bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sex- and Poverty-Specific Patterns in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Associated With Human Immunodeficiency Virus, New York City, 2007–2017
Authors: Hanna David B , Ramaswamy Chitra , Kaplan Robert C , Kizer Jorge R , Daskalakis Demetre , Anastos Kathryn , Braunstein Sarah L
Published: August 2019

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may affect the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) differently in men versus women.

Methods

We examined CVD mortality rates between 2007 and 2017 among all New York City residents living with HIV and aged 13+ by sex, using data from city HIV surveillance and vital statistics and the National Death Index. Residents without HIV were enumerated using modified US intercensal estimates. We determined associations of HIV status with CVD mortality by sex and neighborhood poverty, defined as the percent of residents living below the federal poverty level, after accounting for age, race/ethnicity, and year.

Results

There were 3234 CVD deaths reported among 147 915 New Yorkers living with HIV, with the proportion of deaths due to CVD increasing from 11% in 2007 to 22% in 2017. The age-standardized CVD mortality rate was 2.7/1000 person-years among both men and women with HIV. The relative rate of CVD mortality associated with HIV status was significantly higher among women (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6–1.8) than men (aRR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1–1.3) overall, and within strata defined by neighborhood poverty. Sex differences in CVD mortality rates were the greatest when comparing individuals living with HIV and having detectable HIV RNA and CD4+ T-cell counts <500 cells/uL with individuals living without HIV.

Conclusions

Among people with HIV, 1 in 5 deaths is now associated with CVD. HIV providers should recognize the CVD risk among women with HIV, and reinforce preventive measures (eg, smoking cessation, blood pressure control, lipid management) and viremic control among people living with HIV regardless of neighborhood poverty to reduce CVD mortality.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases cardiovascular disease mortality risks to a greater degree among women than men, even after accounting for neighborhood poverty. HIV providers should emphasize cardiovascular disease prevention (eg, smoking cessation, hypertension control, lipid management) and viremic control.
The NoisyOffice Database: A Corpus To Train Supervised Machine Learning Filters For Image Processing
Authors: Castro-Bleda M J , España-Boquera S , Pastor-Pellicer J , Zamora-Martínez F
Published: August 2019

This paper presents the ‘NoisyOffice’ database. It consists of images of printed text documents with noise mainly caused by uncleanliness from a generic office, such as coffee stains and footprints on documents or folded and wrinkled sheets with degraded printed text. This corpus is intended to train and evaluate supervised learning methods for cleaning, binarization and enhancement of noisy images of grayscale text documents. As an example, several experiments of image enhancement and binarization are presented by using deep learning techniques. Also, double-resolution images are also provided for testing super-resolution methods. The corpus is freely available at UCI Machine Learning Repository. Finally, a challenge organized by Kaggle Inc. to denoise images, using the database, is described in order to show its suitability for benchmarking of image processing systems.
The Early Experience With Vedolizumab in the United States
Authors: Kochar Bharati , Jiang Yue , Winn Aaron , Barnes Edward L , Martin Christopher F , Long Millie D , Kappelman Michael D
Published: August 2019

Background

Post-marketing studies of new inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapies are needed to establish clinical effectiveness and safety in clinical practice. We aimed to describe the U.S. experience with vedolizumab in a commercially insured population.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Quintiles-IMS Legacy PharMetrics Adjudicated Claims Database from May 2014 to June 2016. We included new vedolizumab users with Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) between 18 and 64 years with ≥12 months of continuous enrollment prior to initiating vedolizumab. Outcomes included treatment persistence >14 weeks, late steroid use, IBD-related surgery and infections associated with hospitalization. We built multivariable regression models to identify predictors of treatment persistence and late steroid use.

Results

We identified 269 CD and 187 UC vedolizumab initiators. Only 60% of CD patients and 56% of UC patients remained on vedolizumab after 14 weeks without IBD-related hospitalization, surgery, and corticosteroid use. There were no significant predictors of treatment persistence. Steroid use in the first 2 months of vedolizumab initiation was a significant predictor of late steroid use in CD (odds ratio: 23.34; 95% confidence interval: 5.10–153.89). In the 6 months after vedolizumab initiation, 1.9% of CD and 5.9% of UC patients had an IBD-related surgery. Serious infections were <4%.

Conclusions

These data reflect the early U.S. experience with vedolizumab. The population-level response to vedolizumab therapy is just >50%. Steroids at the time of vedolizumab initiation is the strongest predictor of late steroid use in CD. Rates of surgery and serious infections are low.
Glut-1 explains the evolutionary advantage of the loss of endogenous vitamin C-synthesis
Authors: Hornung Tabea C , Biesalski Hans-Konrad
Published: August 2019

Introduction

During evolution, some species including humans, monkeys and fruit bats lost the ability for ascorbic acid (AA) biosynthesis due to inactivation of the enzyme l-gulono-lactone oxidase (GLO) and subsequently became dependent on dietary vitamin C. There are four current hypotheses in relation to the benefit of vitamin C dependence in the context of adaptation and reproduction. Here we advance and test a new ‘electron transfer hypothesis’, which focusses on the role of the expression of glucose transporter 1 (Glut-1) in red blood cells (RBCs) in recycling vitamin C, thereby increasing the efficiency of micronutrient uptake.

Methods

To evaluate the benefit of Glut-1 expression, we determined vitamin C uptake into RBCs and potential release from two different species, humans with l-Gulono-lactone-oxidase (GLO-loss) and pigs with functional GLO.

Results

The oxidized form of vitamin C (dehydroascorbate, DHA) was transported into human RBCs via Glut-1. There was no transport of either the reduced (AA) or the oxidized vitamin in pig erythrocytes.

Conclusion

We propose that the transport of vitamin C increases an intracellular electron pool, which transfers electrons from intracellular ascorbate to extracellular substances like ascorbyl free radical or DHA, resulting in 100-fold smaller daily requirement of this essential redox sensitive micronutrient. This would be an advantage during seasonal changes of the availability from food and may be the key for the survival of individuals without vitamin C biosynthesis.

Lay Summary

40 million years ago some individuals lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C. Why did they survive such as humans until now? Individuals with a specific glucose transporter Glut-1 on their erythrocytes which transports vitamin C need less and are protected from scarcity due to seasons and food competitors.
Reported mortality with rotating sheaths vs. laser sheaths for transvenous lead extraction
Authors: Diaz Celso L , Guo Xiaofan , Whitman Isaac R , Marcus Gregory M , Pellegrini Cara N , Beygui Ramin E , Lee Sun Yong , Lee Byron K
Published: August 2019

Aims

Rotating sheaths and laser sheaths are commonly used for transvenous lead extraction. This study aims to compare observed mortality between both approaches.

Methods and results

The Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience database was searched from 2011 to 2016 to determine number of deaths associated with each sheath. An independent analytics firm provided estimates for number of cases done, allowing calculation of market share. A sensitivity analysis was performed to determine relative risk (RR) of mortality at the calculated market share (36% rotating/64% laser) and two others. Additional sensitivity analyses assumed underreporting of deaths associated with rotating sheaths. An estimated 50 545 extractions were performed. Thirteen deaths were associated with rotating sheaths compared to 167 with laser sheaths. Of these, 92% (rotating) and 95% (laser) were due to cardiovascular injury. At the calculated market share, the RR of death was 7.2 times greater with laser sheaths [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.1–12.7, P < 0.0001]. At market share estimates of 25% rotating/75% laser and 45% rotating/55% laser, the RR of death with laser sheaths was 4.3 (95% CI 2.4–7.5, P < 0.0001) and 10.5 times greater (95% CI 6.0–18.5, P < 0.0001), respectively. The RR of death remained significant when assuming deaths with rotating sheaths were underreported and when deaths using both sheaths were attributed to the rotating sheath.

Conclusions

Lead extraction with laser sheaths appears to be associated with a higher risk of mortality compared to rotating sheaths. Further studies are warranted to confirm this finding.
Development and cohort study of an audit approach to evaluate patient management in family practice in the UK: the 7S tool
Authors: Fisher Stacey J , Margerison Lawrence N , Jonker Leon
Published: August 2019

Background

In the UK, there is increased pressure on general practitioners’ time due to an increase in (elderly) population and a shortage of general practitioners. This means that time has to be used efficiently, whilst optimizing adherence to consistent, appropriate and timely provision of care.

Objective(s)

Create an audit tool that assists general practitioners and family practice staff to evaluate if patients are managed as effectively as possible, and to test the usefulness of this tool in a family practice.

Methods

The ‘7S’ audit tool has seven outcome elements; these broadly stand for what the actual and desired patient contact outcome was, or should have been. Terms include ‘surgery’, ‘speak’ and ‘specific other’ for an appointment at the practice, by telephone or with a dedicated specialist such as a practice nurse or phlebotomist, respectively.

Results

A very small, rural, general practice in the UK was audited using the 7S tool. Five hundred patient contacts were reviewed by an independent general practitioner and the decision made if the mode of contact was appropriate or not for each case; in one of the three cases, the choice of care provision was inappropriate and chronic disease cases contributed most to this. General practitioners instigated the majority of poor patient management choices, and chronic disease patients were frequently seen in suboptimal settings.

Conclusions

Inefficiencies in the management of patients in family practice can be identified with the 7S audit tool, thereby producing evidence for staff education and service reconfiguration.
Community structure and functional genes in radionuclide contaminated soils in Chernobyl and Fukushima
Authors: Hoyos-Hernandez Carolina , Courbert Christelle , Simonucci Caroline , David Sebastien , Vogel Timothy M , Larose Catherine
Published: August 2019

Chernobyl and Fukushima were subjected to radionuclide (RN) contamination that has led to environmental problems. In order to explore the ability of microorganisms to survive in these environments, we used a combined 16S rRNA and metagenomic approach to describe the prokaryotic community structure and metabolic potential over a gradient of RN concentrations (137Cs 1680–0.4 and 90Sr 209.1–1.9 kBq kg−1) in soil samples. The taxonomic results showed that samples with low 137Cs content (37.8–0.4 kBq kg−1) from Fukushima and Chernobyl clustered together. In order to determine the effect of soil chemical parameters such as organic carbon (OC), Cesium-137 (137Cs) and Strontium-90 (90Sr) on the functional potential of microbial communities, multiple predictor model analysis using piecewiseSEM was carried out on Chernobyl soil metagenomes. The model identified 46 genes that were correlated to these parameters of which most have previously been described as mechanisms used by microorganisms under stress conditions. This study provides a baseline taxonomic and metagenomic dataset for Fukushima and Chernobyl, respectively, including physical and chemical characteristics. Our results pave the way for evaluating the possible RN selective pressure that might contribute to shaping microbial community structure and their functions in contaminated soils.
Home Truths and Uncomfortable Spaces: Swiss Hotels and Literature of the 1920s
Authors: Williams Seán M
Published: August 2019

Switzerland was at the centre of the European grand hotel scene, geographically and discursively. This article considers Swiss hotel literature and life in the 1920s, a decade in which the country’s hotel landscape became politicized and, relatedly, was often portrayed in popular literature. Against the backdrop of more canonical and intellectual hotel literature set in Switzerland, the following reads Meinrad Inglin’s Grand Hotel Excelsior (1928) as a response to a contemporary ‘culture war’, and as an attempt at centrist cultural criticism. Drawing especially on magazine and other archival evidence, this article also uncovers the promotion, sponsorship and discussion of hotel literature by Swiss hotel lobbyists, which was concerned with increasing the commercial viability of hotels after the First World War, and improving their image at a time of polarized debates about the direction of Swiss society. Thus Inglin’s novel occupies a centre ground not only in its argument, but in a formal sense as well. Grand Hotel Excelsior is a literary means of mediating the problems of Swiss culture in the 1920s, manifest in hotels as actual spaces or subjects, rather than a novel written for, or adaptable to, vested interests, or a work that employs – in the vein of Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse – the hotel as a material setting to explore abstract ideas.
Molecular characteristics of plant UDP-arabinopyranose mutases
Authors: Saqib Anam , Scheller Henrik Vibe , Fredslund Folmer , Welner Ditte Hededam
Published: August 2019

l-arabinofuranose is a ubiquitous component of the cell wall and various natural products in plants, where it is synthesized from cytosolic UDP-arabinopyranose (UDP-Arap). The biosynthetic machinery long remained enigmatic in terms of responsible enzymes and subcellular localization. With the discovery of UDP-Arap mutase in plant cytosol, the demonstration of its role in cell-wall arabinose incorporation and the identification of UDP-arabinofuranose transporters in the Golgi membrane, it is clear that the cytosolic UDP-Arap mutases are the key enzymes converting UDP-Arap to UDP-arabinofuranose for cell wall and natural product biosynthesis. This has recently been confirmed by several genotype/phenotype studies. In contrast to the solid evidence pertaining to UDP-Arap mutase function in vivo, the molecular features, including enzymatic mechanism and oligomeric state, remain unknown. However, these enzymes belong to the small family of proteins originally identified as reversibly glycosylated polypeptides (RGPs), which has been studied for >20 years. Here, we review the UDP-Arap mutase and RGP literature together, to summarize and systemize reported molecular characteristics and relations to other proteins.
Genome-wide association analysis of 95 549 individuals identifies novel loci and genes influencing optic disc morphology
Authors: Han Xikun , Qassim Ayub , An Jiyuan , Marshall Henry , Zhou Tiger , Ong Jue-Sheng , Hassall Mark M , Hysi Pirro G , Foster Paul J , Khaw Peng T , Mackey David A , Gharahkhani Puya , Khawaja Anthony P , Hewitt Alex W , Craig Jamie E , MacGregor Stuart
Published: August 2019

Optic nerve head morphology is affected by several retinal diseases. We measured the vertical optic disc diameter (DD) of the UK Biobank (UKBB) cohort (N = 67 040) and performed the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of DD to date. We identified 81 loci (66 novel) for vertical DD. We then replicated the novel loci in International Glaucoma Genetic Consortium (IGGC, N = 22 504) and European Prospective Investigation into Cancer–Norfolk (N = 6005); in general the concordance in effect sizes was very high (correlation in effect size estimates 0.90): 44 of the 66 novel loci were significant at P < 0.05, with 19 remaining significant after Bonferroni correction. We identified another 26 novel loci in the meta-analysis of UKBB and IGGC data. Gene-based analyses identified an additional 57 genes. Human ocular tissue gene expression analysis showed that most of the identified genes are enriched in optic nerve head tissue. Some of the identified loci exhibited pleiotropic effects with vertical cup-to-disc ratio, intraocular pressure, glaucoma and myopia. These results can enhance our understanding of the genetics of optic disc morphology and shed light on the genetic findings for other ophthalmic disorders such as glaucoma and other optic nerve diseases.
Regulatory Convergence in the Financial Periphery: How Interdependence Shapes Regulators’ Decisions
Authors: Jones Emily , Zeitz Alexandra O
Published: August 2019

We examine the processes by which regulations prevailing in countries at the core of the global economy spread to countries outside this small group. We show how specific cross-border relationships between banks, regulators, and investors generate regulatory interdependence that drives the diffusion of international standards from the standard-setting countries at the core of the financial system to the financial periphery. We argue that regulatory decisions in the financial periphery are shaped by the prior choices of regulators in other countries, mediated through four specific cross-border relationships associated with banking globalization. We draw on a new dataset of Basel II adoption in over ninety jurisdictions in the financial periphery. Using spatial lag models we show that regulators’ decisions over the adoption of international standards are shaped by the choices of regulators to whom they are connected through the cross-border operations of individual banks, international professional networks, and competition for capital. Our analysis underscores the value of parsing out the relevant actor-level linkages that connect countries: while international considerations shape regulatory decisions, what matters is not the extent to which countries are connected to the global economy but rather the nature of these connections.
Hypercoagulation and Hypermetabolism of Fibrinogen in Severely Burned Adults
Authors: Martini Wenjun Z , Holcomb John B , Yu Yong-Ming , Wolf Steven E , Cancio Leopoldo C , Pusateri Anthony E , Dubick Michael A
Published: August 2019

This study investigated changes in plasma fibrinogen metabolism and changes in coagulation in severely burned adults. Ten patients (27 ± 3 years; 91 ± 6 kg) with 51 ± 3% TBSA were consented and enrolled into an institutional review board–approved prospective study. On the study day, stable isotope infusion of 1-13C-phenylalanine and d5-phenylalanine was performed to quantify fibrinogen production and consumption. During the infusion, vital signs were recorded and blood samples were drawn every hour. Coagulation was measured by thromboelastograph (TEG). Ten normal healthy volunteers (37 ± 7 years; 74 ± 4 kg) were included as the control group. Burned adults had elevated heart rates (120 ± 2 vs 73 ± 5 [control] beats/minute), respiration rates (23 ± 2 vs 15 ± 1 breaths/minute), plasma glucose (127 ± 10 vs 89 ± 2 mg/dl), and fibrinogen levels (613 ± 35 vs 239 ± 17 mg/dl); and decreased albumin (1.3 ± 0.2 vs 3.7 ± 0.1 g/dl) and total protein (4.4 ± 0.2 vs 6.8 ± 0.1 g/dl, all P < .05). Fibrinogen breakdown was elevated in the burn group (2.3 ± 0.4 vs. 1.0 ± 0.3 µmol/kg/minute); and fibrinogen synthesis was further enhanced in the burn group (4.4 ± 0.7 vs 0.7 ± 0.2 µmol/kg/minute, both P < .05). Clotting speed (TEG-alpha) and clot strength (TEG-MA) were increased in the burn group (62 ± 4 vs 50 ± 4°, and 76 ± 2 vs 56 ± 2 mm, respectively, both P < .05). Fibrinolysis of TEG-LY60 was accelerated in the burn group (16 ± 6 vs 3 ± 1) and so was the increase in D-dimer level in the burn group (4.5 ± 0.4 vs 1.9 ± 0.3 mg/l, both P < .05). The hypercoagulable state postburn is in part a result of increased fibrinogen synthesis, over and above increased fibrinogen breakdown.
Identification of serum microRNAs predicting the response of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma to nivolumab
Authors: Sudo Kazuki , Kato Ken , Matsuzaki Juntaro , Takizawa Satoko , Aoki Yoshiaki , Shoji Hirokazu , Iwasa Satoru , Honma Yoshitaka , Takashima Atsuo , Sakamoto Hiromi , Naka Tomoaki , Sekine Shigeki , Boku Narikazu , Ochiya Takahiro
Published: August 2019

Background

Nivolumab, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, showed promising activity for the treatment of advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma in a phase II study (ONO-4538-07; JapicCTI­No.142422). We explored serum microRNA (miRNA) candidate predictive markers of the response to nivolumab.

Methods

In the phase II study, 19 patients received nivolumab (3 mg/kg IV Q2W) at National Cancer Center Hospital. The expression of 2565 serum miRNAs before and during treatment was analyzed using a 3D-Gene Human miRNA Oligo Chip (Toray Industries, Inc.). Immune-related response evaluation criteria used to evaluate response and miRNA expression were compared between responders and non-responders. The top 20 miRNAs by accuracy in receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were identified by leave-one-out cross-validation, and those with the area under curve values > 0.8, cross-validated accuracy > 0.8, and a 0.5 difference in the average log2 expression level between responders and non-responders were further analyzed.

Results

Of the 19 patients, five responded to nivolumab. We identified miRNAs related to the response to nivolumab, including one detected in the serum before treatment (miR-1233-5p; AUC = 0.895) and three present after treatment (miR-6885-5p, miR-4698 and miR-128-2-5p; AUC = 0.93, 0.97 and 0.93, respectively).

Conclusions

Candidate miRNAs capable of predicting the response to nivolumab were identified in the serum of patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma in ONO-4538-07.
Protective effects of zingerone derivate on ionizing radiation-induced intestinal injury
Authors: Wu Jing , Duan Yuqing , Cui Jie , Dong Yinping , Li Hongyan , Wang Meifang , Fan Saijun , Li Deguan , Li Yiliang
Published: August 2019

Intestinal injury is the primary toxicity of radiotherapy for pelvic and abdominal tumors, and it is also one of the common acute complications of radiotherapy. At present, there are no effective drugs to prevent intestinal injury in the clinic. Zingerone is a natural product with radioprotective effects. In this study, a novel compound (thiazolidine hydrochloride, TZC01) was synthesized by structural modification of zingerone. The effects of TZC01 on preventing intestinal injury from radiation were further investigated in this study. C57BL/6N mice were exposed to a lethal dose of abdominal irradiation (ABI) with and without TZC01 treatments. The morphological changes of the intestine and various makers of intestinal crypt cells were investigated. Treatment with TZC01 improved the survival rate of mice exposed to 12 Gy ABI. Moreover, TZC01 protected the intestinal morphology of mice, decreased the apoptotic rate of intestinal crypt cells, maintained cell regeneration and promoted crypt cell proliferation and differentiation. This study suggests that TZC01 has preventive and therapeutic effects on radiation enteritis by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of crypt cells to protect the small intestine from the toxic effects of ionizing radiation. Furthermore, the study of TCZ01 lays a strong foundation for developing novel radioprotectors with multiple properties.
A mycotic aortic aneurysm treated by thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair
Authors: Tokuda Takahiro , Tamaki Mototsugu , Kitamura Hideki , Koyama Yutaka , Sawada Koshi , Kawaguchi Yasuhiko , Konakano Kazuya , Okawa Yasuhide
Published: August 2019

An 88-year-old man was admitted with general fatigue. Computed tomography (CT) showed a descending aortic aneurysm. The laboratory data indicated severe infection. Despite negative blood cultures, broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotic therapy was started. Though antibiotic therapy was continued for about 2 weeks, the aneurysm extended 20 mm. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair was performed, and antibiotic therapy was continued for 4 weeks after the procedure, followed by oral antibiotics for 1 year. CT showed regression of the aneurysm 15 months after reconstruction. Antibiotic therapy, preoperatively and postoperatively, is important for a mycotic aortic aneurysm.
Practical Knowledge and Luminosity
Authors: Piñeros Glasscock Juan S
Published: August 2019

Many philosophers hold that if an agent acts intentionally, she must know what she is doing. Although the scholarly consensus for many years was to reject the thesis in light of presumed counterexamples by Donald Davidson, several scholars have recently argued that attention to aspectual distinctions and the practical nature of this knowledge shows that these counterexamples fail. In this paper I defend a new objection against the thesis, one modelled after Timothy Williamson’s anti-luminosity argument. Since this argument relies on general principles about the nature of knowledge rather than on intuitions about fringe cases, the recent responses that have been given to defuse the force of Davidson’s objection are silent against it. Moreover, the argument suggests that even weaker theses connecting practical entities (e.g. basic actions, intentions, attempts, etc.) with knowledge are also false. Recent defenders of the thesis that there is a necessary connection between knowledge and intentional action are motivated by the insight that this connection is non-accidental. I close with a positive proposal to account for the non-accidentality of this link without appeal to necessary connections by drawing an extended analogy between practical and perceptual knowledge.
Graphene oxide nanoparticles in the interstellar medium
Authors: Sarre P J
Published: August 2019

Dust particles play a major role in the formation, evolution and chemistry of interstellar clouds, stars, and planetary systems. Commonly identified forms include amorphous and crystalline carbon-rich particles and silicates. Also present in many astrophysical environments are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), detected through their infrared emission, and which are essentially small flakes of graphene. Astronomical observations over the past four decades have revealed a widespread unassigned ‘extended red emission’ (ERE) feature which is attributed to luminescence of dust grains. Numerous potential carriers for ERE have been proposed but none has gained general acceptance. In this Letter it is shown that there is a strong similarity between laboratory optical emission spectra of graphene oxide (GO) and ERE, leading to this proposal that emission from GO nanoparticles is the origin of ERE and that these are a significant component of interstellar dust. The proposal is supported by infrared emission features detected by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Driving innovation through collaboration: development of clinical annotation datasets for brain cancer biobanking
Authors: Gedye Craig , Sachchithananthan Mythily , Leonard Robyn , Jeffree Rosalind L , Buckland Michael E , Ziegler David S , Graeber Manuel B , Day Bryan W , McDonald Kerrie L , Lasocki Arian ,   BCBA Consortium, Nowak Anna K , Back Michael , Besser Michael , Boyd Andrew , Buckland Michael , Byrne Jennifer , Cher Lawrence , Cook Raymond , Day Bryan , Day Jerry , Davidson Andrew , Devereux Lisa , Dexter Mark , Donnelly Roy , Drummond Kate , Eckstein Lisa , Gan Hui , Garrick Therese , Gedye Craig , Gottardo Nick , Graeber Manuel , Harper Clive , Jeffree Rosalind , Johns Terrance , Khasraw Mustafa , Kichenadasse Ganessan , Eng-Siew Koh , Lipworth Wendy , Leonard Robyn , Ludlow Louise , McDonald Kerrie , Moore Andrew , Munoz Lenka , Nahar Najmun , Nowak Anna , Olson Sarah , Ormsby Rebecca , Parkinson Jonathon , Partanen Audrey , Raymond Emma , Reddel Roger , Robbins Peter , Rosenthal Mark , Saunus Jodi , Shivalingam Brindha , Simes John , Stringer Brett , Thorne Heather , Vajdic Claire , Varikatt Winny , Walker David , Wheeler Helen , White Deborah , Yip Sonia , Ziegler David
Published: August 2019

Background

A key component of cancer research is the availability of clinical samples with appropriately annotated clinical data. Biobanks facilitate research by collecting/storing various types of clinical samples for research. Brain Cancer Biobanking Australia (BCBA) was established to facilitate the networking of brain cancer biobanking operations Australia-wide. Maximizing biospecimen utility in a networked biobanking environment requires the standardization of procedures and data across different sites. The aim of this research was to scope and develop a recommended clinical annotation dataset both for pediatric and adult brain cancer biobanks.

Methods

A multidisciplinary working group consisting of members from the BCBA Consortium was established to develop clinical dataset recommendations for brain cancer biobanks. A literature search was undertaken to identify any published clinical dataset recommendations for brain cancer biobanks. An audit of data items collected and stored by BCBA member biobanks was also conducted to survey current clinical data collection practices across the BCBA network.

Results

BCBA has developed a clinical annotation dataset recommendation for pediatric and adult brain cancer biobanks. The clinical dataset recommendation has 5 clinical data categories: demographic, clinical and radiological diagnosis and surgery, neuropathological diagnosis, patient treatment, and patient follow-up. The data fields have been categorized into 1 of 3 tiers; essential, preferred, and comprehensive. This enables biobanks and researchers to prioritize appropriately where resources are limited.

Conclusion

This dataset can be used to guide the integration of data from multiple existing biobanks for research studies and for planning prospective brain cancer biobanking activities.
Research ethics: a safeguard for advanced technologies
Authors: Jia Hepeng
Published: August 2019

With the fast development of cutting-edge technologies and their greater integration into human life, more ethical challenges emerge. The problem became more salient when the world's first genetically edited babies were born in China in violation of existing ethical rules. Although the responsible researcher He Jiankui was sentenced for imprisonment for three years last December, it is still necessary to examine the current status of research ethics and the challenges in China. Has China set up a sophisticated research ethics system? For research ethics and their implementation in China, are there unique national characteristics? Can the dominant ethics principles primarily developed from life science research be equally adopted in the emerging artificial intelligence research and development? At an online forum organized by National Science Review (NSR) and through subsequent correspondences among forum participants, NSR Executive Editor-in-Chief Mu-ming Poo and guest moderator Hepeng Jia asked three scientists and three bioethicists or philosophers of science and technology in the field to examine the dynamic development of research ethics in China.

Weiwen Duan

Philosopher of Science and Technology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China

Junjiu Huang

Life scientist focused on genetics at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Renzong Qiu

Bioethicist at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China

Qiang Sun

Life scientist and the principal investigator (PI) of clone monkey program at Shanghai Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Yi Zeng

Artificial intelligence scientist at Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Xiaomei Zhai

Bioethicist at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

Mu-ming Poo (Chair)

Neurobiologist at Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Hepeng Jia (Co-chair)

Professor of Science Communication at Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Authors: Howard Veena
Published: August 2019

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869–30 January 1948) is internationally known for his leadership in India’s independence movement and the methods of ahiṃsā (nonviolence) and satyagraha (truth force; nonviolent resistance). Because of his personal ascetic practices, political methods, and selfless service, he was given the honorific title Mahatma, “Great Soul.” Gandhi was born in a bania merchant subcaste in Porbandar (Gujarat), western India. His devout mother, Putali Bai, was a major influence in molding his character. Keeping with the norms of that time, his marriage was arranged at age thirteen to Kasturba, also thirteen. They had four sons—Harilal, Ramdas, Manilal, and Devdas—and many grandchildren. Gandhi’s character and political methods developed through his experiences studying law in England in 1888–1891, and his work commencing in 1893 as a lawyer for an Indian firm in South Africa, where he started a movement to end discrimination against Indians. The writings of Leo Tolstoy and John Ruskin, as well as texts such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Bhagavad Gītā, were influential both in his personal and activist lives. He established ashrams to train an army of nonviolent resisters and to disrupt inequality based on caste, economic status, religion, and gender. In his forty-year tenure as the leader of the movement against British occupation in South Africa and India, he led many nonviolent resistance campaigns, including the Salt March to protest the salt tax and the Quit India movement. He occasionally fasted to resist various forms of violence, including riots against Muslims. His dedication to India’s nation-building earned him the title “Father of the Nation.” Gandhi was also a prolific writer and authored many periodicals and books: an autobiography, a translation of and commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā, the manifesto Hind Swaraj, and others. His nonviolent methods have been utilized by international movements and leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez, Nelson Mandela, and Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. Along with laudatory appraisals by prominent thinkers such as Albert Einstein, he has also had many detractors, such as B. R. Ambedkar, who confronted him on his views ofcaste and untouchability. Various Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim leaders saw his views on nonviolence, religion, culture, and politics simply as ideological and unfeasible. Numerous studies focus on his idiosyncratic practices of celibacy and his views on women, caste, and technology, which depict him as stubborn, unprogressive, and even dangerous. Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in Delhi, on 30 January 1948. Even though Gandhi appears to be a forgotten figure in India, thousands of books about him, an Academy Award–winning film, and, more recently, renewed interest in his philosophy and methods all are a testament to the ongoing global impact of his life and legacy.
Erving Goffman
Authors: Smith Greg , Philburn Robert
Published: August 2019

The son of Ukrainian immigrant parents, Erving Manual Goffman was born on 11 June 1922 in Mannville, Alberta, Canada. He attended high school in Winnipeg and entered the University of Manitoba in 1939, majoring in natural sciences. However, his interests shifted toward the social sciences before he left in 1942, still some credits short of his degree. He returned to study at Toronto in 1944, obtaining a BA degree in 1945. That fall he began studies toward the MA degree in sociology at the University of Chicago. Initially influenced by W. Lloyd Warner, his 1949 master’s thesis gave an ethnographic analysis of the responses of cosmopolitan middle-class women as they refused to take entirely seriously the demands of the Thematic Apperception Test that Goffman administered. His doctoral dissertation, “Communication Conduct in an Island Community” (1953), was based on fieldwork in the Shetland Islands sponsored by the University of Edinburgh’s Social Anthropology department. In it Goffman first introduced the term “interaction order” to describe the domain of social life established by co-present persons. This was the sociological terrain he made his own. The investigation of the properties of the interaction order provided the thread that ran through the disparate topic-matters of his eleven books and more than a dozen significant journal articles. Goffman stayed another year in Chicago following the successful defense of his dissertation, drafting an original monograph (The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, first published in 1956 in Edinburgh) and papers on face-work, embarrassment, involvement, and deference and demeanor. Between the end of 1954 and 1957 he worked as a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health, conducting the fieldwork and writing that led to Asylums (1961). Appointed to the University of California, Berkeley, in 1958, he rose quickly to full professor in 1962. A sabbatical year at Harvard prefigured a move to the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, where he remained until his untimely death in 1982.
Decolonization in International Law
Authors: Taha Mai
Published: August 2019

In Gillo Pontecorvo’s evocative film The Battle of Algiers (1966), viewers reach the conclusion that the fight against colonialism would not be fought at the UN General Assembly. Decolonization would take place through the organized resistance of colonized people. Still, the 1945 United Nations Charter and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided some legal basis, albeit tenuous, for self-determination. When Third World leaders assembled in the 1955 Bandung Conference, it became clear that the UN needed to shift gears on the question of decolonization. By 1960, and through a show of Asian and African votes at the General Assembly, the Declaration for the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted, effectively outlawing colonialism and affirming the right of all peoples to self-determination. Afro-Asian solidarity took a different form in the 1966 Tricontinental Conference in Havana, which founded the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The conference gathered leftist activists and leaders from across the Third World, who would later inspire radical movements and scholarship on decolonization and anticolonial socialism. This would also influence the adoption of the 1974 Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and later lead to UNESCO’s series that starts with Mohammed Bedjaoui’s famous overture, Towards a New International Economic Order (1979; cited as Bedjaoui 1979 under the Decolonization “Moment”). This article situates this history within important international-law scholarship on decolonization. First, it introduces different approaches to decolonization and international law; namely, postcolonial, Marxist, feminist, and Indigenous approaches. Second, it highlights seminal texts on international law and the colonial encounter. Third, it focuses on scholarship that captures the spirit of the “decolonization moment” as a political and temporal rupture, but also as a continuity, addressing, fourth, decolonization and neocolonial practices. Finally, this article ends with some of the most important works on international law and settler colonialism in the 21st century.
Resection of a Posterior Fossa Endodermal Cyst With Exoscopic Assistance: 2-Dimensional Operative Video
Authors: Kleshchova Olena , White Timothy Gerald , Kwan Kevin , Chiluwal Amrit , Anderson Todd A , Langer David J
Published: August 2019

Neurenteric cysts are rare benign congenital tumors of endodermal origin that most commonly occur in the cervical and upper thoracic spine, with only about 10% to 18% of the reported cases occurring intracranially.
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A definitive preoperative diagnosis is complicated by the variable appearance of neurenteric cysts on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
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The recommended treatment of neurenteric cysts is complete surgical resection when possible.
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,
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We present a case of a posterior fossa neurenteric cyst. A 33-yr-old man without medical history presented with left-sided headache and mild left-sided facial numbness and weakness. Admission MR imaging revealed a nonenhancing mass, which was hyperintense on T1-weighted MR images, compressing the brainstem anteriorly. The lesion was isointense on T2 FLAIR images and hypointense on diffusion-weighted imaging, initially read as possible epidermoid cyst. The patient underwent a left-sided retrosigmoid craniotomy via far lateral transcondylar approach. The tumor was adjacent to both vertebral arteries, the left PICA, and cranial nerves (CN) VII-XII with superior extension to CN V. The cyst was encased in a thin capsule, and its contents were yellowish in color and ranged from thick liquid to colloidal and caseous consistency. The cyst also contained heavily calcified portions, which were excised using sharp dissection. Images of the cyst wall show that it is focally lined with ciliated columnar epithelium with intracellular mucin confirming an endodermal or neurenteric cyst. After the operation, the patient's symptoms resolved, and he was discharged on postoperative day 4. Postoperative MR images confirmed gross total resection. The patient consented to video production.
Energy Cost During the 6-Minute Walk Test and Its Relationship to Real-World Walking After Stroke: A Correlational, Cross-Sectional Pilot Study
Authors: Ribeiro Jean A M , Oliveira Simone G , Thommazo-Luporini Luciana Di , Monteiro Clara I , Phillips Shane A , Catai Aparecida M , Borghi-Silva Audrey , Russo Thiago L
Published: August 2019

Background

After experiencing stroke, individuals expend more energy walking than people who are healthy. However, among individuals who have experienced stroke, the correlation between the energy cost of walking, as measured by validated tests (such as the 6-minute walk test), and participation in walking, as measured by more sensitive tools (such as an ambulatory activity monitor), remains unknown.

Objective

The main objective of this study was to determine whether the energy cost of walking is correlated with participation in walking.

Design

This study was a correlational, cross-sectional pilot study.

Methods

Data from 23 participants who had experienced chronic stroke were analyzed. On the first day, data on oxygen uptake were collected using a portable metabolic system while participants walked during the 6-minute walk test. Then, the ambulatory activity monitor was placed on the participants’ nonparetic ankle and removed 9 days later. The energy cost of walking was calculated by dividing the mean oxygen uptake recorded during the steady state by the walking speed.

Results

The energy cost of walking was correlated with the following: the number of steps (Spearman rank correlation coefficient [rs] = −0.59); the percentage of time spent in inactivity (rs = 0.48), low cadence (rs = 0.67), medium cadence (rs = −0.56), high cadence (rs = −0.65), and the percentages of steps taken at low cadence (rs = 0.65) and high cadence (rs = −0.64).

Limitations

Individuals who were physically inactive, convenience sampling, and a small sample size were used in this study.

Conclusions

Higher energy costs of walking were associated with fewer steps per day and lower cadence in real-world walking in individuals who had experienced stroke.
Elizabeth I’s Translation of Tacitus: Lambeth Palace Library, MS 683
Authors: Philo John-Mark
Published: August 2019

Preserved at Lambeth Palace Library is a manuscript translation of Tacitus’s Annales, completed in the late sixteenth century. The translation was undertaken, this essay argues, by Elizabeth I. The article makes the case for the queen’s authorship with an appeal to paper stock, provenance, style of translation, and, above all, to the handwriting preserved in the manuscript. The queen’s late hand was strikingly idiosyncratic and the same features which characterize her autograph works are also to be found in the Lambeth translation of Tacitus. The manuscript’s transmission is traced from the Elizabethan court to Lambeth via the collection of Archbishop Thomas Tenison (1636–1715), whose acquisition of Francis Bacon’s (1561–1626) manuscripts helped to make Lambeth Palace Library one of the largest collections of State Papers from the Elizabethan era. The article then compares the authorial corrections made to the Lambeth Tacitus with those which Elizabeth made to her other translations with a special focus on the idiosyncrasies of the queen’s late hand. Finally, Elizabeth’s translation is compared with Richard Greenway’s translation of the Annales (1598), highlighting the methods of translation adopted by either translator. While Greenway expands for the sake of clarity, reworking Tacitus’s remarkably terse prose, Elizabeth preserves something of the historian’s celebrated brevity, closely reproducing the syntax of the original. By examining both the material aspects of the manuscript and the stylistic qualities of the translation itself, this article offers the first study of Elizabeth I’s translation of Tacitus.
Molecular and clinical spectrum of four pedigrees of TRAPS in Greece: results from a national referral center
Authors: Nezos Adrianos , Argyropoulou Ourania D , Klinaki Eleni , Marketos Nikolaos , Karagianni Panagiota , Eliopoulos Elias , Vlachoyiannopoulos Panayiotis , Maritsi Despoina N , Tzioufas Athanasios G
Published: August 2019

Objective

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) is a rare autosomal dominantly inherited autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations of the TNFRSF1A gene. To address the association between TNFRSF1A mutations and clinical phenotype, we analyzed four pedigrees of TRAPS patients.

Methods

Four Greek patients with TRAPS-like clinical features were screened for TNFRSF1A mutations by sequencing exons 2, 3 and 4. Following positive testing, twenty-two members of their families were also genetically and clinically screened.

Results

Twenty-six members of four unrelated Greek families were investigated. The C73Y (c.305G>A) mutation of the TNFRSF1A gene was identified in five patients, with two of the five carrying a concomitant R92Q variation. We also identified seven C73W (c.306C>G), two T50M (c.236C>T) and seven R92Q (c.362G>A) carriers. Symptoms varied and the C73Y, C73W and T50M mutations were associated with the most severe clinical manifestations. The R92Q phenotype ranged from asymptomatic to mild disease. Molecular modelling linked pathogenicity with aberrant TNFRSF1A disulphide bond formation.

Conclusion

In this first pedigree analysis of TRAPS in Greece, we identified the rare C73Y TNFRSF1A mutation. A wide clinical spectrum was observed with the C73Y, C73W and T50M mutations that affect TNFRSF1A disulphide bonds and are associated with worse symptoms.