bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kinetic Study of the Bioadsorption of Methylene Blue on the Surface of the Biomass Obtained from the Algae D. antarctica
Authors: Guarín Jhonatan R. , Moreno-Pirajan Juan Carlos , Giraldo Liliana
Published: June 2018

Currently, there is a great pollution of water by the dyes; due to this, several studies have been carried out to remove these compounds. However, the total elimination of these pollutants from the aquatic effluents has represented a great challenge for the scientific community, for which it is necessary to carry out investigations that allow the purification of water. In this work, we studied the bioadsorption of methylene blue on the surface of the biomass obtained from the algae D. antarctica. This material was characterized by SEM and FTIR. To the data obtained in the biosorption experiments, different models of biosorption and kinetics were applied, finding that the best fit to the obtained data is given by applying the pseudo-second-order models and the Toth model, respectively. It was also determined that the maximum adsorption capacity of MB on the surface of the biomass is 702.9 mg/g, which shows that this material has great properties as a bioadsorbent.
A Convenient and Sensitive LC-MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of Carbadox- and Olaquindox-Related Residues in Swine Muscle and Liver Tissues
Authors: Zhang Heying , Qu Wei , Tao Yanfei , Chen Dongmei , Xie Shuyu , Huang Lingli , Liu Zhenli , Pan Yuanhu , Yuan Zonghui
Published: June 2018

This paper presents a convenient and sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of carbadox and olaquindox residues, including desoxyolaquindox (DOLQ), desoxycarbadox (DCBX), quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid (QCA), 3-methyl-quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid (MQCA), and the glycine conjugates of QCA and MQCA (namely, QCA-glycine and MQCA-glycine, resp.) in swine muscle and liver tissues. Tissue samples were extracted with 2% metaphosphoric acid in 20% methanol and cleaned up by solid-phase extraction (SPE) on a mixed-mode anion-exchange column (Oasis MAX). Analysis was performed on a C18 column by detection with mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The limits of detection (LODs) of the six analytes were determined to be 0.01 μg·kg−1 to 0.25 μg·kg−1, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.02 μg·kg−1 to 0.5 μg·kg−1. The total recoveries of the six analytes in all tissues were higher than 79.1% with the RSD% less than 9.2%. The developed method can determine the real residue level of QCA and MQCA, whether they are present in free form or as glycine conjugates in tissues, together with the carcinogenic desoxy metabolites DCBX and DOLQ with high recovery. Therefore, this method was suitable for routine analysis of residue control programmes and the residue depletion study of CBX and OLQ on swine.
Persistent Increased Frequency of Genomic Instability in Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: Before, during, and after Treatments
Authors: Paz Márcia Fernanda Correia Jardim , Sobral André Luiz Pinho , Picada Jaqueline Nascimento , Grivicich Ivana , Júnior Antonio Luiz Gomes , da Mata Ana Maria Oliveira Ferreira , de Alencar Marcus Vinícius Oliveira Barros , de Carvalho Rodrigo Mendes , da Conceição Machado Kátia , Islam Muhammad Torequl , de Carvalho Melo Cavalcante Ana Amélia , da Silva Juliana
Published: June 2018

This study aimed to evaluate DNA damage in patients with breast cancer before treatment (background) and after chemotherapy (QT) and radiotherapy (RT) treatment using the Comet assay in peripheral blood and the micronucleus test in buccal cells. We also evaluated repair of DNA damage after the end of RT, as well as the response of patient’s cells before treatment with an oxidizing agent (H2O2; challenge assay). Fifty women with a mammographic diagnosis negative for cancer (control group) and 100 women with a diagnosis of breast cancer (followed up during the treatment) were involved in this study. The significant DNA damage was observed by increasing in the index and frequency of damage along with the increasing of the frequency of micronuclei in peripheral blood and cells of the buccal mucosa, respectively. Despite the variability of the responses of breast cancer patients, the individuals presented lesions on the DNA, detected by the Comet assay and micronucleus Test, from the diagnosis until the end of the oncological treatment and were more susceptible to oxidative stress. We can conclude that the damages were due to clastogenic and/or aneugenic effects related to the neoplasia itself and that they increased, especially after RT.
The Imbalance of FOXP3/GATA3 in Regulatory T Cells from the Peripheral Blood of Asthmatic Patients
Authors: Chen Tiantian , Hou Xiaoxia , Ni Yingmeng , Du Wei , Han Huize , Yu Youchao , Shi Guochao
Published: June 2018

Background. Treg cells play an important role in the pathogenic progress of asthma. Objective. To address the alterations of Treg cells in asthma. Methods. Proliferation-and function-associated markers of Treg cells along with the percentage of Treg cells producing some cytokine from asthmatics and healthy subjects were analyzed by flow cytometry. Besides, the expressions of USP21 and PIM2 in Treg cells were measured by cell immunochemistry after Treg cells were sorted. Results. Treg cells from asthmatic patients showed lower proliferation activity and were more likely to be apoptotic. These cells expressed lower levels of GITR, CTLA-4, Nrp-1, and IL-10 compared to those from the healthy control. Th2-like Treg cells increased in asthmatic patients, while the percentage of IFN-r+ Treg cells was similar between two groups. Moreover, the percentage of IL-4+ Treg cells is related to the asthma control. Treg cells from asthmatic patients expressed more FOXP3 as well as GATA3; the expression level of GATA3 negatively correlated with FEV1%pred. Increased expressions of USP21 and PIM2 in Treg cells from asthmatic patients were found. Conclusion. Treg cells decreased in asthmatic patients, with an impaired immunosupression function and a Th2-like phenotype, which may be due to overexpression of GATA3 and FOXP3, regulated by USP21 and PIM2, respectively.
Sepsis, Endocarditis, and Purulent Arthritis due to a Rare Zoonotic Infection with Streptococcus equi Subspecies zooepidemicus
Authors: Høyer-Nielsen Anne Kirstine , Gaini Shahin , Kjerulf Anne , Kollslíð Rudi , Steig Torkil Á , Stegger Marc , Jóanesarson Jan
Published: June 2018

Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is mostly known as an opportunistic pathogen found in horses and as a rare human zoonosis. An 82-year-old male, who had daily contact with horses, was admitted in a septic condition. The patient presented with dyspnea, hemoptysis, impaired general condition, and severe pain in a swollen left shoulder. Synovial fluid from the affected joint and blood cultures showed growth of S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus. Transesophageal echocardiography showed a vegetation on the aortic valve consistent with endocarditis. Arthroscopic revision revealed synovitis and erosion of the rotator cuff. Technetium-99m scintigraphy showed intense increased activity in the left shoulder, suspicious of osteitis. The infection was treated with intravenous antibiotics over a period of five weeks, followed by oral antibiotics for another two months. The patient recovered without permanent sequelae.
16S rRNA Long-Read Sequencing of the Granulation Tissue from Nonsmokers and Smokers-Severe Chronic Periodontitis Patients
Authors: Chowdhry Rebecca , Singh Neetu , Sahu Dinesh Kumar , Tripathi Ratnesh Kumar , Mishra Archana , Singh Anjana , Shyam Hari , Shankar Pratap , Lal Nand , Bhatt Madan Lal Brahma , Kant Ravi
Published: June 2018

Smoking has been associated with increased risk of periodontitis. The aim of the present study was to compare the periodontal disease severity among smokers and nonsmokers which may help in better understanding of predisposition to this chronic inflammation mediated diseases. We selected deep-seated infected granulation tissue removed during periodontal flap surgery procedures for identification and differential abundance of residential bacterial species among smokers and nonsmokers through long-read sequencing technology targeting full-length 16S rRNA gene. A total of 8 phyla were identified among which Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were most dominating. Differential abundance analysis of OTUs through PICRUST showed significant (p>0.05) abundance of Phyla-Fusobacteria (Streptobacillus moniliformis); Phyla-Firmicutes (Streptococcus equi), and Phyla Proteobacteria (Enhydrobacter aerosaccus) in nonsmokers compared to smokers. The differential abundance of oral metagenomes in smokers showed significant enrichment of host genes modulating pathways involving primary immunodeficiency, citrate cycle, streptomycin biosynthesis, vitamin B6 metabolism, butanoate metabolism, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism pathways. While thiamine metabolism, amino acid metabolism, homologous recombination, epithelial cell signaling, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, phosphonate/phosphinate metabolism, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, translation factors, Ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and DNA replication pathways were significantly enriched in nonsmokers, modulation of these pathways in oral cavities due to differential enrichment of metagenomes in smokers may lead to an increased susceptibility to infections and/or higher formation of DNA adducts, which may increase the risk of carcinogenesis.
Immunological Mechanisms in Allergic Diseases and Allergen Tolerance: The Role of Treg Cells
Authors: Calzada D. , Baos S. , Cremades-Jimeno L. , Cárdaba B.
Published: June 2018

The immune system regulates itself to establish an appropriate immune response to potentially harmful pathogens while tolerating harmless environmental antigens and self-antigens. A central role in this balance is played by regulatory T cells (Tregs) through various ways of actions. By means of molecule secretion and cell-cell contact mechanisms, Tregs may have the capacity to modulate effector T cells and suppress the action of proinflammatory cytokines across a broad range of cell types. As a result, abnormal regulatory T cell function has been pointed as a main cause in the development of allergic diseases, a major public health problem in industrialized countries, with a high socioeconomic impact. This prevalence and impact have created an international interest in improving the allergy diagnosis and therapy. Additionally, research has sought to gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlining this kind of disease, in order to a better management. At this respect, the role of Treg cells is one of the most promising areas of research, mainly because of their potential use as new immunotherapeutical approaches. Therefore, the aim of this review is to update the existing knowledge of the role of Tregs in this pathology deepening in their implication in allergen-specific therapy (AIT).
Association between VEGF Gene Polymorphisms and the Susceptibility to Lung Cancer: An Updated Meta-Analysis
Authors: Yang Fengming , Qin Zhiqiang , Shao Chuchu , Liu Weitao , Ma Ling , Shu Yongqian , Shen Hua
Published: June 2018

Background and Objective. The association between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms (-2578C/A, +936C/T, and -460C/T) and lung cancer risk has been extensively studied in the last decades, but currently available results remain controversial or ambiguous. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess whether the relationship between the VEGF gene and lung cancer susceptibility exists.Methods. The meta-analysis was conducted by searching the databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science covering all eligible studies published up to October 1, 2017. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) as well as their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized to evaluate the possible associations. Publication bias of relevant studies was examined via Begg’s funnel plots and Egger’s regression tests.Results. This meta-analysis included 13 published case–control studies covering 4477 patients with lung cancer and 4346 healthy controls, who had been accrued from December 1992 to July 2012. For the overall eligible data collected in our meta-analysis, it indicated that VEGF +936C/T, -460C/T, and -2578C/A polymorphisms did not correlate with the elevated lung cancer risk in all genetic comparison models. Moreover, VEGF +460T/C polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with susceptibility to lung cancer in these models (allele model: pooled OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00–1.26,P= 0.184; homozygote model: pooled OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.12–2.03,P= 0.821), but no significant results were detected in Caucasian populations.Conclusions. VEGF +936C/T, -460C/T, and -2578C/A polymorphisms were not associated with the risk of lung cancer. The VEGF +460T/C polymorphism might be a risk factor for lung cancer only in Asian populations.
User-Friendly Genetic Conditional Knockout Strategies by CRISPR/Cas9
Authors: Chen Liangliang , Ye Ying , Dai Hongxia , Zhang Heyao , Zhang Xue , Wu Qiang , Zhu Zhexin , Spalinskas Rapolas , Ren Wenyan , Zhang Wensheng
Published: June 2018

Loss-of-function studies are critically important in gene functional analysis of model organisms and cells. However, conditional gene inactivation in diploid cells is difficult to achieve, as it involves laborious vector construction, multifold electroporation, and complicated genotyping. Here, a strategy is presented for generating biallelic conditional gene and DNA regulatory region knockouts in mouse embryonic stem cells by codelivery of CRISPR-Cas9 and short-homology-arm targeting vectors sequentially or simultaneously. Collectively, a simple and rapid method was presented to knock out any DNA element conditionally. This approach will facilitate the functional studies of essential genes and regulatory regions during development.
The Right to Healthcare in the Common European Asylum System
Authors: Inglese Marco
Published: June 2018

This article seeks to ascertain the role of healthcare in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The article is structured as follows. First, it outlines the international conceptualisation of healthcare in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the European Social Charter (ESC) before delving into the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Second, focusing on the European Union (EU), it analyses the role of Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) in order to verify its impact on the development of the CEAS. Third, and in conclusion, it will argue that the identification of the role of healthcare in the CEAS should be understood in light of the Charter’s scope of application. This interpretative approach will be beneficial for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, as well as for the Member States (MSs).
Continuity and Change in Religious Authority among Sunni Arabs
Authors: Sonn Tamara
Published: June 2018

The gravitation of some disaffected young Muslims toward radical demagogues has raised questions in recent years about leadership in Muslim communities. While global media have made terrorist leaders such as Osama bin Laden household names, few can name even one religious authority who represents the Muslim majorities whose rejection of terrorism is reflected in global opinion polls. Who speaks for them? Is there a leadership crisis among Muslims? This paper argues that far from there being too few religious leaders among Arab Sunni Muslims, there are more than ever. As in earlier eras, epochal political upheaval has resulted in gradual evolution of perceptions of religious authority. Earlier eras saw the transition from prophetic to scholarly authority. In the modern era, charismatic community members have joined traditionally trained scholars in offering guidance for coping with an unprecedented range and rate of change. But two features stand out: Despite differences in education, traditional and modern leaders share essential terms of reference in their interpretations. And in the rejection of some interpretations as extreme and unacceptable, the community itself increasingly assumes the role of arbiters of religious authority. The article concludes that religious leadership today, therefore, reflects both continuity with inherited Islamic discourse, and change.
Guerrillas in the Sea Mist
Authors: Odom Jonathan G.
Published: June 2018

Building upon recent scholarship about the maritime militia of the People’s Republic of China, this article analyzes a number of concerns about that militia’s status and its activities under existing regimes of international law. First, it lays the foundation of general principles of state responsibility and attribution as they pertain to the maritime militia. Thereafter, it identifies and applies three specialized bodies of international law to China’s use of its maritime militia, including the law of the sea, the use of force by states, and the law of naval warfare. Ultimately, the article concludes that there are serious potential consequences and ramifications under international law arising from China’s maritime militia. Looking ahead, the article then provides a series of recommended options that other nations should consider in addressing these legal problems.
Validation of the name Festuca ×polovina (Poaceae)
Authors: BEDNARSKA IRYNA , NACHYCHKO VIKTOR
Published: June 2018

A natural hybridization in grasses (Poaceae) frequently occurs in the area where the distribution ranges of parental species overlap (e.g. Smith 1942, Tzvelev 1976, Soltis & Soltis 2009, Nobis 2013, Nobis et al. 2017, Wölk & Röser 2017). Such phenomenon can be observed also in the genus Festuca Linnaeus (1753: 73) between Festuca ovina Linnaeus (1753: 73) and Festuca polesica Zapałowicz (1904: 303) that distribution ranges overlap. The hybrid individuals are morphologically intermediate between those of the parental species and can be easily distinguished by leaf anatomy (Bednarska 2009). In 2009, the first author of the present paper described this hybrid as a nothospecies Festuca ×polovina Bednarska (2009: 32), providing a protologue in Latin with a detailed description of the taxon, indication of diagnostic characters, and a list of herbaria where the holotype and isotypes are stored. However, no direct citation of a particular herbarium specimen was provided for the nomenclatural type as required by Art. 40 of the ICN (McNeill et al. 2012), and hence the name F. ×polovina was not validly published.
A newly recognised species that has been confused with the global polyphagous pest scale insect, Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae)
Authors: LIN YEN-PO , TANAKA HIROTAKA , COOK LYN G.
Published: June 2018

Coccus hesperidum L. (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae), the type species of the soft scale genus Coccus L., the family Coccidae and the whole of the scale insects (Coccoidea), is a cosmopolitan plant pest. Using DNA sequence data and morphological comparisons, we determine that there is a distinct species that is morphologically very similar to C. hesperidum. Here, we describe the species as Coccus praetermissus Lin & Tanaka sp. n., based on adult female specimens from Australia, Malaysia and Thailand. The adult female of C. praetermissus sp. n. differs from C. hesperidum in having dorsal setae with bluntly rounded tips, whereas they are sharply pointed in C. hesperidum. A detailed description of the newly recognised species is provided, incorporating adult female morphology and DNA sequences from mitochondrial and nuclear loci. Our examination of slides from The Natural History Museum, London, and several Australian institutions indicates that C. praetermissus sp. n. has been confused sometimes with C. hesperidum s. s. These findings have potential relevance to plant biosecurity and quarantine because C. hesperidum is cosmopolitan whereas C. praetermissus sp. n., which is also polyphagous and the two species can share many host plants, currently appears to be more geographically restricted. Additionally, there is deep genetic divergence within C. praetermissus sp. n. that might indicate that it is a cryptic species complex, but wider geographic sampling is required to test this possibility.
A new species of Argulus (Crustacea, Branchiura, Argulidae) from the skin of catfish, with new records of branchiurans from wild fish in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland
Authors: AGUIAR JULIO C. , ROSIM DANIELE F. , SANTOS SONIA M. C. , LUQUE JOSE L. , CECCARELLI PAULO S. , ADRIANO EDSON A. , TAVARES LUIZ E. R.
Published: June 2018

During a survey conducted in the Cuiabá and Paraguay Rivers in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland, in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, we found branchiurans associated with Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, Salminus brasiliensis and Zungaro zungaro. These branchiurans correspond to Argulus chiropteroideus sp. n., Argulus multicolor, Argulus nattereri, Argulus pestifer, Dolops carvalhoi and Dolops longicauda. Besides the description of the new species, in this study we also provide important morphological notes for diagnosis of the other species. Specimens of Argulus chiropteroideus sp. n. were collected from skin of P. reticulatum and P. corruscans. They differ from A. multicolor and Argulus chicomendesi, in the shape of the postantennal spines, which is medially convex and has two lateral and one anterior stout tips in the new species, and for having three claviform, digitate spines on the base of the second maxillae (absent in A. multicolor; three conical, short spines in A. chicomendesi). A. chiropteroideus sp. n. do not have an anterior and a posterior spine on first two segments of first antenna, as well as no flagellum on the dorsal surface of the first two pairs of legs, structures present in A. multicolor and A. chicomendesi. The new species also differ from A. multicolor and A. chicomendesi, in the shape and number of sclerites that compound the support rods of the suction cup.
A distinct new species of riparian rock-dwelling gecko (genus: Hemidactylus) from the southern Western Ghats
Authors: SRIKANTHAN ACHYUTHAN N. , SWAMY PRIYANKA , MOHAN ASHWINI V. , PAL SAUNAK
Published: June 2018

We describe a new species of rock-dwelling gecko, Hemidactylus paaragowlipaaragowli sp. nov., from the Agastyamalai Hill Range, in the southern Western Ghats. Morphological and molecular data support the distinctiveness of the species and its close relationship to other large-bodied, tuberculate Hemidactylus spp. from the H. prashadi group from India and Sri Lanka. This species belongs to a rupicolous complex and can be distinguished from other members of the group based on the following characters: 22–24 longitudinal rows of fairly regularly arranged, subtrihedral, weakly keeled, striated tubercles at midbody; 9–11 and 10–12 subdigital lamellae on the first and fourth digits, respectively, of both manus and pes; tail with transverse series of four enlarged tubercles on each tail segment; 10–12 femoral pores on each side separated by 16–18 scales without pores; 11–13 supralabials and 9–10 infralabials.
Effect of the Contents in Advance Directives on Individuals’ Decision-Making
Authors: Park Jae Yoon , Lim Chi-Yeon , Puurveen Gloria , Kim Do Yeun , Lee Jae Hang , Do Han Ho , Kim Kyung Soo , Yoo Kyung Don , Kim Hyo Jin , Kim Yunmi , Shin Sung Joon
Published: June 2018

Completing an advance directive offers individuals the opportunity to make informed choices about end-of-life care. However, these decisions could be influenced in different ways depending on how the information is presented. We randomly presented 185 participants with four distinct types of advance directive: neutrally framed (as reference), negatively framed, religiously framed, and a combination. Participants were asked which interventions they would like to receive at the end of life. Between 60% and 70% of participants responded “accept the special interventions” on the reference form. However, the majority (70%–90%) chose “refuse the interventions” on the negative form. With respect to the religious form, 70% to 80% chose “not decided yet.” Participants who refused special life-sustaining treatments were older, female, and with better prior knowledge about advance directives. Our findings imply that the specific content of advance directives could affect decision-making with regard to various interventions for end-of-life care.
Personal pronoun usage in maternal input to infants at high vs. low risk for autism spectrum disorder
Authors: He Angela Xiaoxue , Luyster Rhiannon , Hong Sung Ju , Arunachalam Sudha
Published: June 2018

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are prone to personal pronoun difficulties. This article investigates maternal input as a potential contributing factor, focusing on an early developmental stage before ASD diagnosis. Using Quigley and McNally’s corpus of maternal speech to infants (3–19 months; N = 19) who are either at high or low risk for a diagnosis of ASD, the study asked whether mothers used fewer pronouns with high-risk infants. Indeed, high-risk infants heard fewer second-person pronouns relative to their names than low-risk infants. The study further investigated the contexts in which mothers used infants’ names. The results indicated that mothers of high-risk infants often used the infants’ names simply to get their attention by calling them. This finding suggests that high-risk infants may thus hear relatively fewer pronouns because their mothers spend more time trying to get their attention. This may be related to differences in social-communicative behavior between low-risk and high-risk infants.
“The Legacy Element . . . It Just Felt More Woolly”: Exploring the Reasons for the Decline in People With Disabilities’ Sport Participation in England 5 Years After the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Authors: Brown Christopher , Pappous Athanasios (Sakis)
Published: June 2018

This article explores why sports participation of people with disabilities in England has declined since the London 2012 Paralympic Games (LPG). Thirty semistructured interviews were conducted with staff employed in a variety of sports and disability-specific organizations. Our preliminary findings suggest that the decline is a result of a complex interplay between multiple factors. A competency gap and a lack of relevance between Paralympians and the rest of the community of people with disabilities might have limited the impact of the legacy. In addition, an absence of coordinated leveraging of the LPG, and a decline in the media coverage of disability sport in the aftermath of the LPG, might also have dulled the legacy. Finally, our data show that austerity and negative media coverage of people with disabilities deterred some people from participating in sport.
Developing a Set of Uniform Outcome Measures for Adult Day Services
Authors: Anderson Keith A. , Geboy Lyn , Jarrott Shannon E. , Missaelides Lydia , Ogletree Aaron M. , Peters-Beumer Lisa , Zarit Steven H.
Published: June 2018

Adult day services (ADS) provide care to adults with physical, functional, and/or cognitive limitations in nonresidential, congregate, community-based settings. ADS programs have emerged as a growing and affordable approach within the home and community–based services sector. Although promising, the growth of ADS has been hampered by a lack of uniform outcome measures and data collection protocols. In this article, the authors detail a recent effort by leading researchers and practitioners in ADS to develop a set of uniform outcome measures. Based upon three recent efforts to develop outcome measures, selection criteria were established and an iterative process was conducted to debate the merits of outcome measures across three domains—participant well-being, caregiver well-being, and health care utilization. The authors conclude by proposing a uniform set of outcome measures to (a) standardize data collection, (b) aid in the development of programming, and (c) facilitate the leveraging of additional funding for ADS.
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Among U.S. Veterans With a History of MDD or PTSD: A Retrospective Cohort Study Based on Sex and Race
Authors: Bhattarai Jagriti “Jackie” , Oehlert Mary E. , Multon Karen D. , Sumerall Scott W.
Published: June 2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosed at age < 55 as predictors, and sex and race as potential moderators, of dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. Method: Veterans ( N = 4,800) aged ⩾ 56 years were grouped by psychiatric history, sex, and race. Hierarchical and stepwise regression were employed to determine significant predictors. Results: MDD and PTSD were associated with almost double the risk for developing dementia or cognitive impairment at age ⩾ 56. Sex, as a moderator, had small effects whereas race increased the risk almost twofold for Black veterans, given the presence of MDD history. Discussion: MDD and PTSD act as significant risk factors for dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment, and Black veterans, given a history of MDD, may be at an increased risk. An important endeavor for future research is to examine how this risk may vary across dementia subtypes and related conditions.
‘The fate of Shenmue is in your hands now!’: Kickstarter, video games and the financialization of crowdfunding
Authors: Lolli Dario
Published: June 2018

In July 2015, a crowdfunding campaign launched to revive the notoriously unprofitable video game series Shenmue closed with the record figure of above US$6 million, to date the highest amount ever raised on Kickstarter for video game funding. This article takes this campaign as an endemic case study of the changing funding mechanisms concerning video game production in the digital ecosystem of Web 2.0. Although the campaign displays some of the participatory elements often attributed to crowdfunding and digital convergence, it also sheds doubts on accountability and the effective capacity of crowdfunding to substantially challenge and de-hierarchize power relations in the video game industry. In particular, the Shenmue III campaign illustrates how the crowdfunding initiative was instrumentally mobilized by its organizers to attract further corporate sponsorships and stakeholders outside crowdfunding. This controversial episode shows how commercial platforms like Kickstarter are increasingly facilitating a process of financialization of crowdfunding, whose main effect is not so much the equal coming together of media consumers and producers as the minimization of risks for large video game corporations. By mapping the history of the Shenmue franchise from its original failure in the era of physical distribution to its recent crowdfunded success, this article argues that the empowering potentials of crowdfunding cannot be readily assumed without a contingent analysis of the cultural and political economy underlying Web 2.0 and its digital platforms.
Theorizing race and cultural autonomy in education: An extension of differentiation and integration in Paul Willis’s Learning to Labour
Authors: Dinsmore Brooke
Published: June 2018

This paper addresses a misreading of Willis’s Learning to Labour within the American sociology of education, arguing that his central theoretical move, the treatment of cultural production as autonomous from social reproduction, has been neglected. Willis’s concepts of differentiation and integration extend dominant cultural approaches to racial inequality in education, theorizing how youth’s oppositional countercultures emerge through conflict with the institutional logic of schools. However, Willis’s theorization must be extended to account for race in addition to class and gender. Using black working-class boys in American schools as a comparison case, this paper argues that race alters the temporality of differentiation, with black boys perceived as noncompliant and disruptive by teachers prior to participating in high school oppositional countercultures. In response, black boys develop strategies of integration, managing their cultural performances to re-establish the terms of the educational exchange. These strategies may help facilitate class mobility for black youth.
Rurality and education relations: Metro-centricity and local values in rural communities and rural schools
Authors: Beach Dennis , Johansson Monica , Öhrn Elisabet , Rönnlund Maria , Per-Åke Rosvall
Published: June 2018

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in six different types of rural area and their schools in different parts of Sweden, this article identifies how rural schools relate to the local place and discusses some of the educational implications from this. Recurrent references to the local community were present in some schools and people there explicitly positioned themselves in the local rural context and valorised rurality positively in education exchanges, content and interactions, with positive effects on young people’s experiences of participation and inclusion. These factors tended to occur in sparsely populated areas. An emphasis on nature and its value as materially vital in people’s lives was present as was a critique of middle-class metrocentricity. Such values and critique seemed to be absent in other areas, where rurality was instead often represented along the metrocentric lines of a residual space in modernizing societies.
Moving from interdisciplinary research to transdisciplinary educational ethics: Bridging epistemological differences in researching higher education internationalization(s)
Authors: Khoo Su-Ming , Haapakoski Jani , Hellstén Meeri , Malone Joanne
Published: June 2018

This article begins with the proposition that inter- and transdisciplinarity offer an important methodological grounding for collaborative HE research addressing complex agendas such as HE internationalization. Internationalization acts as a figure for the ‘troubled’ nature of higher education; hence we begin with the larger problem, discussing the current crises of disciplinary knowledge as the background question. We set out a framework for understanding and conceptualizing inter- and transdisciplinarity as a meta-theoretical approach that problematizes reductive and disciplinary approaches, in favour of research and analytical strategies which can work with, and across, differences. To work further through and operationalize different possibilities offered by inter-and transdisciplinary approaches to HE internationalizations, we discuss the use of tools such as social cartography to do ‘bridging work’ across different disciplinary and theoretical backgrounds and contexts. A non-formal practitioner–collaborator project is discussed to highlight emergent dimensions of collaboration that might otherwise be overlooked. Inter- and transdisciplinarity are not pre-specified specialized ‘methods’ but, rather, are orientations that may take reductive, convergent, divergent or emergent pathways. Inter- and transdisciplinarity can perhaps be best treated as a problematizing and open-ended methodological approach that foregrounds plurality and contestation, orienting research frameworks towards inclusiveness, tensions, unpredictability and complexity.
A Patient-Centered Activity Regimen Improves Participation in Physical Activity Interventions in Advanced-Stage Lung Cancer
Authors: Bade Brett C. , Hyer J. Madison , Bevill Benjamin T. , Pastis Alex , Rojewski Alana M. , Toll Benjamin A. , Silvestri Gerard A.
Published: June 2018

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is a potential therapy to improve quality of life in patients with advanced-stage lung cancer (LC), but no PA regimen has been shown to be beneficial, clinically practical, and sustainable. We sought to test the hypothesis that a patient-centered activity regimen (PCAR) will improve patient participation and PA more effectively than weekly phone calls. Methods: In patients with advanced-stage LC, we implemented a walking-based activity regimen and motivated patients via either weekly phone calls (n = 29; FitBit Zip accelerometer) or PCAR (n = 15; FitBit Flex, an educational session, and twice-daily gain-framed text messages). Data collection over a 4-week period was compared, and a repeated-measures, mixed-effects model for activity level was constructed. Results: Subjects receiving PCAR more frequently used the device (100% vs 79%) and less frequently had missing data (11% vs 38%). “More active” and “less active” groups were created based on mean step count in the first week. “Less active” patients in the PCAR group increased their PA level, whereas PA level fell in the “more active” group. Most subjects found PCAR helpful (92%) and would participate in another activity study (85%). Discussion: Compared with weekly phone calls, PCAR has higher patient participation, is more likely to improve PA in “less active” subjects, and has high patient satisfaction. A multifaceted PA regimen may be a more efficacious mechanism to study PA in advanced LC. PCAR should be used in a randomized controlled trial to evaluate for improvements in symptom burden, quality of life, and mood.
Biobanking in the Pediatric Critical Care Setting: Adolescent/Young Adult Perspectives
Authors: Paquette Erin D. , Derrington Sabrina F. , Shukla Avani , Sinha Neha , Oswald Sarah , Sorce Lauren , Michelson Kelly N.
Published: June 2018

Biorepository research in children raises numerous ethical questions that are heightened in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting. We conducted a cross-sectional, interview-based study of 20 adolescent/young adult (A/YA) PICU patients and 75 parents of PICU patients to elucidate perspectives on biorepository research. A/YAs had a positive attitude toward biobanking. In young adults, comprehension was higher for knowledge of a choice to withdraw and participate in the research and lower for purpose, procedures, risks, and benefits of participation. All but one A/YA wanted to have a say in whether their samples would be used. Parent views on child assent were mixed; 55% of parents favored child involvement in decisions. Efforts should be made to improve comprehension by A/YAs and involvement of A/YAs in decisions.
Ustekinumab in psoriatic arthritis and related phenotypes
Authors: Dobbin-Sears Isobel , Roberts Janet , O’Rielly Darren D. , Rahman Proton
Published: June 2018

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthritis that commonly occurs with psoriasis and is attributed to genetic, immunologic and environmental factors. The T-helper (Th)-17 pathway and the interleukin (IL)-23/IL-17 axis have become prominent players in PsA and considerably increased our understanding of disease pathogenesis. In this review article, we will focus on the emerging role of IL-12/23 and its blockade, in the pathogenesis and management of PsA as well as of psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. Ustekinumab, is a fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 antibody that binds specifically to the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23, primarily inhibiting downstream Th-17 signalling pathways. Ustekinumab produced consistent and sustained clinical efficacy in two phase III clinical trials in PsA, PSUMMIT-1 and PSUMMIT-2, with data out to 52 weeks, and no new safety signals. PSUMMIT-1 included patients with active PsA despite conventional therapy who were all naïve to anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents, whereas PSUMMIT-2 also included anti-TNF experienced patients. Similarly, ustekinumab produced consistent clinical efficacy in two phase III clinical trials in psoriasis, PHOENIX-1 and PHOENIX-2, and in both induction and maintenance of moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease, UNITI-1, UNITI-2 and IM-UNITI, without an increased safety signal. Currently, ustekinumab is used in the treatment of PsA following the failure of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and as an alternative to, or after failure of an anti-TNF agent.
The venous ulcer continues to be a clinical challenge: an update
Authors: Xie Ting , Ye Junna , Rerkasem Kittipan , Mani Rajgopal
Published: June 2018

Venous ulcers are a common chronic problem in many countries especially in Northern Europe and USA. The overall prevalence of this condition is 1% rising to 3% in the over 65 years of age. Over the last 25 years, there have been many developments applicable to its diagnosis and treatment. These advances, notwithstanding healing response and recurrence, are variable, and the venous ulcer continues to be a clinical challenge.

The pathogenesis of venous ulcers is unrelieved or ambulatory venous hypertension resulting mostly from deep venous thrombosis leading to venous incompetence, lipodermatosclerosis, leucocyte plugging of the capillaries, tissue hypoxia and microvascular dysfunction. It is not known what initiates venous ulcers. Triggers vary from trauma of the lower extremity to scratching to relieve itchy skin over the ankle region. Venous ulcers can be painful, and this condition presents an increasing burden of care. A systematic analysis of the role of technology used for diagnosis and management strongly supports the use of compression as a mainstay of standardised care. It further shows good evidence for the potential of some treatment procedures to accelerate healing. This article reviews the pathogenetic mechanisms, current diagnostic methods and standard care and its limitations.
Orthotopic and heterotopic murine models of pancreatic cancer and their different responses to FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy
Authors: Erstad Derek J. , Sojoodi Mozhdeh , Taylor Martin S. , Ghoshal Sarani , Razavi Allen A. , Graham-O'Regan Katherine A. , Bardeesy Nabeel , Ferrone Cristina R. , Lanuti Michael , Caravan Peter , Tanabe Kenneth K. , Fuchs Bryan C.
Published: June 2018

Syngeneic, immunocompetent allograft tumor models recapitulate important aspects of the tumor microenvironment and have short tumor latency with predictable growth kinetics, making them useful for trialing novel therapeutics. Here, we describe surgical techniques for orthotopic and heterotopic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor implantation and characterize phenotypes based on implantation site.

Mice (n=8 per group) were implanted with 104 cells in the pancreas or flank. Hy15549 and Han4.13 cell lines were derived from primary murine PDAC (Ptf1-Cre; LSL-KRAS-G12D; Trp53 Lox/+) on C57BL/6 and FVB strains, respectively. Single-cell suspension and solid tumor implants were compared. Tumors were treated with two intravenous doses of FOLFIRINOX and responses evaluated.

All mice developed pancreatic tumors within 7 days. Orthotopic tumors grew faster and larger than heterotopic tumors. By 3 weeks, orthotopic mice began losing weight, and showed declines in body condition requiring euthanasia starting at 4 weeks. Single-cell injection into the pancreas had near 100% engraftment, but solid tumor implant engraftment was ∼50% and was associated with growth restriction. Orthotopic tumors were significantly more responsive to intravenous FOLFIRINOX compared with heterotopic tumors, with greater reductions in size and increased apoptosis. Heterotopic tumors were more desmoplastic and hypovascular. However, drug uptake into tumor tissue was equivalent regardless of tumor location or degree of fibrosis, indicating that microenvironment differences between heterotopic and orthotopic tumors influenced response to therapy.

Our results show that orthotopic and heterotopic allograft locations confer unique microenvironments that influence growth kinetics, desmoplastic response and angiogenesis. Tumor location influences chemosensitivity to FOLFIRINOX and should inform future preclinical trials.

This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Increasing of the Role of Social Security in Taxing Personal Income As an Instrument for Smoothing the Spatial Polarization of Regions
Authors: Сеферова З. , Seferova D,
Published: June 2018

The subject of the study is taxation as an instrument for regulating the processes occurring in the functioning of the country’s financial system. The subject of the study is the taxation of incomes of individuals operating in the Russian Federation. The tax rate on income of individuals at the rate of 13%, established in our country is socially unfair with regard to low-income citizens of the country. In this connection, there arises the need either to free the income of a citizen from the tax equal to the subsistence minimum, or to apply a special taxation regime based on coefficients that reduce the level of taxation.
T.Rex, Bowie and Foucault: Early glam rock’s influence on European youth culture
Authors: Olding Christine
Published: June 2018

This article explores the impact and influence of early glamrock artists T.Rex (Marc Bolan) and David Bowie on the early 1970s’ European youth culture. Focusing on their lyrical representation, vocal presentation and visual theatrical performance techniques in the songs ‘Baby Strange’ and ‘Life on Mars?’, I analyse the artists’ impact through their relation to the theory of the madman put forth by Michel Foucault. Despite both Bolan and Bowie’s taboo physical and lyrical presentation, their music and performances present the truth of the youth culture concerning two of the main themes in glam music: sexual exploration and exploration of self. It is the artists’ representations of these themes that allow members of the early 1970s’ European youth culture to recognize their own sense of identity and self-realization as something that is beyond the taboo. T.Rex (Bolan) and David Bowie present their messages in a way that allows the younger generation to recognize that they are not alone and perhaps they are not the ‘madmen’ after all.
An unfinished mourning: Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Authors: Angeli Silvia
Published: June 2018

This article considers the notions of grief and mourning in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea (2016). The analysis centres on three moments characterized by the coexistence of two opposite states: numbness and an abundance of feelings; immobility and mobility; infidelity and fidelity. To understand each moment, I draw on three philosophical approaches to mourning elaborated by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida. In the first moment, I posit an analogy between the grief experienced by the film’s protagonist Lee and the grief described by Emerson in his essay ‘Experience’. In both cases, grief takes the form of numbness that only masks an abundance of feelings. In the second moment, I apply Barthes’s account of psychic immobility after his mother’s death to the film protagonist’s experience. In the third moment, I analyse Lee’s mourning in relation to Derrida’s concept of ‘possible’ (or ‘successful’) and unsuccessful mourning. Finally, this analysis turns to the question of the bereaved’s loyalty (to the departed, to those who survived and to one’s own grief). Together, these three perspectives reveal a complex, nuanced portrayal of mourning in Manchester by the Sea, which departs from the widespread Freudian understanding of grief and mourning.