as responses to cultural violence.
Reading Cristina García'sThe Agüero Sistersas Latina Feminist Philosophy
Authors: Méndez Susan C.
Published: March 2016

Through an analysis of the interconnections or lack thereof between gender and epistemology, I present Cristina García'sThe Agüero Sistersas a text of Latina feminist philosophy. First, I use the works of Linda Alcoff and Walter Mignolo to illustrate the political nature of epistemology and how women and people of color in particular are disenfranchised from such a political endeavor. Then I examine the connections among the concepts of origin, absence, inheritance, and knowledge‐construction in García's novel to further a critique of standard epistemology and point to an emphasis on reconnection with feminine and maternal knowledge for this text's female characters. Moreover, a depiction and elaboration of María Lugones's ideas of the “coloniality of gender” and “decolonial feminism” in this novel augments this critical examination of epistemology and places emphasis on women as knowledge‐producers.