bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Corrigendum to: Australians' understanding of the decline in fertility with increasing age and attitudes towards ovarian reserve screening
Authors: Evans Alisha , de Lacey Sheryl , Tremellen Kelton
Published: February 2019

The aim of this study is to determine Australians’ understanding of the decline in fertility with age, social determinants that influence their decision to start a family and attitudes towards ovarian reserve screening as a tool allowing personalised reproductive life planning. An online survey of 383 childless Australian men and women, aged 18–45 years, was conducted. Both sexes overestimated natural and in vitro fertilization (IVF)-assisted fertility potential with increasing age, with the magnitude of overestimation being more pronounced for men and IVF treatment compared with natural conception. The primary determinants for starting a family were a stable relationship, followed by establishment of career; availability of accessible child care and paid parental leave were considered less important. Finally, the majority of women (74%) would alter their reproductive life planning if they were identified as having low ovarian reserve on screening. Despite increased education, Australians continue to have a poor understanding of age-related decline in natural and IVF-assisted conception, potentially explaining why many delay starting a family. Ovarian reserve screening may help identify individuals at increased risk of premature diminished fertility, giving these women the ability to bring forward their plans for natural conception or undertake fertility preservation (oocyte freezing).
Inter-strain expression of sequence-diverse HET domain genes severely inhibits growth ofAspergillus oryzae
Authors: Mori Noriko , Katayama Takuya , Saito Ryota , Iwashita Kazuhiro , Maruyama Jun-ichi
Published: February 2019

In the Pezizomycotina (filamentous ascomycete) species, genes that encode proteins with an HET domain (Pfam: PF06985) are reportedly involved in heterokaryon incompatibility (HI) in which cell death or growth defects are induced after fusion of cells that are genetically incompatible owing to diversities in their nucleotide sequence. HET domain genes are commonly found in Pezizomycotina genomes and are functionally characterized in only a few species. Here, we compared 44 HET domain genes between an incompatible strain pair of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 and RIB128 and performed inter-strain expression of 37 sequence-diverse genes for mimicking HI. Four HET domain genes were identified to cause severe growth inhibition in a strain- or sequence-specific manner. Furthermore, SNPs responsible for the inhibition of cell growth were identified. This study provides an important insight into the physiological significance of sequence diversity of HET domain genes and their potential functions in HI of A. oryzae.
Sense and sensibility: ATM oxygen stress signaling manages brain cell energetics
Authors: Schlacher Katharina
Published: February 2019

The ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene regulates DNA damage repair, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial processes. In this issue, Chow et al. (2019. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201806197) connects ATM’s oxidative stress response functions to the sensing of metabolic ATP energetics distinctively important in high energy–demanding Purkinje brain cells, which could explain the most distinct A-T patient feature, cerebellar ataxia.
Evolution of our understanding of cell volume regulation by the pump-leak mechanism
Authors: Kay Alan R. , Blaustein Mordecai P.
Published: February 2019

All animal cells are surrounded by a flexible plasma membrane that is permeable to water and to small ions. Cells thus face a fundamental problem: the considerable tension that their membranes would experience if the osmotic influx of water, driven by the presence of impermeant intracellular ions, was left unopposed. The pivotal study that described the cell’s remedy for this impending osmotic catastrophe—the “pump-leak mechanism” (PLM)—was published in the Journal of General Physiology by Tosteson and Hoffman in 1960. Their work revealed how the sodium pump stabilizes cell volume by eliminating the osmotic gradient. Here we describe the mechanistic basis of the PLM, trace the history of its discovery, and place it into the context of our current understanding.
From DFT to machine learning: recent approaches to materials science–a review
Authors: Schleder Gabriel R , Padilha Antonio C M , Acosta Carlos Mera , Costa Marcio , Fazzio Adalberto
Published: February 2019

Recent advances in experimental and computational methods are increasing the quantity and complexity of generated data. This massive amount of raw data needs to be stored and interpreted in order to advance the materials science field. Identifying correlations and patterns from large amounts of complex data is being performed by machine learning algorithms for decades. Recently, the materials science community started to invest in these methodologies to extract knowledge and insights from the accumulated data. This review follows a logical sequence starting from density functional theory as the representative instance of electronic structure methods, to the subsequent high-throughput approach, used to generate large amounts of data. Ultimately, data-driven strategies which include data mining, screening, and machine learning techniques, employ the data generated. We show how these approaches to modern computational materials science are being used to uncover complexities and design novel materials with enhanced properties. Finally, we point to the present research problems, challenges, and potential future perspectives of this new exciting field.
Regulation of present and future development by maternal regulatory signals acting on the embryo during the morula to blastocyst transition – insights from the cow
Authors: Hansen Peter J , Tríbulo Paula
Published: February 2019

The preimplantation embryo has a remarkable ability to execute its developmental program using regulatory information inherent within itself. Nonetheless, the uterine environment is rich in cell signaling molecules termed embryokines that act on the embryo during the morula-to-blastocyst transition, promoting blastocyst formation and programming the embryo for subsequent developmental events. Programming can not only affect developmental processes important for continuance of development in utero but also affect characteristics of the offspring during postnatal life. Given the importance of embryokines for regulation of embryonic development, it is likely that some causes of infertility involve aberrant secretion of embryokines by the uterus. Embryokines found to regulate development of the bovine embryo include insulin-like growth factor 1, colony stimulating factor 2 (CSF2), and dickkopf WNT signaling pathway inhibitor 1. Embryo responses to CSF2 exhibit sexual dimorphism, suggesting that sex-specific programming of postnatal function is caused by maternal signals acting on the embryo during the preimplantation period that regulate male embryos differently than female embryos.
Prefrontal Cortical and Behavioral Adaptations to Surgical Delivery Mediated by Metabolic Principles
Authors: Taylor-Giorlando Melissa , Scheinost Dustin , Ment Laura , Rothman Dough , Horvath Tamas L
Published: February 2019

We previously observed an association between mode of delivery and brain mitochondrial mechanisms in pups. We also showed that mitochondrial processes impact adult behavior. However, no experimental data is available to causally connect mode of delivery with cellular processes of neurons in the cerebral cortex and adult behavior. Here we show that surgical delivery of pups alters mitochondrial dynamics and spine synapses of layer 3 pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex compared to the values of mice delivered vaginally. These alterations in ultrastructure seen in adult mice delivered surgically were associated with the development of behavioral phenotypes resembling those characteristic of animal models of psychiatric illness. This included impaired performance in prepulse inhibition as well as hyperlocomotion in the open field and elevated plus maze tests. Knocking out a mitochondria-related gene, UCP-2, blocked cellular and behavioral adaptations induced by surgical delivery. These results highlight a crucial role for brain mitochondrial adaptations in the process of birth to affect neuronal circuitry in support of normal and altered adult behaviors. Further, these findings were supported with neuroimaging data from human neonates delivered vaginally and surgically, suggesting that the murine findings have human clinical relevance.
Identification of atheroprone shear stress responsive regulatory elements in endothelial cells
Authors: Bondareva Olga , Tsaryk Roman , Bojovic Vesna , Odenthal-Schnittler Maria , Siekmann Arndt F , Schnittler Hans-J
Published: February 2019

Aims

Oscillatory shear stress (OSS) is an atheroprone haemodynamic force that occurs in areas of vessel irregularities and is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Changes in signalling and transcriptional programme in response to OSS have been vigorously studied; however, the underlying changes in the chromatin landscape controlling transcription remain to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the changes in the regulatory element (RE) landscape of endothelial cells under atheroprone OSS conditions in an in vitro model.

Methods and results

Analyses of H3K27ac chromatin immunoprecipitation-Seq enrichment and RNA-Seq in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells 6 h after onset of OSS identified 2806 differential responsive REs and 33 differentially expressed genes compared with control cells kept under static conditions. Furthermore, gene ontology analyses of putative RE-associated genes uncovered enrichment of WNT/HIPPO pathway and cytoskeleton reorganization signatures. Transcription factor (TF) binding motif analysis within RE sequences identified over-representation of ETS, Zinc finger, and activator protein 1 TF families that regulate cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis, implicating them in the development of atherosclerosis. Importantly, we confirmed the activation of EGR1 as well as the YAP/TAZ complex early (6 h) after onset of OSS in both cultured human vein and artery endothelial cells and, by undertaking luciferase assays, functionally verified their role in RE activation in response to OSS.

Conclusions

Based on the identification and verification of specific responsive REs early upon OSS exposure, we propose an expanded mechanism of how OSS might contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.
Associations between vascular risk factors and brain MRI indices in UK Biobank
Authors: Cox Simon R , Lyall Donald M , Ritchie Stuart J , Bastin Mark E , Harris Mathew A , Buchanan Colin R , Fawns-Ritchie Chloe , Barbu Miruna C , de Nooij Laura , Reus Lianne M , Alloza Clara , Shen Xueyi , Neilson Emma , Alderson Helen L , Hunter Stuart , Liewald David C , Whalley Heather C , McIntosh Andrew M , Lawrie Stephen M , Pell Jill P , Tucker-Drob Elliot M , Wardlaw Joanna M , Gale Catharine R , Deary Ian J
Published: February 2019

Aims

Several factors are known to increase risk for cerebrovascular disease and dementia, but there is limited evidence on associations between multiple vascular risk factors (VRFs) and detailed aspects of brain macrostructure and microstructure in large community-dwelling populations across middle and older age.

Methods and results

Associations between VRFs (smoking, hypertension, pulse pressure, diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia, body mass index, and waist–hip ratio) and brain structural and diffusion MRI markers were examined in UK Biobank (N = 9722, age range 44–79 years). A larger number of VRFs was associated with greater brain atrophy, lower grey matter volume, and poorer white matter health. Effect sizes were small (brain structural R  2 ≤1.8%). Higher aggregate vascular risk was related to multiple regional MRI hallmarks associated with dementia risk: lower frontal and temporal cortical volumes, lower subcortical volumes, higher white matter hyperintensity volumes, and poorer white matter microstructure in association and thalamic pathways. Smoking pack years, hypertension and diabetes showed the most consistent associations across all brain measures. Hypercholesterolaemia was not uniquely associated with any MRI marker.

Conclusion

Higher levels of VRFs were associated with poorer brain health across grey and white matter macrostructure and microstructure. Effects are mainly additive, converging upon frontal and temporal cortex, subcortical structures, and specific classes of white matter fibres. Though effect sizes were small, these results emphasize the vulnerability of brain health to vascular factors even in relatively healthy middle and older age, and the potential to partly ameliorate cognitive decline by addressing these malleable risk factors.
Learning for Legitimacy: The Gaza Flotilla Case of Meaningful Learning in Foreign-Policy Strategic Planning
Authors: Wajner Daniel F
Published: February 2019

Most IR scholars attribute changes in foreign-policy strategic planning to shifts in interests, capabilities, alliances, norms, knowledge, and context. Even those studies focusing on social learning as a driver for policy change mostly underestimate the role of international legitimacy dynamics in influencing learning processes. This paper seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice by building on David Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning to address the Gaza Flotilla crisis as a paradigmatic case of legitimacy learning. This tragic incident, which occurred in May 2010, deepened the diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, until their official reconciliation in June 2016. Likewise, it led to growing delegitimization of Israel among several global audiences. Having internalized the magnitude of the political damage that this incident caused and the need to subordinate operational decisions to legitimation considerations, Israel sought to tackle similar future challenges through reforms in numerous issue-areas relating to foreign-policy strategic planning: diplomatic, military, communications, intelligence, technological, and humanitarian. Drawing on testimonies of Israeli policymakers and the reports published by committees appointed to examine the flotilla events, this phenomenological study describes Israel's meaningful learning process, tracing the subsequent development of delegitimatzia (“delegitimation”) as an advance organizer among Israeli governmental and nongovernmental institutions. These findings can serve scholars in outlining a broader research agenda for analyzing how different actors adapt to the battles for legitimacy that characterize contemporary global politics.
‘Doing more with less’: a qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
Authors: Brooke-Sumner Carrie , Petersen-Williams Petal , Kruger James , Mahomed Hassan , Myers Bronwyn
Published: February 2019

Building resilience in health systems is an imperative for low- and middle- income countries. Health service managers’ ability to implement health innovations may be a key aspect of resilience in primary healthcare facilities, promoting adaptability and functionality. This study investigated health service managers’ perceptions and experiences of adopting health innovations. We aimed to identify perceptions of constraints to adoption and emergent behaviours in response to these constraints. A convenience sample of 34 facility, clinical service and sub-district level managers was invited to participate. Six did not respond and were not contactable. In-depth individual interviews in a private space at participants’ place of work were conducted with 28 participants. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 11 was used to store data and facilitate framework analysis. Study participants described constraints to innovation adoption including: staff lack of understanding of potential benefits; staff personalities, attitudes and behaviours which lead to resistance to change; high workload related to resource constraints and frequent policy changes inducing resistance to change; and suboptimal communication through health system structures. Managers reported employing various strategies to mitigate these constraints. These comprised (1) technical skills including participatory management skills, communication skills, community engagement skills and programme monitoring and evaluation skills, and (2) non-technical skills including role modelling positive attitudes, understanding staff personalities, influencing perceptions of innovations, influencing organizational climate and building trusting relationships. Managers have a vital role in the embedding of service innovations into routine practice. We present a framework of technical and non-technical skills that managers need to facilitate the adoption of health innovations. Future efforts to build managers’ capacity to implement health innovations should target these competencies.
Testing threat-to-efficacy ratios in health communications about cardiovascular disease among an older population
Authors: Moylett Sinéad , Hevey David
Published: February 2019

To test threat-to-efficacy ratios within health communications about cardiovascular disease (CVD) for older individuals. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six messages: (i) ‘standard’ message with 1/1 threat-to-efficacy ratio, (ii) ‘low efficacy’ message with 1/0 threat-to-efficacy ratio, (iii) ‘low threat’ message with 0/1 threat-to-efficacy ratio, (iv) ‘high efficacy’ message with 1/2 threat-to-efficacy ratio; (v) ‘high threat’ message with 2/1 threat-to-efficacy ratio and (vi) ‘overload’ message with 2/2 threat-to-efficacy ratio. Participants had to be of 60 years of age or older (N = 242, Male = 92, Age: M = 68.29, SD = 6.71). Advanced univariate analyses and multiple regression modelling were conducted to examine associations between the message groups, and danger- and fear-control processes, as well as the impact of threat and efficacy appraisals on the relationship between the message groups and behavioural intentions. No differences were found between the message groups for danger-control processes. Those who received the ‘overload’ message did report higher levels of fear, nervousness and anxiety in comparison to the ‘standard’ message group. For physical activity, it was found that efficacy impacted the relationship between the message groups and behavioural intentions, as participants’ levels of efficacy increased and if these individuals received high levels of efficacy information, their behavioural intentions for physical activity increased. Results from this study were dissimilar to those of previous research. However, they highlighted the impact of efficacy and negative emotional reactions when communicating to older individuals about CVD and the associated health behaviours.
Interleukin 2 is an Upstream Regulator of CD4+ T Cells From Visceral Leishmaniasis Patients With Therapeutic Potential
Authors: Chauhan Shashi Bhushan , Faleiro Rebecca , Kumar Rajiv , Ng Susanna , Singh Bhawana , Singh Om Prakash , Singh Siddharth Sankar , Amante Fiona , Rivera Fabian de Labastida , Rai Madhukar , Chakravarty Jaya , Sacks David , Nylen Susanne , Sundar Shyam , Engwerda Christian
Published: February 2019

Control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania donovani requires interferon-γ production by CD4+ T cells. In VL patients, antiparasitic CD4+ T-cell responses are ineffective for unknown reasons. In this study, we measured the expression of genes associated with various immune functions in these cells from VL patients and compared them to CD4+ T cells from the same patients after drug treatment and from endemic controls. We found reduced GATA3, RORC, and FOXP3 gene expression in CD4+ T cells of VL patients, associated with reduced Th2, Th17, and FOXP3+CD4+ T regulatory cell frequencies in VL patient blood. Interleukin 2 (IL-2) was an important upstream regulator of CD4+ T cells from VL patients, and functional studies demonstrated the therapeutic potential of IL-2 for improving antiparasitic immunity. Together, these results provide new insights into the characteristics of CD4+ T cells from VL patients that can be used to improve antiparasitic immune responses.
Phosphorylation of PDE4A5 by MAPKAPK2 attenuates fibrin degradation via p75 signalling
Authors: Houslay K F , Fertig B A , Christian F , Tibbo A J , Ling J , Findlay J E , Houslay M D , Baillie G S
Published: February 2019

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) shape local cAMP gradients to underpin the specificity of receptor function. Key to this process is the highly defined nature of the intra-cellular location of PDEs in the cell. PDE4A5 is a PDE isoform that specifically degrades cAMP and is known to associate with the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) where it modulates cAMP signalling cascades that regulate extracellular matrix remodelling in the lungs. Here we map and validate novel protein–protein interaction sites that are important for formation of the PDE4A5–p75NTR complex and show, for the first time, that phosphorylation of PDE4A5 by MAPKAPK2 enhances PDE4A5 interaction with p75NTR and that this, in turn, serves to attenuate fibrin degradation.
Differences in Genomic Profiles and Outcomes Between Thoracic and Adrenal Neuroblastoma
Authors: Oldridge Derek A , Truong Bao , Russ Douglas , DuBois Steven G , Vaksman Zalman , Mosse Yael P , Diskin Sharon J , Maris John M , Matthay Katherine K
Published: February 2019

Background

Neuroblastoma is a biologically and clinically heterogeneous disease. Based on recent studies demonstrating an association between the primary tumor site, prognosis, and commonly measured tumor biological features, we hypothesized that neuroblastomas arising in different sites would show distinct genomic features reflective of the developmental biology of the sympathicoadrenal nervous system.

Methods

We first compared genomic and epigenomic data of primary diagnostic neuroblastomas originating in the adrenal gland (n = 646) compared to thoracic sympathetic ganglia (n = 118). We also evaluated association of common germline variation with these primary sites in 1027 European-American neuroblastoma patients.

Results

We observed higher rates of MYCN amplification, chromosome 1q gain, and chromosome 11q deletion among adrenal tumors, which were highly predictive of functional RNA signatures. Surprisingly, thoracic neuroblastomas were more likely to harbor ALK driver mutations than adrenal cases among all cases (odds ratio = 1.89, 95% confidence interval = 1.04 to 3.43), and among cases without MYCN amplification (odds ratio = 2.86, 95% confidence interval = 1.48 to 5.49). Common germline single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in BARD1 (previously associated with high-risk neuroblastoma) were found to be strongly associated with predisposition for origin at adrenal, rather than thoracic, sites.

Conclusions

Neuroblastomas arising in the adrenal gland are more likely to harbor structural DNA aberrations including MYCN amplification, whereas thoracic tumors show defects in mitotic checkpoints resulting in hyperdiploidy. Despite the general association of ALK mutations with high-risk disease, thoracic tumors are more likely to harbor gain-of-function ALK aberrations. Site of origin is likely reflective of stage of sympathetic nervous system development when malignant transformation occurs and is a surrogate for underlying tumor biology.
Web Versus Other Survey Modes: An Updated and Extended Meta-Analysis Comparing Response Rates
Authors: Daikeler Jessica , Bošnjak Michael , Lozar Manfreda Katja
Published: February 2019

Do web surveys still yield lower response rates compared with other survey modes? To answer this question, we replicated and extended a meta-analysis done in 2008 which found that, based on 45 experimental comparisons, web surveys had an 11 percentage points lower response rate compared with other survey modes. Fundamental changes in internet accessibility and use since the publication of the original meta-analysis would suggest that people’s propensity to participate in web surveys has changed considerably in the meantime. However, in our replication and extension study, which comprised 114 experimental comparisons between web and other survey modes, we found almost no change: web surveys still yielded lower response rates than other modes (a difference of 12 percentage points in response rates). Furthermore, we found that prenotifications, the sample recruitment strategy, the survey’s solicitation mode, the type of target population, the number of contact attempts, and the country in which the survey was conducted moderated the magnitude of the response rate differences. These findings have substantial implications for web survey methodology and operations.
On the small-scale clustering of quasars: constraints from the MassiveBlack II simulation
Authors: Bhowmick Aklant K , DiMatteo Tiziana , Eftekharzadeh Sarah , Myers Adam D
Published: February 2019

We examine recent high-precision measurements of small-scale quasar clustering (at z ∼ 0.5–2 on scales of ${\sim }25~\mathrm{kpc}\, h^{-1}$) from the SDSS in the context of the MassiveBlack II (MBII) cosmological hydrodynamic simulation and conditional luminosity function (CLF) modelling. At these high luminosities (g < 20.85 quasars), the MBII simulation volume ($100~\mathrm{cMpc}\, h^{-1}$ comoving boxsize) has only three quasar pairs at distances of 1–4 Mpc. The black hole masses for the pairs range between $M_{\rm bh}\sim 1{\, \rm and\, }3\times 10^{9}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$ and the quasar hosts are haloes of $M_{\rm h}\sim 1\hbox{--}3\times 10^{14}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$. Such pairs show signs of recent major mergers in the MBII simulation. By modelling the central and satellite AGN CLFs as lognormal and Schechter distributions, respectively (as seen in MBII AGNs), we arrive at CLF models which fit the simulation predictions and observed luminosity function and the small-scale clustering measured for the SDSS sample. The small-scale clustering of our mock quasars is well-explained by central--satellite quasar pairs that reside in $M_{\rm h}\gt 10^{14}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$ dark matter haloes. For these pairs, satellite quasar luminosity is similar to that of central quasars. Our CLF models imply a relatively steep increase in the maximum satellite luminosity, $L^*_{\mathrm{sat}}$, in haloes of $M_{\rm h}\gt 10^{14}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$ with associated larger values of $L^*_{\mathrm{sat}}$ at higher redshift. This leads to increase in the satellite fraction that manifests itself in an enhanced clustering signal at ≲1 Mpc h−1. For the ongoing eBOSS-CORE sample, we predict ∼200–500 quasar pairs at z ∼ 1.5 (with $M_{\rm h} \gtrsim 10^{13}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$ and $M_{\rm bh} \gtrsim 10^{8}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$) at ∼25 kpc scales. Such a sample would be ≳ 10 times larger than current pair samples.
The linear bias of radio galaxies at z ≈ 0.3 via cosmic microwave background lensing
Authors: Devereux C , Geach J E , Hardcastle M J
Published: February 2019

We present a new measurement of the linear bias of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGNs) at $z$ ≈ 0.3 and $L_{\rm 1.4GHz}\gt 10^{23}\, {\rm W\, Hz^{-1}}$ selected from the Best & Heckman (2012) sample, made by cross-correlating the RLAGN surface density with a map of the convergence of the weak lensing field of the cosmic microwave background from Planck. We detect the cross-power signal at a significance of 3σ and use the amplitude of the cross-power spectrum to estimate the linear bias of RLAGNs, b = 2.5 ± 0.8, corresponding to a typical dark matter halo mass of $\log _{10}(M_{\rm h} /h^{-1} M_\odot)=14.0^{+0.3}_{-0.5}$. When RLAGNs associated with optically selected clusters are removed we measure a lower bias corresponding to $\log _{10}(M_{\rm h} /h^{-1} M_\odot)=13.7^{+0.4}_{-1.0}$. These observations support the view that powerful RLAGNs typically inhabit rich group and cluster environments.
A longitudinal study of the effects of age, sex and race on body composition in chronic kidney disease
Authors: Agarwal Rajiv
Published: February 2019

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by accelerated aging, but the age-related changes in body composition and its modification by sex and race are unclear.

Methods

We assembled a cohort of 516 patients with CKD and 45 healthy controls and serially measured body composition using air-displacement plethysmography for up to 6 years. Mixed models were used to evaluate simultaneously the baseline and longitudinal changes in body composition as influenced by age, sex and race.

Results

Compared with healthy controls, patients with CKD had a greater weight, body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM) and percent body fat (BF%), but the changes over time in body composition were similar. Older age (>60 years) was a strong determinant of loss of weight, BMI, FM and fat-free mass (FFM), but not BF%. Compared with non-blacks, blacks had a higher FFM at baseline, but they lost FFM more rapidly. Compared with women, men had an accelerated loss of FFM and accumulation of FM. Taking interactions into account, we found that young black men had no significant change in weight due to the loss of FFM and the accumulation of FM, thereby masking obesity by conventional measurements.

Conclusion

Among patients with CKD, the changes in body composition are influenced by age, sex and race. Young black men have changes in body composition that may remain undetectable by conventional methods thus masking the occurrence of obesity.
The impact of sequencing PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with brain metastasis
Authors: Kotecha Rupesh , Kim Joseph M , Miller Jacob A , Juloori Aditya , Chao Samuel T , Murphy Erin S , Peereboom David M , Mohammadi Alireza M , Barnett Gene H , Vogelbaum Michael A , Angelov Lilyana , Suh John H , Ahluwalia Manmeet S
Published: February 2019

Background

The response of brain metastases (BM) treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs; programmed cell death 1 and its ligand) is of significant interest.

Methods

Patients were divided into cohorts based on ICI sequencing around SRS. The primary outcome was best objective response (BOR) that was lesion specific. Secondary outcomes included overall objective response (OOR), response durability, radiation necrosis (RN), and overall survival (OS).

Results

One hundred fifty patients underwent SRS to 1003 BM and received ICI. Five hundred sixty-four lesions (56%) treated with concurrent ICI (±5 half-lives) demonstrated superior BOR, OOR, and response durability compared with lesions treated with SRS and delayed ICI. Responses were best in those treated with immediate (±1 half-life) ICI (BOR: −100 vs −57%, P < 0.001; complete response: 50 vs 32%; 12-month durable response: 94 vs 71%, P < 0.001). Lesions pre-exposed to ICI and treated with SRS had poorer BOR (−45%) compared with ICI naive lesions (−63%, P < 0.001); best response was observed in ICI naive lesions receiving SRS and immediate ICI (−100%, P < 0.001). The 12-month cumulative incidence of RN with immediate ICI was 3.2% (95% CI: 1.3–5.0%). First radiographic follow-up and best intracranial response were significantly associated with longer OS; steroids were associated with inferior response rates and poorer OS (median 10 vs 25 mo, P = 0.002).

Conclusions

Sequencing of ICI around SRS is associated with overall response, best response, and response durability, with the most substantial effect in ICI naive BM undergoing immediate combined modality therapy. First intracranial response for patients treated with immediate ICI and SRS may be prognostic for OS, whereas steroids are detrimental.
Coming Home
Authors: Kline Wendy
Published: February 2019

By the mid-twentieth century, two things appeared destined for extinction in the United States: the practice of home birth and the profession of midwifery. In 1940, close to half of all U.S. births took place in the hospital, and the trend was increasing. By 1970, the percentage of hospital births reached an all-time high of 99.4%, and the obstetrician, rather than the midwife, assumed nearly complete control over what had become an entirely medicalized procedure. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an explosion of new alternative organizations, publications, and conferences cropped up, documenting a very different demographic trend; by 1977, the percentage of out-of-hospital births had more than doubled. Home birth was making a comeback, but why? A quiet revolution spread across cities and suburbs, towns and farms, as individuals challenged legal, institutional, and medical protocols by choosing unlicensed midwives to catch their babies at home. Drawing on archival materials and interviews with midwives, doctors, and home birth consumers, Coming Home analyzes the ideas, values, and experiences that led to this quiet revolution, and its long-term consequences for our understanding of birth, medicine, and culture.
The Bowland Bust
Authors: Kline Wendy
Published: February 2019

Chapter 4 traces the role of the hippie midwife from the perspective of a legal case. In 1974, three women were arrested in an undercover sting operation in Santa Cruz and charged with practicing medicine without a license for their involvement in out-of-hospital births. Over a period of nearly three years, the case moved from the district to the state supreme court, which ruled that pregnancy was a physical condition and that the law prohibited unlicensed persons from “diagnosing, treating, operating upon or prescribing for a woman undergoing normal pregnancy or childbirth.” Bowland v. Municipal Court, which established a precedent of state restrictions over parental choice in childbirth options, suggested the near impossibility of unifying reproductive rights groups under the larger rubric of “choice.” The birth center bust showcases the potential for collaboration (between midwives and doctors, feminists, politicians and activists) as well as the obstacles that ultimately prevented them from doing so.
Visions of Community at Worker Centers
Authors: Apostolidis Paul
Published: February 2019

Two thematic strands characterize day laborers’ conceptions of their worker center communities. Many workers stress the need for order and efficiency backed by strong authority aimed at distinguishing worthy participants from the unworthy, providing security to migrants with a stout work ethic, and ensuring members’ unity as a disciplined workforce. Many others highlight convivial and mutualist practices through which day laborers assist suffering compañeros, govern centers autonomously and democratically, and mobilize politically. Day laborers thus manifest modes of democratic action grounded in mundane habits of reciprocity, enlivened through intercorporeal resonances, and catalyzing politicization within precaritized conditions. Workers’ community-making activities further shed light on the temporalities of transformative practices conceptualized by Raymond Rocco, Romand Coles, and Anna Lowenhaupt-Tsing, whose writings in turn illuminate the political significance of worker center cultures. Day laborers also rearticulate racial-ethnic identity according to temporalities that counter neoliberal permutations of the Latino unity ideal criticized by Cristina Beltrán.
Community Power and Empowerment
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

Community Power and Empowerment is the most comprehensive treatment of empowerment theory to date. The book begins by situating empowerment with regard to community power, thereby addressing a long-standing ambiguity within empowerment theory, research, and practice. Next, chapters examine psychological, organizational, and community aspects of empowerment processes. A new orienting framework for studying and comparing community empowerment processes is developed. The outcomes and impacts of empowerment processes are specified across multiple pathways. Finally, the book provides recommendations for integrating research and practice to achieve the goals of empowerment: building and exercising social power for systemic change and improving community well-being.
Community Power
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

Power is a fundamental force in community affairs and change processes. This chapter examines community power structure as a basis for understanding empowerment processes. Early social scientific treatments of community power structure focused on which actors won and which lost in publicly visible debates and conflicts over policy. Later studies added conceptual depth by drawing attention to gatekeeping, agenda setting, and other behind-the-scenes maneuvers to influence outcomes that were not typically visible to the public or outside observers. Then, scholars who focused on the ways that power can be used to subtly shape and influence ideology, grievances, and quiescence added still further depth. Taken together, these three “faces” of power in community decision-making comprise a framework for understanding community power. This three-dimensional framework is reviewed and updated in this chapter to elaborate a theory of community power on which to base considerations of empowerment.
The Rise of Empowerment
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

This chapter traces the rise of the term empowerment from its early influences through the 1970s and 1980s, when it became a topic of great interest to activists, policymakers, and those in the helping professions, through to contemporary empowerment theory and practice. Particular attention is paid to a multilevel framework for empowerment that has been advanced by community psychologists. This framework posits inextricable and context-specific empowerment processes and outcomes at the psychological, organizational, and community levels of analysis. This conceptualization has been influential in interdisciplinary scholarship and practice, yet work is still needed to coherently link this framework to the concept of community power, as well as to enhance its ability to illuminate dynamic organizational and community processes.
Organizational Development
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

Voluntary associations and non-profit organizations are the most common catalysts for empowerment processes and the exercise of community power. Yet, there are tremendous variations in scale, mission, composition, and structure among these organizations. How can stakeholders—from staff and volunteers to policymakers and funders—know how best to invest their efforts and resources? Organizational empowerment theory aspires to function as a framework that can shed light on these topics, yet it has inadequately considered how contemporary trends in political economy affect organizations and organizational networks. This chapter elaborates the characteristics of organizations and their networks of relations with other organizations that are conducive to building community power.
Designing Research and Action
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

Taking account of the holistic framework for empowerment processes and outcomes developed in previous chapters, this chapter provides recommendations in the form of a set of design principles that can apply to both empowerment research and the various forms of praxis that seek to catalyze, sustain, and multiply empowerment processes. Although there are common concepts that can guide and inform research and action, creative design is needed to tailor efforts for specific local contexts, issues of concern, and questions. The principles offered in this chapter are therefore intended to provide a set of recommendations for translating the frameworks that are the primary focus of the book into context-specific plans for action and research.
Conclusion
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

The conclusion of this book addresses the need to navigate a perennial paradox: on the one hand, there is great urgency to address the issues currently facing communities; on the other hand, there is need for diligent (and often painfully slow) pursuit of better frameworks and tools that can help advance praxis and make it more effective. In the current sociopolitical context, however, it does not seem nearly as necessary to stress this need for urgency. The urgency should be readily apparent. The final chapter offers concluding thoughts, especially in light of constantly changing sociopolitical contexts. Crises often present unique opportunities for change, and the process of building power to press for change has many benefits.
Introduction
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

The introduction places the missionary-Waorani story within the context of the history of American evangelicalism. The iconic narrative of the five men slain in Ecuador stands in a tradition of two centuries of missionary zeal and sacrifice memorialized in print that began with David Brainerd (1718–47). His diaries, edited by Jonathan Edwards as An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd, inspired generations of believers. Other memoirs followed, establishing the missionary narrative as an influential genre of religious biography. Such books presented missionaries, especially those who died in pursuit of their calling, as saints, heroes, or martyrs. They also were products of their times. The Triumph of John and Betty Stam, about a missionary couple murdered in China in 1934, included a note of victory that reflected the influence of Keswick holiness. Widespread interest in the “Ecuador martyrs” twenty-two years later, demonstrated the staying power of the missionary narrative and the increased cultural visibility of theologically conservative Protestants as they left separatist fundamentalism for a “new” evangelicalism. The missionary-Waorani encounter also had an unexpected, almost miraculous sequel that became part of the accepted history even if elements of it were romanticized and misleading.
The Home Front
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter traces the transformation of the five slain missionaries from admirable but tragic victims to martyrs and paragons of evangelical spirituality. The American evangelical press emphasized the triumph of faith in the face of death, and critics were silenced. The men’s story was published in the widely circulated Reader’s Digest, and Elisabeth Elliot, widow of one of the slain missionaries, wrote Through Gates of Splendor, published in 1957 and featuring all five men as case studies of true holiness. It became an immediate bestseller and the defining missionary martyr narrative for American evangelicals during the second half of the twentieth century. Two biographies—one of Jim Elliot, the other of Nate Saint—quickly followed. All three books encouraged the sense of calling that led waves of young people into full-time Christian work, on the mission field or at home.
The Next Steps
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter explores the tension and competition between various missionaries and missions agencies in Ecuador as each group tried to position itself to contact the Waorani. Rachel Saint and Elisabeth Elliot reconciled for the first of many times before Rachel and Dayomæ traveled to the US for This Is Your Life and speaking engagements, a trip that lasted a year. Dayomæ converted to Christianity and was baptized by V. Raymond Edman, president of Wheaton College, where three of the missionaries killed by the Waorani had attended. In Ecuador the missions first involved in the Waorani project continued efforts to make contact. Mission Aviation Fellowship resumed flights over Wao clearings. Brethren missionary Wilfred Tidmarsh ventured near Waorani territory. In November 1957 two Waorani women, Mintaca and Mæncamo, came out of the rainforest. Elisabeth Elliot befriended them, brought them to live with her, and sought to learn the Wao language.
A Parting of the Ways
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter explores the different perspectives held by Rachel Saint and Elisabeth Elliot on what it meant to be a missionary among the Waorani, differences that in 1961 led Elliot and her daughter to leave the mission. The distinct perspectives were evident in the books associated with each woman: The Dayuma Story, written by Ethel Emily Wallis in collaboration with Saint and Dayomæ, and The Savage My Kinsman, by Elliot, with help from photographer Cornell Capa. Saint viewed the Waorani in traditional evangelical terms as a people lost in spiritual darkness and needing redemption. Elliot raised questions about how such an isolated group could understand the gospel message. The two missionary women were unable to collaborate on their primary task of Bible translation, leading to Elliot’s departure. Shortly thereafter, nine Waorani, including four of the five surviving Palm Beach killers, were baptized.
The (Apparently) Idyllic Years
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter traces the years 1962 to 1968, when Rachel Saint, representing the Summer Institute of Linguistics, was the only full-time missionary among the Waorani and when the Guequitaidi (Guequita’s bunch), the name given Dayomæ’s kinship group, responded to the Christian message with miraculous openness. Evangelicals in the US were told that the Guequitaidi held prayer meetings and had received copies of the Gospel of Mark, translated by Saint and Dayomæ (though no one could read) and that some had volunteered to go as missionaries to the Piyæmoidi (downriver Waorani), who were their sworn enemies. In 1966 Saint took two Wao men to the Congress on World Evangelism in Berlin, where they captured the imaginations of delegates and the press. In 1968 Wao missionaries found their Piyæmoidi enemies. That contact and the discovery of oil in Amazonian Ecuador would forever change missionary work among the Waorani.
An Anthropologist Arrives
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter describes the initial experiences and impact of Jim Yost, an SIL staff member with a PhD in anthropology, who moved into Tewæno with his wife and daughter in January 1974. They were the first intact nuclear family of outsiders to live among the Waorani. Yost’s official assignment was to collaborate with Rachel Saint doing fieldwork among the Waorani before their culture was changed by outside contact. He immersed himself in Wao culture but soon found his data corrupted by Saint’s presence, coaching the Waorani to behave as she wanted them to. Yost also became concerned about the control exercised by Dayomæ and Saint over the inhabitants of Tewæno, control that left the Waorani dependent on SIL and ill prepared to navigate an outside world increasingly encroaching on their lives.
Breaking a Pattern of Dependence
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter analyzes the eight-year struggle of the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Ecuador to remove Rachel Saint, one of their most famous missionaries, from the Waorani and to curb the culture of dependence Saint and Dayomæ had fostered. For more than a decade, Saint controlled outside access to the Waorani, while Dayomæ used her relationship with Saint to establish a power base in Tewæno. Jim Yost suggested that these dynamics exploited other Waorani, a conclusion backed by his SIL colleagues. Other concerns included the oppressive style of Christianity practiced in Tewæno and the slow progress of Bible translation. Saint fought back, confident that her actions reflected God’s will and what she erroneously believed was the matriarchal character of Wao culture. All attempts at compromise failed, and in April 1982 Saint retired, living the rest of her life near Dayomæ in the newly established village of Toñæmpade.