bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thymosin α-1 Reverses M2 Polarization of Tumor-Associated Macrophages during Efferocytosis
Authors: Wei Yi-ting , Wang Xu-ru , Yan Chunguang , Huang Fang , Zhang Yunpeng , Liu Xueming , Wen Zhi-fa , Sun Xiao-tong , Zhang Yue , Chen Yong-qiang , Gao Rong , Pan Ning , Wang Li-xin
Published: April 2022

The immunologic effects of chemotherapy-induced tumor cell death are not completely understood. Accumulating evidence suggests that phagocytic clearance of apoptotic tumor cells, also known as efferocytosis, is an immunologically silent process, thus maintaining an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we report that, in the breast tumor microenvironment, thymosin α-1 (Tα-1) significantly reverses M2 polarization of IL10-producing tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) during efferocytosis induced by apoptotic cells. Mechanistically, Tα-1, which bound to phosphatidylserine on the surface of apoptotic tumor cells and was internalized by macrophages, triggered the activation of SH2-containing inositol 5′-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) through the lysosomal Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7)/MyD88 pathway, subsequently resulting in dephosphorylation of efferocytosis-activated TBK1 and reduction of efferocytosis-induced IL10. Tα-1 combined with epirubicin chemotherapy markedly suppressed tumor growth in an in vivo breast cancer model by reducing macrophage-derived IL10 and enhancing the number and function of tumor-infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. In conclusion, Tα-1 improved the curative effect of chemotherapy by reversing M2 polarization of efferocytosis-activated macrophages, suggesting that Tα-1 injection immediately after chemotherapy may contribute to highly synergistic antitumor effects in patients with breast cancer.

Significance:

Thymosin α-1 improves the curative effect of chemotherapy by reversing efferocytosis-induced M2 polarization of macrophages via activation of a TLR7/SHIP1 axis.
Phase II Clinical Trial of Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Resectable Local–Regionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Wise-Draper Trisha M. , Gulati Shuchi , Palackdharry Sarah , Hinrichs Benjamin H. , Worden Francis P. , Old Matthew O. , Dunlap Neal E. , Kaczmar John M. , Patil Yash , Riaz Muhammed Kashif , Tang Alice , Mark Jonathan , Zender Chad , Gillenwater Ann M. , Bell Diana , Kurtzweil Nicky , Mathews Maria , Allen Casey L. , Mierzwa Michelle L. , Casper Keith , Jandarov Roman , Medvedovic Mario , Lee J. Jack , Harun Nusrat , Takiar Vinita , Gillison Maura
Published: April 2022

Purpose:

Patients with resected, local–regionally advanced, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have a one-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate of 65%–69% despite adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy. Neoadjuvant PD-1 immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) has demonstrated clinical activity, but biomarkers of response and effect on survival remain unclear.

Patients and Methods:

Eligible patients had resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, hypopharynx, or oropharynx (p16-negative) and clinical stage T3-T4 and/or two or more nodal metastases or clinical extracapsular nodal extension (ENE). Patients received neoadjuvant pembrolizumab 200 mg 1–3 weeks prior to surgery, were stratified by absence (intermediate-risk) or presence (high-risk) of positive margins and/or ENE, and received adjuvant radiotherapy (60–66 Gy) and concurrent pembrolizumab (every 3 weeks × 6 doses). Patients with high-risk HNSCC also received weekly, concurrent cisplatin (40 mg/m2). Primary outcome was one-year DFS. Secondary endpoints were one-year overall survival (OS) and pathologic response (PR). Safety was evaluated with CTCAE v5.0.

Results:

From February 2016 to October 2020, 92 patients enrolled. The median age was 59 years (range, 27–80), 30% were female, 86% had stage T3–T4, and 69% had ≥N2. At a median follow-up of 28 months, one-year DFS was 97% (95% CI, 71%–90%) in the intermediate-risk group and 66% (95% CI, 55%–84%) in the high-risk group. Patients with a PR had significantly improved one-year DFS relative to patients without response (93% vs. 72%, hazard ratio 0.29; 95% CI, 11%–77%). No new safety signals were identified.

Conclusions:

Neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab increased one-year DFS rate in intermediate-risk, but not high-risk, HNSCC relative to historical control. PR to neoadjuvant ICB is a promising surrogate for DFS.
Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer: Patient-Derived Organoid Pharmacotyping Is a Predictive Biomarker of Clinical Treatment Response
Authors: Seppälä Toni T. , Zimmerman Jacquelyn W. , Suri Reecha , Zlomke Haley , Ivey Gabriel D. , Szabolcs Annamaria , Shubert Christopher R. , Cameron John L. , Burns William R. , Lafaro Kelly J. , He Jin , Wolfgang Christopher L. , Zou Ying S. , Zheng Lei , Tuveson David A. , Eshlemann James R. , Ryan David P. , Kimmelman Alec C. , Hong Theodore S. , Ting David T. , Jaffee Elizabeth M. , Burkhart Richard A.
Published: April 2022

Purpose:

Patient-derived organoids (PDO) are a promising technology to support precision medicine initiatives for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). PDOs may improve clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) and enable rapid ex vivo chemotherapeutic screening (pharmacotyping).

Experimental Design:

PDOs were derived from tissues obtained during surgical resection and endoscopic biopsies and studied with NGS and pharmacotyping. PDO-specific pharmacotype is assessed prospectively as a predictive biomarker of clinical therapeutic response by leveraging data from a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Results:

Clinical sequencing pipelines often fail to detect PDAC-associated somatic mutations in surgical specimens that demonstrate a good pathologic response to previously administered chemotherapy. Sequencing the PDOs derived from these surgical specimens, after biomass expansion, improves the detection of somatic mutations and enables quantification of copy number variants. The detection of clinically relevant mutations and structural variants is improved following PDO biomass expansion. On clinical trial, PDOs were derived from biopsies of treatment-naïve patients prior to treatment with FOLFIRINOX (FFX). Ex vivo PDO pharmacotyping with FFX components predicted clinical therapeutic response in these patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced PDAC treated in a neoadjuvant or induction paradigm. PDO pharmacotypes suggesting sensitivity to FFX components were associated with longitudinal declines of tumor marker, carbohydrate-antigen 19–9 (CA-19–9), and favorable RECIST imaging response.

Conclusions:

PDOs established from tissues obtained from patients previously receiving cytotoxic chemotherapies can be accomplished in a clinically certified laboratory. Sequencing PDOs following biomass expansion improves clinical sequencing quality. High in vitro sensitivity to standard-of-care chemotherapeutics predicts good clinical response to systemic chemotherapy in PDAC.

See related commentary by Zhang et al., p. 3176
Phase Ib/II Dose Expansion Study of Lenvatinib Combined with Letrozole in Postmenopausal Women with Hormone Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer
Authors: Lim Joline S.J. , Wong Andrea L.A. , Ow Samuel G.W. , Ngoi Natalie Y.L. , Chan Gloria H.J. , Ang Yvonne L.E. , Chong Wan Qin , Lim Siew Eng , Lim Yi Wan , Lee Matilda , Choo Joan R.E. , Tan Hon Lyn , Yong Wei Peng , Soo Ross A. , Tan David S.P. , Chee Cheng Ean , Sundar Raghav , Yadav Kritika , Jain Supriya , Wang Lingzhi , Tai Bee Choo , Goh Boon Cher , Lee Soo-Chin
Published: April 2022

Purpose:

RET is an estrogen response gene with preclinical studies demonstrating cross-talk between the RET and estrogen receptor (ER) pathways. We investigate the role of lenvatinib, a multikinase inhibitor with potent activity against RET, in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Patients and Methods:

Patients with advanced ER+/HER2− breast cancer were treated with lenvatinib plus letrozole in a phase Ib/II trial. Primary objectives included safety and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) determination in phase Ib, and objective response rates (ORR) in phase II dose expansion.

Results:

Sixteen patients were recruited in dose finding, where deescalating doses of lenvatinib from 20 to 14 mg were investigated. Lenvatinib 14 mg plus letrozole 2.5 mg daily was determined as RP2D. Thirty-one patients with 5 median lines of prior therapy in the metastatic setting (range, 0–11) were recruited in dose expansion. In this cohort, ORR was 23.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 9.9%–42.3%], with median duration of response (DoR) of 6.9 months [interquartile range (IQR) 5.9 to 13.1]. Clinical benefit rate ≥6 months (CBR) was 50.0% (95% CI, 31.3%–68.7%). Similar efficacy was observed in the subgroup of 25 patients who progressed on prior CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy [ORR 20.0% (95% CI, 6.8%–40.7%), median DoR 6.9 months (IQR 5.9–13.1), and CBR 52.0% (95% CI, 31.3%–72.2%)]. Pharmacodynamic studies showed target modulation, with paired tumor biopsies indicating downregulation of RET/pERK and improved vascular normalization index.

Conclusions:

Lenvatinib plus letrozole had manageable toxicity, with target engagement and preliminary antitumor activity observed, supporting further assessment in randomized studies.
CDK2 Inhibition Enhances Antitumor Immunity by Increasing IFN Response to Endogenous Retroviruses
Authors: Chen Yu , Cai Qiaomei , Pan Chaohu , Liu Wancheng , Li Lili , Liu Junxiao , Gao Meiling , Li Xiaorong , Wang Liguo , Rao Yu , Yang Heng , Cheng Genhong
Published: April 2022

Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK2) are commonly used against several solid tumors, and their primary mechanisms of action were thought to include cell proliferation arrest, induction of cancer cell apoptosis and induction of differentiation. Here, we found that CDK2 inhibition by either small molecular inhibitors or genetic Cdk2 deficiency promoted antitumor immunity in murine models of fibrosarcoma and lung carcinoma. Mechanistically, CDK2 inhibition reduced phosphorylation of RB protein and transcription of E2F-mediated DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), which resulted in increased expression of endogenous retroviral RNA and type I IFN (IFN-I) response. The increased IFN-I response subsequently promoted antitumor immunity by enhancing tumor antigen presentation and CD8+ T-cell infiltration. Our studies provide evidence that inhibition of CDK2 in cancer cells suppresses tumor growth by enhancing antitumor immune responses in the tumor microenvironment, suggesting a new mechanism to enhance antitumor immunity by CDK2 inhibitors.
The Influence of Oral and Gut Microbiota on Nitrate Supplementation and Sports Performance
Authors: Papaspanos Nikolaos
Published: April 2022

Nitrate supplementation is an effective, evidence-based dietary strategy for enhancing sports performance. The effects of dietary nitrate seem to be mediated by the ability of oral bacteria to reduce nitrate to nitrite, thus increasing the levels of nitrite in circulation that may be further reduced to nitric oxide in the body. The gut microbiota has been recently implicated in sports performance by improving muscle function through the supply of certain metabolites. In this line, skeletal muscle can also serve as a reservoir of nitrate. Here we review the bacteria of the oral cavity involved in the reduction of nitrate to nitrite and the possible changes induced by nitrite and their effect on gastrointestinal balance and gut microbiota homeostasis. The potential role of gut bacteria in the reduction of nitrate to nitrite and as a supplier of the signaling molecule nitric oxide to the blood circulation and muscles has not been explored in any great detail.
Ultra-Processed Foods and the Intestinal Bacterial Flora?
Authors: Backer Mortensen Trude
Published: April 2022

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) consumption could affect gut microbiota diversity and profile. We aimed to evaluate the effects of UPFs on microbiota, considering the role of sex. The consumption of UPFs (using NOVA criteria) was assessed with a validated 137-item food-frequency questionnaire. Participants (n = 359) were classified into less than three servings per day (n = 96) of UPFs and more than five (n = 90). Women and men were subclassified following the same criteria. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed from DNA fecal samples, and differences in microbiota were analyzed using EdgeR. The relationship between UPFs and bacteria was assessed by Spearman correlation and comparison of tertiles of consumption. Women who consumed more than five servings/day of UPFs presented an increase in Acidaminococcus, Butyrivibrio, Gemmiger, Shigella, Anaerofilum, Parabacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Enterobacteriales, Bifidobacteriales and Actinobacteria and a decrease in Melainabacter and Lachnospira. Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacteriales and Actinobacteria was positively associated with pizza and Actinobacteria with industrially processed dairy in women. Men who consumed more than five servings/day presented an increase of Granulicatella, Blautia,Carnobacteriaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Bacteroidia and Bacteroidetes and a decrease of Anaerostipes and Clostridiaceae. Bacteroidia and Bacteroidetes correlated positively with industrially processed meat. This study suggests that UPFs may affect microbiota composition differently in women and men.
Gendered Skill: Skill and Knowledge in Weaving and Archery
Authors: Raphals Lisa
Published: April 2022

Weaving and archery are strongly gendered skills, and both occur repeatedly in both Chinese and Greek accounts of skill and ethics. I examine both metaphors and narratives that liken these skills to various aspects of ethics, wisdom and government, with particular interest in how or whether the account of the skill reflects the experience of the gender of its typical expert.
The Most Controversial Submission before the CLCS: With Reference to the 2019 Malaysia Submission
Authors: Gau Michael Sheng-ti
Published: April 2022

In December 2019 Malaysia submitted information on the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 miles (OL) in the South China Sea (SCS) to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). According to Article 76(8) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Malaysia shall seek CLCS recommendations as the basis for establishing its OL. If notified of a land or maritime dispute, the CLCS shall not consider the submission unless consent is given by all disputants. As of 16 March 2022, the CLCS has received 28 note verbales (NVs) concerning Malaysia’s submission. Apart from those challenging the submission, there are 12 NVs invoking the 2016 SCS Arbitration award to oppose territorial and maritime claims by China in its NVs initially objecting the submission. This article reviews relevant CLCS rules and practice, analyses all 28 NVs, and examines the disputes reflected in the NVs.
Strategic Environmental Assessment in Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: Implementing Integration
Authors: Craik Neil , Gu Kristine
Published: April 2022

Whereas environmental impact assessment (EIA) is broadly accepted as a legal requirement for managing the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), there has been a greater reluctance by States to adopt strategic environmental assessment (SEA) requirements. This suggests the legal basis for SEA is different and less firmly established in international law than EIA. This article examines the distinct legal and policy roles of SEA in managing ABNJ, which then informs our understanding of its legal basis. We argue, unlike EIA’s close association with due diligence obligations to prevent harm, SEA is better understood as a legal mechanism for the implementation of the principle of integration. Recognised as central to marine governance, integration has normative dimensions that must be addressed by States. SEA, we argue, is well-suited to this task. This article addresses SEA for ABNJ generally, but attention is paid to negotiations regarding marine biodiversity of ABNJ.
The Uneasy Coexistence of Expertise and Politics in the World Health Organization
Authors: Gruszczynski Lukasz , Melillo Margherita
Published: April 2022

The World Health Organization (who) has attracted an unprecedented level of criticism over its handling of the response to the covid-19 pandemic. To enhance its legitimacy and better prepare for a future pandemic, various proposals to reform the who and the International Health Regulations have been made. Against this background, this article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussions by investigating the nature of who’s work and its activities. Starting from the premise that much of the criticism stems from the uneasy coexistence of politics and expertise in who’s work, this article analyses some of the most controversial aspects of who’s initial response to the covid-19 pandemic: (i) the alleged leniency towards China; (ii) the delay in declaring a public health emergency of international concern (pheic); and (iii) the delay in recommending the use of face masks for the general population. The article shows that politics infiltrates who activities in different ways, influencing even the processes that are conventionally seen as purely technical and science-based. At the same time, it argues that the influence of politics in who’s work should not be seen as some kind of atrophy, but should rather be considered a natural element that should be managed rather than dreaded.
The Sciant artifices in the Work of Albert the Great: Towards Two Kinds of Transmutation?
Authors: Rinotas Athanasios
Published: April 2022

A few decades ago, William Newman drew attention to the significance of the medieval alchemical debate over the possibility of transmuting metals, which was closely connected to the Avicennan phrase known as Sciant artifices. Newman pointed to Albert the Great (ca. 1200–1280) as one of the participants in this debate. While Newman has covered Albert’s engagement with this Avicennan dictum only partially, this paper aims to enrich our knowledge of this episode by examining a range of further sources concerning Albert’s approach to the Sciant artifices dictum, and thereby to provide a better insight into the role it played in the work of the Dominican master.
The Imperative of Engendering an Egalitarian Legal Framework for the Protection of Female Employees’ Rights in Nigeria
Authors: Eyongndi David Tarh-Akong
Published: April 2022

This article through doctrinal approach, examines both international and domestic legal frameworks (International Labour Organization Equal Remuneration Convention 1951, Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention 1958, Maternity Protection Convention 1952, Beijing Declaration, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, 1988, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Right of Women in Africa, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, 1999 Constitution, Employee Compensation Act, etc that protect female employees rights in Nigeria. It discusses “right” and general employees’ rights in Nigeria howbeit tangentially. It discusses Nigeria’s female employees’ rights and evaluates the laws on general employees’ rights and found that, the vulnerability and peculiarities of female employees, precipitated by their multiple roles in not well recognized and protected under Nigerian labour law when compared with international instrument. It makes vital recommendations on way forward.
Security Privatisation and Working Conditions in Tanzania: Why Security Companies Employ Elders
Authors: Mpambije Chakupewa Joseph , Poncian Japhace
Published: April 2022

The unprecedented globalisation process has necessitated socio-economic and political reforms to keep pace with the changing conditions. One major reform undertaken in Tanzania and across many other countries has been the privatisation of security service provision. Consequently, several profit-oriented security companies have sprung up. Studies have focused on the private security industry regulation and working conditions. This paper examines why security companies employ elders and how they use them to suppress demands for improved working conditions and remuneration. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussions, the paper shows that poor working conditions in the private security sector presents several challenges such as labour conflicts and labour turnover. Poor working conditions also results in security guards engaging themselves in criminal acts. In response to these challenges, companies employ elders and use them to easily suppress complaints from young ones over working conditions and remuneration.
Politically Biased Time Perception and Perspective
Authors: Ouellet Claudie , Tétreault Émie , Grondin Simon
Published: April 2022

The main objective of this study was to determine if the estimation of time could be used to reveal an implicit political bias. The study also aimed at determining if a political bias is related to a specific temporal perspective or to other personality factors. The main demonstration is based on a bisection temporal task where the participants were asked to say if the duration of the presentation of a politician’s photo is short or long. There were three independent variables of interest: the location of politicians on the left (liberal) or right (conservative) on the political axis, the emotions expressed on a politician’s photo (joy, anger or neutral), and the political allegiances of the participants. Overall, compared to conditions with neutral faces or faces expressing joy, participants overestimated the duration of faces expressing anger. This effect, however, depends on the political allegiance of the participants. Compared to the neutral face condition, liberal participants overestimated the length of presentation of politicians’ faces in the joy and anger conditions. The results also showed that, compared to the condition in which photos of conservative politicians are presented, conservative participants underestimated the presentation duration of liberal politicians’ photos; such an influence of the orientation of presented politicians was not observed with liberal participants. The results also reveal that conservative participants differed from liberal participants on the future-oriented scale and on the past-positive-oriented scale of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI). The study shows that time perception can be used to reveal a kind of implicit political bias.
(World) Literature as Ars Vivendi through Collaborative Authorship
Authors: Aliyev Javid
Published: April 2022

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, 46 Portuguese authors collaborated on a serialized hypertext novel:Bode Inspiratório, translated into English asEscape Goat. It draws attention to escapism in literature and calls to the mind a 21st-century retelling of theDecameron, which belongs to the rich sets of texts emanating fromThe Thousand and One Nightswe define in literature asars moriendi. By transferring the act of collective storytelling to a digital platform,Escape Goattransgresses the monologism of authorial isolation by bringing together the heteroglossic structure of the novel with the polyphony of collaborative authorship. This study holds upEscape Goatas a proto example of collaborative Covid-novels and aims to demonstrate how this “novel” form of collaborative authorship extends the boundaries of world literature through a transformation of the escapist, mortuary and agonistic aspect of literature asars moriendi, into the collaborative, ludic and solidarist aspect of literature asars vivendi.
Making the Waste Count: A Contribution to the Political Economy of Youth
Authors: Pais Alexandre
Published: April 2022

This article contributes to the debate on the political economy of youth by exploring elements of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxian theory in the context of youth participation. It will be argued that the mechanisms deployed to support youth participation are part of a university discourse that functions as to guarantee that youth is not wasted but is instead assimilated into the functioning of capitalist political economy. Elements from a large European project will be used to illustrate the modus operandi of this discourse, together with an exploration of Lacan’s notion of jouissance as an important construct to understand the motivations behind young people’s participation in formal settings. The article finishes with a set of remarks about our own role as researchers in the way we enjoy the same economic system that we so often criticise.
Sidereal Astrology in Medieval Europe (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries): Traces of a Forgotten Tradition
Authors: Nothaft C. Philipp E.
Published: April 2022

Sets of astronomical tables available in Latin Europe during the Middle Ages can be classified based on whether they imitated Ptolemy in using a tropical zodiac for displaying planetary mean motions or followed an Indian tradition of preferring a sidereal reference frame. While this basic bifurcation in medieval computational astronomy is well known to modern scholars, there has so far been no systematic research concerning its consequences for the practice of astrology in this period. This article makes a first step by documenting cases from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries where Latin astrologers employed the sidereal zodiac for their calculations or expressly recommended its use for astrological purposes. Basing itself on printed sources as well as unpublished manuscript material, it provides evidence that a commitment to sidereal coordinates united several important figures during the early phases of the assimilation of Islamic mathematical astronomy in Latin Europe, but largely disappeared after 1250. As will be argued in the conclusion, this move away from sidereal astrology may possibly be linked to the thirteenth-century emergence of Paris as a major European center for the study of astrology.
Revising World Cinema through Tamil Cinema
Authors: Kunapulli Amrutha
Published: April 2022

This article situates Tamil cinema as world cinema, and interrogates current definitions of the field and category of world cinema from the perspective of twenty-first century Tamil cinema. In a discipline that has historically privileged national cinemas, the field of world cinema better facilitates the study of a sub-national film industry like Tamil cinema that has been overshadowed by the Hindi film industry in India. However, the current conceptions of world cinema as a category are not entirely suitable to the study of Tamil cinema. By studying examples from twenty-first century Tamil cinema, I propose a revised definition of world cinema, and the associated process of ‘worlding,’ that would expand and revise the parameters of world cinema, and film studies writ large.
Trade Relations between the Ðại Việt Kingdom and the Song Empire in the Long Twelfth Century
Authors: Anderson James A.
Published: April 2022

This article conducts a preliminary examination of the “Long Twelfth Century” to gain a better understanding of the dynamic nature of the network and mechanism whereby trade overland and by sea was conducted in this important contact zone between China and Vietnam. Court-based tribute relations served as a focal point around which traditional Sino-Vietnamese political, economic, and cultural exchange revolved. With the shift from sea routes to overland connections in this period, it was trade issues, not tributary protocol, that would drive official Sino-Vietnamese exchanges in the early period of asserting and securing Vietnamese independence. Indeed, it was trade that stimulated relations throughout the period of the Song dynasty’s decline.
Tricholoma colposii (Tricholomataceae, Basidiomycota), a new edible species of matsutake fungi from Eastern Mexico with economic and biocultural importance
Authors: AYALA-VÁSQUEZ OLIVIA , MARTÍNEZ-REYES MAGDALENA , ISAAC DE LA FUENTE JAVIER , MARTÍNEZ-GONZÁLEZ CÉSAR RAMIRO , FLORES ARMAS LETICIA , HERNÁNDEZ-SANTIAGO FAUSTINO , PEREZ-MORENO JESUS
Published: April 2022

Matsutake fungi include a complex of edible mushrooms highly prized worldwide, particularly in Japan where they are considered one of the most luxurious ingredients. These species establish ectomycorrhizal symbioses with angiosperms and gymnosperms in the Northern Hemisphere and in North America only three species are currently known. In the present contribution a fourth species of this geographical area is described, Tricholoma colposii sp. nov. is described from Veracruz state, in eastern Mexico based on morphological and molecular (nrITS) data. This species is characterized by middle size basidiomata, with orange brown to brown pileus and stipe, squamose when young and with appressed scales in maturity, cylindric, fibrillous to scaly stipe, with globose to ellipsoid (4.5–)5–6 (–7) × (3–) 4–5 (–6) μm smooth spores, sporomes with sweet fruit odor and raw green bean flavour. The species grows associated with Pinus teocote forests. The macro- and micromorphological characters in conjunction with the nrITS-based phylogenetic analysis using Maximum Likelihood method and Bayesian inference support the proposal of this new species of Mexican matsutake. Detailed descriptions, photographs and comparisons with phenetic and phylogenetic related species are presented.
The Virginia Colony, supercessionism, and the origins of whiteness
Authors: Davenport Mary
Published: April 2022

In 1609, the Virginia Company published a series of sermons to garner support for the struggling joint-stock company. This essay analyzes two of these, with special attention to the biblical exegesis used. The two preachers examined, Robert Gray and William Symonds, both employ a hermeneutic of supercessionism—the belief that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred to Christians—to interpret the Bible in ways favorable to the goals of the colonizing power. In particular, supercessionist readings of the call of Abraham and the conquest of the land of Israel depicted in Joshua provide these authors justification for the widespread disenfranchisement and displacement of indigenous peoples and even for outright genocide. While claiming to hold out hope for the conversion of indigenous peoples to the Christian faith, the sermons of the Virginia Company contribute to a version of Christianity of and for white people alone.
censusADHD Study: An Australian-wide medication-based recruitment study for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Lind Penelope A , Medland Sarah E
Published: April 2022

Objective:

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder affects over 5% of children and is characterised by a persistent pattern of problems with focussing or maintaining attention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. The censusADHD Study is a richly phenotyped nationwide cohort of Australian children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The overarching aims of the study are to examine attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication utilisation patterns and treatment response, the impact of children’s attention and behavioural problems on caregivers, and costs related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Methods:

Families of potential attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder cases aged between 6 and 11 years were identified using Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescription records for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medications held by Services Australia and sent a study information letter. Data were collected from 1574 primary caregivers via online survey in 2015, including the behavioural profile of the child, the child’s medication use and experiences with side effects and the impact of the child’s behaviour on the caregiver. Approximately 81% of caregivers also consented to record linkage of the child’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare Benefits Schedule claims to directly assess prescription dispensing history and health service usage to estimate costs to the family and Medicare health system.

Results:

Boys were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder earlier ( p = 0.021), more likely to present as the combined and predominantly hyperactive subtypes ( p = 0.001) and at higher risk of experiencing a school suspension ( p < 0.001) or expulsion ( p = 0.043). Overall, children presenting as the combined subtype had higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities ( p < 0.001). Finally, prescription costs for each family and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme significantly increased in the year following attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis ( p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

Research examining the psychosocial and financial impact of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on Australian children and their families is needed. Our findings demonstrate the importance of examining both gender and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder subtype presentation in future studies.
What is femicide? The United Nations and the measurement of progress in complex epistemic systems
Authors: Walby Sylvia
Published: April 2022

Femicide is a key global indicator of progress towards gender equality. The occurrence of some but not all five gender dimensions in the indicators of violence used to measure progress towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5, 11 and 16 are analysed as resulting from the tension between divergent feminist strategies that focus either on women-only or on mainstreaming intersecting inequalities. The tension between universalist and particularist projects underlies the contestations over the construction of these gendered indicators. The analysis develops a conceptualisation of indicators as assets in order to capture the social relations of power involved (rather than as boundary objects), supported by platforms (which can be public as well as corporate) and generated by dynamic epistemic systems (rather than stable epistemological infrastructures).
African immigrant students’ participation in Canadian health-promoting schools
Authors: Nyika Lawrence
Published: April 2022

Background:

Students are key stakeholders in schools, and their participation in the work of health-promoting schools (HPS) is crucial. This study focused on African immigrant students to Canada, who face the unique challenge of navigating unfamiliar school systems. The purpose of the study was to understand how immigrant students imagined, felt and thought about themselves in relation to education and health-related programmes from their perspective as Nova Scotia school stakeholders.

Methods:

The investigation was informed by critical race theory and social constructivism and involved three research methods: photovoice, individual interviews and focus groups. Study participants were 15 secondary school students of colour, aged between 12 and 21 years, who had migrated to Nova Scotia from Africa and the Caribbean region within the last 10 years.

Findings:

Three overarching themes were developed from the study relating to: the pedagogy of the HPS, Black consciousness and school health culture.

Conclusion:

Research participants perceived their participation in HPS as racially and pedagogically challenging, to a variable extent. Study findings highlight the significance to HPS programming of authentically representing Blackness, familiarity or love, and Afro-Caribbean cultural food.
Is mediation a profession? Views of professionals and trainers from an international perspective
Authors: Blanco Marta
Published: April 2022

The main aim of this article is to understand whether, in the opinion of experts and professionals, mediation has sufficient substance to be considered an autonomous profession in comparison with other professions and specifically with social work. For this purpose, a qualitative study was performed based on an analysis of the data obtained from 17 interviews and three focus groups held with participants from eight different countries. Above all, the conclusions of this study offer an international and multidisciplinary perspective that should be taken into account in order to clarify and resolve the difficulties affecting the professional status of mediators.
Social work, neoliberalism, and post-disaster intervention: The 1985, 2010, and 2015 Chilean earthquakes
Authors: Saavedra Juan , Alvarado-Cañuta Catalina
Published: April 2022

The article analyzes the contexts and specificities of post-disaster social work intervention based on the testimonies of social workers who participated in the recovery and normalization processes after the earthquakes of 1985, 2010, and 2015 in Chile. The neoliberal context has influence in the social intervention. As neoliberalism deepens, there is more technology and better access to material resources, but at the same time, professional autonomy and community knowledge decrease. Research suggests there is a need for further critical discussion about how social work has been colonized by neoliberalism, even in seemingly neutral issues such as post-disaster intervention.
Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem as Mediators of the Effects of Cultural Involvement on the Wellbeing of Indigenous Andean People
Authors: Gutiérrez-Carmona Andrés , Urzúa Alfonso
Published: April 2022

Evaluate the relationship between the cultural involvement and the different dimensions of the Lickan-Antay well-being, as well as the possible mediating effect of ethnic identity and the self-esteem in this relationship. An observational design was used. Three hundred ninety-five Lickan-Antay adult men and women residing in Lickan-Antay development areas and in two cities and northern Chile participated. The variables well-being, Lickan-Antay cultural involvement, self-esteem, and ethnic identity were measured with validated ad hoc scales and with good fit indicators. Cultural involvement has a positive direct effect on dimensions of Lickan-Antay well-being, and total and specific indirect effects on all dimensions of Lickan-Antay well-being, through self-esteem and ethnic identity. Self-esteem and ethnic identity explain an important part of the relationship between cultural involvement and the different dimensions of Lickan-Antay well-being. The results were discussed in the light of previous theories on cultural involvement, ethnic identity, and self-esteem and their relationship with well-being in indigenous communities, recognizing the particularities of these last ones in the Andean Latin American context.
Mucoadhesive Nucleoside-Based Hydrogel Delays Oral Leukoplakia Canceration
Authors: Ding T. , Zou J. , Qi J. , Dan H. , Tang F. , Zhao H. , Chen Q.
Published: April 2022

Some oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) originate from preexisting oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). Oral leukoplakia (OLK) is the most common and typical OPMD in the clinic, so treatment for it is essential to reduce OSCC incidence. Local chemotherapy is an option other than surgery considering the superficial site of OLK. However, there are no standardized drugs applied to OLK, and traditionally used chemotherapeutic drugs revealed limited efficacy for lack of adhesion. Hence, there is a growing demand to prepare new agents that combine mucoadhesion with an anti-OLK effect. Here, an isoguanosine–tannic acid (isoG-TA) supramolecular hydrogel via dynamic borate esters was successfully fabricated based on isoG and TA. Previously reported guanosine-TA (G-TA) hydrogel was also explored for an anti-OLK effect. Both gels not only exhibited ideal adhesive properties but also integrated anti-OLK activities in one system. In vitro cell viability indicated that isoG and TA inhibited the proliferation of dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOKs). The in vivo OLK model evidence revealed that both gels showed potential to prevent OLK canceration. In addition, the probable anti-DOK mechanisms of isoG and TA were investigated. The results indicated that isoG could bind to adenosine kinase (ADK) and then affected the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway to inhibit DOK proliferation. TA could significantly and continuously reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in DOKs through its antioxidant effect. ROS plays an important role in the progression of cell cycle. We proved that the low level of ROS may inhibit DOK proliferation by inducing G0/G1 arrest in the cell cycle. Altogether, this study innovatively fabricated an isoG-TA hydrogel with ideal adhesion, and both isoG and TA showed in vitro inhibition of DOKs. Moreover, both isoG-TA and G-TA hydrogels possessed potential in delaying the malignant transformation of OLK, and the G-TA hydrogel showed a better statistical effect, providing an effective strategy for controlling OLK.
The Price Entitlement Effect: When and Why High Price Entitles Consumers to Purchase Socially Costly Products
Authors: Lee Saerom , Winterich Karen Page
Published: April 2022

This research investigates when and why consumers purchase products with social costs (e.g., environmental harm). Six studies demonstrate that upper-class consumers are more likely to purchase a product with social costs when it has a higher price because they experience greater entitlement, which the authors term the “price entitlement effect,” allowing for purchase justification. In contrast, lower-class consumers do not feel entitled to purchase a product with social costs when it is higher-priced. This effect occurs because upper-class consumers tend to have a greater self-focus, with a higher price entitling them to more resources than others. Consistent with the entitlement mechanism, when egalitarian values are made salient, the price entitlement effect is mitigated, reducing upper-class consumers’ purchase of socially costly products. Notably, the price entitlement effect occurs only when products have social costs rather than for all higher-priced products. However, when the social costs of a product are severe, price entitlement does not sufficiently justify product purchase. This research provides theoretical and practical insights regarding when and why higher price entitles purchase of socially costly products, contributing to research on social class and socially responsible (vs. costly) consumption as well as choice justification.
What is rebel governance? Introducing a new dataset on rebel institutions, 1945–2012
Authors: Albert Karen E
Published: April 2022

In the course of civil war, it is not unusual for armed rebels, who are fighting to either take control of a state or create a new one, to create state-like governing institutions. For example, nearly 64% of rebels between 1945 and 2012 created at least one governing institution. One challenge to moving the literature on rebel governance forward is getting data on the many possible institutions that comprise rebel governance. I introduce new data, the Rebel Quasi-State Institutions dataset, which covers 235 rebel groups and codes annually for 25 institutions during the entire existence of the group. I demonstrate the usefulness of this new dataset by exploring a relationship important to scholars: that of rebel strength and rebel governance institutions ( Stewart, 2020 ). These analyses show two things. First, there is value in disaggregating rebel governance and looking at institutions separately because not all governance institutions are correlated with strength in the same direction. Second, taking into account the time dimension is important. Since rebel conventional capability increased as a result of the end of the Cold War (Kalyvas & Balcells, 2010) and rebel institutions became more prevalent, there is an important time component to rebel governance that correlates with events in the international system.
When dark deeds come to light: Countering negative gender/power tropes from Bible to boardroom
Authors: Miles-Tribble Valerie
Published: April 2022

Gender bias in leadership is an egregious yet common reality in the societal mores of male-dominant cultures. Contentious ecclesial debates about gender bias pit prejudices against female leadership roles when girded by biblical tropes engaged to disparage female character and leadership behavior. Sexualized imagery in the textual narrative is misappropriated to libel females who are leading change with ethical and behavioral competencies lauded in their male counterparts. In the politically charged context of recent national elections, the newly installed Vice President of the United States was publicly labeled a “Jezebel” to connote a racially and sexually derisive trope calling into question a woman’s scruples in private spheres as well as disparaging her agency. As I refer to Tamura Lomax’s extensive analysis of this trope, I examine in this article the hermeneutical misappropriation of Bathsheba imagery, wherein the behavior of biblical figure King David is normalized as the beloved of God while Bathsheba is villainized. The presumptive insinuation is that women use sexual guiles to advance careers, social station, or positional power. Judgmental inequities in contemporary and biblical examples raise an urgency to counter negative gender/power tropes from the Bible to the boardroom.
Reframing tension for transformation: Bridge-crossing | bridge-making | bridge-being
Authors: Onwubuariri Marie Clare P.
Published: April 2022

This article presents a leadership model called bridging that I continue to develop as I progressively acknowledge my embedded tendencies and tensions long-experienced at the intersections and margins of my multicultural self and in cross-cultural communities. From within this social location, I attempt to translate what has been a precarious leadership journey into an experiential model promoting intentional communities, interpretations, and activities with an overarching purpose of reframing tension for the work of transformation. My conceptualization of intentional communities has three descriptors: (1) multicultural, (2) value-driven, and (3) prophetic. I then invite leaders to consider their interpretations of three categories of common tensions: (1) tension among the community, (2) tension between reality and vision, and (3) tension residing within individual leaders. I posit that the practice of reinterpretation is crucial to the work of bridging. The praxis of bridging as a leadership model is then categorized into three interrelated activities: (1) bridge-crossing, (2) bridge-making, and (3) bridge-being. Each discussion is undergirded by a biblical exemplar and described as necessary for reframing destructive tension toward transformative tension. In the final section, I advocate that bridge-leaders commit to self-care through connectedness to what I explain as one’s spiritual home and core cultural home and as a crucial component in sustaining bridge leaders for their important role in helping communities reach their vision for personal, communal, and systemic change.
Rifted subjects, fractured Earth: ‘Progress’ as learning to live on a self-transforming planet
Authors: Clark Nigel , Szerszynski Bron
Published: April 2022

In this article we make a case for an understanding of human difference that attends to the way that social collectives engage with the Earth’s own capacity for self-differentiation. This draws us into conversation with recent interpretations of Hegel that see at the heart of his philosophy not a self-aggrandizing human agent set against a passive nature but an inherently fractured subject confronting a no-less intrinsically sundered outer reality. We use the example of traditional open-field cultural burning to show how skilled operators can painstakingly develop responses to ecoclimatic variability, putting this into dialogue with Hegel’s reflections on the ‘incendiarism’ of political revolution as a human expression of the wider self-antagonism of nature. We go on to make connections between Hegel’s account of the way that subjects can anticipate their own futurity and Indigenous conceptions of non-linear time, suggesting that the emergence of new earth-oriented practices can be seen as a complex interrelation of past, present and future. We close by suggesting that ‘progress’ for Hegel is not about the collective subject achieving omniscience and omnipotence, but involves the onerous and harrowing coming to terms with both its own divided identity and its exposure to a discordant external reality.