bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“She Sounds Like a Small Child or Perhaps She has Problems”—Peers' Descriptions of Speech in 7-Year-Olds Born With Cleft Palate
Authors: Nyberg Jill , Hagberg Emilie , Havstam Christina
Published: December 2019

Objective:

The aim of this study was to explore how 7-year-olds describe speech in children born with cleft palate in their own words and to investigate whether they perceive signs of velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) and articulation errors, and if so, which terminology they use.

Methods/Participants:

Twenty 7-year-olds participated in 6 focus group interviews where they listened to 8 speech samples with different types of cleft speech characteristics and described what they heard. The same speech samples had been assessed by speech-language pathologists and comprised normal speech, different degrees of VPI, oral articulation disorders, and glottal articulation. The interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.

Results:

The analysis resulted in 4 interlinked categories: descriptions of speech, thoughts on personal traits, consequences for communication, and emotional reactions and associations. Each category contains 4 to 5 subcategories with the children’s descriptions and reflections. Glottal articulation and severe signs of VPI caused the most negative emotional reactions and were described as sounding scary and incomprehensible and the children speculated on the risk of social rejection of the speakers. Retracted oral articulation was also noted and described but with a vocabulary similar to the professionals. Minor signs of VPI were not noted.

Conclusions:

Seven-year-olds are direct and straightforward in their reactions to cleft palate speech characteristics. More pronounced signs of VPI and articulatory difficulties, also minor ones, are noted. Clinically, articulatory impairments may be more important to treat than minor signs of VPI.
Differences in Sexual Interest in Children Between Men Who Commit Undetected Versus Detected Sexual Offenses
Authors: Stephens Skye , Klein Loren K. , Seto Michael C.
Published: December 2019

This study examined whether men who committed undetected sexual offenses would show more evidence of sexual interest in children than their detected counterparts. It also considered whether denial or minimization of offending history explained observed differences between undetected and detected men. In an archival database of 2,236 men, 96 were undetected and the remainder were detected men who varied in the extent to which they admitted their offending: complete deniers, partial deniers, those who admitted their offense history, and those who disclosed additional unknown offenses. There were differences in self-reported sexual interest in children, but relatively few differences when sexual interest in children was assessed by phallometry or sexual victim history. There were no differences between undetected and detected men who admitted to additional victims. The results suggest that denial is likely more important in understanding group differences on sexual interest in children than detection status.
Wheat–millet flour cookies: Physical, textural, sensory attributes and antioxidant potential
Authors: Hussain S , Mohamed AA , Alamri MS , Ibraheem MA , Abdo Qasem Akram A , Serag El-Din Mohamed F , Almaiman Salah Abdulaziz M
Published: December 2019

Millet flour (water washed or alkali washed) was replaced with wheat flour (WF) at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% levels. Objectives of the research were to characterize the flour blends for their technical properties and to produce cookies with less or no gluten contents. All types of flour blends were evaluated for their pasting properties. The cookies were baked and evaluated for their textural and physical attributes. Inclusion of millet flour (both types) in wheat flour resulted in significant reduction in peak and final viscosities while setback viscosities were affected non-significantly. Pasting temperature was increased from 65 ℃ (100% wheat flour) to 91 ℃ (100% millet flour). The hardness of cookies was reduced in the presence of millet flour. Fracturability values of cookies with higher millet flour were higher as compared to control cookies (prepared from 100% wheat flour). Cookies prepared from blends having more that 50% millet flour were not much liked by sensory panelists. The phenolic contents of cookies containing higher levels of either water washed or alkali washed millet flour were found to be higher when compared to cookies prepared from plain WF (1.90 ± 0.14 mg gallic acid/g sample). The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl activity (%) of cookies ranged from 16.39 ± 0.34 (100% water washed millet flour) to 10.39 ± 0.26 (100% WF; control). The study will help the non-coeliac people to consume low gluten (≈1.6–6.5%) or gluten intolerant people to consume gluten-free cookies (0%) from millet flour having abundant of antioxidants and health-promoting polyphenols.
What the mathematics in the puzzles and handicrafts in 1920s Danish children’s magazines tells us about childhoods
Authors: Lange Troels , Meaney Tamsin
Published: December 2019

Media for children reflects societal views about appropriate childhoods in that the content has been chosen based on adults’ views of what is appropriate for children to engage with. In this article, the mathematics in puzzles and handicrafts in a selection of Danish children’s magazines from 1925 to 1930 are analysed to understand the childhoods that adults at this time considered appropriate. The classification of the puzzles and handicraft tasks according to the mathematical activities involved provides insights into the cultural practices deemed suitable for children and whether these cultural practices were differentiated according to gender. The analysis shows that there was a predominance of measuring and designing activities with children engaging in adult-equivalent tasks such as building a henhouse. These tasks had limited specific instructions, indicating that children needed to persevere in working out the details and have the resourcefulness to adapt them to their own situation. In addition, there are only a few features that aligned tasks to a particular gender. The puzzles and handicrafts indicate that appropriate childhoods were considered to be those that treated children as autonomous and valued the importance of doing things.
A feminist new materialist experiment: Exploring what else gets produced through encounters with children’s news media
Authors: Osgood Jayne , Andersen Camilla Eline
Published: December 2019

In this paper we grapple with the ways in which real-world issues directly impact children’s lives and ask what else gets produced through encounters with children’s global news media, specifically within the contexts of the United Kingdom and Norway. Our aim is to experiment with storytelling and worldling practices as a means to open up generative possibilities to encounter and reconfigure difficult knowledges. We take two contemporary events, the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London and the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting massacre in Florida, as a means to attend to ways in which affects are materialised across multiple times and spaces. News reports of these harrowing events, alongside what they produced in terms of child activism, racism and toxic masculinity, provided a catalyst for a feminist new materialist experiment in generating other knowledges through material-affective-embodied encounters. Newspapers, glue, sticky tape, string, torches, bags and a cartridge for a firearm were used in important work within a speculative workshop, where a small number of early childhood researchers came together to be open to multiple and experimental ways of (k)not-knowing to formulate collectively shared problems. Following Manning (2016), we recognise that to avoid getting stuck in familiar ways of thinking and doing we need to undertake research differently. We wondered how the re-materialisation of these events (through objects, artefacts, sounds and images) might shift our thinking about childhood in other directions. We dwell upon the affective work that these high-profile news events perform and how they might become rearticulated through affective encounters with materiality. Attending to how these events worked on us involves staying with the trouble (Haraway, 2016) as it becomes reignited, mutated and amplified across time and in different contexts. Our goal is to generate other possibilities that seek to reconfigure the ‘image of the child’. By resisting comforts of recognition, reflection and identification, we reach beyond what we think we know about how children are in the world and instead argue for their entanglement with difficult knowledges through our and their world-making practices.
“Go NZ YAS!!”: Children’s news media texts as curriculum resources in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Gunn Alexandra C , Surtees Nicola
Published: December 2019

Attending to current affairs and news within schools’ curricula is a potential pedagogical strategy that holds promise for addressing children’s knowledge, perspectives and agency in the world. However, our research suggests teachers’ good intentions may be compromised by tension between the details of news media content and the curriculum as enacted and planned. We report here on a study investigating two children’s news media publications designed to support Aotearoa New Zealand’s school curriculum. Our research enquires into content produced as children’s news and associated discourses about Aotearoa New Zealand, Aotearoa New Zealand life and the world. A dominant category of news reporting in the texts was sport (national and international). Analysis of this category identified particular discourses and constructions of New Zealand, New Zealanders and ‘others’ within the texts. Individual and collective sporting heroism was a dominant discourse in both the news items and children’s published responses. Furthermore, a construction of Aotearoa New Zealand as a relatively safe and non-corrupt place to live was also observed. Questions of what is important to know, how children are engaging with such valued knowledge and implications for teaching and teachers’ practices are raised from this research. Importantly, we ask: is this preoccupation with sports and heroism within children’s news made at the expense of opportunities to engage with children about a fuller range of real-world issues, including ‘difficult knowledge’, that potentially impact upon their lives?
Optimizing parameters of warp fatigue life tester by response surface methodology
Authors: Guo Min , Zhu Bo , Liu Jianli , Gao Weidong
Published: December 2019

The aim of this article was to provide an effective measurement method of the warp dynamic load capacity based on a warp fatigue life tester for sized yarns. Five parameters which affected the fatigue life of warp, respectively, namely, load frequency, warp speed, pre-tension weight, heald frame stroke, and static tension of the warp fatigue life tester, were studied. First, the influences of the five parameters on warp fatigue life were analyzed through single-factor experiments, and then, the Box–Behnken design based on the response surface methodology was adopted to optimize warp fatigue life tester parameters. The results showed that the optimum parameter conditions of the warp fatigue life tester for warp fatigue life were as follows: when heald frame stroke at 77.16 mm, load frequency of 205.49 times/min, and static tension as 6.96 cN, the optimal warp fatigue life was 1394.05 times. The theoretical and experimental values were in reasonable agreement, and the relative error was less than 1%. Verification and repeated trial results showed that the optimal parameters had good reproducibility, and the warp fatigue life tester with the optimal parameters provided an effective and reliable evaluation to the warp frictional, stretching, and buckling effects.
Vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging in intracranial aneurysms: Principles and emerging clinical applications
Authors: Santarosa Corrado , Cord Branden , Koo Andrew , Bhogal Pervinder , Malhotra Ajay , Payabvash Sam , Minja Frank J , Matouk Charles C
Published: December 2019

Intracranial high-resolution vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging is an imaging paradigm that complements conventional imaging modalities used in the evaluation of neurovascular pathology. This review focuses on the emerging utility of vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging in the characterization of intracranial aneurysms. We first discuss the technical principles of vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging highlighting methods to determine aneurysm wall enhancement and how to avoid common interpretive pitfalls. We then review its clinical application in the characterization of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms, in particular, the emergence of aneurysm wall enhancement as a biomarker of aneurysm instability. We offer our perspective from a high-volume neurovascular center where vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging is in routine clinical use.
A sea-sky-line detection method based on Gaussian mixture models and image texture features
Authors: Yang Wanhui , Li Hengyu , Liu Jingyi , Xie Shaorong , Luo Jun
Published: December 2019

This article presents a sea-sky-line detection algorithm in a sea-sky environment for unmanned surface vehicles. Obstacle detection is a vital branch for unmanned surface vehicles on the ocean. Because of the specificity and complexity of the marine navigation environment, we first apply semantic segmentation for marine images. The complete marine scene is divided into sky area, middle mixture area, and seawater area before sea-sky-line detection. Segmenting the marine environment is beneficial for narrowing the obstacle search area, accelerating the rate of obstacle detection, and improving detection accuracy. Therefore, a fast, robust, and accurate sea-sky image segmentation method is urgently required. Therefore, we present a method that lies in a probabilistic graphical model for segmenting marine images. The Gaussian mixture model is introduced as the probability distribution model for the marine image. The sky, middle mixture, and seawater areas are generated by three Gaussian models. The expectation–maximization algorithm is utilized to maximize the log-likelihood function, and the parameters of the Gaussian mixture probability density function that recover the marine image distribution are available after several iterations. Furthermore, to solve the problem of incorrect convergence direction caused by unsatisfactory initialization conditions, the gray level co-occurrence matrix is referenced to initialize the Gaussian components. The coarse segmentation results rely on the gray level co-occurrence matrix and are used to calculate the prior initialization parameters of Gaussian components and obtain the prior distribution information of marine images, which mitigates the harmful influence of poor initialization. The algorithm is tested on a data set consisting of the marine obstacle detection dataset (MODD) public data set and our collected images. The results on this data set demonstrate that the proposed method is more robust and that a superior initialization condition can effectively accelerate the convergence velocity of the iterative process for Gaussian components.
Stepped-wedge trials should be classified as research for the purpose of ethical review
Authors: Hemming Karla , Taljaard Monica , Marshall Tom , Goldstein Cory E , Weijer Charles
Published: December 2019

Background:

All studies classified as research involving human participants require research ethics review. Most regulation and guidance on ethical oversight of research involving human participants was written for pharmacotherapy interventions. Interpretation of such guidance for cluster-randomized trials and stepped-wedge trials, which commonly evaluate complex non-therapeutic interventions such as knowledge translation, public health, or health service delivery interventions, can pose challenges to researchers and regulators.

Current guidance:

The Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of Cluster-Randomized Trials provides guidance on the ethical oversight and consent procedures for cluster-randomized trials, and while not explicit, this includes stepped-wedge trials. Yet, stepped-wedge trials have unique characteristics that differentiate them from standard cluster-randomized trials. In particular, they can be used to evaluate knowledge translation interventions within the context of a routine health system rollout; they may have a non-randomized design; and the decision to implement the intervention is not always made by the researcher. Many stepped-wedge trials do not undergo ethical review and do not report trial registration. This suggests that those undertaking these studies and research ethics committees perceive them as non-research activities.

Recommendations:

Through an ethical analysis of two case studies, we argue that stepped-wedge trials, like parallel arm cluster trials, are systematic investigations designed to produce generalizable knowledge. We contend that stepped-wedge trials usually include human research participants, which may be patients, health care providers, or both. Stepped-wedge trials are therefore research involving human participants for the purpose of ethical review. Nevertheless, the use of a waiver or alteration of consent may be appropriate in many stepped-wedge trials due to the infeasibility of obtaining informed consent and the low-risk nature of the interventions. To ensure that traditional ethical principles such as respect for persons are upheld, these studies must undergo research ethics review.
2-(4-Boronophenyl)quinoline-4-carboxylic acid derivatives: Design and synthesis, aggregation-induced emission characteristics, and binding activity studies for D-ribose with long-wavelength emission
Authors: Fang Guiqian , Wang Hao , Bian Zhancun , Zhang Guimin , Guo Min , Wu Zhongyu , Yao Qingqiang
Published: December 2019

Long-wavelength fluorescent sensors with large Stokes shifts show useful applications in chemical biology and clinical laboratory diagnosis. We have recently reported [4-(4-{[3-(4-boronobenzamido)propyl]carbamoyl}quinolin-2-yl)phenyl]boronic acid that can selectively recognize d-ribose in a buffer solution of pH 7.4. However, the short emission wavelength (395 nm) and aggregation-caused quenching effect are not conducive to applications as a sensor. Novel diboronic acid compounds are synthesized using 2-(4-boronophenyl)quinoline-4-carboxylic acid as the building block and p-phenylenediamine as the linker. These compounds show aggregation-induced emission and fluorescence emission at about 500 nm. In addition, after binding to most carbohydrates, the aggregated state of the boronic acid–containing compounds is dissociated, resulting in fluorescence quenching. Using [4-(4-{[4-(3-borono-5-methoxybenzamido)phenyl]carbamoyl}quinoline-2-yl)phenyl]boronic acid as an example, addition of 55 mM of d-ribose resulted in the strongest quenching of 83% for all the tested carbohydrates, indicating selectively recognizing d-ribose. The reciprocal of the fluorescence intensity change showed a good linear relationship with the reciprocal of d-ribose concentration ( R2 ⩾ 0.99), indicating sensor binding to d-ribose in a ratio of 1:1 to form an inclusion complex. The fluorescence emission is red-shifted compared to 2-(4-boronophenyl)quinoline-4-carboxylic acid and its common derivatives, which provides a new method for the development of long-wavelength fluorescent sensors.
Tuning the optoelectronic properties of oligothiophenes for solar cell applications by varying the number of cyano and fluoro substituents for solar cell applications: A theoretical study
Authors: Franco Francisco C.
Published: December 2019

Chemical modifications through substitution are observed to be effective in controlling the optoelectronic properties of various polymers for different applications. In this study, density functional theory–based calculations are employed to investigate the optoelectronic properties of several oligothiophenes based on poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) by varying the number of fluoro and cyano substituents attached. The resulting structures of the polymer derivatives are affected by the electrostatic interactions between the cyano or fluoro groups and the adjacent thiophene unit. Of the two, cyano substitution results in much lower frontier orbital energies for the same number of substituents. It was observed that a decrease in the highest occupied molecule orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies correlates very strongly with the number of cyano and fluoro substituents. The effect of the cyano and fluoro groups on the frontier orbitals is also demonstrated and observed to correlate strongly with a lowering of the highest occupied molecule orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies as the number of substituents is varied. The predicted solar cell characteristics reveal that most cyano and fluoro derivatives will have improved characteristics compared to unsubstituted poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl). This theoretical study shows that by varying the number of electron-withdrawing substituents, the optoelectronic properties may be tuned for solar cell applications.
The effectiveness of manipulation of fingers with Dupuytren's contracture 7 days after collagenase clostridial histolyticum injection
Authors: Reynolds Bethany , Tobin Vicky , Smith Julian A , Rozen Warren M , Hunter-Smith David J.
Published: December 2019

Timing of manipulation of digits after collagenase injection for Dupuytren’s disease varies and often takes place within the first few days post-injection. We prospectively investigated the effectiveness of performing manipulation under local anaesthesia 7 days after injection in 100 patients. Demographic data, passive extension deficit, and patient-reported outcome measures were recorded before collagenase injection. Four to 7 weeks after manipulation, passive extension deficit and patient-reported outcome measures improved significantly without the development of any tendon ruptures. Clinical success was achieved in 41% and clinical improvement in 76% of the patients. Adverse events were reported by 85%. The outcomes were comparable with studies with early manipulation, and demonstrate a safe and effective variation to current protocols. We conclude that delaying manipulation to 7 days after collagenase injection is safe and efficient, which allows for flexibility in clinical appointments without negatively affecting outcome.

Level of evidence: III
Limitations of information extraction methods and techniques for heterogeneous unstructured big data
Authors: Adnan Kiran , Akbar Rehan
Published: December 2019

During the recent era of big data, a huge volume of unstructured data are being produced in various forms of audio, video, images, text, and animation. Effective use of these unstructured big data is a laborious and tedious task. Information extraction (IE) systems help to extract useful information from this large variety of unstructured data. Several techniques and methods have been presented for IE from unstructured data. However, numerous studies conducted on IE from a variety of unstructured data are limited to single data types such as text, image, audio, or video. This article reviews the existing IE techniques along with its subtasks, limitations, and challenges for the variety of unstructured data highlighting the impact of unstructured big data on IE techniques. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive study conducted to investigate the limitations of existing IE techniques for the variety of unstructured big data. The objective of the structured review presented in this article is twofold. First, it presents the overview of IE techniques from a variety of unstructured data such as text, image, audio, and video at one platform. Second, it investigates the limitations of these existing IE techniques due to the heterogeneity, dimensionality, and volume of unstructured big data. The review finds that advanced techniques for IE, particularly for multifaceted unstructured big data sets, are the utmost requirement of the organizations to manage big data and derive strategic information. Further, potential solutions are also presented to improve the unstructured big data IE systems for future research. These solutions will help to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the data analytics process in terms of context-aware analytics systems, data-driven decision-making, and knowledge management.
Investigation on the Characteristic Components of Dahuang Zhechong Pill Based on High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Fingerprint
Authors: Wu Li , Ni Zi-Hui , Xu Yun-Cong , Zhang Xi-Qiong , Du Sha-Li , Cao Ke-Xin , Chen Zhi-Peng , Li Wei-Dong , Guo Lu-Bo
Published: December 2019

Dahuang Zhechong Pill (DHZCP) has been widely used in the treatment of hepatocarcinoma in China. The aim of our study was to identify the characteristic components of DHZCP. First, HPLC fingerprint of DHZCP was established to analyze the common components of 14 batches of DHZCP samples, which were purchased from different manufacturers. The results of HPLC fingerprint detected 164 peaks in these 14 batches of DHZCP. Through similarity analysis, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis, we identified 20 common components upon which to conduct quantitative analysis conducted by an HPLC method. After that, a cytotoxicity test was carried out to screen the active components in DHZCP. The results showed that hypoxanthine, rhein, emodin, aloe emodin, and wogonin are the active components of DHZCP for the treatment of hepatocarcinoma, as they have significant inhibitory effect against the activity of drug-resistant hepatocarcinoma cells (SMMC-7721/DOX) than others.
Prospective of Monascus Pigments as an Additive to Commercial Sunscreens
Authors: Koli Sunil H. , Suryawanshi Rahul K. , Mohite Bhavana V. , Patil Satish V.
Published: December 2019

Red and yellow pigments from Monascus purpureus (NMCC-PF01) were evaluated to enhance sun protection factor (SPF) of commercial sunscreens and Aloe vera extract. The extracted Monascus pigments contain rubropunctamine (red pigment) and the mixture of monascin and ankaflavin (yellow pigment) as major components. Antioxidant activity and in-vitro safety of the pigments were assessed by ferric reduction potential and DPPH radical scavenging assays, human keratinocytes (HaCaT), and erythrocytes (RBCs) cytotoxicity assay, respectively. In results, SPF of commercial sunscreens showed an increase of 36.5% with red pigment compared to the 13% increase by yellow pigment. The in-vitro studies showed 67.6% ferric reducing potential and 27% DPPH radical scavenging activity, neither cytotoxic effect against human keratinocytes nor haemolytic activity. These results confirmed the safe nature of the Monascus pigments; however, in-vivo studies merit further research. In conclusion, screened pigments from Monascus purpureus may act as potential candidates to increase SPF of commercial sunscreen naturally.
Review of the diagnosis and management of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms
Authors: Crippa Stefano , Arcidiacono Paolo G , De Cobelli Francesco , Falconi Massimo
Published: December 2019

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms are common lesions with the potential of harbouring/developing a pancreatic cancer. An accurate evaluation of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms with high‐resolution imaging techniques and endoscopic ultrasound is mandatory in order to identify patients worthy either of surgical treatment or surveillance. In this review, the diagnosis and management of patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms are discussed with a specific focus on current guidelines. Areas of uncertainty are also discussed, as there are controversies related to the optimal indications for surgery, surveillance protocols and surveillance discontinuation.
Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukaemia virus in domestic cats in Hungary
Authors: Szilasi Anna , Dénes Lilla , Krikó Eszter , Heenemann Kristin , Ertl Reinhard , Mándoki Míra , Vahlenkamp Thomas W , Balka Gyula
Published: December 2019

Objectives

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) are retroviruses affecting cats worldwide. The objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of these retroviruses in domestic cats in Hungary and to characterise the phylogenetic relationships of FIV strains.

Methods

A total of 335 anticoagulated whole-blood samples obtained from both a healthy and ill cat population were examined for the presence of FIV and FeLV with two methods: ELISA and PCR. Statistical analysis was carried out to analyse the data obtained. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of partial polymerase ( pol) gene sequences was performed to describe circulating FIV subtypes.

Results

Statistical analysis showed 11.8% and 9.9% true prevalence of FeLV and FIV, respectively, with ELISA. The apparent prevalence calculated from the PCR results were 17.3% for FeLV and 13.1% for FIV. Phylogenetic analysis of partial pol gene sequences obtained from 22 FIV strains showed that all observed Hungarian strains belonged to FIV subtype B. The strains were grouped into several monophyletic subgroups reflecting the geographic locations of the origin of the samples. The overall mean genetic similarity between the analysed strains was 98.2%.

Conclusions and relevance

We report the first thorough overview of the prevalence of FeLV and FIV in Hungary, which is relatively high, and give insight into the genetic diversity of Hungarian strains of FIV.
Digital Media and the Entrenchment of Right-Wing Populist Agendas
Authors: Schroeder Ralph
Published: December 2019

Since Brexit and the election of President Donald Trump, news media around the world have given extensive coverage to the issue of disinformation and polarization. This article argues that while the negative effects of social media have dominated the discussion, these effects do not address how right-wing populists have been able to successfully and legitimately use digital media to circumvent traditional media. The article uses the United States and Sweden as case studies about how digital media have helped to achieve electoral success and shift the political direction in both countries—though in quite different ways. It also argues that the sources of right-wing populism go beyond the hitherto dominant left–right political divide, capturing anti-elite sentiment, and promoting exclusionary nationalism. The dominance of the issue of media manipulation has obscured the shift whereby the relation between the media and politics has become more fluid and antagonistic, which fits the populist agenda. This shift requires a rethinking of political communication that includes both the social forces that give rise to populism and the alternative digital channels that entrench them, with implications for the prospects of the role of media in politics in the two countries and beyond.
Surgical excision and postoperative radiotherapy for keloids
Authors: Ogawa Rei , Tosa Mamiko , Dohi Teruyuki , Akaishi Satoshi , Kuribayashi Shigehiko
Published: December 2019

Keloids can be treated in a number of ways, including by surgery. Multiple studies now show that while surgical monotherapy associates with extremely high rates of recurrence (50%–80%), postoperative radiotherapy can significantly reduce these recurrence rates. Ongoing improvements in radiation technology have further increased the safety and efficacy of this combination protocol. Of the various radiotherapies that have been used in this setting, electron beam (β-ray) irradiation is currently the best due to its excellent dose distribution and safety. The maximal biologically effective dose (BED) for keloids is 30 Gy (using an estimated α / β ratio of 10); increasing the dose has no further benefits and elevates side effects. Over the last two decades, we have modified and then fine-tuned our radiotherapy protocol for keloid excision wounds. Thus, our early protocol was used for all body sites and consisted of 15 Gy/3 fr/3 days. We then customised the radiotherapy protocol so that body sites that are highly prone to recurrence (e.g. the anterior chest) receive higher doses while low recurrence sites like the earlobe receive a much smaller dose. More recently, we tweaked this body site-customised protocol so that fewer fractions are employed. Therefore, we currently apply 18 Gy/3 fr/3 days to high-recurrence sites, 8 Gy/1 fr/1 day to earlobes and 15 Gy/2 fr/2 days to other body sites. These radiotherapy protocol changes were accompanied by the evolution of body site-customised surgical approaches. As a result of these developments, our overall keloid recurrence rate is now below 10%.
Israeli Jews from Muslim Countries: Immigrant Associations and Civic Leverage
Authors: Kabalo Paula
Published: December 2019

This article sheds light on the salient and far-reaching pattern of association-forming among Jewish immigrants from Muslim countries in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. They were formally established associations that operated by means of representatives and spokespersons and strove to mediate between the population group that they represented and the state authorities that dealt with immigration and its integration. Interestingly, although few of the members or leaders of these entities have lived under democratic regimes, they established organizations that operated on the basis of democratic principles: election of representatives, holding members’ assemblies, and freedom of expression. They articulated their positions publicly and openly and were not deterred from criticizing policymakers, even those in the highest of echelons.

The extent of the phenomenon challenges the conventional image in research on immigration to Israel from the Islamic countries—that of a passive, dependent population that has no voice of its own. Additionally, it suggests that the volunteer organizations’ pressure and contacts with the authorities paid off and influenced policymakers’ agendas—leading to an additional assumption that immigrant absorption policy was crafted via exchange and interaction and not solely in a “top-down” manner.
Association of Race/Ethnicity, Stage, and Survival in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A SEER Study
Authors: Yu Alison J. , Choi Janet S. , Swanson Mark S. , Kokot Niels C. , Brown Tamara N. , Yan Guofen , Sinha Uttam K.
Published: December 2019

Objective

Survival differences in oral cancer between black and white patients have been reported, but the contributing factors, especially the role of stage, are incompletely understood. Furthermore, the outcomes for Hispanic and Asian patients have been scarcely examined.

Study Design

Retrospective, population‐based national study.

Setting

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 Custom database (January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2014).

Subjects and Methods

In total, 7630 patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma in the oral cavity were classified as non‐Hispanic white (white), non‐Hispanic black (black), Hispanic, or Asian. Cox regression was used to obtain unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 5‐year mortality for race/ethnicity with sequential adjustments for stage and other covariates. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and stage with adjusted odds ratios (aORs).

Results

The cohort consisted of 75.0% whites, 7.6% blacks, 9.1% Hispanics, and 8.3% Asians. Compared to whites, the unadjusted HR for all‐cause mortality for blacks was 1.68 (P <. 001), which attenuated to 1.15 (P =. 039) after adjusting for stage and became insignificant after including insurance. The unadjusted HRs for all‐cause mortality were not significant for Hispanics and Asians vs whites. Compared to whites, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to present at later stages (aORs of 2.63 and 1.42, P <. 001, respectively).

Conclusion

The greater mortality for blacks vs whites was largely attributable to the higher prevalence of later stages at presentation and being uninsured among blacks. There was no statistically significant difference in mortality for Hispanics vs whites or Asians vs whites.
The Duality of Design(ing) Successful Projects
Authors: Rylander Eklund Anna , Simpson Barbara
Published: December 2019

Project success is an issue of intense interest to both scholars and project management practitioners, and yet its theoretical elaboration continues to be somewhat under-developed. Responding to this gap between theory and practice, we tease out the dynamics of the design(ing) duality in relation to project management. Our argument is informed by the contrasting management theories of Taylor (design) and Follett (designing), and it is illustrated by drawing on two different experiences of a large Initial Training Network project funded by the European Commission. We suggest that a comprehensive appreciation of project success requires an interweaving of the substantive and processual understandings reflected in the design(ing) duality.
PTCy ameliorates GVHD by restoring regulatory and effector T-cell homeostasis in recipients with PD-1 blockade
Authors: Ikegawa Shuntaro , Meguri Yusuke , Kondo Takumi , Sugiura Hiroyuki , Sando Yasuhisa , Nakamura Makoto , Iwamoto Miki , Maeda Yoshinobu , Matsuoka Ken-ichi
Published: December 2019

Key Points

PD-1 blockade exacerbated GVHD by altering the homeostasis of Tregs and effector T cells after HSCT. PTCy ameliorated GVHD after PD-1 blockade by restoring the homeostatic balance of T-cell subsets.
Impact of last lenalidomide dose, duration, and IMiD-free interval in patients with myeloma treated with pomalidomide/dexamethasone
Authors: Kastritis Efstathios , Roussou Maria , Gavriatopoulou Maria , Kanellias Nikolaos , Migkou Magdalini , Eleutherakis-Papaiakovou Evangelos , Ziogas Dimitrios C. , Fotiou Despina , Ntanasis-Stathopoulos Ioannis , Dialoupi Ioanna , Giannouli Stavroula , Tsirigotis Panagiotis , Delimpasi Sossana , Mparmparousi Despina , Spyropoulou-Vlachou Mairylin , Xirokosta Aikaterini , Terpos Evangelos , Dimopoulos Meletios A.
Published: December 2019

Key Points

There was no significant difference in response rates, PFS, or OS among patients that developed resistance to different lenalidomide doses. Longer duration of prior lenalidomide and a longer lenalidomide-free interval are associated with better outcomes with pomalidomide.
A novel immature natural killer cell subpopulation predicts relapse after cord blood transplantation
Authors: Li Li , Chen Han , Marin David , Xi Yuanxin , Miao Qi , Lv Jiangxing , Banerjee Pinaki Prosad , Shaim Hila , Daher May , Basar Rafet , Imahashi Nobuhiko , Jimenez Juan , Hu Bingqian , Mehta Rohtesh S. , Kerbauy Lucila Nassif , Kaplan Mecit , Mendt Mayela , Ozcan Gonca , Gokdemir Elif , Hernandez Sanabria Mayra , Li Ye , Chen Ken , Wang Jing , Muniz-Feliciano Luis , Zhao Wei-Li , Champlin Richard E. , Shpall Elizabeth J. , Rezvani Katayoun
Published: December 2019

Key Points

Cytomegalovirus reactivation and interleukin 15 are major contributors to NK cell repertoire diversity and maturation after CBT. An immature NK cell subset characterized by low diversity index and poor effector function was highly predictive of relapse after CBT.
Vedolizumab for prevention of graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Chen Yi-Bin , Shah Nirav N. , Renteria Anne S. , Cutler Corey , Jansson Johan , Akbari Mona , Chen Chunlin , Quadri Syed , Parfionovas Andrejus , Devine Steven M.
Published: December 2019

Key Points

In adults undergoing allo-HSCT, vedolizumab IV 300 mg was well tolerated and had a low incidence of overall and lower-intestinal aGVHD. These phase 1b data support further evaluation of vedolizumab for the prevention of aGVHD in adults undergoing allo-HSCT.
Port selection based on customer questionnaire: a case study of German port selection
Authors: Lin Yisong , Wang Xuefeng
Published: December 2019

A new research idea regarding port selection concerns customer-oriented, rather than product-oriented, thinking. Through investigation and interviews with over 280 active customers in the global shipping industry, port selection criteria were proposed, and an evaluation scheme based on the responses to a questionnaire survey is compared with a scheme based on the weight calculation of the analytic hierarchy process. The results indicate that due to different priorities between customers and container carriers, port selection is sometimes inconsistent. Against the background of deployment of large-scale vessels, over-capacity has become normal in the industry; this study has great practical value for the whole industry.
Longitudinal linear combination test for gene set analysis
Authors: Khodayari Moez Elham , Hajihosseini Morteza , Andrews Jeffrey L. , Dinu Irina
Published: December 2019

Background

Although microarray studies have greatly contributed to recent genetic advances, lack of replication has been a continuing concern in this area. Complex study designs have the potential to address this concern, though they remain undervalued by investigators due to the lack of proper analysis methods. The primary challenge in the analysis of complex microarray study data is handling the correlation structure within data while also dealing with the combination of large number of genetic measurements and small number of subjects that are ubiquitous even in standard microarray studies. Motivated by the lack of available methods for analysis of repeatedly measured phenotypic or transcriptomic data, herein we develop a longitudinal linear combination test (LLCT).

Results

LLCT is a two-step method to analyze multiple longitudinal phenotypes when there is high dimensionality in response and/or explanatory variables. Alternating between calculating within-subjects and between-subjects variations in two steps, LLCT examines if the maximum possible correlation between a linear combination of the time trends and a linear combination of the predictors given by the gene expressions is statistically significant. A generalization of this method can handle family-based study designs when the subjects are not independent. This method is also applicable to time-course microarray, with the ability to identify gene sets that exhibit significantly different expression patterns over time. Based on the results from a simulation study, LLCT outperformed its alternative: pathway analysis via regression. LLCT was shown to be very powerful in the analysis of large gene sets even when the sample size is small.

Conclusions

This self-contained pathway analysis method is applicable to a wide range of longitudinal genomics, proteomics, metabolomics (OMICS) data, allows adjusting for potentially time-dependent covariates and works well with unbalanced and incomplete data. An important potential application of this method could be time-course linkage of OMICS, an attractive possibility for future genetic researchers.

Availability: R package of LLCT is available at: https://github.com/its-likeli-jeff/LLCT
Vertical and horizontal integration of multi-omics data with miodin
Authors: Ulfenborg Benjamin
Published: December 2019

Background

Studies on multiple modalities of omics data such as transcriptomics, genomics and proteomics are growing in popularity, since they allow us to investigate complex mechanisms across molecular layers. It is widely recognized that integrative omics analysis holds the promise to unlock novel and actionable biological insights into health and disease. Integration of multi-omics data remains challenging, however, and requires combination of several software tools and extensive technical expertise to account for the properties of heterogeneous data.

Results

This paper presents the miodin R package, which provides a streamlined workflow-based syntax for multi-omics data analysis. The package allows users to perform analysis of omics data either across experiments on the same samples (vertical integration), or across studies on the same variables (horizontal integration). Workflows have been designed to promote transparent data analysis and reduce the technical expertise required to perform low-level data import and processing.

Conclusions

The miodin package is implemented in R and is freely available for use and extension under the GPL-3 license. Package source, reference documentation and user manual are available at https://gitlab.com/algoromics/miodin.
Aurora A site specific TACC3 phosphorylation regulates astral microtubule assembly by stabilizing γ-tubulin ring complex
Authors: Rajeev Resmi , Singh Puja , Asmita Ananya , Anand Ushma , Manna Tapas K.
Published: December 2019

Background

Astral microtubules emanating from the mitotic centrosomes play pivotal roles in defining cell division axis and tissue morphogenesis. Previous studies have demonstrated that human transforming acidic coiled-coil 3 (TACC3), the most conserved TACC family protein, regulates formation of astral microtubules at centrosomes in vertebrate cells by affecting γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) assembly. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such function were not completely understood.

Results

Here, we show that Aurora A site-specific phosphorylation in TACC3 regulates formation of astral microtubules by stabilizing γ-TuRC assembly in human cells. Mutation of the most conserved Aurora A targeting site, Ser 558 to alanine (S558A) in TACC3 results in robust loss of astral microtubules and disrupts localization of the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) proteins at the spindle poles. Under similar condition, phospho-mimicking S558D mutation retains astral microtubules and the γ-TuRC proteins in a manner similar to control cells expressed with wild type TACC3. Time-lapse imaging reveals that S558A mutation leads to defects in positioning of the spindle-poles and thereby causes delay in metaphase to anaphase transition. Biochemical results determine that the Ser 558- phosphorylated TACC3 interacts with the γ-TuRC proteins and further, S558A mutation impairs the interaction. We further reveal that the mutation affects the assembly of γ-TuRC from the small complex components.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that TACC3 phosphorylation stabilizes γ- tubulin ring complex assembly and thereby regulates formation of centrosomal asters. They also implicate a potential role of TACC3 phosphorylation in the functional integrity of centrosomes/spindle poles.