bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anomalous Diffusion Characterization by Fourier Transform FRAP with Patterned Illumination
Authors: Geiger A.C. , Smith C.J. , Takanti N. , Harmon D.M. , Carlsen M.S. , Simpson G.J.
Published: March 2020

Fourier transform fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FT-FRAP) with patterned illumination is theorized and demonstrated for quantitatively evaluating normal and anomalous diffusion. Diffusion characterization is routinely performed to assess mobility in cell biology, pharmacology, and food science. Conventional FRAP is noninvasive, has low sample volume requirements, and can rapidly measure diffusion over distances of a few micrometers. However, conventional point-bleach measurements are complicated by signal-to-noise limitations, the need for precise knowledge of the bleach beam profile, potential for bias due to sample heterogeneity, and poor compatibility with multi-photon excitation due to local heating. In FT-FRAP with patterned illumination, the time-dependent fluorescence recovery signal is concentrated to puncta in the spatial Fourier domain through patterned bleaching, with substantial improvements in signal-to-noise, mathematical simplicity, representative sampling, and multiphoton compatibility. A custom nonlinear-optical beam-scanning microscope enabled patterned illumination for photobleaching through two-photon excitation. Measurements in the spatial Fourier domain removed dependence on the bleach profile, suppressing bias from imprecise knowledge of the point spread function. For normal diffusion, the fluorescence recovery produced a simple single-exponential decay in the spatial Fourier domain, in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. Simultaneous measurement of diffusion at multiple length scales was enabled through analysis of multiple spatial harmonics of the bleaching pattern. Anomalous diffusion was characterized by FT-FRAP through a nonlinear fit to multiple spatial harmonics of the fluorescence recovery. Constraining the fit to describe diffusion over multiple length scales resulted in higher confidence in the recovered fitting parameters. Additionally, phase analysis in FT-FRAP was shown to inform on flow/sample translation.

Statement of Significance

Fourier transform fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FT-FRAP) with patterned illumination greatly improves the accuracy of diffusion assessments and simultaneously accesses information on both normal and anomalous diffusion in a single experiment.
A metabolic life table exemplified by sockeye salmon
Authors: Burger Joseph R. , Hou Chen , Hall Charles A.S , Brown James H.
Published: March 2020

A metabolic life table (MLT) is a combination of energy budget and life table that quantifies metabolism and life history over an entire life cycle. It provides a conceptual framework for integrating data on physiology, demography and ecology that are usually the subject of discipline- and taxon-specific studies.

Our MLT for sockeye salmon revives John Brett’s classic data on metabolism, growth, survival and reproduction to provide a synthetic analysis of metabolic performance and its life history consequences.

The MLT quantifies the energy budget of an average female over her life cycle. The early stages in fresh water have low rates of growth and mortality. Then juveniles enter the ocean, feed voraciously, grow rapidly, and accumulate a store of biomass; More than 98% of the total lifetime assimilation and growth occurs in the ocean. Maturing adults stop feeding, return to fresh water, expend stored body energy to fuel migration and reproduction, and leave a clutch of eggs and a depleted carcass.

The MLT also quantifies the energetic contribution of salmon to freshwater and marine ecosystems. Salmon are very efficient: of the food energy in their zooplankton prey, 47% is expended on respiration to fuel activity, 23% is allocated to growth and reproduction to produce biomass, and 30% is excreted in feces. Although 96% of lifetime biomass production occurs in the ocean, about 29% is transported into fresh water in the bodies of maturing adults, where their carcasses and gametes provide an important “marine subsidy” to the energy and nutrient budgets of freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

The MLT highlights some features of the salmon metabolism – variation in rates of assimilation, respiration and production with body size and temperature – that are qualitatively similar to other ectotherms and predictions of metabolic theory. But because of the unusual physiology, life history, ecosystem impacts and socio-economic importance of wild-caught salmon, reanalyzing Brett’s data in the context of a MLT has additional broad applications for basic and applied ecology.
Membrane Association and Functional Mechanism of Synaptotagmin-1 in Triggering Vesicle Fusion
Authors: Prasad Ramesh , Zhou Huan-Xiang
Published: March 2020

Upon Ca2+ influx, synaptic vesicles fuse with the presynaptic plasma membrane (PM) to release neurotransmitters. Membrane fusion is triggered by synaptotagmin-1, a transmembrane protein in the vesicle membrane (VM), but the mechanism is under debate. Synaptotagmin-1 contains a single transmembrane helix (TM) and two tandem C2-domains (C2A and C2B). The present study aimed to use molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate how Ca2+-bound synaptotagmin-1, by simultaneously associating with VM and PM, brings them together for fusion. While C2A stably associates with VM via two Ca2+-binding loops, C2B has a propensity to partially dissociate. Importantly, an acidic motif in the TM-C2A linker competes with VM for interacting with C2B, thereby flipping its orientation to face PM. Subsequently C2B can readily associate with PM via a polybasic cluster and a Ca2+-binding loop. These results delineate the functional process of fusion triggered by synaptotagmin-1.
GABAergic neurons and NaV1.1 channel hyperactivity: a novel neocortex-specific mechanism of Cortical Spreading Depression
Authors: Chever Oana , Zerimech Sarah , Scalmani Paolo , Lemaire Louisiane , Loucif Alexandre , Ayrault Marion , Krupa Martin , Desroches Mathieu , Duprat Fabrice , Cestèle Sandrine , Mantegazza Massimo
Published: March 2020

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is a pathologic mechanism of migraine. We have identified a novel neocortex-specific mechanism of CSD initiation and a novel pathological role of GABAergic neurons. Mutations of the NaV1.1 sodium channel (theSCN1Agene), which is particularly important for GABAergic neurons’ excitability, cause Familial Hemiplegic Migraine type-3 (FHM3), a subtype of migraine with aura. They induce gain-of-function of NaV1.1 and hyperexcitability of GABAergic interneurons in culture. However, the mechanism linking these dysfunctions to CSD and FHM3 has not been elucidated. Here, we show that NaV1.1 gain-of-function, induced by the specific activator Hm1a, or mimicked by optogenetic-induced hyperactivity of cortical GABAergic neurons, is sufficient to ignite CSD by spiking-generated extracellular K+build-up. This mechanism is neocortex specific because, with these approaches, CSD was not generated in other brain areas. GABAergic and glutamatergic synaptic transmission is not required for optogenetic CSD initiation, but glutamatergic transmission is implicated in CSD propagation. Thus, our results reveal the key role of hyper-activation of Nav1.1 and GABAergic neurons in a novel mechanism of CSD initiation, which is relevant for FHM3 and possibly also for other types of migraine.
Archetypal images emerging in the therapy of Lithuanian cancer patients
Authors: Bulotiene Giedre
Published: March 2020

The goal of this paper is to show through clinical examples how archetypal images connected with nature emerged in Lithuanian cancer patients, to analyze how these images helped them to get in touch with their emotions and meaningful personal experiences, and to discuss how these archetypal images are related to the Lithuanian cultural unconscious, and may also assist the psychological treatment of cancer.

The analyzed examples permit the preliminary conclusion that when ill with cancer, a person's psyche generates universal archetypal images that constitute an important part of the process of coping psychologically with the disease.
Difference – is it hated or desired? Reflections on the totalitarian state of mind
Authors: Czubinska Grazyna
Published: March 2020

In an age of polarized political views and growing nationalism it is vital that the psychoanalytic profession offers its contribution. The author makes a link between early infant development and social and political behaviour. Psychoanalytic, Jungian and Relational ideas are explored. Starting from Freud and his theory of ‘minor differences’, a dichotomy between closeness and separateness is investigated. The writer argues that difference is at the centre of human identity and human development and explores why we struggle to accept it. The totalitarian political system is described as one that eliminates difference. A case study is offered as an illustration of a patient’s struggle to move from a symbiotic, undifferentiated state towards object relating and individuation.
Displacement as trauma and trauma as displacement in the experience of refugees
Authors: Luci Monica
Published: March 2020

This paper investigates the relations between displacement, home, trauma and the self in the experience of refugees, which has become an issue of unexpected and far‐reaching proportions in recent times. It questions to what extent and under what conditions displacement in the world may be traumatic and how trauma may be considered the effect of an inner displacement. Refugees’ lives are marked by forced migration that is related to a certain suffering due to the changes in their family, relational, social and cultural lives. The paper explores the extent to which these changes can represent a break so significant as to be traumatic. It outlines the way in which traumatic experiences can produce an inner displacement and reorganization of one’s mental life that leads to a focus on traumatic complexes. Under the most severe traumatic conditions, this can be understood as a displacement of the central axis of Self, in which the ego complex yields its position to other complexes, with a deep change in the organization and functioning of self. The experience of refugees highlights the way in which we live in a matrix of conscious and unconscious links between inner and outer worlds that need deeper and simultaneous consideration to understand their implications and mutual resonances for the psyche. Clinical cases of refugees will illustrate some aspects of these interconnections.
The construct of the ‘mana personality’ in Jung’s works: a historic‐hermeneutic perspective. Part I
Authors: Sorge Giovanni V.R.
Published: March 2020

According to Jung, the ‘mana personality’ represents an archetypal phase of the individuation process of remarkable interest in psychological, hermeneutic and theoretical terms. This figure is characterized by a high initiatic potential that fosters the approximation of the consciousness of the Self. At the same time, it entails a risk of psychic inflation or of ‘similarity to God’. In this article, divided in two parts, I deal with those aspects through a reconstruction of the development of this notion within Jung’s published works, adopting a primarily chronological and, secondarily, thematic approach moving from a textual analysis of relevant passages. In this first part, I consider some passages which deal mainly with the risks of the assimilation of the unconscious in ‘La structure de l’inconscient’ (1916) that preceded the successive proper treatment of the mana personality’s notion presented, and here examined, in ‘The relations between the ego and the unconscious’ (1928). Successively, I take into consideration some further issues related to it discussed by Jung in ‘The structure of the psyche’ (1928/1931), ‘Archaic man’ (1931), and ‘Nietzsche’s Zarathustra’.
Language, politics and dreams: the challenges of building resilience in refugees
Authors: Zarbafi Ali
Published: March 2020

This paper describes a case study of a 60‐year‐old Peruvian refugee in some detail, focusing on the importance of building emotional resilience in a patient in Spanish in order to create a space for learning the English language – the patient did not speak English after 20 years of living in Britain. The work was carried out with an interpreter and some of the literature on working with interpreters is referred to. The paper also briefly outlines the refugee journey in broad terms, which is a journey from the culturally known to the culturally unknown. The question of how well the literature on resilience, which sits firmly within a Western developmental perspective, can be applied to refugees, most of whom come from group and family‐based cultures dominated by ideas of honour and shame, is discussed. The paper also touches on the importance of the receiving country enabling or not, as the case may be, a transitional space for refugees who have lost their home and are seeking to find a safe haven in a strange culture.
The snake in the mandala: dialogical aspects of Jung’s ‘A study in the process of individuation’
Authors: Jones Raya
Published: March 2020

Jung’s study centres on the amplification of pictures painted by a woman patient and posits their sequence as evincing the initial stages of the individuation process. His text performs a dialogue with its audience whereby Jung persuades us of this truth, and also reveals Jung’s dialogue with his patient and with his own ideas. The present paper revisits the clinical material first with a focus on the interaction between Jung and his patient. The second part compares the 1940 and 1950 versions of Jung’s study with attention to tensions that traverse them, such as Jung’s attitude to the animus and his two voices as a practitioner and a theorist.
Curriculum mapping food science programs: An approach to quantification of professional competencies
Authors: Weston Emma , Benlloch‐Tinoco Maria , Mossop Liz , McCullough Fiona , Foster Tim
Published: March 2020

It is fundamental that students are able to identity where they have developed specific professional competencies during their study. This ensures students can not only articulate their competencies well in job applications and assessments but also draw on their experiences for use in the workplace. The aim of study was to ascertain if desirability of an element or competency as indicated by employers, was reflected in an equivalent level of program content, appropriately perceived by the student. A case study approach mapped elements of the previously developed Competencies for Food Graduate Careers framework against food sciences curricula at University of Nottingham. The mapping process facilitated evaluation of appropriate levels of inclusion of each element in degree programs, by recording types of content and experiences provided, in collaboration with teaching staff. Perspectives of the student experience were captured using an online survey. In addition, guidance from a prior industry survey provided context of the level of desirability for each element across the range of graduate roles in the United Kingdom. The results showed some areas of mismatch, where curricular content did not align with employer expectations or student perceptions. This has informed review of this curriculum, to best reflect “competency development” to meet the needs of the food industry. Recommendations were made to address gaps through enhancement of content, delivery, communication, or assessment. Additionally, the exercise has suggested a more informed development of curricula categorization and coding for future similar mapping activities.
Jack's Sports Bar
Authors: Kalesnikoff Douglas
Published: March 2020

This two‐part case focuses on indicators or red flags of a possible fraud being committed by a majority shareholder against a minority shareholder. The student assumes the role of an accountant investigating the possible fraud. In Part 1 the student is provided with a whistleblower complaint and examines the draft financial statements that will be used for the purchase price of the sale of shares by the minority shareholder to the majority shareholder. In Part 2 the student is provided with further information on inventory controls and the accounting practices. Drawing on the student's knowledge of control systems and financial statement analysis, the student's task is to identify the possible fraudulent transactions and quantify their effect.
Activity‐Based Costing in a Challenging Business Environment: An Instructional Case
Authors: Alrishani Sameer
Published: March 2020

This cross‐disciplinary case study uses the concept of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in the upstream petroleum industry to demonstrate the application of activity‐based costing in a challenging international business environment. The case is designed and implemented to encourage students to critically address and solve legal, operational, and accounting challenges from a global perspective. This case is intended to be an appropriate hands‐on, experiential tool for undergraduate degree‐level managerial accounting classes. The learning objectives of this case include (i) to develop an understanding of the PSAs and identify their potential related challenges; (ii) to apply activity‐based costing using a multiple‐step approach in a unique, international, realistic, and challenging environment; and (iii) to identify the gaps between the current case activity‐based costing application and IFRS.
Does Accounting Conservatism Discipline Qualitative Disclosure? Evidence From Tone Management in the MD&A*
Authors: D'Augusta Carlo , DeAngelis Matthew D.
Published: March 2020

We investigate whether accounting conservatism, which has been found to be effective in constraining management opportunism in other settings, constrains upward tone management (UTM) in the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) portion of the 10‐K filing. We hypothesize that conservatism makes it harder for managers to opportunistically downplay bad news and magnify good news when discussing current performance. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that UTM is negatively associated with several accounting conservatism proxies. Additionally, we hypothesize and find that this association is stronger for firms where managers have higher incentives to manipulate tone. In supplemental analyses, we find evidence to suggest that our results are not due to an endogenous relationship between conservatism and UTM. We also find that conservatism neither encourages downward tone management (DTM) nor constrains managers from conveying real information about future good news. Together, our results suggest that accounting conservatism improves disclosure narratives.
Audit Regulation and Cost of Equity Capital: Evidence from the PCAOB's International Inspection Regime*
Authors: Lamoreaux Phillip T. , Mauler Landon M. , Newton Nathan J.
Published: March 2020

This study investigates the relation between audit regulation and cost of equity capital. There is scant empirical evidence on this relation because changes in audit regulation are frequently accompanied by other major regulatory changes. We exploit variation in the timing of regulatory changes induced by foreign governments' staggered allowance of PCAOB inspections. Using a difference‐in‐differences design, we find that foreign SEC registrants with auditors from countries that allow PCAOB inspections enjoy a lower cost of capital, relative to foreign SEC registrants with auditors from countries that prohibit inspections. Furthermore, we find that this cost of capital effect is attenuated for companies with higher‐quality governance mechanisms. Finally, we document that inspection access is associated with higher‐quality analyst forecasts, which suggests that this change in audit regulation reduces information risk for market participants.
Intracavernous delivery of Dickkopf3 gene or peptide rescues erectile function through enhanced cavernous angiogenesis in the diabetic mouse
Authors: Song Kang‐Moon , Kim Woo‐Jean , Choi Min‐Ji , Limanjaya Anita , Ghatak Kalyan , Minh Nguyen Nhat , Ock Jiyeon , Yin Guo Nan , Hong Soon‐Sun , Suh Jun‐Kyu , Ryu Ji‐Kan
Published: March 2020

Background

Severe peripheral angiopathy in patients with diabetes is a major contributing factor for low response rate to phosphodiesterase‐5 inhibitors.

Objectives

To examine whether and how Dickkopf3 (DKK3), a secreted modulator of the Wnt pathway that known to be involved in endothelial cell repair and vascular progenitor cell migration, restores erectile function in diabetic mice.

Methods

Eight‐week‐old C57BL/6 mice received intraperitoneal injections of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg for 5 days). Eight weeks after the diabetes was induced, the efficacy of DKK3 was determined by three independent experiments: experiment 1 (DKK3 peptide [5 μg in 20 μL PBS]); experiment 2 (DKK3 plasmid DNA with electroporation [10, 40, or 100 μg in 20 μL PBS, respectively]); and experiment 3 (DKK3 adenovirus [1 × 107, 1 × 108, 1 × 109 virus particles per 20 μL, respectively]). Erectile function was measured by electrical stimulation of the cavernous nerve one week (for peptide) or two weeks (for genes) after treatment. The angiogenic activity of DKK3 was determined in diabetic penis in vivo and in primary cultured mouse cavernous endothelial cells (MCECs) in vitro.

Results

The cavernous expression of DKK3 protein was significantly lower in the diabetic mice than in controls. DKK3 peptide or adenovirus significantly improved erectile function in diabetic mice (70% of the control values). DKK3 adenovirus profoundly restored cavernous endothelial cell and pericyte contents and increased endothelial junction proteins in diabetic mice in vivo. DKK3 peptide induced upregulation of angiogenic factors (angiopoietin‐1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and basic fibroblast growth factor) and accelerated tube formation in MCECs cultivated under the high‐glucose condition in vitro.

Conclusion

DKK3 restored cavernous vascular integrity and improved erectile function in diabetic mice. Therapeutic cavernous angiogenesis by the use of DKK3 will be a promising therapeutic strategy to treat diabetic erectile dysfunction.
Smoking cessation prior to gynecological surgery—A registry‐based randomized trial
Authors: Bohlin Katja S. , Löfgren Mats , Lindkvist Håkan , Milsom Ian
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Smoking cessation, both pre‐ and postoperatively, is important to reduce complications associated with surgery. Identifying feasible and effective means of alerting the patient before surgery to the importance of perioperative smoking cessation is a challenge to healthcare systems.

Material and methods

A randomized registry‐based trial using the web‐version of the Swedish national quality register for gynecological surgery, GynOp, was performed (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03942146). Current smokers scheduled for gynecological surgery were randomly assigned before surgery to group 1 (control group, no specific information), group 2 (web‐based written information), group 3 (information to doctor that the woman was a smoker and should be recommended smoking cessation or group 4 (a combination of groups 2 and 3). Perioperative smoking habits were evaluated in a postoperative questionnaire 2 months after surgery. The treatment effect was estimated to be a 15% reduction in the number of smokers at the time of surgery. Thus, 94 women in each group were required, in total 376 women, using a one‐sided test with an alpha level of 0.001 and a statistical power of 80%.

Results

Participants (n = 1427) were recruited between 5 November 2015 and 6 December 2017. A total of 1137 smokers responded to the follow‐up questionnaire (80%), with 486 women declining to participate, leaving 651 women eligible for analysis. Women who received both web‐based information prior to surgery and information from a doctor, reported smoking cessation more often from 1 to 3 weeks preoperatively (Odds ratio [OR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0‐3.3) and 1 to 3 weeks after surgery (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1‐3.3) compared with the control group who received no specific information.

Conclusions

A combination of written information in the health declaration and a recommendation from a doctor regarding smoking cessation may be associated with higher odds of smoking cessation at 1‐3 weeks pre‐ and postoperatively.
Evaluation of quality of life, body image and surgical outcomes of robotic total laparoscopic hysterectomy and sentinel lymph node mapping in low‐risk endometrial cancer patients – A Robotic Gyne Club study
Authors: Mereu Liliana , Berlanda Valeria , Surico Daniela , Gardella Barbara , Pertile Riccardo , Spinillo Arsenio , Tateo Saverio
Published: March 2020

Introduction

The aims of the study were to evaluate quality of life, cosmetic results and surgical outcomes of robotic single‐site and robotic multiport total laparoscopic hysterectomy with sentinel lymph node mapping in women treated for low‐risk endometrial cancer.

Material and methods

The study is a prospective, multicenter, case‐control study conducted at Ospedale Santa Chiara in Trento and Novara and Pavia University Hospitals. Seventy‐six consecutive patients with a biopsy‐confirmed diagnosis of low‐risk endometrial cancer or atypical endometrial hyperplasia who between January 2017 and January 2019 had undergone robotic total laparoscopic hysterectomy and sentinel lymph node mapping were included. Data on surgical outcomes, quality of life and cosmetic results were prospectively collected and analyzed based on the surgical approach with robotic single‐site vs robotic multiport assistance. Patients' clinical characteristics, intra‐operative parameters, sentinel lymph node mapping results and postoperative findings were prospectively recorded. Clinical follow up was performed 4 weeks and 6 and 12 months after surgery. Fifty‐one patients underwent a robotic multiport procedure and 25 patients a robotic single‐site surgery.

Results

There was one significant difference between the two groups in terms of patient characteristics: mean body mass index (BMI) in the multiport group was 29 kg/m2 vs 24.8 kg/m2 in the single‐site group (P value <.001). After univariate and multivariate analysis on intraoperative and postoperative findings, a shorter surgical time was observed in the single‐site cohort than in the multiport group (148.7 vs 158.2 minutes, P value .0182). BMI also had a significant effect on surgical time (P = .022). No differences were seen in terms of sentinel lymph node detection: the bilateral detection rate was 96.1% for multiport (66.7% bilateral, 29.4% monolateral) and 96% for single‐site (76% bilateral, 20% monolateral) procedures. No differences between the two approaches were identified with regard to postoperative complications, pain, cosmetic results or quality of life comparisons.

Conclusions

For the treatment of low‐risk endometrial cancer and atypical endometrial hyperplasia with total hysterectomy and sentinel lymph node mapping, the robotic single‐port approach is comparable to the multiport procedure in terms of intraoperative and postoperative findings, and has an advantage in terms of shorter surgical times. Further studies are required to identify possible differences in quality of life and cosmetic results.
Improved infrastructure and support needed for paediatric clinical trials in Sweden
Authors: Mattsson Hanna , Kindblom Jenny M. , Norman Elisabeth , Rane Anders , Naumburg Estelle
Published: March 2020

Aim

There is a lack of authorised medicines for paediatric patients and improved drug development is necessary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the need for infrastructure and support for paediatric clinical trials in Sweden.

Methods

A web‐based survey was sent to doctors and nurses involved in the care of neonates, children and adolescents assessing the current situation and future needs for paediatric clinical trials in Sweden. Questions regarding premises, competence, organisation, support for paediatric clinical trials and Good Clinical Practice Training were addressed.

Results

In total, 137 individuals responded to the survey (109 doctors and 28 nurses). Overall, 61% of the respondents had previous experience of paediatric clinical trials. Some respondents had access to trial units, but only 34% had used the trial unit for support. Half of the responders were interested in recurrent paediatric Good Clinical Practice training. Doctors responded that clinical work often had to be prioritised and emphasised the need for research time.

Conclusion

This study clearly shows the commitment for clinical trials among doctors and nurses involved in paediatric care in Sweden, but also that administrative, logistic and economic support in a sustainable setting and an expanded national collaboration are needed.
Systematic review with meta‐analysis: biologics and risk of infection or cancer in elderly patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Piovani Daniele , Danese Silvio , Peyrin‐Biroulet Laurent , Nikolopoulos Georgios K. , Bonovas Stefanos
Published: March 2020

Background

Uncertainty exists concerning the risk of infection and cancer associated with biologic therapies in elderly patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Aims

To identify, synthesise and critically appraise the available evidence on the topic.

Methods

We systematically searched Medline/PubMed, Embase and Scopus, through October 2019, and recent conference proceedings, to identify studies investigating the risk of serious infections, opportunistic infections, any infection and cancer in elderly IBD patients (>60 years) exposed to biologics as compared to those unexposed to biologics. Two reviewers independently extracted study data and assessed each study’s risk of bias. We examined heterogeneity, and calculated summary effect estimates using fixed‐ and random effects models. Quality of evidence was determined with GRADE.

Results

We included 15 studies (one post hoc analysis of a randomised trial, nine cohort and five case‐control studies). Elderly IBD patients treated with biologics were at increased risk of developing serious infections (random effects summary relative risk: 2.70, 95% CI: 1.56‐4.66; seven studies; I2 = 57%) and opportunistic infections (3.16, 1.09‐9.20; four studies; I2 = 73%). The occurrence of any infection (1.67, 0.51‐5.43; five studies; I2 = 75%) and cancer (0.90, 0.64‐1.26; nine studies; I2 = 0%) was not significantly affected. Nevertheless, our confidence in the effect estimates is rather limited; the quality of evidence is low to very low.

Conclusions

Biologics are likely to increase the risk of serious and opportunistic infections in old IBD patients. Large prospective studies are needed to further assess the biologic treatments’ long‐term safety profile in this population.
Critical geopolitics of Palestinian diasporas' autobiographical practice
Authors: Hui Lai Hang Dennis
Published: March 2020

This study examines the interplay between diasporic subjectivities and imaginative geographies through diasporic autobiographical practices. It is based on the work of Mourid Barghouti, chronicling his two homecoming experiences. The argument is advanced that the imaginative geographies that diasporas construct, and in which they live, are multi‐layered and embodied. Drawing on the discursive tradition of critical geopolitics, the study shows that imaginative geographies can be reconstructed through vignettes from diasporic autobiographies. In this study, the focus is on Barghouti's different encounters during his homecoming experiences and how they gave rise to different imaginative geographies. The study contributes to existing political geography literature by highlighting the value of autobiography as a geopolitical genre.
Critical literacy for a posthuman world: When people read, and become, with machines
Authors: Leander Kevin M. , Burriss Sarah K.
Published: March 2020

Computational objects (eg, algorithms, bots, surveillance technology and data) have become increasingly present in our daily lives and are consequential for our changing relations to texts, multimodality and identity. Yet, our current theories of literacy, and especially the prevalence of mediational and representational perspectives, are inadequate to account for these changing relations. What are the implications for critical literacy education when it takes seriously computational agents that interact, produce and process texts? While such work is only beginning in education, scholars in other fields are increasingly writing about how AI and algorithmic mediation are changing the landscape of online intra‐action, and business strategies and tactics for working with AI are advancing far ahead of critical literacy education. Drawing on our own and others’ research into non‐human actors online, and building on posthuman theories of networks, heterogeneous actants and the assemblage, in this conceptual paper, we sketch some of the forms of critical consciousness that media education might provide in this new mixed landscape.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic

AI is a hot topic in education and in public discourse, but critical literacy theories have not sufficiently accounted for how AI and computational agents change what it means to be “critically literate.”

Technology is an important force in shaping (and is also shaped by) literacy practices and identity.

Corporate actors have an enormous influence on the texts we read and write, but this influence is often hidden.

What this paper adds

We bridge between critical literacy studies and posthumanist theory to conceptualize critical posthuman literacy.

We argue for re‐imagining what texts, multimodality and identity are and do in the age of AI.

We pose new questions of our texts and ourselves, informed by posthuman critical literacy.

Implications for practice and/or policy

Today’s readers and composers must be able to identify and interrogate networks of computational and human agents that permeate literacy practices.

Beyond identifying and understanding computational agents, posthuman critical literacy necessitates that people can actively build more ethical assemblages with computational agents.
Academic Self‐Perceptions and Academic Achievement in Chinese Children: A Multiwave Longitudinal Study
Authors: Fu Rui , Lee Jinsol , Chen Xinyin , Wang Li
Published: March 2020

This study examined reciprocal contributions between academic self‐perceptions and academic achievement. Data were collected each year in four consecutive years from a sample of children in China (initial N = 1,156; 581 boys; initial Mage = 9.33 years). Analyses using random intercept cross‐lagged panel models revealed that the effects of academic achievement on self‐perceptions tended to be more evident in lower grades and the effects of academic self‐perceptions on achievement tended to be more evident in higher grades. Latent growth curve analyses showed that the initial level of academic self‐perceptions and achievement moderated the growth of each other. The results indicate the contributions between academic self‐perceptions and achievement that occur in a progressive cascading manner in Chinese children.
Characterization and management of elderly and very elderly patients with non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: Clérigo Vera , Hasmucrai Direndra , Teixeira Encarnação , Alves Paula , Vilariça Ana Sofia , Sotto‐Mayor Renato
Published: March 2020

Objectives

Despite non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) high prevalence and increasing incidence, evidence specific to the elderly and very elderly is sparse. To retrospectively compare characterization and approach of NSCLC patients (pts) aged 70‐79 and ≥80 years.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of 297 adult NSCLC pts who registered and initiated NSCLC management in our Pulmonology Oncology Unit from January 2013 to December 2016 corresponding to 38.2% of all NSCLC patients (n = 778). Demographic data and lung cancer management were analysed.

Results

Pts were categorized as elderly (n = 211, 71.0%) and very elderly (n = 86, 29.0%). Very elderly pts had worse Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (P = 0.047), higher Charlson age comorbidity index (P < 0.001) and the majority had stage IV cancer (66.3%, P = 0.04). The first management option in very elderly pts was chemotherapy (CTX) (30.2%, P = 0.37) and in elderly pts was multimodal therapy (30.3%, P ≤ 0.001). Support therapy and first‐line targeted (EGFR or ALK‐positive) were more common in the very elderly (23.6%, P = 0.01; 17.4% P = 0.002, respectively). Curative radiation or surgery rates did not differ between groups. Reasons for premature first‐line CTX stop, toxicity and hospitalization did not differ. Death rate (69.7% vs 63.5% for very elderly and elderly, respectively) and mean survival since diagnosis (11.5 vs 11.6 months for very elderly and elderly, respectively) did not differ.

Conclusions

There were significant differences in pts characteristics having the very elderly more multimorbidity and advanced state of disease. First management options were significantly different with respect to multimodal, targeted and support therapy.
Metabolic activity of primary tumour on PET/CT has a relationship with survival in stages I‐III small‐cell lung carcinoma
Authors: Özdemir Özer , Batum Özgür , Ermin Sinem , Aksel Nimet , Kömürcüoğlu Berna , Mertoğlu Aydan , Deniz Sami , Balcı Günseli , Koparal Hakan , Özbilek Engin , Yılmaz Ufuk
Published: March 2020

Introduction

There is limited evidence about the prognostic value of FDG‐PET/CT metrics in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients staged with TNM staging system.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to examine the prognostic value of pretreatment FDG‐SUVmax in patients with SCLC staged with 8th TNM staging system.

Methods

A total of 344 (292 male) SCLC patients with pretreatment FDG‐ PET/CT were included. One hundred fifty‐three of cases were stages I‐III, 191 were stage IV. SUVmax values were obtained for primary tumour, lymph nodes and metastases. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to determine the effect of pretreatment SUVmax, with cut‐off value of median, on progression‐free and overall survival (PFS and OS).

Results

Median OS and PFS for patients with stages I‐III were 16.50 and 11.00 months, respectively. Median OS and PFS for patients with stage IV were 10.00 and 7.00 months, respectively. SUVmax of the primary tumour (PT), lymph nodes or metastasis were not associated with OS and PFS on univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, SUVmax‐PT with cut‐off value of 11.60 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with stages I‐III (HR;1.88, 95% CI:1.15‐3.08, P = .012). But the SUVmax‐PT (HR; 1.60, 95% CI: 0.99‐2.60; P = .057) for PFS was found to be a prognostic factor with marginal significance. SUVmax were not significantly associated with OS and PFS in patients with stage IV disease.

Conclusion

Pretreatment SUVmax‐PT (median cut‐off 11.6) may have a prognostic value of OS and PFS in patients with TNM staged I‐III SCLC.
Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou
Authors: Collard Rosemary‐Claire , Dempsey Jessica , Holmberg Mollie
Published: March 2020

Many caribou populations in Canada face extirpation despite dozens of provincial and federal legislative instruments designed to protect them. How are industrial developments that impact caribou justified and permitted despite governments' commitments to caribou protection? Toward an answer, this paper scrutinizes an approval process for major projects in Canada: environmental assessment (EA). We identify 65 EAs for major projects with potentially significant adverse impacts for caribou—all projects but one were approved. The results show that most projects were approved on the basis of proposed mitigation measures that promise to render adverse effects “insignificant”; yet mitigation effectiveness is largely unknown. Further, several projects were approved even though mitigation measures were insufficient, citing public or national interest. Finally, some projects' approval rested in part on scientific claims that the project area is already degraded or absent of caribou. Based on these findings, EA is failing caribou, acting as a means by which the state licenses major developments with potentially significant adverse effects for caribou, with a pretense of protection. The failure stems in part from a broader tension within the state that manifests in EA: a tension between the state's roles promoting economic growth and protecting against this growth's negative effects. Recognition of this tension needs to be more central to conservation biology.
Post‐zygotic ACTB mutations underlie congenital smooth muscle hamartomas
Authors: Atzmony Lihi , Ugwu Nelson , Zaki Theodore D. , Antaya Richard J. , Choate Keith A.
Published: March 2020

Background

Congenital smooth muscle hamartomas (CSMHs) are benign lesions that share clinical and histopathological features with Becker nevus, a mosaic disorder associated with post‐zygotic ACTB mutations. Given the clinical and histopathological overlap between CSMH and Becker nevus, we hypothesized that post‐zygotic mutations in ACTB may underlie CSMH.

Methods

Direct sequencing of ACTB gene in affected and unaffected tissue isolated from one case of hemihypertrichosis and hemihypertrophy corresponding to giant segmental CSMH and hemihypertrophy. This was followed by direct sequencing with and without enrichment assay for hotspot ACTB mutations in affected tissue from 12 samples of isolated CSMH from unrelated individuals.

Results

In total we identified somatic missense ACTB mutations in 9 out of 13 CSMHs (69%). Mutations were either novel or previously reported in Becker nevi and Becker nevus syndrome.

Conclusions

CSMHs result from post‐zygotic ACTB mutations. This study proves that CSMHs and Becker nevi are nosologically related, and expand the phenotypic spectrum of ACTB mutations.
Cutaneous metaplastic synovial cyst in Ehlers‐Danlos syndrome
Authors: Fernandez‐Flores Angel , Barja‐Lopez Juan M.
Published: March 2020

Classic Ehlers‐Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a connective tissue disorder characterized by laxity. The skin, as one of the organs involved, shows hyperextensibility, which makes it prone to trauma. In this context, it would seem logical for cutaneous synovial metaplasia, which is considered a form of repair, to be commonly found in cases of EDS. However, there are only two previously published cases of synovial metaplasia in EDS. We present a third case in a 56‐year‐old woman with painful redundant skin in both elbows and knees for whom a skin fold of the left elbow was removed to relieve her symptoms. The biopsy showed preservation of the elastic and collagen fibers. The main alteration was the evidence of dermal cystic spaces lined by fibrinoid rests with focal pseudopapillary projections. However, in some zones the cellular lining was preserved, and it was composed of vimentin‐positive, fibroblast‐like flat, elongated cells, as well as CD68‐positive macrophages. No birefringent particles were found in an examination under polarized light.
The spectrum of the cytopathological features of primary effusion lymphoma and human herpes virus 8‐related lymphoproliferative disorders
Authors: Verga Luisa , Leni Davide , Cazzaniga Giorgio , Crosta Simona , Seminati Davide , Rossi Marianna , L'Imperio Vincenzo , Pagni Fabio
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Human herpes virus 8‐related lymphoproliferative disorders are a complex and heterogeneous group of entities and some of them are eminently diagnosed by cytopathology. In a routine laboratory, these lesions account for less than 1% of the effusion fluids samples. However, they represent up to 30% of all the lymphoma diagnosis from effusion cytological samples and their consideration in the diagnostic flow chart is mandatory, especially in human immunodeficiency virus‐positive patients.

Methods

A retrospective series of cytological specimens from cavity effusions (n = 605) were analysed. Five human herpes virus 8‐related lymphoproliferative processes were recruited. A combination of morphological criteria (enhanced with May‐Grünwald Giemsa staining), cell block‐based immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry were undertaken for final characterisation.

Results

The identification of malignant cells may be difficult. Some specimens are particularly rich, easily leading to suspect a lymphoproliferative process, whereas in other cases, the presence of abundant reactive mesothelial cells, histiocytes, neutrophils, small reactive T and B lymphocytes may obscure the neoplastic process. The biological behaviour may be very heterogeneous and a standardised therapy for these cases is still lacking, although some patients may benefit from antiretroviral therapy in a human immunodeficiency virus setting.

Conclusions

The present case series highlights some characteristic findings of these entities to reaffirm useful cytopathological diagnostic criteria, stressing the crucial role of the appropriate technical processing of effusion fluids to obtain the best performances.
Imprint cytology for a subcutaneous tumour
Authors: Sakuma Takahiko , Mori Mikiko , Kokubo Chikako , Matsumoto Yusuke
Published: March 2020

Imprint cytology of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) is reported. The cytologic findings are described in detail and a potential diagnostic advantage of cytology over histology is discussed with a brief review of literature.
Systematic review and meta‐analysis of the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of small bowel endoscopy in patients with overt small bowel bleeding
Authors: Uchida Genta , Nakamura Masanao , Yamamura Takeshi , Furukawa Kazuhiro , Kawashima Hiroki , Honda Takashi , Ishigami Masatoshi , Fujishiro Mitsuhiro
Published: March 2020

Background

Small bowel endoscopy, including small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) and balloon‐assisted endoscopy (BAE), is useful for small bowel bleeding (SBB) assessment. However, the specific management strategy for overt SBB is not well established. This meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the pooled diagnostic yields (DYs) and therapeutic yields (TYs) of small bowel endoscopy in overt SBB and to determine the optimal endoscopy timing.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was performed of studies examining the DY and/or TY of small bowel endoscopy in overt SBB. Data on the DY, TY, and timing of small bowel endoscopy were extracted, pooled, and analyzed. The pooled DY and TY of small bowel endoscopy for patients with overt SBB were calculated. Meta‐regression and subgroup analysis were performed.

Results

Twenty‐two studies were included. The pooled DY was 65.2% and 74.0% for SBCE and BAE, respectively. The pooled TY of SBCE and BAE was 55.9% and 35.8%, respectively. A meta‐regression model showed that the timing of endoscopy was significantly associated with the DY of BAE and the TY of SBCE and BAE.

Conclusions

Small bowel capsule endoscopy and BAE would be useful diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in overt SBB. According to the subgroup analysis, in which the TY seemed to be higher within 2 days after bleeding for SBCE and BAE, the optimal timing of endoscopy would be within 2 days.