bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The mixed effects of e‐participation on the dynamic of trust in government: Evidence from Cameroon
Authors: Xin Ge , Esembe Elna E. , Chen Jia
Published: November 2022

Regular participation of citizens in governance and policy processes has been considered critical to the functioning of the democratic model of governance. While recent studies have documented the emergence and evolution of participatory governance in Western countries, little is known about the influence of citizens’ participation on e‐governance in African countries. Leveraging an original survey conducted in Cameroon on citizens’ participation in and satisfaction with a Facebook‐based e‐participation initiative, this study explores how participation in the governance process through the Internet has affected African citizens’ trust in their local and national governments. The results first suggest a weak positive association between citizens’ e‐participation and their trust in governments. However, further decomposition of the positive association between satisfaction, performance, and trust shows that their relationships are critically enhanced by citizens’ participation in e‐governance, suggesting that the trust‐enchancing impact of e‐participation is likely to be dominated by indirect effects. The results also indicate that the moderating mechanism is likely to differ between citizens’ trust in the local and national governments, which sheds light on the understanding of the effects of e‐participation for both academics and practitioners.

[Correction added on 14 February 2023, after first online publication: The section “Summary at a glance” should not have been included. It has been removed.]

Points for practitioners

Novel participatory governance initiatives such as e‐Participation could enhance trust in the government, but such an effect is likely to be precipitated indirectly.

e‐Participation positively affects people’s trust in their government primarily by reinforcing the trust‐enhancing effect of satisfaction with the participatory program and perceived performance of the government.

The effect of e‐Participation on trust in government is also positively moderated by citizens' satisfaction with the participatory program and perceived performance of the government.
Social status, popularity goals and students with learning disabilities: an initial investigation
Authors: Jones Martin H. , James Morgan T. , Johnson Chalon
Published: November 2022

The current study examined whether students' social goals might help explain why students with learning disabilities (LD) often have lower social status in school. Participants included 336 rural and ethnically diverse high school students (of whom 16 had a LD diagnosis). Participants reported on their social status, popularity goals, and social preference goals. Findings support that students with a LD diagnosis are regularly members of less popular peer groups, but are fully socially integrated within their peer groups. Findings also note that students with and without a LD diagnosis generally had similar social preference and popularity goals. Thus, the popularity of students with a LD diagnosis is unlikely due to psychological desires for popularity, but more likely to be due to other social experiences.
Emerson's ‘Self-Reliance’ and political self-education
Authors: Boman Léa
Published: November 2022

This paper studies how Emerson's ‘Self-Reliance’ offers a meaningful account of political and moral self-education in Western democracies. Emerson's moral perfectionism involves an ethical, political and democratic individualism that needs to be reconsidered. This paper explores a perfectionist interpretation of the modern forms of self-education as political and ordinary practices, first with the case of conspiracy theories, which express an individual desire for self-education but appear as the result of a lack of self-reliance and a failure of political self-education, and then through the explicit claim to self-education made by activists in ecological, anti-racial or feminist organisations, which embodies the democratic need for self-reliance. These two examples reveal a new kind of efficient and ordinary political power at the edge of civic commitment. This leads us to define an alternative conception of pedagogy, in which equality in self-reliance matters. This also underlines our moral and ordinary political responsibility and challenges the traditional philosophical opposition between personal and public, subjective and universal. This paper underlines the accuracy of Stanley Cavell's interpretation of Emerson's ‘Self-Reliance’ in order to provide a perfectionist interpretation of activism. It also opens a new crossed perspective between the French and American approaches.
‘A Summerhill in Scotland’? Experiences of freedom and community at Kilquhanity School (1940–1996)
Authors: Charkin Emily
Published: November 2022

In 1940, John and Morag Aitkenhead set up Kilquhanity School in rural Galloway, inspired by the writings of A.S. Neill and the practices at Summerhill School. In 1962, Aitkenhead wrote that he had swallowed ‘hook, line and sinker’ Neill's theories and that ‘but for him and his example, there could never have been this free school in Scotland’. Historians and commentators have tended to share his view, for example, describing Aitkenhead as a ‘disciple’ of Neill and Kilquhanity as an ‘approximate’ of Summerhill with its weekly meeting, informality of relations between adults and children and a valuing of freedom and happiness over academic achievement.

However, this article, drawing on primary research with ex-pupils and staff, uncovers significant differences of philosophy and practice between the two schools, particularly in relation to pupils’ contribution to the Kilquhanity School community through the daily practice of ‘useful work’. These differences raise questions about the positioning of Kilquhanity as simply a less well-known and less radical ‘Summerhill in Scotland’ and expose an often neglected fault line within the progressive and radical movements with which both schools are associated.
Enhancement of fruit byproducts through bioconversion by Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)
Authors: Scieuzo Carmen , Franco Antonio , Salvia Rosanna , Triunfo Micaela , Addeo Nicola Francesco , Vozzo Simone , Piccolo Giovanni , Bovera Fulvia , Ritieni Alberto , Francia Antonio Di , Laginestra Ambrogio , Schmitt Eric , Falabella Patrizia
Published: November 2022

Bioconversion is a biological process by which organic materials are converted into products with higher biological and commercial value. During its larval stage the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens is extremely voracious and can feed on a wide variety of organic materials. To study the impact of different fruit byproducts on the insect's growth, final larval biomass, substrate reduction, bioconversion parameters, and larval nutritional composition, 10 000 black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) were reared on 7.0 kg of one of three substrates (strawberry, tangerine, or orange) or on a standard diet as a control. The results highlight that BSFL can successfully feed and grow on each of these diets, though their development time, growth rate, and final biomass were differently impacted by the substrates, with strawberry being the most suitable. The lipid and protein contents of BSFL were similar among larvae fed on different substrates; however, major differences were detected in ash, micronutrient, fiber, fatty acid, and amino acid contents. Overall, the results indicate that fruit waste management through the BSFL bioconversion process represents a commercially promising resource for regional and national agrifood companies. Our study offers new perspectives for sustainable and environmentally friendly industrial development by which fruit byproducts or waste might be disposed of or unconventionally enhanced to create secondary products of high biological and economic value, including BSFL biomass as animal feed or, in perspective, as alternative protein source for human nutrition.
Legal geographies and ecological invisibility: The environmental myopia of evidence
Authors: Carr John
Published: November 2022

This study shows how legal evidentiary rules intended to make trials fair also enable biodiversity loss, even in courts charged with environmental protection. The common law is premised on two types of rules. The first, substantive laws, set rules for how society should function—obstructing and punishing some behaviours while enabling and rewarding others. In contrast, procedural laws are intended to level the playing field when there is a dispute over substantive rules during litigation. This case study concerns a routine environmental dispute over land development in Sydney, Australia. It demonstrates how, by enabling courts to determine what evidence will and will not be considered, procedural rules and practices drive substantive outcomes by rendering certain places, dynamics, and connections visible and capable of judicial action while obscuring others. Specifically, the court’s efforts to use evidentiary tools to make litigation more efficient drove substantive outcomes in two ways. First, work to narrow evidence to address factual disputes also narrowed the court’s geographic scale of analysis to the property boundaries of the site, thus obscuring broader threats to a critically endangered ecological community. Second, these procedural evidentiary decisions drove substantive outcomes undermining biodiversity protection, while concealing their inherently substantive nature. Combined with the tendency of the court to use procedural informality to promote compromise between the parties, and a broader juridical treatment of intact ecological communities as species that can largely be moved at will, the evidentiary rules enabled an environmentally focused court to enable the victory of development over species protection.
Identification and quantification of fatty acids and lipid‐soluble phytochemicals using GC‐MS, HPLC‐MS, and FTIR and their association with quality parameters during avocado ripening
Authors: Cervantes‐Paz Braulio , Yahia Elhadi M. , Nuñez‐Vilchis Alejandro
Published: November 2022

Consumer demand for the avocado fruit has increased considerably, but accelerated fruit ripening, lack of fruit ripening uniformity, and lack of proper quality characteristics and indices generate considerable problems during fruit handling and trade. Physicochemical parameters are used to determine avocado fruit ripening. These parameters together with lipid‐soluble phytochemicals (LSP) and fatty acids (FAs) highlight the health and economic importance of this fruit. Analysis of LSP and FAs in avocado fruit has been reported, but combining the use of analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), and high‐pressure liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS) to determine qualitative and quantitative changes during fruit ripening, and their association with physicochemical parameters, has not been conducted. Physicochemical parameters (fruit firmness, color, oil and dry matter contents) were determined, and the changes of FAs and LSP (carotenoids, chlorophylls, and tocopherols) during “Hass” avocado ripening, based on dry matter (DM) content, were analyzed using FTIR, GC‐MS, and HPLC‐MS. The association between them was also determined using principal component analysis. Fruit with 19% and 25% DM exhibited high LSP and FAs levels. Carotenoids, chlorophylls, and tocopherols were associated with firmness, color, and DM of 19% and 22%, while FAs were associated with fruit weight and DM of 25%.

Practical Application

There is a major global increase in avocado cultivation and consumer demand. However, a major problem facing the handling and trade of avocado fruit is related to lack of fruit ripening uniformity and quality characteristics and indices. Therefore, a proper association between simple measures of fruit physicochemical properties and bioactive components can establish an excellent, simple, and practical index that can eventually be used for quality evaluation by the industry and the consumers.
Robot‐assisted thymectomy in large anterior mediastinal tumors: A comparative study with video‐assisted thymectomy and open surgery
Authors: Jiang Bin , Tan Qun‐You , Deng Bo , Mei Long‐Yong , Lin Yi‐Dan , Zhu Long‐Fei
Published: November 2022

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of robot‐assisted thymectomy (RAT) in large anterior mediastinal tumors (AMTs) (size ≥6 cm) compared with video‐assisted thymectomy (VAT) and open surgery.

Methods

A total of 132 patients with large AMTs who underwent surgical resection from January 2016 to June 2022 were included in this study. A total of 61 patients underwent RAT, 36 patients underwent VAT and 35 patients underwent open surgery. Perioperative outcomes were compared.

Results

There were no significant differences in tumor size (p = 0.141), or pathological types (p = 0.903). Compared with the open group, the RAT and VAT groups were associated with a shorter operation time (115.00 vs. 160.00, p = 0.012; 122.50 vs. 160.00, p = 0.071), and less blood loss (50.00 vs. 200.00, p < 0.001; 50.00 vs. 200.00, p < 0.001), respectively. The rate of conversion in the RAT group was similar to that in the VAT group (6.56% vs. 13.89%, p = 0.229). Concomitant resection was less frequently performed in the VAT group than in the RAT and open groups (5.56% vs. 31.15%, p = 0.040; 5.56% vs. 31.43%, p = 0.006). VAT patients had a lower drainage volume (365.00 vs. 700.00 and 910.00 mL, p < 0.001), shorter duration of chest tube (2.00 vs. 3.00 and 4.00, p < 0.001), and shorter hospital stay (5.00 vs. 6.00 and 7.00, p < 0.001) than the RAT and open groups. There was no 30‐day mortality in any group. No difference was seen in R0 resection rates (p = 0.846). The postoperative complication rates were similar among the three groups (p = 0.309). Total in‐hospital costs (66493.90 vs. 33581.05 and 42876.40, p < 0.001) were significantly higher in the RAT group.

Conclusions

RAT is safe and effective for the resection of large AMTs compared to VAT and open surgery. Vascular resection in RAT is technically feasible. A long‐term follow‐up is required.
Narcotics Anonymous members in recovery from methamphetamine use disorder
Authors: Galanter Marc , White William L. , Hunter Brooke
Published: November 2022

Background and Objectives

Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is a major public health problem, but there are no evidence‐based, best‐practice, pharmacologic, or behavioral treatments for it. Narcotics Anonymous (NA) may provide an option for referral for such patients.

Methods

Two waves of surveys were sent to a sample of NA members to evaluate demographic, drug use, and NA‐related issues. Of 4445 responses received from US residents, 647 listed themselves as abstinent from their worst drug problem, methamphetamine. Twelve possible sources of support were scored by these latter respondents for how important each was for their own recovery.

Results

Methamphetamine respondents were longstanding NA members, with their first NA meeting 30.2 years ago, 84.3% having served as sponsors for other members, and with little current craving (0.65 out of 10). Although now abstinent for an average of 13.4 years, at some point over the course of the membership, 47.4% had experienced a relapse, for an average of 16.7 months. In a factor analysis of resources scored, 29.6% of the variance fell under NA social and 29.2% spiritual; and 11.8% under outside professional support.

Discussion and Conclusions

NA served as a resource for supporting abstinence for some members with MUD. They scored social resources of NA support higher than both spiritual and outside institutional ones.

Scientific Significance

NA can serve as a community‐based resource for MUD. Determining the nature of recovery that members with MUD have in NA can be useful for further research of socially grounded support for recovery in substance use disorders.
CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated disruption of lipocalins, Ly6g5b, and Ly6g5c causes male subfertility in mice
Authors: Sakurai Nobuyuki , Fujihara Yoshitaka , Kobayashi Kiyonori , Ikawa Masahito
Published: November 2022

Background

Spermatozoa become mature and competent for fertilization during transit from the caput epididymis to the cauda epididymis. However, detailed molecular mechanisms of epididymal sperm maturation are still unclear. Here, we focused on multiple epididymis‐enriched genes: lipocalin family genes (Lcn5, Lcn6, Lcn8, Lcn9, and Lcn10) and Ly6 family genes (Ly6g5b and Ly6g5c). These genes are evolutionarily conserved in mammals and form clusters on chromosomes 2 and 17 in the mouse, respectively.

Objective

To clarify whether these genes are required for epididymal sperm maturation and acquisition of fertilizing ability, we generated knockout (KO) mice using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and analyzed their phenotype.

Materials and methods

We generated four lines of KO mice: Lcn9 single KO, the lipocalin family quadruple KO (Lcn5, Lcn6, Lcn8, and Lcn10), quintuple KO (Lcn5, Lcn6, Lcn8, Lcn10, and Lcn9), and double KO of Ly6 family genes (Ly6g5b and Ly6g5c).

Results

Although the Lcn9 single KO did not affect male fertility, the quadruple KO and quintuple KO male mice were subfertile and mostly infertile, respectively, with a reduced amount of ADAM3, an essential protein for sperm binding to the zona pellucida. Further analysis revealed that the quintuple KO spermatozoa lack the CMTM2A/B that are required for ADAM3 maturation. Intriguingly, Ly6g5b and Ly6g5c double KO male mice also showed subfertility with reduced sperm ADAM3.

Conclusion

These results suggest epididymal secretory proteins are involved in ADAM3 maturation and acquisition of sperm fertilizing ability.
Uncertain Fictional Objects
Authors: Fan Christopher T.
Published: November 2022

The trope of formal rupture in the films of sixth‐generation Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke is a key site where ethnography and fictionality merge. Situated in Jia’s documentary‐like aesthetic and oriented to a non‐Chinese global art cinema audience, “uncertain fictional objects” are tasked with a great deal of mediating labor. They ultimately tell us not only about Jia’s rural and upwardly mobile characters but also the cognitive leaps they and Jia’s global audience must undergo to function within a landscape of unimaginably rapid industrialization and a world in which China is undermining Western hegemony. Uncertain fictional objects—figured as literal unidentified flying objects, animated intercut scenes, and non‐diegetic voices from elsewhere—pose a frontal challenge to an abiding orientalist gaze and the very possibility of the ordinary in capitalism. Stripped of the familiar and compelled by the inexorable current of industrial economic policy, the totality and mode of cognition left to Jia and his characters are what I term “science fictionality,” as opposed to simply “science fiction.”
Radical Householding towards a Post‐Capitalist World in Kin Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 and Lionel Shriver’s The Mandibles: A Family, 2029‐2047
Authors: Khan Naveeda
Published: November 2022

Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 engages in speculative economics to explore how the household as both a site of provisioning and living together and a material asset may get us to a post‐capitalist world in which capitalism is harnessed not to short‐term profits but with upholding justice and sustainability. In this article, I explore how the novel proposes to bring about a refocusing of priorities within capitalism. Lionel Shriver’s The Mandibles: A Family, 2029‐2047, written at the same time as Robinson’s novel, helps us to reverse the order of the question from “How is a post‐capitalist society to be inaugurated?” to if such a societal arrangement were to be thrust on us, “How would we change our interiorities and modes of organizing to befit it?” While the first question considers capitalism as a potentially knowable and re‐directable system, the second makes humans, who are products of this system, an unknown quantity because they are opaque to themselves. The search to get a perspective on one’s opacity to oneself is as important as ushering in a new economic system as the very means to post‐capitalism.
Afterword: Anthropology and Science Fiction
Authors: Dayal Smaran
Published: November 2022

Anthropology and science fiction are interlinked traditions of knowledge production and overlap in several different ways, not least by the fact that each of these practices was shaped by the colonial encounter. This afterword to the special section “The Ordinariness of Cross‐Time Relations: Anthropology, Literature, and the Science Fictional” addresses those linkages and suggests that anthropology as a discipline stands to gain from an engagement with speculative and science fiction, for instance, through a questioning of ethnographic realism. [science fiction, speculative fiction, social theory, colonialism, ethnographic realism]
Afterword: Uniquely Ordinary
Authors: Rosenbaum Molly
Published: November 2022

In this afterword, I compare the different ways the ordinary is invoked in the articles of the special section “The Ordinariness of Cross‐Time Relations: Anthropology, Literature, and the Science Fictional” and compare it to my own research experience in Havana, Cuba with writers of speculative fiction. I argue that the ordinary is something relative to the author's experience, as Alejo Carpentier describes in his writing on “lo real maravilloso,” and should be considered as having a utility in the communication process between creator and intended or ideal audience. This enables the information conveyed through the trope of the ordinary to be both far‐reaching and highly specific, depending on the author's intention. [writers, science fiction, quotidian, lo real maravilloso].
Performance of the decarboxylation index to predict CO2 removal and minute ventilation reduction under extracorporeal respiratory support
Authors: Laumon Thomas , Courvalin Elie , Dagod Geoffrey , Deras Pauline , Girard Mehdi , Martinez Orianne , Maury Camille , Weber Hugues , Capdevila Xavier , Charbit Jonathan
Published: November 2022

Background

The aim of this study was to assess the interdependence of extracorporeal blood flow (Qec) and gas flow (GF) in predicting CO2 removal and reduction of minute mechanical ventilation under extracorporeal respiratory support.

Methods

All patients who benefited from V‐V ECMO and high‐flow ECCO2R in our intensive care unit over a period of 18 months were included. CO2 removal was calculated from inlet/outlet blood port gases during the first 7 days of oxygenator use. The relationship between the Qec × GF product (named decarboxylation index and expressed in L2/min2) and CO2 removal or expired minute mechanical ventilation reduction (ECMV ratio) was studied using linear regression models.

Results

Eighteen patients were analyzed, corresponding to 24 oxygenators and 261 datasets. CO2 removal was 393 ml/min (IQR, 310–526) for 1.8 m2 oxygenators and 179 ml/min (IQR, 165–235) for 1.3 m2 oxygenators. The decarboxylation index was associated linearly with CO2 removal (R2 = 0.62 and R2 = 0.77 for the two oxygenators, respectively) and ECMV ratio (R2 = 0.72 and R2 = 0.62, respectively). The 20L2/min2 value (considering Qec = 2 L/min and GF = 10 L/min) was associated with an ECMV ratio between 61% and 29% for 1.8 m2 oxygenators, and between 62% and 38% for 1.3 m2 oxygenators.

Conclusion

The decarboxylation index is a simple parameter to predict CO2 removal and ECMV ratio under extracorporeal respiratory support.
The effect of specific bioactive collagen peptides on function and muscle remodeling during human resistance training
Authors: Balshaw Thomas G. , Funnell Mark P. , McDermott Emmet , Maden‐Wilkinson Thomas M. , Abela Sean , Quteishat Btool , Edsey Max , James Lewis J. , Folland Jonathan P.
Published: November 2022

Aim

Bioactive collagen peptides (CP) have been suggested to augment the functional, structural (size and architecture), and contractile adaptations of skeletal muscle to resistance training (RT), but with limited evidence. This study aimed to determine if CP vs. placebo (PLA) supplementation enhanced the functional and underpinning structural, and contractile adaptations after 15 weeks of lower body RT.

Methods

Young healthy males were randomized to consume either 15 g of CP (n = 19) or PLA (n = 20) once every day during a standardized program of progressive knee extensor, knee flexor, and hip extensor RT 3 times/wk. Measurements pre‐ and post‐RT included: knee extensor and flexor isometric strength; quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus maximus volume with MRI; evoked twitch contractions, 1RM lifting strength, and architecture (with ultrasound) of the quadriceps.

Results

Percentage changes in maximum strength (isometric or 1RM) did not differ between‐groups (0.684 ≤ p ≤ 0.929). Increases in muscle volume were greater (quadriceps 15.2% vs. 10.3%; vastus medialis (VM) 15.6% vs. 9.7%; total muscle volume 15.7% vs. 11.4%; [all] p ≤ 0.032) or tended to be greater (hamstring 16.5% vs. 12.8%; gluteus maximus 16.6% vs. 12.9%; 0.089 ≤ p ≤ 0.091) for CP vs. PLA. There were also greater increases in twitch peak torque (22.3% vs. 12.3%; p = 0.038) and angle of pennation of the VM (16.8% vs. 5.8%, p = 0.046), but not other muscles, for CP vs. PLA.

Conclusions

CP supplementation produced a cluster of consistent effects indicating greater skeletal muscle remodeling with RT compared to PLA. Notably, CP supplementation amplified the quadriceps and total muscle volume increases induced by RT.
Hepatitis B virus haplotype number at baseline is a predictive marker of functional cure during antiviral therapy for patients with genotypes A and D HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Wagner Josef , Yuen Lilly , Littlejohn Margaret , Sozzi Vitina , Jackson Kathy , Martin Ross , Aeschbacher Thomas , Suri Vithika , Tan Susanna K. , Feierbach Becket , Gaggar Anuj , Marcellin Patrick , Buti Ferret Maria , Janssen Harry L. A. , Gane Ed , Meagher Niamh , Price David J. , Wong Darren , Thompson Alexander T. , Revill Peter A.
Published: November 2022

Backgrounds and Aims

We investigated associations between hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome‐length haplotype number (HN) at baseline in subjects with HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and the likelihood of achieving functional cure during direct‐acting antiviral therapy

Method

We analysed 86 HBeAg‐positive baseline samples from patients with HBV genotypes A and D who were enrolled in a Phase II trial of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to determine if HN was a biomarker of HBsAg loss during therapy. Findings were validated using baseline samples from 181 patients with HBV genotypes A and D from an independent clinical trial utilising TDF or tenofovir alafenamide therapy in HBeAg‐positive CHB.

Results

In the HBeAg‐positive test cohort, patients with genotypes A or D and ≤2 haplotypes had a minimum of 21‐fold higher likelihood of achieving HBsAg loss on TDF. Baseline HN (p < 0.0001) was a stronger predictor of HBsAg loss on therapy than HBsAg titre (p = 0.03), HBeAg titre (p = 0.0002), or the presence of HBV basal core promoter (A1762T, p = 0.0379 and G1764A, p = 0.0176) or G1896A precore mutations (p = 0.0218). This finding was validated in the independent validation cohort. HN was statistically higher in patients with HBV genotypes B or C infection compared to genotypes A and D.

Conclusion

Baseline HN ≤2 predicts which patients with HBV genotypes A or D will more likely progress to functional cure on current direct‐acting antiviral therapy, with greater accuracy than current biomarkers including baseline HBsAg and HBeAg titre.
Systematic review: the role of frailty in advanced chronic liver disease
Authors: Bowers Sarah P. , Brennan Paul N. , Dillon John F.
Published: November 2022

Background

Frailty is a known predictor of outcome and mortality in patients undergoing liver transplantation. However, most patients remain unsuitable transplant candidates. It is not yet known if the assessment of frailty in non‐transplant candidates can aid prognostication.

Aim

To collate and interrogate the various frailty tools presently used to predict mortality in the non‐transplant cirrhosis setting.

Methods

A comprehensive review of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for articles published from inception to March 2022 was undertaken, excluding those where patients underwent transplantation or had hepatocellular carcinoma.

Results

We identified 12 observational cohort studies, featuring 9 frailty indices. These were from various global healthcare settings and of fair or good quality. Most were objective tools utilising clinician‐based assessments. All frailty scores predicted prognosis, with variability in the method of application, and utilisation in long‐ or short‐term mortality. Three studies directly compared different indices in the same population. There was some evidence that simple tools could perform as well, if not better, than more complex, time‐consuming scores.

Conclusions

Various frailty tools can reproducibly evaluate mortality in patients with cirrhosis who are ineligible for transplant. However, further prospective head‐to‐head comparative studies are needed. In addition to determining model utility, studies should focus on important relative considerations which may limit widespread implementation including, ease of use and limited resources, given the global disparity of liver care provision. These tools may positively identify specific patient cohorts at risk of impending deterioration, thereby stratifying those patients likely to benefit from early integration with palliative care.
Interrupted interviews: Learning from young people's lived environments in Lebanon
Authors: Sender Hannah
Published: November 2022

In this paper I explore the possibility that interruptions in in situ interviews can support understandings of power and social relations in research. I base my discussion on an extract from a study of young people's experiences of rapid urbanisation in Central Beqaa, Lebanon. The extract is from an interview with a young man who was continually interrupted by his mother. I problematise a tendency to silence these interruptions in the research process by considering how interruptions can reveal the social architecture in which young people are embedded.
Advantages of preoperative counseling with video for robotic rectal cancer surgery compared with conventional counseling: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Kasai Shunsuke , Yamauchi Shinichi , Tazawa Miyako , Takaoka Ayumi , Hanaoka Marie , Iwata Noriko , Masuda Taiki , Tokunaga Masanori , Kinugasa Yusuke
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Surgeons should provide patients with appropriate explanations before surgery and obtain informed consent. However, this process requires time and effort and can be a great burden. The purpose of this study was to compare preoperative counseling with video (VC) and conventional counseling (CC) for rectal cancer patients.

Methods

Rectal cancer patients indicated for surgery were included between April 2021 and March 2022, and eligible patients were randomly assigned to the CC and VC groups. The primary outcomes were the comprehension, satisfaction, and anxiety levels, and the secondary outcome was the preoperative counseling time. This exploratory study protocol was registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000038133).

Results

We included 13 patients in the CC group and 17 in the VC group. All eligible patients were scheduled for robotic rectal cancer surgery. There were no significant differences between the two groups, including patients' general condition, preoperative diagnosis, and planned procedures. Although the comprehension, satisfaction, and anxiety test scores were not significantly different between the groups, the preoperative counseling time was significantly shorter in the VC group than in the CC group (20 vs. 35 minutes, P = .002). A 4‐year college degree significantly increased the counseling time, whereas VC significantly decreased it.

Conclusion

Using videos in preoperative counseling for rectal cancer patients is useful. This novel method could reduce the burden on surgeons during preoperative counseling in the era of robotic surgery and work style reforms.
Potential drug–drug interactions due to concomitant medicine use among people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in Australia
Authors: de Oliveira Costa Juliana , Lau Stella , Medland Nicholas , Gibbons Sara , Schaffer Andrea L. , Pearson Sallie‐Anne
Published: November 2022

Aims

We quantified concomitant medicine use and occurrence of potential drug–drug interactions in people living with HIV in Australia who are treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods

In this cohort study using dispensing claims of a 10% random sample of Australians, we identified 2230 people dispensed ART between January 2018 and December 2019 (mean age 49.0 years, standard deviation 12.0 years, 88% male). We examined concomitant medicine use by identifying nontopical medicines dispensed within 90‐days of any antiretroviral medicine dispensing during a 12‐month follow‐up period. For every antiretroviral and nonantiretroviral pair, we identified and classified possible drug–drug interactions using the University of Liverpool HIV drug interactions database.

Results

A total of 1728 (78%) people were dispensed at least 1 and 633 (28%) 5 or more unique medicines in addition to ART in a 12‐month period; systemic anti‐infectives and medicines acting on the nervous system were the most common (68% and 56%, respectively). Among comedicated people, 1637 (95%) had at least 1 medicine combination classified as weak interactions, 558 (32%) interactions requiring close monitoring/dose adjustment and 94 (5%) that should not be coadministered. Contraindication or interactions requiring close monitoring/dose adjustment were more common among people receiving protease inhibitors (50–73% across different antiretrovirals), non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (35–64%), people using single‐tablet combinations containing elvitegravir (30–46%) and those using tenofovir disoproxil (26–30%).

Conclusion

Concomitant medicine use is widespread among people living with HIV in Australia. Despite a relatively low prevalence of contraindicated medicines, almost a third received medicines that require close monitoring or dose adjustment.
Artesunate inhibits osteoclast differentiation by inducing ferroptosis and prevents iron overload‐induced bone loss
Authors: Jin Yuanqing , Wu Shuguang , Zhang Lingyan , Yao Gang , Zhao Hai , Qiao Penghai , Zhang Jian
Published: November 2022

Artemisinin compounds have been demonstrated to have anti‐osteoporosis effects by inhibiting bone resorption. During osteoclast differentiation, osteoclasts take up a large amount of iron through transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) mediated endocytosis of transferrin (Tf). Since iron‐dependent cleavage of endoperoxide bridge is of great importance for the antimalarial effects of artemisinin compounds, we raised a hypothesis that the cytotoxic effects of artemisinin compounds on osteoclasts were associated with enhanced iron uptake. In the present study, we found that Tf aggravated the inhibitory effects of artesunate (ART) on osteoclast viability and differentiation. ART induced the production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4‐hydroxynonenal (4‐HNE) in a dose‐dependent manner and led to the appearance of mitochondrial features of ferroptotic cells. TfR1 knockdown alleviated these cytotoxic effects of ART on osteoclasts. In addition, ART effectively prevented bone loss induced by iron overload. Our results indicate that ART inhibits iron‐uptake stimulated osteoclast differentiation by inducing ferroptosis. Artemisinin compounds are potential drugs for treating iron overload‐induced osteoporosis.
Being a patient among other patients: Refugees' political inclusion through the Austrian solidarity‐based healthcare system
Authors: Spahl Wanda
Published: November 2022

This paper is an empirical study of what solidarity in a Western European healthcare system means today. Drawing upon empirical research on the 2015 refugee cohort's health needs and their health‐seeking behaviour, it unites claims from the literature on solidarity in the fields of migration and healthcare. I argue that the Austrian healthcare system not only is an example of ‘civic solidarity’ in the form of institutionalised obligations to citizens but that it also enacts political forms of solidarity and produces political inclusion for marginalised groups such as refugees. My findings show that being entitled to and accessing services in the healthcare system holds meaning beyond the provision of care: It enables to act autonomously, to build familiar relationships with Austrian institutions, inclusion via the personal electronic health card and to support others in the same solidaristic system. These insights can be used to raise awareness about the inclusional function of healthcare services among practitioners. They also show how solidarity‐based healthcare systems can be a motor for shaping positive relationships between immigrants and the host country, and point to additional modes of solidarity in the context of forced migration next to civil society and nonstate support structures. This paper builds upon ethnographic data that were collected between 2018 and 2020 in Vienna, Austria (observational notes before, during and after medical consultations with refugees; interviews with them; interviews with healthcare practitioners and other care providers).
Partager et occuper l'espace public d'un quartier gentrifié : lecture de Jacques Rancière
Authors: Sénécal Gilles Gaston
Published: November 2022

Cet article propose, en s'appuyant, sur les concepts et les méthodes du philosophe Jacques Rancière, de concevoir le processus de gentrification comme une scène de partage et de mésentente. Scène sur laquelle se produit le paradoxe d'un accès contraint au logement et d'une occupation partagée de l'espace public. Trois termes concepts de Jacques Rancière nous aident à circonscrire la scène de la mésentente d'embourgeoisement, soit le partage du sensible, l'égalité des intelligences et le dissensus.
Design and biological characterization of a series of dual mechanism ERK1/2 inhibitors with a Triazolopyridinone core
Authors: Lotfaliansaremi Sajedeh , Cornwell Stephen , Casillas Candice , Sabio Michael , Tolias Peter , Windsor William , Paliwal Sunil
Published: November 2022

Oncology clinical development programs have targeted the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway with small molecule inhibitors for a variety of cancers during the past decades, and most therapies have shown limited or minimal success. Specific BRAF and MEK inhibitors have shown clinical efficacy in patients for the treatment of BRAF‐mutant melanoma. However, most cancers have shown treatment resistance after several months of inhibitor usage, and reports indicate resistance is often associated with the reactivation of the MAPK signaling pathway. It is widely accepted that an effective MAPK therapy will have a significant impact on curtailing cancer growth and improving patient survival. However, despite more than three decades of intense research and pharmaceutical industry efforts, an FDA‐approved, effective anti‐cancer ERK inhibitor has yet to be developed. Here, we present the design, optimization, and biological characterization of ERK1/2 inhibitors that block catalytic phosphorylation of downstream substrates such as RSK but also modulate the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 by MEK without directly inhibiting MEK. Our series of dual mechanism ERK1/2 inhibitors, in which we incorporated a triazolopyridinone core, may present potential benefits for enhancing efficacy and addressing the emergence of treatment resistance.
Children as co‐researchers in pandemic times: Power and participation in the use of digital dialogues with children during the COVID‐19 lockdown
Authors: Donegan Aoife , Devine Dympna , Martinez‐Sainz Gabriela , Symonds Jennifer , Sloan Seaneen
Published: November 2022

This paper documents co‐participatory research with children in six primary schools in Ireland during the COVID‐19 pandemic. It explores the use of what we term digital dialogues with diverse groups of children aged 9–10 years as members of Child Research Advisory Groups. The paper conceptualises the digital dialogues as sites of resistance as well as constraint, empowering children to articulate their voices in relation to schooling and the pandemic, whilst mediated by power dynamics—between adults and children, and between children, in the articulation of those voices.
Hybridizing graph‐based Gaussian mixture model with machine learning for classification of fraudulent transactions
Authors: Prusti Debachudamani , Behera Ranjan Kumar , Rath Santanu Kumar
Published: November 2022

It has been observed that a good number of financial organizations often face a number of threats due to credit card fraud that affects consistently to the card holder as well as the organizations. This is one of the fastest‐growing frauds of its kind and the most emerging problems for the institutions to prevent. A number of researchers and analysts have shown interest to work on this area in order to identify such issues in an effective manner by applying various supervised as well as unsupervised learning approaches. In this assessment, three classification techniques such as support vector machine (SVM), k‐nearest neighbor (k‐NN), and extreme learning machine (ELM) that come under supervised learning category are applied to the BankSim data to categorize the normal and fraudulent class transactions in credit card. These algorithms are incorporated with the graph features extracted from the dataset by using a database tool Neo4j. The nodes of the graph represent the transactional data samples and the edges create relationships among the nodes to find the patterns of data using connected data analysis. k‐fold cross validation approach in Gaussian mixture model (GMM) has been applied for classification of the credit card transaction data in a single distribution. Further, a combined graph‐based Gaussian mixture model (CGB‐GMM) has been proposed to effectively detect the fraudulent instances in credit card transactions with the application of graph algorithms such as degree centrality, LPA, page rank, and so forth. Each of the learning algorithms are implemented with and without the application of graph algorithms and their performances are assessed empirically for analysis.
Outcome of liver transplantation in hepatic glycogen storage disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Beyzaei Zahra , Bagheri Zahra , Karimzadeh Sara , Geramizadeh Bita
Published: November 2022

Introduction

Liver transplantation (LT) is the choice of therapeutic option for end‐stage hepatic GSD patients; however, reports about the long‐term outcome of LT in these patients have remained controversial.

Methods

We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies published until Dec 31, 2021, that investigated the long‐term outcome of LT in hepatic GSD patients. A literature search in the MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE,Cochrane Library, Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases was performed.

Results

14 studies with 210 patients were included in our analysis. As the results showed, the pooled proportion of GSD patients with complications after liver transplant (e.g., hemorrhagic shock, biliary complications, tacrolimus encephalopathy, chronic hepatitis, hepatic artery thrombosis, hepatic adenoma, sepsis, liver dysfunction, chronic rejection, acute cellular rejection, and CMV infection) was 27.7% (95% CI: 20.42–35.67) without heterogeneity (I2 = 24.04%), as calculated by the random‐effect model. The pooled proportion of GSD patients with complications related to GSD after LT, including HCC (Hepatocellular carcinoma), renal complication, muscle problems, delayed menarche, persistent neutropenia, pneumonitis, renal failure, and hepatic adenoma was 22.2% (95% CI: 7.97–40.01) with high heterogeneity (I2 = 82.47%). Subgroup analysis including the age of patients (adult/pediatric), duration of follow‐up, and type of donor was conducted to investigate the resources of heterogeneity.

Conclusion

According to our investigation and review analysis, most GSD patients showed significant outcome improvement after liver transplantation. Overall, our findings showed an excellent outcome of liver transplantation in GSD patients; however, it needs further investigations to be confirmed.
Metastatic melanoma involving a genetically confirmed angiofibroma of soft tissue: A previously unreported type of tumor‐to‐tumor metastasis
Authors: Short Emma L. , Logan Suzanna J. , Thangaiah Judith Jebastin , Folpe Andrew L.
Published: November 2022

Tumor‐to‐tumor metastases are an uncommon phenomenon and are very rare in the context of malignant melanoma. This case report describes a 73‐year‐old male who underwent an excision of a melanoma from his forehead. Six months later, he developed metastatic disease, including metastasis to a genetically confirmed angiofibroma of soft tissue of the abdominal wall. Angiofibroma of soft tissue is a relatively recently described benign fibrovascular soft tissue tumor, and there appear to be no previous reports of it being a recipient tumor for a metastasis. Awareness of the phenomenon of tumor‐to‐tumor metastasis and of the distinctive morphologic and molecular genetic features of angiofibroma are critical to avoid misdiagnosis of this very rare event as “dedifferentiated” melanoma.
“Endoscopic” adenoma detection rate as a quality indicator of colonoscopy: First report from the J‐SCOUT study
Authors: Kawamura Takuji , Sekiguchi Masau , Takamaru Hiroyuki , Mizuguchi Yasuhiko , Horiguchi Go , Kato Masayuki , Kobayashi Kiyonori , Sada Miwa , Oda Yasushi , Yokoyama Akira , Utsumi Takahiro , Tsuji Yosuke , Ohki Daisuke , Takeuchi Yoji , Shichijo Satoki , Ikematsu Hiroaki , Matsuda Koji , Teramukai Satoshi , Kobayashi Nozomu , Matsuda Takahisa , Saito Yutaka , Tanaka Kiyohito
Published: November 2022

Objectives

To examine whether reasonable detection rate of endoscopically diagnosed lesions as adenoma (“endoscopic” adenoma detection rate [ADR]) could be calculated with a database generated from colonoscopy reports and whether it could be used as a surrogate colonoscopy quality indicator of “pathological” ADR.

Methods

A lesion‐by‐lesion database of colonoscopies performed between 2010 and 2020 at eight Japanese endoscopy centers and corresponding pathology database were integrated. Differences in numbers of detected polyps, “endoscopic” and “pathological” adenomas, and what these differences could be attributed to were examined. Polyp detection rate (PDR), “endoscopic” and “pathological” ADRs, and correlation coefficients between “pathological” ADR and PDR or “endoscopic” ADR by each endoscopist were calculated.

Results

Overall, 129,065 colonoscopy reports were analyzed. Among a total of 146,854 polyps, more “endoscopic” adenomas (n = 117,359) were observed than “pathological” adenomas (n = 70,076), primarily because adenomas were not resected on site, rather than because of a misdiagnosis. In all patients analyzed, PDR, “endoscopic” and “pathological” ADRs were 56.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 56.2–56.7), 48.0% (95% CI 47.7–48.3), and 32.7% (95% CI 32.5–33.0), respectively. “Endoscopic” and “pathological” ADRs from each endoscopist showed a high correlation in hospitals where adenomas were usually resected at the time of examination.

Conclusions

By appropriately describing endoscopically diagnosed lesions as “adenomas” in endoscopy reports, “endoscopic” ADR might be used as a surrogate colonoscopy quality indicator of “pathological” ADR (UMIN000040690).