bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intracranial atherosclerosis: From anatomy to pathophysiology
Authors: Pu Yuehua , Lan Linfang , Leng Xinyi , Wong Lawrence KS , Liu Liping
Published: January 2017

Background

Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis is an important etiology subtype of ischemic stroke. Stenosis severity was thought to be the main reference index for clinical treatment and research. However, stenosis could not reflect the ischemia risk completely, instead the hemodynamic state across the lesion, the extent of collateral circulation, and perfusion impairment downstream the stenosis are more important.

Aims

We write this review aimed to summarize novel angiographic methods applied in the evaluation of functional severity of ICAS, and commented on their limitations and prospects in future research.

Summary of review

The main methods to estimate cerebral blood flow including fractional flow assessed by signal intensity ratio, computational fluid dynamics analysis or pressure wire, quantitative magnetic resonance angiography. Fractional flow as a series cerebral hemodynamic parameters may reflect the status of collateral circulation and cerebral blood flow. But the accuracy of the methods was not validated. The method to calculate fractional flow reserve in cardiovascular disease cannot duplicate in cerebrovascular disease. Fractional flow measurement by floating a pressure guidewire across the intracranial stenosis was technically feasible and safe. In the future researches, a non-invasive method should be established to identify high-risk intracranial lesions and may help in decision-making.

Conclusions

The relationship between stenosis and cerebral blood flow was individualized. Cerebral hemodynamic criteria should be used to screen patients to endovascular treatment, which will optimize the diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients with symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis.
Assessment of Biochemical Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Density in Thin and Normal-Weight Children
Authors: Ambroszkiewicz Jadwiga , Gajewska Joanna , Rowicka Grazyna , Klemarczyk Witold , Chelchowska Magdalena
Published: January 2017

Objective

There is scant research examining the prevalence of thinness in early childhood, despite its potential negative consequences for health and development across the life course. The objective of this study was to assess bone status through measurement of bone mineral density and biochemical bone turnover markers, with special attention paid to carboxylated (c-OC) as well as undercarboxylated (uc-OC) forms of osteocalcin, in the groups of thin and normal-weight children.

Design

The study included 80 healthy prepubertal children (median age 7.0 years), who were divided (according to Cole’s international cutoffs) into 2 subgroups: thin children ( n = 40, body mass index [BMI] = 13.5 kg/m2) and normal-weight children ( n = 40, BMI = 16.1 kg/m2). Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) were assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry method. Serum concentrations of C-terminal telopeptide of collagen type I (CTX), total osteocalcin (OC), and c-OC, and uc-OC forms of osteocalcin were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Results

In thin children, we observed higher levels of bone resorption marker CTX compared with normal-weight peers. Total osteocalcin concentrations were comparable in both groups of children; however, in thin children we observed higher median values of uc-OC (34.40 vs. 29.30 ng/mL, P < 0.05) and similar c-OC levels (25.65 vs. 28.80 ng/mL). The ratio of c-OC to uc-OC was significantly lower ( P < 0.05) in thin than in normal-weight children. Total BMD and BMC were significantly decreased ( P < 0.0001) in thin children compared with normal-weight peers (0.724 ± 0.092 vs. 0.815 ± 0.060 g/cm2 and 602.7 ± 159.2 vs. 818.2 ± 220.1 g, respectively).

Conclusion

Increased concentrations of CTX and uc-OC might lead to disturbances in bone turnover and a decrease in bone mineral density in thin children.
The 15th anniversary of the Portuguese drug policy: Its history, its success and its future
Authors: Cabral Tiago S
Published: January 2017

Fifteen years ago when Portugal decriminalized the consumption of all narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances it was both a bold and a desperate move to curb the drug problem that the country faced at the time. In this paper, I analyse the Portuguese drug policy, its historical foundation, its success and its possible future.
Oncogenic ZEB2 activation drives sensitivity toward KDM1A inhibition in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Goossens Steven , Peirs Sofie , Van Loocke Wouter , Wang Jueqiong , Takawy Mina , Matthijssens Filip , Sonderegger Stefan E. , Haigh Katharina , Nguyen Thao , Vandamme Niels , Costa Magdaline , Carmichael Catherine , Van Nieuwerburgh Filip , Deforce Dieter , Kleifeld Oded , Curtis David J. , Berx Geert , Van Vlierberghe Pieter , Haigh Jody J.
Published: January 2017

Key Points

ZEB2, a novel driver of immature T-ALL, interacts with the lysine-specific demethylase KDM1A. KDM1A function is critical for leukemic survival of T-ALL cells with high ZEB2 levels.
Seizure control through genetic and pharmacological manipulation of Pumilio: a key component of neuronal homeostasis
Authors: Lin Wei-Hsiang , Giachello Carlo N.G. , Baines Richard A.
Published: January 2017

Epilepsy is a significant disorder for which approximately one-third of patients do not respond to drug treatments. Next-generation drugs, which interact with novel targets, are required to provide a better clinical outcome for these individuals. To identify potential novel targets for antiepileptic drug (AED) design, we used RNA sequencing to identify changes in gene transcription in two seizure models of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. The first model compared gene transcription between wildtype (WT) and the bangsenseless1 (parabss) mutant; a gain-of-function in the sole fly voltage-gated sodium channel (paralytic). The second model compared WT to WT fed the proconvulsant picrotoxin (PTX). We identified 743 genes (FDR≤1%) with significant altered expression levels that are common to both seizure models. Of these, 339 are up-regulated and 397 are down-regulated. We identify dpumilio (dpum) to be down-regulated in both seizure models. Pum is a known homeostatic regulator of action potential firing in both flies and mammals. Pum achieves control of neuronal firing through binding to, and regulating translation of, the mRNA transcripts of voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav). We show that maintaining expression of dpum in the CNS of parabss is potently anticonvulsive, whilst its reduction through RNAi-mediated knockdown is proconvulsive. Using a cell-based luciferase reporter screen, we screened a repurposed chemical library and identified 12 compounds sufficient to increase activity of dPum. Of these compounds, we focus on avobenzone which significantly rescues seizure behaviour in parabss. The mode-of-action of avobenzone includes potentiation of dpum expression and mirrors the ability of this homeostatic regulator to reduce the persistent voltage-gated Na+ current (INaP) in an identified neuron. This study reports a novel approach to suppress seizure and highlights the mechanisms of neuronal homeostasis as potential targets for next-generation AEDs.
Engaging high school students in systems biology through an e-internship program
Authors: Crusio Wim E , Rubino Cynthia , Delprato Anna
Published: January 2017

In this article, we describe the design and implementation of an e-internship program that BioScience Project offers high school students over the summer. Project topics are in the areas of behavioral neuroscience and brain disorders. All research, teaching, and communication is done online using open access databases and webtools, a learning management system, and Google apps. Students conduct all aspects of a research project from formulating a question to collecting and analyzing the data, to presenting their results in the form of a scientific poster. Results from a pilot study indicate that students are capable of comprehending and successfully completing such a project, and benefit both intellectually and professionally from participating in the e-internship program.
Crafting minds and communities with Minecraft
Authors: Riordan Benjamin C. , Scarf Damian
Published: January 2017

Minecraft is a first-person perspective video game in which players roam freely in a large three-dimensional environment. Players mine the landscape for minerals and use these minerals to create structures (e.g., houses) and mould the landscape. But can Minecraft be used to craft communities and minds? In this opinion piece, we highlight the enormous potential of Minecraft for fostering social connectedness, collaboration, and its potential as an educational tool. We highlight the recent use of Minecraft to aid socialization in individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and promote civic engagement via the United Nations Human Settlement Program. We further provide novel links between Minecraft and recent on work on the role of social cures and community empowerment in enhancing mental health, wellbeing, and resilience.
Envy's pathology: Historical contexts
Authors: Minou Lina
Published: January 2017

This article is concerned with the physicality of envy in early modern- and eighteenth-century health contexts. The discussion brings together descriptions of the effects of envy on the body of the envier, mainly from works of physiology and health preservation, but also from literary and spiritual writings. These depictions of envy are studied beyond their symbolism and with a view to establish whether they are meaningful according to the medical paradigms of the time in which they occur. The discussion begins by acknowledging the status of envy as a ‘disease’ and looks to the specific ways in which the discourse of envy conveys this sense. I find that in the early modern discourse envy is always pathological, that is, it is experienced as disease and signifies disease in general and several diseases in particular. Moreover, envy is uniquely placed to convey pathology on account of its being connected to inherently pathogenic elements of the humoural theory. Specifically, envy is physiologically connected to melancholy, and the way it is presented comes close to attributes assigned to black bile. In addition, envy realizes pathology, the occurrence of disease in the body, by impairing the vital process of digestion and thus depriving the person from proper nourishment and sustenance. This article concludes by looking at envy within an eighteenth-century context. It finds that by the end of the century envy undergoes a significant shift away from its status as disease and considers the reasons for this change.
Cardiorenal syndrome
Authors: Omar Sabry , Zedan Ahmed
Published: January 2017

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease.  Heart failure may lead to acute kidney injury and vice versa. Chronic kidney disease may affect the clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disorders. Renal impairment with any degree of albuminuria has been increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events and heart failure hospitalizations, while chronic heart failure may cause chronic kidney disease. The bidirectional nature of these disorders contributes to the complexity and the composite definitions of cardiorenal syndromes. However, the most important clinical trials in heart failure tend to exclude patients with significant renal dysfunction. The mechanisms whereby renal insufficiency worsens the outcome in heart failure are not known, and several pathways could contribute to the ‘‘vicious heart/kidney circle.’’ Traditionally, renal impairment has been attributed to the renal hypoperfusion due to reduced cardiac output and decreased systemic pressure. The hypovolemia leads to sympathetic activity, increased renin-angiotensin aldosterone pathway, and arginine-vasopressin release. These mechanisms cause fluid and sodium retention, peripheral vasoconstriction, and volume overload. Therapy to improve renal dysfunction, reduce neurohormonal activation and ameliorate renal blood flow could lead to a reduction in mortality and hospitalization in patients with cardiorenal syndrome.
Acrometastasis as the initial presentation of bronchogenic carcinoma
Authors: Ussavarungsi Kamonpun , Watkins Brenda , Phy Michael
Published: January 2017

Metastasis to the digits occurs infrequently and has a nonspecific clinical presentation.We report a patient who had persistent swelling and ulceration involving his rightthumb nail. He did not have a prior diagnosis of cancer, and this delayed his eventualdiagnosis of non-small cell cancer of the lung with acrometastasis. He was treated withamputation and other palliative measures. Physicians should include acrometastasis inthe differential diagnosis in patients with persistent non-healing digital injuries or ulcers.These patients usually have limited treatment options and a very poor prognosis.
Clinical Staging of COPD
Authors: Berdine Gilbert
Published: January 2017

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Keppra a magical antiepileptic medication
Authors: Beierle Shannon , Laengvejkal Pavis
Published: January 2017

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Noncompaction of the Left Ventricular Myocardium: A Cause of Syncope in a Young Patient
Authors: Swaminath Deephak , Panikkath Ragesh , Narayanan Roshni , Copeland Sam
Published: January 2017

Noncompaction of the left ventricular myocardium (LVNC) is a rare cardiomyopathywith a spectrum of clinical presentations. The pathogenesis of this type of cardiomyopathyinvolves an arrest in the process of compaction during embryonic life. Identificationof high risk individuals with this syndrome is challenging; it can cause presentationsranging from an asymptomatic state to malignant ventricular arrhythmias and suddendeath. We present a 19-year-old man who presented with syncope and was later diagnosedwith left ventricular noncompaction.
Metastasis of lung cancer through Batson’s plexus: very rare but possible
Authors: Panikkath Ragesh , Radhi Saba , Lim Sian Yik , Thankam Manoj , Quattromani Frank , Jumper Cynthia Ann
Published: January 2017

Many malignancies, like prostate, colon, and breast cancer, metastasize throughBatson’s plexus (vertebral venous plexus). Although lung cancer is one of the mostcommon cancers in the United States, its spread through Batson’s plexus is consideredextremely rare. We report a 76-year-old woman with adenocarcinoma of the lung whohad metastasis affecting multiple contiguous vertebral bodies likely due to disseminationthrough Batson’s plexus of veins. This plexus is a component of the cerebrospinalvenous system (CSVS) consisting of the cranial venous system and the vertebralvenous plexus (Batson’s plexus). The CSVS is a valveless network of veins which areimportant in the venous drainage of the brain and spine. However, this venous networkprovides an easy channel for the dissemination of infections and malignant cells.
Reflections on a Medical Service Trip: Did we do the right thing?
Authors: Franco Rene , Desai Chirag , Firth William , Szerlip Harold M.
Published: January 2017

Medical service trips have a long and distinguished history. In the United States,interest in medical outreach trips has grown substantially, as medical schools andnon-governmental organizations support numerous overseas endeavors at an estimatedcost of 250 million dollars a year. Although providing care to those in need is arewarding experience, the question that needs to be answered is whether these tripsdo more harm than good. We describe our experience during a medical service trip toEnsenada, Mexico. We treated over 500 people for numerous problems, but due to thelack of services were not able to monitor or ensure follow-up. Did we do more harmby providing medications that can have serious side effects? Recommendations havebeen developed to help short-term international medical service trips provide the bestoverall experience for the participants and the best care for the patients.
Post-anoxic myoclonus
Authors: Laengvejkal Pavis , Julayanont Parunyou , Payne Drew
Published: January 2017

Myoclonus is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary, sudden, brief muscle jerks caused by muscular contraction (positive myoclonus) or inhibition (negative myoclonus).1,2 Myoclonus is generally a medical sign and not a diagnosis. It can occur in multiple disorders. A short differential diagnosis list includes anoxic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  One way to classify the etiologies is through review of the clinical presentation and comorbid conditions. This article presents a review of anoxic brain injury related myoclonus. Post-anoxic myoclonus (PAM) can develop in either acute or chronic phase. Acute PAM occurs within hours after hypoxic event; chronic PAM (Lance-Adams syndrome) develops in survivors several days to weeks after the episodes of brain hypoxia.
A young man with oligoarthritis preceded by urethritis and diarrhea
Authors: Zedan Ahmed , Umer Imran , Ahmed Yasir , Loveman Donald
Published: January 2017

Reactive arthritis is a form of seronegative spondyloarthritis temporally triggered by an apparent infection, usually gastroenteritis or urethritis. This arthritis typically starts within a few weeks of the inciting infection. It commonly affects young adults and is strongly associated with the MHC class I antigen HLA-B27. Here we present an interesting case of young man with HLA-B27 positive reactive arthritis in whom the presumptive diagnosis was reached early in the course of his illness.
An adult male with abdominal pain and skin rash
Authors: Patel Jay , Umer Imran , Reddy Anand , Ahmed Yasir , Spellman Craig
Published: January 2017

Henoch-Schönlein purpura is generally a disease of children and uncommon in adults, especially after the age of 40. It is characterized by leukocytoclastic vasculitis skin rash, arthralgia, and gastrointestinal symptoms. In adults, glomerulonephritis may occur and the long-term prognosis is poor. We present the case of a 65-year-old man with complaints of abdomen pain and skin rash who subsequently developed renal failure. He was diagnosed with adult onset Henoch-Schönlein purpura and survived after treatment with glucocorticoids and hemodialysis.
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage
Authors: Panikkath Deepa , Gadwala Swetha , Mills Brooke , Panikkath Ragesh
Published: January 2017

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare life threatening condition characterized bybleeding into the alveolar spaces. Although it classically presents as hemoptysis, anemia,diffuse alveolar infiltrates, and acute respiratory failure, it is often a diagnostic and therapeuticchallenge for clinicians. It is associated with both immune and nonimmune causes.Prompt recognition and treatment of this entity are crucial. This article reviews the commonetiologies, diagnosis, and management of the patients with DAH.
Prognostic factors for mortality with febrile neutropenia in hospitalized patients
Authors: Hosiriluck Nattamol , Klomjit Saranapoom , Rassameehiran Supannee , Sutamtewagul Grerk , Tijani Lukman , Radhi Saba
Published: January 2017

Background: Febrile neutropenia is a life-threatening complication of cancer treatment that results in hospitalization and delays cancer therapy. The aim of this study is to identify prognostic factors of patients admitted with febrile neutropenia. Methods: A retrospective study via chart review without direct patient contact was conducted. All adults above 18 years with the diagnosis of febrile neutropenia hospitalized in University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, between January 2010 and December 2013 were reviewed. The data were analyzed with IBM SPSS statistics. Results: One hundred twenty-seven patients were included in this study. The hospital mortality rate was 17.3%, and the 30-day mortality rate was 20.5%. The median length of stay (LOS) was eight days. Hematologic malignancies accounted for 66.1% of the patients. On multivariate analysis, the in-hospital mortality rate was associated with fever duration (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 7.19; 95% CI 1.06-50.00; p <0.04), abnormal liver function tests (adjusted OR 63.72; 95% CI 5.95-682.07; p <0.001), ICU admission (OR 45.78; 95% CI 4.97-420.99; p <0.001) and positive culture (adjusted OR 12.71; 95% CI 1.14-142; p <0.039). The independent risk factors for a 30-day mortality rate were abnormal liver enzymes (OR 48.38; 95% CI 5.27-444.29; p <0.001), ICU admission (OR 63.66; 95% CI 5.96-680.30; p <0.001) and fever duration more than four days (OR 8.26; 95% CI 1.11-62.50; p=0.039). The data indicated that diagnosis of hematologic malignancies (OR 4.06; 95% CI 1.34-12.31 p=0.013), fever duration (adjusted OR 6.29; 95% CI 1.81-21.92; p 0.004) and neutropenic duration more than five days (OR 3.68; 95% CI 1.44-9.40 p=0.007) were associated with LOS more than eight days. Conclusions: Febrile neutropenia in hospitalized patients results in a significant mortality rate. Factors associated with increased mortality include ICU admission and abnormal liver enzyme tests.
Inferior vena cava dimensions in patients with acute kidney injury
Authors: Yepes-Hurtado Andres , Omar Sabry , Monzer Khalid , Alalawi Raed , Nugent Kenneth
Published: January 2017

Background: Volume contraction frequently contributes to the development of acute kidney injury.  The rapid assessment of volume status in patients with acute kidney injury could improve decision making and outcomes. Methods: The maximum and minimum diameters and percent collapsibility of the inferior vena cava (IVC) were measured in 30 patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit with laboratory evidence of acute kidney injury.  These measurements were made on the day of admission and 24 hours following admission.  Information about age, gender, body mass index, serum creatinine levels, and fluid balances was recorded. Results: This study included 30 patients with a mean age is 62.4 ±16.0 years.  The mean initial creatinine was 4.3 ± 4.2 mg/dL (range: 1.7 mg/dL to 22.1 mg/dL).  The mean fractional excretion of sodium was 2.06 ± 2.65%.  The mean maximum diameter of inferior vena cava was 1.8 ± 0.5 cm with the range is 0.4-2.65 cm.  The mean percent collapse was 32 ± 20%.  Five patients had evidence of hypovolemia using guidelines from the American Society of Echocardiology; 6 patients had evidence of hypervolemia.  Nineteen patients had measurements between these 2 categories.  There is no significant change in mean diameters following fluid administration for 24 hours.  An initial IVC diameter of 0.94 cm predicted ≥ 30% collapsibility with an area under the curve is 0.748. Discussion: Patients with acute kidney injury based on laboratory measurements had evidence for hypovolemia, euvolemia, and hypervolemia based on IVC measurements.  There was no consistent change in IVC dimensions following fluid administration, even though the creatinine fell in most patients.  Simple bedside measurements of IVC dimensions can facilitate fluid administration decisions but must be used with clinical assessment.
Supraventricular tachycardia associated with phentermine use
Authors: Tantrachoti Pakpoom , Klomjit Saranapoom , Rassameehiran Supannee , Shurmur Scott W
Published: January 2017

Phentermine, a very popular diet pill, is reportedly associated with tachycardia but rarely with other cardiac arrhythmias. We report a 36-year-old woman with no significant past medical history who developed supraventricular tachycardia after taking phentermine for four months. The supraventricular tachycardia has not recurred after the patient stopped taking the medication. With growing prevalence of obesity, clinicians should be aware of the potential serious side effects of phentermine and people with high cardiovascular risk should avoid using this medication.
ACE-inhibitor induced angioedema masked by nephrotic syndrome
Authors: Iwuji Kenneth , Sobamowo Hezekiah , Tarbox James , Egbe Rose
Published: January 2017

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are the leading cause of drug-induced angioedema in the United States because these drugs are widely prescribed for several common medical disorders. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors cause angioedema in 0.1 to 0.7 percent of recipients. When prescribing ACE-inhibitors to patients, angioedema should always be considered as a potential adverse reaction during treatment.
Ethanol Infusion for Alcohol Withdrawal Prophylaxis Does Not Cause Intoxication
Authors: Dillard Robert , Welch Tanis , Abdul-Hamed Senan , Kesey Jennifer , Dissanaike Sharmila
Published: January 2017

Objective: Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (AWS) remains a common problem, especially in trauma and surgical patients. An intravenous ethanol infusion protocol was developed at this institution and previously validated for AWS prophylaxis. One concern with intravenous ethanol has been potential for intoxication and/or side effects. This study was performed on patients receiving AWS prophylaxis with an intravenous ethanol protocol to evaluate for intoxication and the occurrence of any adverse effects. Methods: We did a retrospective review of all patients in our hospital who received AWS prophylaxis by ethanol infusion between 2008 and 2013. Information collected specific to ethanol infusion included rate of administration, serum ethanol levels, serum sodium level, use of benzodiazepines and anti-emetics, and development of AWS. Intoxication was defined using the Texas limit for blood alcohol content in a driver of .08% (80mg/dL).  The study period began at admission and lasted 7 days. Results: Ninety-seven patient charts were reviewed.  Average serum ethanol level on admission was 137 mg/dL. Serum ethanol levels increased in 12% of patients after administration of ethanol infusion, and levels generally decreased over time.  Asymptomatic hyponatremia (serum sodium <135) occurred in 60% of patients. Benzodiazepines were administered to 52 patients (54%); of these, only 15 received increases in infusion rates indicating appropriate protocol use. In addition, 32 of the 52 had the ethanol infusion discontinued prior to scheduled protocol wean. Conclusion: Ethanol infusion for alcohol withdrawal prophylaxis in the hospitalized patient rarely induces alcohol intoxication. However, a majority of patients experience asymptomatic hyponatremia. The high rate of concomitant benzodiazepine use suggests possible low efficacy of the infusion, although low adherence to the protocol could be a contributing factor.
Physical activity is a vital part of school readiness
Authors: Gouldsboro Julia
Published: January 2017

Last year, we celebrated the wonderful achievements of our Olympians and Paralympians, four years on from the London games, but the legacy of these achievements has not reached school policy.
Reflective practice: Experience, collaboration, time
Authors: Murdoch Joe
Published: January 2017

If there is one term that has become synonymous with professional development and improved provision in the early years, it is reflective practice. But what is it, and how do we create the conditions for it to flourish and become the norm for all practitioners?
Constructing imagination, piece by glorious piece
Authors: Clarke Jenni
Published: January 2017

Jenni Clarke explores the open-ended, versatile nature of interconnecting building bricks, in relation to learning. These appeal to almost everyone, of any age, attracted by the idea of creating something new.
Distal intestinal obstruction syndrome and colonic pathologies in cystic fibrosis
Authors: Canny JD , Brookes A , Bowley DB
Published: January 2017

The management of abdominal pain in cystic fibrosis can be complicated. Distal intestinal obstruction syndrome is a common cause of pain and obstruction in these patients. Knowledge of the diagnosis and management and of similar presenting symptoms is essential for the hospital doctor.
When the sun goes down: Sex, desire and cinema in 1970s Tehran
Authors: Atwood Blake
Published: January 2017

The 1970s witnessed an explosion of sex in Iranian cinema, and the representation of bodies and desires became more explicit than ever. The rise of on-screen sex flew in the face of successive guidelines released by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (MCA) in 1966 and 1972, which sought to limit the production and exhibition of films that featured sexual relations. This article explores this paradox and begins to trace the contours of a history of cinematic sex in mid-century Iran by examining film industry advertising schemes, especially film posters, alongside three sex-driven films: Mansur Purmand’s Shir tu shir (Chaos) (1972), Feraidun Goleh’s Zir-e pust-e shab (Under the Skin of the Night) (1974), and Parviz Sayyad’s Dar emtedād-e shab (Into the Night) (1978). I argue that what emerges from such an analysis is a complex capitalist system wherein the film industry both produces and markets sex but also creates the illusion that anyone can purchase the visual experience of sex. By democratizing sex through its popular representations, the film industry fuelled its own capitalist agenda but also contributed to the larger systems of consumerism and sex that was overtaking the surfaces of Iran, particularly Tehran, in the final decade before the Islamic Revolution
‘Le Vent Nous Portera’: Of lovers possessed, of times entangled and bodies carried away
Authors: Mottahedeh Negar
Published: January 2017

Representations of corporal struggle with and against the wind correspond in a very immediate sense to struggles for liberation from enslavement in Iranian history. They unfold in acknowledgement of Iran’s legacy of trade in black bodies. This article is a meditation on the ways that the wind in post-Revolutionary Iranian cinema functions to liberate the film viewer from its enslavement by the cinematic codes of sexual difference to the normative spatio-temporal coordinates of voyeurism and melodrama. This liberation plunges the viewer into the pleasures of a spirit that dwells in two worlds and forges a bond in complicity with film that is cinephelia otherwise.
‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’: Reflections on routes into reading, writing and mentoring
Authors: Kiernan Anna
Published: January 2017

‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’, the title of the poem by Sylvia Plath, forms the starting point of this reflective account because it captures the interdisciplinarity that characterizes my practice and pedagogy, in terms of writing and collaborative working. This article draws on various creative writing methods in response to work by, and projects undertaken with, a range of writers, journalists, musicians and artists. Beginning by re-examining Dorothea Brande’s seminal text The Habit of Writing (1981) as a means of identifying the tensions writers often experience between their ‘creative’ and ‘critical’ selves, the article concludes that cross-disciplinary working may offer a way of expanding on Brande’s notion of these binary selves in favour of a creative/critical/collaborative self.
Kardashian komplicity: Performing post-feminist beauty
Authors: Monteverde Giuliana
Published: January 2017

This article explores complicity by way of beauty, post-feminist neo-liberalism and the Kardashian-Jenner family. I begin by contextualizing complicity and outlining my approach to beauty. I assert that dismissals of the family as vulgar stem from sexist and femmephobic interpretations of their hypersexual, hyperfeminine gender performances, and the genre they are most famous for: reality television. Alongside this, I point to the neo-liberal post-feminist discourses utilized by the family in their presentation of beauty work. The Kardashian-Jenners should be approached from a feminist perspective, with appropriate nuance and reflexivity. Acknowledgement of complicity (theirs and mine) provides the space to do this.
TV drama and fashion: 1992, An Italian case
Authors: Mascio Antonella
Published: January 2017

The aim of this article is to explore an Italian TV drama, 1992. As other recent examples, it represents a ‘quality’ drama, a new kind of Italian TV production. In these products the attention to costumes and fashion is really important. If it is true that fashion has long enjoyed a close relationship with mass media, its role in audiovisuals and particularly in fiction products seems to have recently changed. In this new context, dressing issues are no longer related only to clothing: fashion is increasingly included inside stories. Yuniya Kawamura (2005) argues that, regarding fashion, production influences consumption and at the same time consumption affects production. This circularity makes us ask where we can place fashion TV serials, because they assume a clear role of mediation between high fashion brands, or underground styles, and their possible reference worlds. The TV drama 1992 focuses on the Italian political crises of that period. The story is set in Milan, the Italian city of fashion. In the same years we saw the growing success of Italian fashion in the world. In the analysis we will try to focus on the role of clothes inside narration, to show how fashion is important to determine some specific cultural contexts. Our hypothesis is that – under the main narrative line – it is possible to see other levels, such as the clothes and fashion level, that indicate a specific connection with characters’ personality, spaces and places, and historical periods. Is it also possible to trace a creative vision of all of this? How do the costumes connect to the historical period? How are they connected in some ways to more recent fashion shows? Is it possible to see in 1992 a specificity of Italian fashion style?
(Re)branding a (Post)colonial Streetscape: Tunis’s Avenue Habib Bourguiba and the Road Ahead
Authors: Coslett Daniel E.
Published: January 2017

Arguably Tunis’s premier public space, the iconic Avenue Bourguiba is today the product of over 150 years of manipulation, regulation and interpretation. Its development can be seen as an early example of thematic place branding, thereby complicating the notion that the widespread phenomenon is an exclusively postmodern and western one. In identifying three potential place-brand labels, this article considers the establishment of the ‘Parisian Colonial’ Avenue by French colonial authorities, its ‘Tunisian Modern’ modification at independence, and its more recent historicist ‘Parisian Global’ refurbishment within the contexts of colonialism, authoritarian governance and globalization. On the eve of the January 2011 revolution, the space reinforced the Ben Ali regime’s maintenance of control and capitalized on the long-since entrenched image of a dual – eastern and western, traditional and modern – postcolonial city. In the revolution’s wake the Avenue has become a reinvigorated public forum with a more complex character. Indeed, while the Avenue’s existing form and function remain emblematic of Tunis’s hybrid postcolonial identity, the thoroughfare now exemplifies the ongoing ‘Arab Spring’. Its cultural brandscape and heritage content, though enhanced with new aspects of democratic empowerment, are likely to endure as the transitioning country continues to participate in the process of globalization.
New interactive teaching technologies and education process at the UAE University: What are the uses, obstacles and added values?
Authors: Hamidou Kamal
Published: January 2017

This study revolves around the use of new teaching technologies as media in course delivery. It examines the differences in the uses of and gratifications from new teaching technologies in a sample of students who are digital natives and a sample of instructors who are mostly reluctant to adopt and use new teaching technologies in their course delivery. The purpose is to assess the usefulness, as well as the effective use, of new tools from both students’ and instructors’ perspectives. By using a TAM approach, the study investigates the educational benefits from those technologies by listing the different uses and expectations in students and instructors. The study also focuses on identifying the potential barriers posed by those technologies in the teaching and learning processes, as well as identifying the added values brought by those technologies to the teaching process. But more than identifying the uses of and gratifications accruing from new teaching technologies, the study highlights the mental fracture operating between nonlinear-thinking digital natives and linear-thinking instructors, a gap that places the education community in front of new challenges, as it imposes a deep re-adaptation of class pedagogy and teaching methods.
Gender mainstreaming in media and journalism education – an audit of media departments in Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia
Authors: Dralega Carol Azungi , Jemaneh Agaredech , Jjuko Margaret , Kantono Rehema
Published: January 2017

Gender mainstreaming (GM) within media and journalism education and practice has been described by several scholars as good, representative, critical, ethical, just and balanced journalism. This article presents findings of a study exploring the extent of GM in media and journalism in university departments in Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Drawing on qualitative research approaches, the study found minimal, unclear and uncoordinated GM activities within most departmental policies, curricula, assessment and research. Whereas some respondents attributed this to the lack of teaching resources, others pointed to the lack of policy guidance and ‘know-how’ as well as a commitment to implement existing policies. There were also attitudinal standpoints dismissive of the significance of GM, posing concerns about perpetuating the hegemony of patriarchy already witnessed in journalism practice today. The findings underscore the need to revisit not just the policies and pedagogical approaches but also a focus on awareness- and knowledge-building especially among the teaching staff.
Reading cartoons’ interpretation of the verdict and sentence in the Pistorius murder trial: The case of Zulu and English newspapers
Authors: Ndlovu Musawenkosi W.
Published: January 2017

This article is an interpretation of cartoons’ interpretation of both the verdict and the sentence in the Oscar Pistorious trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Selected for analysis, in terms of methodology and sampling, are those cartoons that appeared in isiZulu and English newspapers in South Africa, during September and October 2014. Specifically interpreted in these cartoons is their production of social meaning(s). This work is concerned mainly with cartoons’ content and their ideology, and less so with aesthetics and form. If cartoonists, by nature, read a particular subject and then reproduce social meaning from it through references to other familiar happenings in the public sphere, this work examines the allusions/metaphors used by cartoonists in this regard. Cartoons, in this work, are regarded as texts that represent cartoonists’ conscious decoding of both the verdict and the sentence, and subsequent representation of them for public reception. In reading the ‘reading’ of the verdict and the sentence, the article concludes that cartoons made little references to race, gun control, urban violence, violence against women, wealth and celebrity status, which had already engulfed public discourse about the Pistorius trial. Cartoons did find Judge Masipa ‘guilty’ of a lenient verdict and sentence.
The trials of the centuries: Murder and the media in South Africa
Authors: Phelps Kelly , Glenn Ian
Published: January 2017

Several important critical perspectives on media coverage of the Pistorius trial emerge in comparison to the most famous murder trial in South Africa in the first half of the twentieth century. In both cases, a well-known sports star shoots a young woman under circumstances that cause speculation and conjecture. The trials led to huge public interest and crowded courtrooms. While there are many points of comparison between the cases, in this article we do not discuss what the comparison reveals about the legal intricacies of the Pistorius case, or on the current state of the subjudice laws, or on the effect of the live broadcast (matters to which we plan to return), but rather on the different ways in which the legal protagonists and media framed the accused and other major figures in the two cases. We find that in the earlier trial the media, after the trial, played the role of criticizing the ways in which the jury and the judge had understood the events, while in the Pistorius trial the media overwhelmingly followed a framing narrative produced by the police and the prosecution, neglecting their watchdog function.
Transparency and reciprocity: Respecting fannish spaces in scholarly research
Authors: Fathallah Judith
Published: January 2017

Accountability to participants is a topic of some debate within fan studies. Whilst working with people requires informed consent, it may be legally defensible to freely quote any fan work found online. Reflecting on my research experience, this article argues for a responsibility to ask permission from fan creators before sharing their work in academic and other contexts. An ethics of transparency is beneficial not only to fans, I argue, but to the development of fan studies and its continued dialogue with fandoms.
‘I hate Beyoncé and I don’t care who knows it’: Towards an ethics of studying anti-fandom
Authors: Jones Bethan
Published: January 2017

The field of audience studies has undergone something of a change in the last twenty years. From considering film and television viewers to be passive consumers, scholars now recognize the active role that audiences play in the construction and reception of texts. Similarly, understandings of the need to look beyond the fan to the non-fan and anti-fan have also changed the ways we view the text and its audiences. This work has been fuelled, at least in part, by the development of fan studies, with academics like Henry Jenkins, Matt Hills and Jonathan Gray arguing that fans actively work with a text to change its meaning, or uncover hidden meanings, through fan cultural production. The emergence of Web 2.0 has further changed the nature of audience interaction, with fannish activities like fan fiction no longer the preserve of paper ‘zines. The growth of social media sites along with the shifting interest in analysing fans and their engagement with texts raises complex ethical questions about how scholars negotiate the study of fandom, but the ethics of how we engage with anti-fans and analyse anti-fannish response to a text has thus far been ignored. Fan studies, as a relatively new area of scholarship, has traditionally adopted two different means of dealing with fans. The first, drawing on the literary studies tradition, prioritizes the text. In this mode, texts are properly cited to ensure that others can find them and it may not occur to scholars to not point to the source. The second, however, arises from the social sciences in which human subjects are worked with and ethical considerations come above and beyond the research. In this mode, fans’ privacy is respected and permission obtained in order to cite fannish works. In this article I examine the ethics of approaching anti-fans. Is it enough to approach them in the same way as we approach fans or are there other factors to consider? Is it appropriate to use anti-fan texts without the authors’ consent? Where do the power structures lie in analysing anti-fans as opposed to fans? And should fan studies scholars even be asking for consent from anti-fans in an increasingly open media space?
Avatars as transitional objects: The impact of avatars and digital objects on adolescent gamers
Authors: Koles Bernadett , Nagy Peter
Published: January 2017

With practically unlimited opportunities for having fun, the Internet and numerous applications rapidly became favourable means of popular media among members of the younger generation, who enthusiastically embraced the contributions of the new Digital Age. The purpose of the current article is to explore the nature of adolescent gamers’ use of avatars as transitional objects, via employing object-relations theory to understand the psychological use of objects within a digital material culture. Incorporating the psychoanalytic research interview method, the current study builds on in-depth interviews with two adolescent males. By equipping their avatars with special skills, attributes and possessions, users were able to establish their virtual presence, and in turn address and compensate for certain difficulties, shortcomings and anxieties deriving from their offline existence and family conflicts. The avatars were viewed as objects of perfection and collectors of meaningful artefacts, and served as a source of status, recognition and accomplishment; frequently reaching beyond offline realities. Throughout the manuscript, we discuss relevant implications for the field of game studies.
The Time of Your Life: Gene Kelly, working-class masculinity, and music
Authors: Lindberg Julianne
Published: January 2017

William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life (1939) is typically discussed alongside the works of great American playwrights. Music and dance, however, are major symbolic and structuring devices in the narrative of the play. Two characters in the play purposely embody music and dance: the pianist Wesley (a ‘colored boy’ who plays a ‘mean and melancholy boogie-woogie piano’), played by Reginald Beane, and Harry (a ‘natural born hoofer’), played by the then-stage novice Gene Kelly. Though no records remain of Kelly’s original choreography, he often spoke of the importance of music to his conception of the character Harry. I suggest that Kelly/Saroyan’s Harry is a product of the mainstream acceptance of working-class masculinities, an outgrowth of the progressive politics of the 1930s. Kelly’s relationship to the music of marginalized identities, I argue, informed the development of his iconic ‘average Joe’ persona.
Polycentrism in a post-hegemonic world and the future of the European Union
Authors: Valente Isabel Maria Freitas , Freire Maria Raquel , Fernandes Sandra
Published: January 2017

https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-6336_15-1_5
The Portuguese Economy: the challenge of low growth and high debt
Authors: Araújo Isabel , Lourenço Diogo , Pereira Francisco Nunes
Published: January 2017

https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-6336_15-1_6
The Role of Smoking in the Development of Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Dénes Márton István , Borz Cristian , Török Árpád , Kántor Tibor , Nădășan Valentin , Csibi Mónika , Ábrám Zoltán
Published: January 2017

Introduction. Smoking is an important public health issue nowadays. It causes a lot of diseases and represents also a source of carcinogenic substances. Recent studies showed an increased incidence of colorectal cancer in smokers. The aim of our study is to assess the association between smoking and colorectal cancer and to establish the prevalence of heavy smokers among the patients operated on for colorectal cancer.

Methodology. We run a retrospective study of the charts belonging to the patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer and operated on in our department between 2004 and 2013. The patients were classified in smokers, former smokers and nonsmokers. The amount of tobacco was evaluated according to the number of smoked cigarettes per day, the smoking period, respectively the pack-years. The data were corroborated with the location of the tumor and analyzed using the online version of Graphpad.

Results. From 982 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, we found 297 smokers (30.24%). Among these, 106 patients (35.69%) have smoked for over 30 years, at least 20 cigarettes per day, more than 30 pack-years. The number of heavy smokers was significantly greater (p=0.0001) in the group with rectal cancer compared to the group with colon cancer. The association of smoking with rectal cancer was also important (p=0.0015) among the former smokers.

Conclusions. Smoking is related to higher incidence of colorectal cancer. Our data sustain the hypothesis of increased risk of developing rectal cancer in heavy smokers. We recommend the screening for colorectal cancer among the heavy smoker population.