bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magnet and button battery ingestion in children: multicentre observational study of management and outcomes
Authors:   Paediatric Surgery Trainee Research Network, Neville Jonathan J. , Harwood Rachel , Bethell George S. , Rhodes Hannah , Arthur Felicity , Eastwood Mary P. , Hotonu Sesi , Tullie Lucinda , Hall Nigel J. , Coulson R. , Lawther S. , Burns K. , Chacon C. S. , Boam T. , Clarke S. A. , Hallett J. , Valliant N. , Hemanshoo T. , Tahira A. , Decker E. , Ahmed T. , Cave J. , Ram A. , Shenoy M. , John M. , Wyn M. , Wilkins L. , Allin B. , Fagelnor A. , Bough G. , Mohd-Amin A. T. , Trenear R.
Published: April 2022

Background

Magnets and button batteries (BBs) are dangerous ingested foreign bodies in children. The scale and consequences of this public health issue in the UK are unknown. This study aims to report the current management strategies and outcomes associated with paediatric magnet and BB ingestion in the UK.

Methods

This multicentre, retrospective observational study involved 13 UK tertiary paediatric surgery centres. Children aged under 17 years, admitted between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020, following magnet, or BB ingestion were included. Demographics, investigations, management, and complications were recorded.

Results

In total, 263 patients were identified, comprising 146 (55.5 per cent) magnet, 112 (42.6 per cent) BB, and 5 (1.9 per cent) mixed magnet BB ingestions. Median (interquartile range) age was 4.8 (2.0–9.1) years and 47.5 per cent were female. In the magnet group, 38 (26.0 per cent) children swallowed single magnets, 3 of whom underwent endoscopic retrieval for oesophageal or gastric impaction. Of the 108 (74.0 per cent) children who swallowed multiple magnets, 51 (47.2 per cent) required endoscopic or surgical intervention, predominantly for failure of magnets to progress on serial imaging. Bowel perforations occurred in 10 children (9.3 per cent). Younger age and ingestion of greater numbers of multiple magnets were independently associated with surgery. BB ingestion caused morbidity in 14 children (12.5 per cent) and life-threatening injuries in two (1.8 per cent); the majority were caused by oesophageal BBs (64.3 per cent).

Conclusion

Multiple magnet and BB ingestions are associated with significant morbidity. Action must be taken at an international level to regulate the sale of magnets and BBs, and to raise awareness of the risks that these objects pose to children.
Association of anaesthesia technique with 30-day primary graft patency after open lower limb revascularization: retrospective cohort study
Authors: Ke Janny Xue Chen , Flexman Alana M. , Schwarz Stephan K. W. , MacDonald Shaun , Prabhakar Christopher
Published: April 2022

Background

The relationship between anaesthetic technique and graft patency after open lower limb revascularization is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between 30-day graft patency after elective infrainguinal bypass and anaesthetic technique (regional anaesthesia (RA, i.e. neuraxial and/or peripheral nerve blockade) compared with general anaesthesia (GA)).

Methods

Patients who underwent elective infrainguinal bypass in the 2014–2019 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Vascular Procedure Targeted Lower Extremity Open data set were included. Excluded patients were those under 18 years old, those who did not receive RA or GA, and/or had an international normalized ratio of 1.5 of greater, a partial thromboplastin time more than 35 s, or a platelet count less than 80 × 109/L. The primary outcome was primary graft patency without reintervention. The relationship between anaesthetic technique and patency was analysed with multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Included were 8893 patients with a mean(s.d.) age of 68(11) years and 31.5 per cent female. Within the cohort, 7.7 per cent (n = 688) patients received RA only, 90.4 per cent (n = 8039) GA only, and 1.9 per cent (n = 166) both GA and RA. In the RA-only group, 91.7 per cent (631 of 688) received neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary patency rate was 93.2 per cent (573 of 615) for RA only, and 91.5 per cent (6390 of 6983) for GA only (standardized mean difference, 0.063). RA was not associated with a higher rate of patency compared with GA (adjusted OR, 1.16; 95 per cent c.i., 0.83 to 1.63; P = 0.378).

Conclusion

There was no association between anaesthetic technique and 30-day graft patency after elective infrainguinal bypass surgery. Further prospective studies would be useful to study the impact of anaesthesia technique on important patient-centred outcomes such as long-term patency and non-home discharge.
Professional Orientation of Social Pedagogy Students at Work Placement in Prisons
Authors: Tadič Darja
Published: April 2022

The research is based on work placements done by social pedagogy students in Slovenian prisons. It focuses on their professional orientation as reflected by their journal entries. A qualitative substantive analysis of a collection of their journal entries was performed, recognising six key topics that also represented the key aspects in which the journals differentiated drastically. Based on these, a continuum of student orientations was developed, featuring three models: the adoptive, non-professional and engaged orientation. Findings reveal a heterogeneity in the students’ orientations and are in this aspect in line with several other studies that have similarly shown various orientations and operating models in social pedagogy. This research adds to studying this field whilst being a reminder that perhaps the largest potential of social pedagogy today is to be able to state clear position about this variety and to be more assertive in promoting certain models and practices, whilst being critical to others. The research has shown that this can already be done during the students’ studying process, i.e. in the process of forming new future professional identities.
Systematic Review of Service User and Carer Involvement in Qualifying Social Work Education: A Decade in Retrospect
Authors: Stanley Selwyn , Webber Martin
Published: April 2022

Service user and carer involvement in social work education is well established in the UK and other countries. There has however been limited research on the outcomes of this for social work practice and its subsequent impact on service users and carers. This has been noted in a previous systematic review involving one of the current authors. The current review aimed to synthesise literature from the previous decade (2011–2020) and follows on from the earlier review. PRISMA scoping review guidelines were followed and twenty-eight papers met the inclusion criteria that were framed. Data were extracted and tabulated according to the framework for the evaluation of educational programmes used in the previous review and analysed using narrative synthesis. A ten-item critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the rigour of all papers. The findings were similar to the earlier review. Most studies were from the UK and few evaluated change in students’ skills or subsequent practice; none evaluated subsequent outcomes for service users and carers. All stakeholders were positive about the perceived benefits of service user and care involvement. Future research needs to use more robust evaluation methodologies and evaluate skills development for students and outcomes for service users and carers.
Brain volume abnormalities and clinical outcomes following paediatric traumatic brain injury
Authors: Bourke Niall J , Demarchi Célia , De Simoni Sara , Samra Ravjeet , Patel Maneesh C , Kuczynski Adam , Mok Quen , Wimalasundera Neil , Vargha-Khadem Fareneh , Sharp David J
Published: April 2022

Long-term outcomes are difficult to predict after paediatric traumatic brain injury. The presence or absence of focal brain injuries often do not explain cognitive, emotional and behavioural disabilities that are common and disabling. In adults, traumatic brain injury produces progressive brain atrophy that can be accurately measured and is associated with cognitive decline. However, the effect of paediatric traumatic brain injury on brain volumes is more challenging to measure because of its interaction with normal brain development. Here we report a robust approach to the individualized estimation of brain volume following paediatric traumatic brain injury and investigate its relationship to clinical outcomes.

We first used a large healthy control dataset (n > 1200, age 8–22) to describe the healthy development of white and grey matter regions through adolescence. Individual estimates of grey and white matter regional volume were then generated for a group of moderate/severe traumatic brain injury patients injured in childhood (n = 39, mean age 13.53 ± 1.76, median time since injury = 14 months, range 4–168 months) by comparing brain volumes in patients to age-matched controls. Patients were individually classified as having low or normal brain volume. Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric outcomes were assessed using standardized testing and parent/carer assessments.

Relative to head size, grey matter regions decreased in volume during normal adolescence development whereas white matter tracts increased in volume. Traumatic brain injury disrupted healthy brain development, producing reductions in both grey and white matter brain volumes after correcting for age. Of the 39 patients investigated, 11 (28%) had at least one white matter tract with reduced volume and seven (18%) at least one area of grey matter with reduced volume. Those classified as having low brain volume had slower processing speed compared to healthy controls, emotional impairments, higher levels of apathy, increased anger and learning difficulties. In contrast, the presence of focal brain injury and microbleeds were not associated with an increased risk of these clinical impairments.

In summary, we show how brain volume abnormalities after paediatric traumatic brain injury can be robustly calculated from individual T1 MRI using a large normative dataset that allows the effects of healthy brain development to be controlled for. Using this approach, we show that volumetric abnormalities are common after moderate/severe traumatic brain injury in both grey and white matter regions, and are associated with higher levels of cognitive, emotional and behavioural abnormalities that are common after paediatric traumatic brain injury.
Bobby Fischer and the delusions of a king of logic
Authors: Fernandez-Egea Emilio , Robbins Trevor W.
Published: April 2022

Delusions are defined as unshakable beliefs indicating an impairment in the mechanism of inference from reality. But how can this account for cases such as chess legend Bobby Fischer, who mastered logical thinking on the board while also experiencing persecutory delusions? Fernandez-Egea and Robbins explore this apparent paradox.
Tissue donations for multiple sclerosis research: current state and suggestions for improvement
Authors: Vanderdonckt Patrick , Aloisi Francesca , Comi Giancarlo , de Bruyn Alexander , Hartung Hans-Peter , Huitinga Inge , Kuhlmann Tanja , Lucchinetti Claudia F. , Metz Imke , Reynolds Richard , Lassmann Hans
Published: April 2022

Although major progress in multiple sclerosis research has been made during the last decades, key questions related to the cause and the mechanisms of brain and spinal cord pathology remain unresolved. These cover a broad range of topics, including disease aetiology, antigenic triggers of the immune response inside and/or outside the CNS and mechanisms of inflammation, demyelination neurodegeneration and tissue repair. Most of these questions can be addressed with novel molecular technologies in the injured CNS. Access to brain and spinal cord tissue from multiple sclerosis patients is, therefore, of critical importance. High-quality tissue is provided in part by the existing brain banks. However, material from early and highly active disease stages is limited. An initiative, realized under the patronage of the European Charcot Foundation, gathered together experts from different disciplines to analyse the current state of multiple sclerosis tissues collected post-mortem or as biopsies. Here, we present an account of what material is currently available and where it can be accessed. We also provide recommendations on how tissue donation from patients in early disease stages could be potentially increased and for procedures of tissue sampling and preservation. We also suggest to create a registry of the available tissues that, depending on the source (autopsy versus biopsy), could be made accessible to clinicians and researchers.
A data-driven model of brain volume changes in progressive supranuclear palsy
Authors: Scotton W. J. , Bocchetta M. , Todd E. , Cash D. M. , Oxtoby N. , VandeVrede L. , Heuer H. ,   PROSPECT Consortium, 4RTNI Consortium, Alexander D. C. , Rowe J. B. , Morris H. R. , Boxer A. , Rohrer J. D. , Wijeratne P. A.
Published: April 2022

The most common clinical phenotype of progressive supranuclear palsy is Richardson syndrome, characterized by levodopa unresponsive symmetric parkinsonism, with a vertical supranuclear gaze palsy, early falls and cognitive impairment. There is currently no detailed understanding of the full sequence of disease pathophysiology in progressive supranuclear palsy. Determining the sequence of brain atrophy in progressive supranuclear palsy could provide important insights into the mechanisms of disease progression, as well as guide patient stratification and monitoring for clinical trials. We used a probabilistic event-based model applied to cross-sectional structural MRI scans in a large international cohort, to determine the sequence of brain atrophy in clinically diagnosed progressive supranuclear palsy Richardson syndrome. A total of 341 people with Richardson syndrome (of whom 255 had 12-month follow-up imaging) and 260 controls were included in the study. We used a combination of 12-month follow-up MRI scans, and a validated clinical rating score (progressive supranuclear palsy rating scale) to demonstrate the longitudinal consistency and utility of the event-based model’s staging system. The event-based model estimated that the earliest atrophy occurs in the brainstem and subcortical regions followed by progression caudally into the superior cerebellar peduncle and deep cerebellar nuclei, and rostrally to the cortex. The sequence of cortical atrophy progresses in an anterior to posterior direction, beginning in the insula and then the frontal lobe before spreading to the temporal, parietal and finally the occipital lobe. This in vivo ordering accords with the post-mortem neuropathological staging of progressive supranuclear palsy and was robust under cross-validation. Using longitudinal information from 12-month follow-up scans, we demonstrate that subjects consistently move to later stages over this time interval, supporting the validity of the model. In addition, both clinical severity (progressive supranuclear palsy rating scale) and disease duration were significantly correlated with the predicted subject event-based model stage (P < 0.01). Our results provide new insights into the sequence of atrophy progression in progressive supranuclear palsy and offer potential utility to stratify people with this disease on entry into clinical trials based on disease stage, as well as track disease progression.
The Notch pathway attenuates burn-induced acute lung injury in rats by repressing reactive oxygen species
Authors: Cai Weixia , Shen Kuo , Ji Peng , Jia Yanhui , Han Shichao , Zhang Wanfu , Hu Xiaolong , Yang Xuekang , Han Juntao , Hu Dahai
Published: April 2022

Background

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common complication following severe burns. The underlying mechanisms of ALI are incompletely understood; thus, available treatments are not sufficient to repair the lung tissue after ALI.

Methods

To investigate the relationship between the Notch pathway and burn-induced lung injury, we established a rat burn injury model by scalding and verified lung injury via lung injury evaluations, including hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, lung injury scoring, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and wet/dry ratio analyses, myeloperoxidase immunohistochemical staining and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation analysis. To explore whether burn injury affects Notch1 expression, we detected the expression of Notch1 and Hes1 after burn injury. Then, we extracted pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and conducted Notch pathway inhibition and activation experiments, via a γ-secretase inhibitor (GSI) and OP9-DLL1 coculture, respectively, to verify the regulatory effect of the Notch pathway on ROS accumulation and apoptosis in burn-serum-stimulated PMVECs. To investigate the regulatory effect of the Notch pathway on ROS accumulation, we detected the expression of oxidative-stress-related molecules such as superoxide dismutase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) 2, NOX4 and cleaved caspase-3. NOX4-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) and the inhibitor GKT137831 were used to verify the regulatory effect of the Notch pathway on ROS via NOX4.

Results

We successfully established a burn model and revealed that lung injury, excessive ROS accumulation and an inflammatory response occurred. Notch1 detection showed that the expression of Notch1 was significantly increased after burn injury. In PMVECs challenged with burn serum, ROS and cell death were elevated. Moreover, when the Notch pathway was suppressed by GSI, ROS and cell apoptosis levels were significantly increased. Conversely, these parameters were reduced when the Notch pathway was activated by OP9-DLL1. Mechanistically, the inhibition of NOX4 by siRNA and GKT137831 showed that the Notch pathway reduced ROS production and cell apoptosis by downregulating the expression of NOX4 in PMVECs.

Conclusions

The Notch pathway reduced ROS production and apoptosis by downregulating the expression of NOX4 in burn-stimulated PMVECs. The Notch–NOX4 pathway may be a novel therapeutic target to treat burn-induced ALI.
Early neural activity changes associated with stimulus detection during visual conscious perception
Authors: Khalaf Aya , Kronemer Sharif I , Christison-Lagay Kate , Kwon Hunki , Li Jiajia , Wu Kun , Blumenfeld Hal
Published: April 2022

The earliest cortical neural signals following consciously perceived visual stimuli in humans are poorly understood. Using intracranial electroencephalography, we investigated neural activity changes associated with the earliest stages of stimulus detection during visual conscious perception. Participants (N = 10; 1,693 electrode contacts) completed a continuous performance task where subjects were asked to press a button when they saw a target letter among a series of nontargets. Broadband gamma power (40–115 Hz) was analyzed as marker of cortical population neural activity. Regardless of target or nontarget letter type, we observed early gamma power changes within 30–180 ms from stimulus onset in a network including increases in bilateral occipital, fusiform, frontal (including frontal eye fields), and medial temporal cortex; increases in left lateral parietal–temporal cortex; and decreases in the right anterior medial occipital cortex. No significant differences were observed between target and nontarget stimuli until >180 ms post-stimulus, when we saw greater gamma power increases in left motor and premotor areas, suggesting a possible role in perceptual decision-making and/or motor responses with the right hand. The early gamma power findings support a broadly distributed cortical visual detection network that is engaged at early times tens of milliseconds after signal transduction from the retina.
Task demands modulate pre-stimulus alpha frequency and sensory template during bistable apparent motion perception
Authors: Han Biao , Zhang Yanni , Shen Lu , Mo Lei , Chen Qi
Published: April 2022

Despite ambiguous environmental inputs, top-down attention biases our subjective perception toward the preferred percepts, via modulating prestimulus neural activity or inducing prestimulus sensory templates that carry concrete internal sensory representations of the preferred percepts. In contrast to frequent changes of behavioral goals in the typical cue-target paradigm, human beings are often engaged in a prolonged task state with only 1 specific behavioral goal. It remains unclear how prestimulus neural signals and sensory templates are modulated in the latter case. To answer this question in the present electroencephalogram study on human subjects, we manipulated sustained task demands toward one of the 2 possible percepts in the bistable Ternus display, emphasizing either temporal integration or segregation. First, the prestimulus peak alpha frequency, which gated the temporal window of temporal integration, was effectively modulated by task demands. Furthermore, time-resolved decoding analyses showed that task demands biased neural representations toward the preferred percepts after the full presentation of bottom-up stimuli. More importantly, sensory templates resembling the preferred percepts emerged even before the bottom-up sensory evidence were sufficient enough to induce explicit percepts. Taken together, task demands modulate both prestimulus alpha frequency and sensory templates, to eventually bias subjective perception toward the preferred percepts.
Structure Elucidation and Quantitation of 11 N′-n-Acylnornicotines in Cherry-Red Tobacco
Authors: Li Yong , Pang Tao , Shi Junli , Bai Ge , Sui Xueyi , Chen Xuejun
Published: April 2022

Eleven consecutive N′-n-acylnornicotines from cherry-red tobacco were structurally elucidated and quantitively analyzed using chromatography and mass spectrometry. All of these N′-n-acylnornicotines are first reported in cherry-red tobacco, whereas N′-propionylnornicotine, N′-n-valerylnornicotine, N′-n-nonanoylnornicotine and N′-n-undecanoylnornicotine are first reported in natural products. The concentration distribution of the identified N′-n-acylnornicotines was studied and it was found that N′-n-octanoylnornicotine and N′-n-hexanoylnornicotine showed the highest concentration, accounting for 94% of the detected N′-n-acylnornicotines. The cherry-red color density of the related tobacco leaves was found to be positively correlated with the concentration of the N′-n-acylnornicotines, whereas the ultraviolet–visible spectra of the N′-n-acylnornicotines showed no absorption larger than 300 nm, indicating the discovered compounds are not responsible for the cherry-red color appearance.
The Dilemma of NGOs in Vindicating Environmental Interests before the Courts: Normative and Empirical Observations from China
Authors: Lu Mengxing
Published: April 2022

As one of the major legal developments of China’s environmental law, public interest litigation (PIL) has achieved impressive progress in boosting public participation and enhancing environmental law enforcement during the past few years. As a result of the concerted efforts by Chinese policy-makers, China has developed a pluralistic legal framework for vindicating environmental interests. This regulatory design could provide a wide variety of enforcement choices, thus better protecting environmental interests. However, the danger is that there may be overlaps and even conflicts concerning the coordination between different actors and approaches. More particularly, there are inherent limits in the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that restrict the practical importance of their intervention in PIL. These limits have manifold reasons, including the lack of legitimacy of NGOs in China, the lack of financial independence, the restrictions on NGOs in challenging administrative authorities, and the ascendancy of administrative authorities in bringing ecological compensation suits. As a result, it is observed that NGOs are caught in a dilemma that, on the one hand, they are expected to play a pioneering role in the promotion of PIL and, on the other hand, they are facing formidable challenges to fully explore their potential in environmental protection.
Centring construction in the political economy of housing: variegated growth regimes after the Keynesian construction state
Authors: Kohl Sebastian , Spielau Alexander
Published: April 2022

The Keynesian demand regime that existed until the 1970s was characterised by governments steering demand and employment through housing and infrastructure investments. By the 1980s, Western countries began to retreat from these capital-intensive subsidies and turned to the stimulation of homeownership-spreading private mortgage markets, but with three different ideal-typical trajectories until 2008. In construction-repressive countries, like Germany, growing exports were to fill the void of the withdrawing construction engine; in countries with construction booms, like Spain, the mortgage credit expansion temporarily generated another long construction cycle. Conversely, in countries with mortgage booms only, like the UK, mortgages exploded and generated more consumption, but no proportional construction output. We explain the divergence into different trajectories through a policy feedback mechanism: parties in construction (export) economies tend to favour construction (export) policies. While exports, construction and mortgages became alternative drivers of growth, all three trajectories have their downsides which surfaced post-2008 and make them inherently unstable.
Gauging node consistency in accusation–endorsement networks
Authors: Goodloe Oscar , Zhou Zihan , Nishimura Joel
Published: April 2022

Many signed, directed social networks can be viewed as being composed of positive (endorsements) and negative (accusations) directed edges, and these networks can in turn be created through a variety of different processes. The recently proposed consistency dynamics supposes that when nodes expect to be judged based on their associations in the network, they may create edges out of a desire to appear as having consistent judgements. We develop a quantifiable score that can rate the level of consistency in a node’s judgement. We demonstrate that this consistency score can be efficiently estimated using a modification of the popular personalized PageRank algorithm and evaluate the score’s properties. In order to validate this score’s relevance to empirical networks, we use consistency scores to perform an edge prediction task, and demonstrate that it performs competitively with, and adds complementary information to, more complicated measures designed specifically for that task. We also demonstrate that the nodes in these networks exhibit specific behaviours that consistency can identify across a range of parameterization values and which are not recoverable by other measures in isolation.
Identification of supraoptimal temperatures in juvenile blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) using survival, growth rate and scaled energy reserves
Authors: Guo Lian W , Jordaan Adrian , Schultz Eric T , McCormick Stephen D
Published: April 2022

For young fishes, growth of somatic tissues and energy reserves are critical steps for survival and progressing to subsequent life stages. When thermal regimes become supraoptimal, routine metabolic rates increase and leave less energy for young fish to maintain fitness-based activities and, in the case of anadromous fishes, less energy to prepare for emigration to coastal habitats. Thus, understanding how energy allocation strategies are affected by thermal regimes in young anadromous fish will help to inform climate-ready management of vulnerable species and their habitat. Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) are an anadromous fish species that remain at historically low population levels and are undergoing southern edge-range contraction, possibly due to climate change. We examined the effects of temperature (21°C, 24°C, 27°C, 30°C, 33°C) on survival, growth rate and energy reserves of juveniles collected from the mid-geographic range of the species. We identified a strong negative relationship between temperature and growth rate, resulting in smaller juveniles at high temperatures. We observed reduced survival at both 21°C and 33°C, increased fat and lean mass-at-length at high temperatures, but no difference in energy density. Juveniles were both smaller and contained greater scaled energy reserves at higher temperatures, indicating growth in length is more sensitive to temperature than growth of energy reserves. Currently, mid-geographic range juvenile blueback herring populations may be well suited for local thermal regimes, but continued warming could decrease survival and growth rates. Blueback herring populations may benefit from mitigation actions that maximize juvenile energy resources by increasing the availability of cold refugia and food-rich habitats, as well as reducing other stressors such as hypoxic zones.
Do Linear Wage-Profit Equations Support Neoclassical Theory?
Authors: Nell Edward
Published: April 2022

Empirical investigations have found relatively few cases of reswitching or capital reversal, but many more instances than expected of what look like Neo-Classical relationships, leading some eagerly to Affirm the Consequent, and call for restoration of the good old stories. This is unwarranted. A necessarily brief and incomplete account of recent work in the theory of money and credit shows that these seemingly neoclassical relationships may have a completely different origin and meaning. They are part of the structure and institutions, including markets, that support the circulation of money and credit, and the neoclassical appearance in particulars arises from the relation between r and g, properly adjusted. It has little or nothing to do with the flawed ‘Choice of Technique’ or with the stories of ‘substitution’ between labour and capital.
Fascism and the classics: ideological manipulation and targeted translations of the Aeneid
Authors: Scafoglio Giampiero
Published: April 2022

A major aspect of Fascist manipulation of classical culture is the tendentious practice of translating texts in order to emphasize the points apparently consistent with the regime’s ideology: this process goes so far as to distort the meaning of the texts, which are used as means of political propaganda. This happened to the Aeneid, the most translated and probably the most misinterpreted poem in Italy during the Fascist period. I outline an overview of the translations made by Giuseppe Albini (1921), Francesco Vivona (1926), Giuseppe Lipparini (1928), Emilio Pratellesi (1930), and Guido Vitali (1930). I describe and illustrate with some examples the criteria followed by each author, with respect to lexical choice, sentence structure, and stylistic devices. Thus, I show how these translations (with the sole exception of that by Albini) are enslaved to their political purpose and betray the deep and complex message of the poem.
The silent reception of Kristina Chew’s Georgics
Authors: Cox Fiona
Published: April 2022

This article examines Chew’s translation of the Georgics within the context of a wave of classical reception that is witnessing an unusual number of female-authored translations. I explore the reasons why Chew’s work failed to attract the recognition and attention of other translations, such as Janet Lembke’s Georgics or Sarah Ruden’s Aeneid, and suggest that Chew’s status of outsider has influenced the reception of her translation. The article also analyses the idiosyncratic and daring choices made by Chew in her translation and considers the impact that this has on refashioning the Georgics for twenty-first century America.
Movement and Memory: Reconfiguring the Significance of Place in Jenny Siler’sEasy MoneyandFlashback
Authors: Avery Cathrine
Published: April 2022

The narrative of hard-boiled crime fiction is typically embedded in a city, and knowledge of this place is intrinsic to the investigator’s characterization. Through an examination of Jenny Siler’s Easy Money (1998) and Flashback (2004), this essay explores the impact on both the investigative narrative and the representation of identity when place is reconfigured. By employing Doreen Massey’s analysis of the politics of place and space and Manuel Castells’ concept of the “space of flows,” I examine how Siler’s work brings into play concepts of legitimacy, geopolitical borders, and belonging. I consider how the removal of symbolic meaning from a place through the rejection of its boundary condition or the negation of its past has a political impact: it challenges what and who is given value.
Vocabulary Outcomes for 5-Year-Old Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Impact of Age at Enrollment in Specialized Early Intervention
Authors: Rudge Amanda M , Coto Jennifer , Oster Monika-Maria , Brooks Betsy Moog , Soman Uma , Rufsvold Ronda , Cejas Ivette
Published: April 2022

The aims of this study were to examine vocabulary scores of 5-year-old children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), as well as the impact of early enrollment in specialized intervention on vocabulary outcomes. Receptive and expressive vocabulary scores were analyzed for 342 five-year-old children who are DHH enrolled in specialized listening and spoken language intervention programs. Regression analyses were utilized to examine the effects of age at enrollment on vocabulary outcomes. Overall, participants achieved scores within normal test limits on receptive and expressive measures of vocabulary. Children who enrolled in intervention prior to 28 months of age had better vocabulary skills at 5 years old. The findings support that children who are DHH can understand and produce vocabulary at skill levels commensurate with their typically hearing peers, regardless of severity of hearing loss. Results highlight the crucial impact of specialized programs on children’s lexical readiness to participate in general education settings by kindergarten.
Utility of plasma CA125 as a proxy of intra-abdominal pressure in patients with acute heart failure
Authors: Rubio-Gracia Jorge , Crespo-Aznarez Silvia , De la Espriella Rafael , Nuñez Gonzalo , Sánchez-Marteles Marta , Garcés-Horna Vanesa , Yanguas-Barea Nerea , Josa-Laorden Claudia , Cobo-Marcos Marta , Giménez-López Ignacio , Pérez-Calvo Juan Ignacio , Nuñez Julio
Published: April 2022

Aims

Increased intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is now considered a potential contributor to organ damage and disease progression in acute heart failure (AHF). In this work, we aimed to determine if antigen carbohydrate 125 (CA125) is associated with IAP and to identify a cutpoint of CA125 useful for ruling out intra-abdominal hypertension (defined as IAP ≥ 12 mmHg).

Methods and results

We prospectively evaluated a cohort of 53 patients admitted with AHF in which IAP was measured within the first 24-h of admission. The mean age was 80 ± 8 years, 31 (58.5%) were female, and 31 (58.5%) had left ventricular ejection fraction ≥50%. The median plasma levels of NT-proBNP and CA125 were 3830 pg/mL (2417–8929) and 45.8 U/mL (29.8–114.0), respectively. The median of IAP was 15 mmHg (11–17), and 39 (73%) patients had an IAP ≥ 12 mmHg. The diagnostic performance of CA125 for identifying an IAP ≥ 12 mmHg was tested using the receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The cut-off for CA125 of 17.1 U/mL showed a sensitivity of 92%, a specificity of 50%, and an area under the ROC curve of 0.71. After multivariate adjustment, CA125 remained non-linearly and positively associated with higher IAP (P-value = 0.003), explaining almost 28% of the model’s variability (R2: 27.6%).

Conclusions

Patients with AHF and intra-abdominal hypertension had higher CA125 plasma levels. A baseline concentration of CA125 below 17.1 U/mL will increase the odds of identifying a subset of patients with normal IAP.
Inhibition of infection-induced vascular permeability modulates host leukocyte recruitment to Mycobacterium marinum granulomas in zebrafish
Authors: Kam Julia Y , Cheng Tina , Garland Danielle C , Britton Warwick J , Tobin David M , Oehlers Stefan H
Published: April 2022

Mycobacterial granuloma formation involves significant stromal remodeling including the growth of leaky, granuloma-associated vasculature. These permeable blood vessels aid mycobacterial growth, as antiangiogenic or vascular normalizing therapies are beneficial host-directed therapies in preclinical models of tuberculosis across host-mycobacterial pairings. Using the zebrafish–Mycobacterium marinum infection model, we demonstrate that vascular normalization by inhibition of vascular endothelial protein tyrosine phosphatase (VE-PTP) decreases granuloma hypoxia, the opposite effect of hypoxia-inducing antiangiogenic therapy. Inhibition of VE-PTP decreased neutrophil recruitment to granulomas in adult and larval zebrafish, and decreased the proportion of neutrophils that extravasated distal to granulomas. Furthermore, VE-PTP inhibition increased the accumulation of T cells at M. marinum granulomas. Our study provides evidence that, similar to the effect in solid tumors, vascular normalization during mycobacterial infection increases the T cell:neutrophil ratio in lesions which may be correlates of protective immunity.
Timber strength variation due to establishment density—can grading cope with it?
Authors: Rais Andreas , Kovryga Andriy , Bacher Martin , Pretzsch Hans , van de Kuilen Jan-Willem
Published: April 2022

High planting densities in coniferous stands usually lead to advantageous wood properties with high yields for strength graded timber in sawmills. In timber design, however, the focus is on mechanical wood properties, as structural engineers rely on the characteristic values for strength, stiffness and wood density defined for the strength classes. Almost 700 Douglas-fir boards from plots with establishment densities of 1000, 2000 and 4000 trees per hectare were graded with different strength grading machines before the boards were finally tensile tested. Three existing models including both the functional relationship and the class limits were applied to the tensile strength prediction: Modelknot based on knot size and wood density, ModelEdyn based on the dynamic modulus of elasticity (Edyn) only and Modelknot,Edyn based on Edyn and knot size were used to calculate the indicating properties (IPs) IPknot, IPEdyn and IPknot,Edyn. The ratio of achieved and required characteristic values for strength, stiffness and wood density was calculated for various T classes according to the European standard EN 338:2016. The focus was on two questions: (1) Do the samples from different densities meet the characteristic values of the respective T classes? (2) How does the complexity of the grading model affect the characteristic values of sawn timber with raw material planted at different initial densities? The results showed that the stiffness and wood density requirements of the T class profile according to EN 338:2016 were met for boards of all initial densities. Boards from higher and highest densities always exceeded the strength requirements, by on average $+$16 per cent and $+$36 per cent, whereas boards from low establishment densities fell short of the strength requirements by on average −15 per cent. Grading of multiple classes in one run also influenced the characteristic strength value. Applying the strength class combinations T15/T9, the negative deviations from the required strength value of the lower class T9 improved for boards coming from plots with an initial stand density of 1000 trees ha−1 from −14 per cent to −13 per cent (Modelknot), from −12 per cent to −2 per cent (ModelEdyn) and from −10 per cent to $+$6 per cent (Modelknot,Edyn). The non-compliance of the characteristic strength values at low initial density was only in a few cases below the limit value required for the test (90 per cent). The relative distance between the characteristic values within the three densities, nevertheless, was high. Complex grading models resulted in both better yields and low deviations from the requirements.
The Firm Fried. Krupp in the Chinese Market prior to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894/95
Authors: Skřivan Aleš , Skřivan Aleš
Published: April 2022

The Self-Strengthening Movement that started in China at the beginning of the 1860s included, along with other steps and measures, new plans for importing modern weapons from the West. This reform process therefore provided a new opportunity for foreign arms producers, including the German firm Fried. Krupp. This article analyses Krupp’s first activities in China, describes significant circumstances affecting the arms trade, evaluates the rivalry with British and French companies in the Chinese market and assesses the significance for the German company of its involvement in building a modern Chinese navy. The article’s approach is comprehensive and it is based on extensive research focusing on mostly unpublished sources, especially materials from German archives, often used here for the first time.
A Two-Step Model for Encouraging the General Public to Exhibit Helping Behaviors Toward People Living With Dementia
Authors: Matsumoto Hiroshige , Igarashi Ayumi , Sakka Mariko , Takaoka Manami , Kugai Haruna , Ito Kenichiro , Yamamoto-Mitani Noriko
Published: April 2022

Background and Objectives

Dementia awareness initiatives aim to promote helping behaviors toward people living with dementia. We applied the bystander intervention process model in the context of the general public’s helping behaviors toward people living with dementia, and we sought to identify the mechanisms underlying the association between dementia knowledge and helping behaviors.

Research Design and Methods

In a survey featuring vignettes for the general public in Japan (N = 904), we presented four situations in which people could exhibit helping behaviors toward a person with dementia. Guttman scale analysis was used to test this sequential ordering of the bystander intervention process model: (a) interpreting the need to help, (b) perceiving personal responsibility, and (c) intention to provide help. Mediation analysis was used to examine whether the effects of knowledge on helping behaviors were mediated by attitude toward people living with dementia and the bystander intervention process.

Results

The results support the two-step model in which interpreting the situation as one where assistance is required is a prerequisite of helping behavior. Dementia knowledge had a significant total effect on intention to provide help (β = 0.136, p < .001). Interpretation (indirect effect: β = 0.092, p < .001), as well as attitude (indirect effect: β = 0.044, p < .001), was found to completely mediate the effect of dementia knowledge on intention to provide help.

Discussion and Implications

Dementia awareness initiatives designed to promote helping behaviors should focus on knowledge transfer, improving the general public’s attitudes toward people living with dementia, and their ability to interpret when such people need assistance.
Chemoenzymatic synthesis of an α-1,6-glucan-based conjugate vaccine against Helicobacter pylori
Authors: Altman Eleonora , Chandan Vandana , Harrison Blair A , Schur Melissa , Goneau Marie-France , Li Jianjun , Gilbert Michel
Published: April 2022

In this study, we investigated the utility of glycoconjugates based on a linear α-1,6-glucan chain synthesized using a recombinant α-1,6-glucosyltransferase from the 26695 strain of Helicobacter pylori. Capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry analysis confirmed the main product to contain 9–10 sequentially added α-1,6-linked glucose residues. This was consistent with a length of α-1,6-glucan structure present in the outer core region of H. pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from strains 26695 and 26695 HP0826::Kan. The synthetic α-1,6-glucan was conjugated to either bovine serum albumin or tetanus toxoid and immunological properties of resultant glycoconjugates investigated. The conjugates were immunogenic in rabbits and mice and induced strong and specific IgG responses against purified LPS from typeable and nontypeable α-1,6-glucan-positive H. pylori strains. Furthermore, the post-immune sera from rabbits that received the conjugates were bactericidal and cross-reacted with selected clarithromycin-resistant and clarithromycin-susceptible clinical isolates of H. pylori. This technology offers a novel approach to the design of a synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccine against H. pylori.
Force Majeure and Investment Arbitration
Authors: Wang Lu , Shan Wenhua
Published: April 2022

This article addresses force majeure in international investment arbitration as it interacts with relevant domestic, commercial and international laws. As a classic excuse for non-performance of obligations in most domestic legal systems and a ‘general principle of law’, force majeure is also widely accepted in public international law as a ground for precluding wrongfulness of the acts of State under the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA). In investment arbitration practice, force majeure has been invoked to justify non-performance of contractual obligations or treaty obligations. For the former, the contractual force majeure clause is crucial, while for the latter, investment treaty tribunals tended to refer to ARSIWA Article 23 on force majeure. The case law has demonstrated that the conditions for the invocation of force majeure as a circumstance precluding wrongfulness under the ARSIWA are much narrower and stricter than the conditions set for invoking force majeure in the context of contract or commercial law. The article argues that the different standards applied by treaty and contract arbitration tribunals are rooted in the distinct systems of applicable law, which traditionally did not cause many problems or attract much attention. With the increasingly blurred boundaries between domestic and international, private and public laws, the legitimacy and sustainability of such conventional distinction might demand reconsideration. It suggests to explore a more consistent interpretation and application of force majeure claims under the two legal systems, and one way forward is to allow more flexibility in the interpretation and application of ARSIWA so that the international rules on force majeure could be better aligned with force majeure under commercial law.
Rights Not Recognized: Applying the Right to Recognition as a Person before the Law to Pushbacks at International Borders
Authors: Rodrik Delphine
Published: April 2022

Rather than facilitating access to protection for those escaping persecution or seeking security, today’s State policies often aim to prevent individuals from ever reaching their territories. The goal of deterrence has been manifested in border militarization and externalization practices that block those in need of protection – frequently labelled as ‘irregular’ or ‘illegal’ migrants – from accessing asylum and other protective procedures. In tandem, widespread State practices of informal, summary, and collective ‘pushbacks’ seek to remove individuals who do arrive in these State territories without individualized evaluations of their protection claims or adherence to any required procedure. This article argues that these pushbacks, which place affected individuals outside the framework of any applicable law and prevent them from accessing its protections, do more than obstruct asylum claims and violate the principle of non-refoulement. They strip individuals of their right to be recognized as persons before the law, protected by article 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. After analysing the doctrine of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on article 16 in particular, and broadly exploring the interpretation of the right in other instruments that contain it, this article examines how the common processes and result of pushbacks implicate and degrade this right. It demonstrates that article 16 constitutes a critical protection against the increasing ‘rightlessness’ in which asylum seekers and other migrants often find themselves today. As such, it submits that evaluating pushbacks through the framework of the right to recognition as a person before the law, rather than through the lens of refoulement or expulsions alone, allows a better analysis of the multi-layered human rights impact of such practices, scrutinizes their use as a tactic in a deterrence-driven policy landscape, and facilitates a more critical evaluation of their (il)legality.