bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Designing An Anterolateral Thigh Flap Using Ultrasound
Authors: Visconti Giuseppe , Bianchi Alessandro , Hayashi Akitatsu , Salgarello Marzia
Published: December 2021

Background Preoperative knowledge of themicrovascular anatomy of a patientmay improve safetyand efficacy and reduce morbidity. Today, with the advancement in technology, ultrasound can provide minute details of the structures within the body, which makes this technology very helpful in preoperative evaluation of the traditional perforator flaps as well as thin, superthin, and pure skin perforator flaps.

Methods In this article, we will describe the design of one of the most popular perforator flaps, the anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap, using high-frequency and ultrahigh-frequency ultrasound technology.

Results Ultrasound technology allows to study preoperatively the ALT donor-site and its microvascular anatomy by using different US modalities in order to provide a virtual surgical plan to the operating surgeon.

Conclusion Ultrasound technology allow to expand preoperative knowledge of flap microvascular anatomy and its course within the subcutaneous tissue up to and within the dermis, allowing to select the best perforator for the given reconstruction and the plane of elevation for thin, superthin and pure skin perforator flap.
Microsurgical Scalp Reconstruction: An Overview of the Contemporary Approach
Authors: Song Ping , Pu Lee L. Q.
Published: December 2021

Background Microsurgical scalp reconstruction has evolved immensely in the last half-century. The core concepts of microsurgical scalp reconstruction have always been to transfer soft tissue of a sufficient quality to within the defect while minimizing donor site morbidity. Refinements in scalp reconstruction consist of both improvement in reducing donor site morbidity and enhancing recipient site contour and balance. Furthermore, technical advancements and the vast experience within our field have allowed for preoperative evaluation of recipient vessels that are more favorable in proximity to the scalp.

Methods In this review, we aim to describe the contemporary approach to microsurgical scalp reconstruction. This is to include the indications of choosing free flaps as well as how to select the ideal flap based on patient-oriented factors. The need for cranioplasty, recipient vessel selection, operative technique, and reoperations is also reviewed. In addition, our considerations and the nuances within each category are also described.

Summary Scalp reconstructions involve the fundamental tenants of plastic surgery and demand application of these principles to each case on an individual basis and a successful reconstruction must consider all aspects, with backup options at the ready. Two workhorse free flaps, the anterolateral thigh perforator and latissimus dorsi muscles flaps, serve a primary role in the contemporary approach to microsurgical scalp reconstruction.

Conclusion We hope this review can lay the foundation for which future plastic surgeons may continue to build and advance the approach to complex microsurgical scalp reconstruction.
CT-Guided Transhepatic Catheter Drainage of Deep Postoperative Collections: Initial Experience
Authors: Baby Akhil , Joy Danny , Dash Nihar R. , Pal Sujoy , Srivastava Deep N. , Madhusudhan Kumble S.
Published: December 2021

Purpose This article assesses the safety and utility of transhepatic drainage of deep seated postoperative intra-abdominal collections under computed tomography (CT) guidance in a short series.

Methods This retrospective study included five patients (mean age: 45.8 years; 3 males, 2 females) who underwent CT-guided transhepatic drainage of postoperative abdominal abscess in our department between April 2019 and December 2020. The clinical and surgical details and the details of the transhepatic drainage procedure were evaluated along with success rates and complications.

Results The surgical procedures were Whipple's pancreaticoduodenectomy in four patients and gastrectomy in one patient. Four out of five abscesses were drained through the right lobe of liver, while one was through the left lobe with a technical success rate of 100%. The mean total time for catheter drainage procedure including patient positioning and preparation was 29.2 minutes. None of the patients had procedure-related complications. Mean duration of catheter drainage was 12 days. All patients had complete resolution of symptoms after drainage and the clinical success rate was 100%.

Conclusion Transhepatic approach is safe and effective for the drainage of inaccessible postoperative abdominal collections or abscesses where a standard percutaneous approach is not possible.
Perforator-Based Flap Reconstruction after Melanoma Resection: Evaluation of Oncological, Aesthetic, and Functional Outcomes
Authors: Brunetti Beniamino , Salzillo Rosa , Tenna Stefania , Brunetti Bruno , Bonetti Mario Alessandri , Rivieccio Antonia , Persichetti Paolo
Published: December 2021

Background Evidence in literature about the best reconstructive approach after melanoma resection is controversial, with some authors advocating that tissue rearrangement flap techniques might hinder the early detection of local relapses. The aim of the present study is to evaluate oncological, aesthetic, and functional outcomes following melanoma reconstruction using pedicled perforator-based flaps.

Methods The authors reviewed all patients affected by melanoma treated during a 6-year period. Demographic data, tumor characteristics, and operative variables were evaluated. Locoregional recurrence was assessed with clinical and radiological follow-up. One-year postoperatively patients rated on a 5-point Likert scale the aesthetic and functional outcomes of the procedure. Three blind observers examined preoperative and 1-year postoperative photographs and rated the aesthetic outcome of the reconstructive procedure.

Results One-hundred sixty-five patients were treated with wide excision and delayed reconstruction, including pedicled perforator-based flaps in 70 patients (group A) and primary closure in 95 patients (group B). Mean Breslow thickness was 2.972 and 2.189 mm in group A and B, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in locoregional recurrence (chi-squared test, p = 0.8333; Fisher's exact test, p > 0.9999) between the two groups. Group A reported a higher satisfaction with both the aesthetic (mean rating 4.390 in group A and 4.094 in group B) and functional (mean rating 4.732 in group A and 4.170 in group B) outcomes of the procedure, the latter being statistically significant (p = 0.0006).

Conclusion This series suggests that pedicled perforator-based flaps provide optimal aesthetic and functional outcomes in melanoma reconstruction without impairing the locoregional control of the disease.
5 Metal-Catalyzed C—H Activation
Authors: Xing Y.-K. , Fang P. , Wang Z.-H. , Mei T.-S.
Published: December 2021

Synthetic organic electrochemistry is currently experiencing a renaissance, the merger of electrochemistry with transition-metal-catalyzed C—H activation would provide not only an environmentally friendly approach, but also offer new opportunities that conventional transition-metal catalysis may not have achieved. In this chapter, we summarize the recent progress made in catalytic C—H activation reactions using organometallic electrochemistry, including C—C, C—O, C—N, C—halogen, and C—P bond-forming reactions.
6 Bipolar Electrochemistry for Synthesis
Authors: Villani E. , Inagi S.
Published: December 2021

Bipolar electrochemistry has gained remarkable interest in recent years, especially in the fields of materials science and organic electrosynthesis. This is due to the interesting features of this particular electrochemical technology, such as the contactless nature of the electrochemical reactions, the use of low concentrations of supporting electrolytes, and the synergetic action of electrophoresis and electrolysis. In this chapter, the most important contributions regarding bipolar electrochemistry for the electrosynthesis of novel functional materials are reviewed. These contributions include the most traditional industrial applications and bipolar reactors for electroorganic synthesis, as well as innovative approaches for the fabrication of anisotropic materials and gradient surfaces. The peculiar characteristics of bipolar electrochemistry in these fields are emphasized.
Multi-phase field simulation of competitive grain growth for directional solidification
Authors: Zhu Chang-Sheng , Gao Zi-Hao , Lei Peng , Feng Li , Zhao Bo-Rui
Published: December 2021

The multi-phase field model of grain competitive growth during directional solidification of alloy is established. Solving multi-phase field models for thin interface layer thickness conditions, the grain boundary evolution and grain elimination during the competitive growth of SCN-0.24-wt% camphor model alloy bi-crystals are investigated. The effects of different crystal orientations and pulling velocities on grain boundary microstructure evolution are quantitatively analyzed. The obtained results are shown below. In the competitive growth of convergent bi-crystals, when favorably oriented dendrites are in the same direction as the heat flow and the pulling speed is too large, the orientation angle of the bi-crystal from small to large size is the normal elimination phenomenon of the favorably oriented dendrite, blocking the unfavorably oriented dendrite, and the grain boundary is along the growth direction of the favorably oriented dendrite. When the pulling speed becomes small, the grain boundary shows the anomalous elimination phenomenon of the unfavorably oriented dendrite, eliminating the favorably oriented dendrite. In the process of competitive growth of divergent bi-crystal, when the growth direction of favorably oriented dendrites is the same as the heat flow direction and the orientation angle of unfavorably oriented grains is small, the frequency of new spindles of favorably oriented grains is significantly higher than that of unfavorably oriented grains, and as the orientation angle of unfavorably oriented dendrites becomes larger, the unfavorably oriented grains are more likely to have stable secondary dendritic arms, which in turn develop new primary dendritic arms to occupy the liquid phase grain boundary space, but the grain boundary direction is still parallel to favorably oriented dendrites. In addition, the tertiary dendritic arms on the developed secondary dendritic arms may also be blocked by the surrounding lateral branches from further developing into nascent main axes, this blocking of the tertiary dendritic arms has a random nature, which can have aninfluence on the generation of nascent primary main axes in the grain boundaries.
Smart Decarceration
Authors: Pettus Carrie
Published: December 2021

After a period of mass incarceration that spanned the 1970s through the 2010s, the United States remains the leading incarcerator in the world. Incarceration rates in the United States outpace those of other countries by several hundred per 100,000. Incarceration rates began to decline slightly in 2009, when there was a loss of fiscal, political, and moral will for mass incarceration policy and practices. First, the onset of smart decarceration approaches, the historical context from which smart decarceration stems, and the societal momentum that led to the conceptualization of smart decarceration are described. Smart decarceration is a lead strategy in social work that has been adopted by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare as one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work for the decade 2015–2025. Finally, an overview of the current status of smart decarceration and details shifts and initiatives to pursue at the intersection of social work and smart decarceration is provided.
Evidence-Based Macro Practice
Authors: Guerrero Erick G. , Khachikian Tenie , Nair Murali
Published: December 2021

Evidence-based macro practices (EBMPs) rely on the best available evidence to promote system change. The field of social work needs to develop, implement, and disseminate EBMPs to respond to increasing public accountability to deliver cost-effective interventions that promote health and well-being among vulnerable populations. There are several evidence-based macro practices at the community and organizational levels that have potential to improve the effectiveness of social work practice. These EBMPs, their components, and the critical role they play in improving interventions and enacting change at a macro level are important. Building science in social work, informing practice in the 21st century, and effectively responding to system-wide challenges (e.g., epidemics, institutional racism, growing inequality) that disproportionally impact the health and well-being of the most vulnerable members of our society are important areas to explore.
Responses to Environmental Change
Authors: Mason Lisa Reyes , Kemp Susan P. , Palinkas Lawrence A. , Krings Amy
Published: December 2021

Communities worldwide are facing environmental crises such as air pollution, water shortages, climate change, and other forms of environmental change and degradation. While technical solutions for environmental change are essential, so too are solutions that consider social acceptability, value cultural relevance, and prioritize equity and social justice. Social work has a critical and urgent role in creating and implementing macrolevel social responses to environmental change. The key concepts of environmental change, environmental and ecological justice, social vulnerability, and social responses are discussed. A description of the roles and skills unique to macro social workers for this effort is given, followed by examples of macrolevel strategies and interventions. Opportunities and directions for future social work responses to a changing environment are identified.
de Joya, Petra
Authors: Ealdama Yolanda
Published: December 2021

Petra de Joya (1913–1987) was an eminent educator and social administrator. She spearheaded the professionalization of social work in the Philippines by advocating for the passage of laws that were instrumental for the development of social work in the country. The following laws were enacted as a result of her advocacy: (a) Republic Act regulating the social work profession in the Philippines and requiring social welfare agencies to hire professional social workers; (b) a Republic Act elevating the Department of Social Work to the Institute of Social Work and Community Development at the University of the Philippines; and (c) a Republic Act transforming the Social Welfare Administration (SWA) into the Department of Social Welfare (DSW). She was appointed as one of the first board of examiners for social work.
Worker Justice Campaigns
Authors: Brooks Fred , Gutwirth Amanda
Published: December 2021

If one of the goals of macro social work in the United States is to decrease poverty and inequality, by most measures it has largely failed that mission over the past 40 years. After briefly documenting the four-decade rise in inequality and extreme poverty in the United States, three organizing campaigns are highlighted—living wage, Fight for $15, and strikes by public school educators—that fought hard to reverse such trends. A strategy, “bargaining for the common good,” which was implemented across those campaigns, is analyzed as a key ingredient to their success.
Christiansen, Kikkan Ustvedt
Authors: Slettebø Tor
Published: December 2021

As a feminist, social worker, administrator, educator, researcher, writer, and editor Kikkan Ustvedt Christiansen (1932–2020) was one of the pioneers in developing social work as a professional practice into an academic discipline and research field in Norway. Even when she ended her career as a respected researcher in child welfare, she never surrendered her identity as a practitioner and engagement for social justice.
Are TOPF and WRAT WR Interchangeable Measures among Psychiatric Inpatients?
Authors: Rosen Alexis S , King Loren C , Kinney Dominique I , Nitch Stephen R , Glassmire David M
Published: December 2021

Objective

To examine whether Test of Premorbid Functioning (TOPF) and Wide Range Achievement Test—Word Reading subtest (WRAT WR) are interchangeable measures, and the relationship between these measures and intelligence, among patients with schizophrenia.

Method

In this archival study, the authors examined neuropsychology referrals of an inpatient forensic state hospital. Patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) who received the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition or the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence—Second Edition and either TOPF or WRAT WR were considered for inclusion. The final sample consisted of 119 individuals (73.1% male).

Results

Although there was a linear relationship between most TOPF variables and WRAT WR, their concordance was weak (concordance correlation coefficients [CCC] < 0.90). Poor concordance was also observed between current FSIQ and all standard scores (SS) derived from word reading measures. FSIQ-word reading measure discrepancy scores differed significantly from a hypothesized mean of 0 (mean discrepancy range = −7.42 to −16.60). Discrepancies greater than one standard deviation (>1 SD) were highest among demographics-based SS (i.e. TOPF Predicted and Simple without TOPF). Performance-based SS, particularly TOPF Actual and WRAT4 WR, had the fewest discrepancy scores >1 SD fromFSIQ.

Conclusions

TOPF and WRAT WR should not be used interchangeably among institutionalized patients with SSDs. TOPF and WRAT WR were discrepant from FSIQ, with demographic variables producing higher SS relative to performance-based variables. Future research is needed to determine which of these measures more accurately estimates intelligence among inpatients withSSDs.
Wall shear stress angle is associated with aortic growth in bicuspid aortic valve patients
Authors: Minderhoud Savine C S , Roos-Hesselink Jolien W , Chelu Raluca G , Bons Lidia R , van den Hoven Allard T , Korteland Suze-Anne , van den Bosch Annemien E , Budde Ricardo P J , Wentzel Jolanda J , Hirsch Alexander
Published: December 2021

Aims

Aortic wall shear stress (WSS) distributions in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients have been associated with aortic dilatation, but prospective, longitudinal data are missing. This study assessed differences in aortic WSS distributions between BAV patients and healthy controls and determined the association of WSS with aortic growth in patients.

Methods and results

Sixty subjects underwent four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance of the thoracic aorta (32 BAV patients and 28 healthy controls). Peak velocity, pulse wave velocity, aortic distensibility, peak systolic WSS (magnitude, axial, and circumferential), and WSS angle were assessed. WSS angle is defined as the angle between the WSSmagnitude and WSSaxial component. In BAV patients, three-year computed tomography angiography-based aortic volumetric growth was determined in the proximal and entire ascending aorta. WSSaxial was significantly lower in BAV patients compared with controls (0.93 vs. 0.72 Pa, P = 0.047) and WSScircumferential and WSS angle were significantly higher (0.29 vs. 0.64 Pa and 18° vs. 40°, both P < 0.001). Significant volumetric growth of the proximal ascending aorta occurred in BAV patients (from 49.1 to 52.5 cm3, P = 0.003). In multivariable analysis corrected for baseline aortic volume and diastolic blood pressure, WSS angle was the only parameter independently associated with proximal aortic growth (P = 0.031). In the entire ascending aorta, besides the WSS angle, the WSSmagnitude was also independently associated with growth.

Conclusion

Increased WSScircumferential and especially WSS angle are typical in BAV patients. WSS angle was found to predict aortic growth. These findings highlight the potential role of WSS measurements in BAV patients to stratify patients at risk for aortic dilation.
Implementation of Forestry Best Management Practices and Sediment Delivery in Three Regions of North Carolina and Virginia
Authors: Hawks Brent S , Bolding M Chad , Aust W Michael , Barrett Scott M , Schilling Erik , Horton Celeste N
Published: December 2021

Forestry best management practices (BMPs) were created in response to the Clean Water Act of 1972 to protect water quality from nonpoint source pollutants such as sediment. The objectives of this study were to quantify the relationship between BMP implementation and sediment delivery on 58 recently harvested sites across three physiographic regions and five forest operational features. BMP implementation rates, erosion rates, sediment delivery ratios, and sediment masses were calculated at 183 silt fences functioning as sediment traps adjacent to streams in Virginia and North Carolina. Major access system features, including stream crossings, skid trails, and haul roads, typically delivered the greatest sediment mass to streams and had the highest sediment delivery ratios on a per feature basis. When accounting for sediment mass delivered and area in each feature, harvest area accounted for approximately 70% of sediment delivered to streams for all regions. Most features had proportionally higher erosion rates than sediment masses collected at silt fences, indicating that most erosion generated by forest operations is being trapped by either harvest areas or streamside management zones. For most features and regions, as BMP implementation increased, erosion rates and the sediment masses delivered to streams decreased.
A study of low-carbon development, urban innovation and industrial structure upgrading in China
Authors: Chen Mingqing
Published: December 2021

This paper, based on the panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China, applies the difference-in-differences (DID) approach and the propensity score matching DID (PSM-DID) approach to an empirical study on the impacts of the low-carbon pilot program on industrial structure. It concludes that the program has contributed significantly to more rational industrial structures of pilot areas. The study shows that pilot areas have more rational industrial structures than non-pilot areas, recording an increase of 0.058 units in average rational level. This conclusion holds under various robustness tests. Further heterogeneity analysis suggests that the low-carbon pilot program has notably boosted the rational levels of industrial structures of cities in central China and small cities, while less so for other parts of China or other larger cities. Mechanism test shows that low-carbon cities have realized industrial structure upgrading by facilitating urban innovation. In light of this, the low-carbon pilot program should be further put in place steadily with a focus on tailoring pilot policies to local conditions and enhancing their economic adaptability. The role of the program in optimizing industrial structure should be fully leveraged to effectively add to efforts in actively exploring green, low-carbon sustainable development of economy and pulling off the transformation of both economic structure and energy mix.
Pricing double-barrier Parisian options
Authors: Liu Chun-Yang , Zhu Song-Ping , Zhang Shu-Hua
Published: December 2021

Parisian options are a useful real-option tool in risk management, particularly for corporate bankruptcy protection. However, in the past, only one barrier with the Parisian feature was studied in the literature, possibly due to the additional complication that arises with the co-existence of two barriers. In this paper, we present an analytic solution for the valuation of European-style double-barrier Parisian options by casting the pricing problem into three inter-coupled partial differential equations. These are then solved using a dimension reduction procedure and the ‘moving window’ technique. Our solution is in an explicit and analytical form that is written in terms of multiple integrals. This represents an important advantage over the purely numerical approaches previously published in the literature.
Point-of-care semi-quantitative test for adherence to tenofovir alafenamide or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate
Authors: Sevenler Derin , Niu Xin , Dossantos Sandy , Toner Mehmet , Cressey Tim R. , Sandlin Rebecca D. , Drain Paul K.
Published: December 2021

Objectives

Objective measurement of antiretrovirals may aid clinical interventions for improving adherence to HIV prevention or treatment regimens. A point-of-care urine test could provide real-time information about recent adherence to regimens containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate or tenofovir alafenamide. We developed a lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) and ELISA for urinary tenofovir.

Methods

The intensity of the LFA test line was quantified using an optical reader and visually scored 0–5 by two independent people, using a reference card. The sensitivity and specificity of both the ELISA and LFA were determined for two different tenofovir concentration cut-offs for tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and tenofovir alafenamide adherence—1500 and 150 ng/mL, respectively. To validate the assays, we measured 586 urine samples from 28 individuals collected as part of a study of tenofovir pharmacokinetics in adults, which were also measured by MS for reference.

Results

Both the LFA signal and ELISA signal were each strongly correlated with drug concentrations (0.91 and 0.92, respectively). The LFA signal and ELISA were highly sensitive and specific at both thresholds (LFA sensitivity/specificity: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, 89%/96%; and tenofovir alafenamide, 90%/96%) (ELISA sensitivity/specificity: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, 94%/94%; and tenofovir alafenamide, 92%/84%). Visual scoring of the LFA was also highly sensitive and specific at both the tenofovir disoproxil fumarate threshold and the tenofovir alafenamide threshold (sensitivity/specificity: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, 91%/94%; and tenofovir alafenamide, 87%/90%).

Conclusions

Our rapid semi-quantitative test can measure tenofovir concentrations relevant to both tenofovir alafenamide and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate adherence, which may support adherence-promoting interventions across a range of HIV care settings.
Calculi, countermodel generation and theorem prover for strong logics of counterfactual reasoning
Authors: Girlando Marianna , Lellmann Björn , Olivetti Nicola , Pesce Stefano , Pozzato Gian Luca
Published: December 2021

We present hypersequent calculi for the strongest logics in Lewis’ family of conditional systems, characterized by uniformity and total reflexivity. We first present a non-standard hypersequent calculus, which allows a syntactic proof of cut elimination. We then introduce standard hypersequent calculi, in which sequents are enriched by additional structures to encode plausibility formulas and diamond formulas. Proof search using these calculi is terminating, and the completeness proof shows how a countermodel can be constructed from a branch of a failed proof search. We then describe tuCLEVER, a theorem prover that implements the standard hypersequent calculi. The prover provides a decision procedure for the logics, and it produces a countermodel in case of proof search failure. The prover tuCLEVER is inspired by the methodology of leanTAP and it is implemented in Prolog. Preliminary experimental results show that the performances of tuCLEVER are promising.1
piRNAs of Caenorhabditis elegans broadly silence nonself sequences through functionally random targeting
Authors: McEnany John , Meir Yigal , Wingreen Ned S
Published: December 2021

Small noncoding RNAs such as piRNAs are guides for Argonaute proteins, enabling sequence-specific, post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The piRNAs of Caenorhabditis elegans have been observed to bind targets with high mismatch tolerance and appear to lack specific transposon targets, unlike piRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster and other organisms. These observations support a model in which C. elegans piRNAs provide a broad, indiscriminate net of silencing, competing with siRNAs associated with the CSR-1 Argonaute that specifically protect self-genes from silencing. However, the breadth of piRNA targeting has not been subject to in-depth quantitative analysis, nor has it been explained how piRNAs are distributed across sequence space to achieve complete coverage. Through a bioinformatic analysis of piRNA sequences, incorporating an original data-based metric of piRNA-target distance, we demonstrate that C. elegans piRNAs are functionally random, in that their coverage of sequence space is comparable to that of random sequences. By possessing a sufficient number of distinct, essentially random piRNAs, C. elegans is able to target arbitrary nonself sequences with high probability. We extend this approach to a selection of other nematodes, finding results which elucidate the mechanism by which nonself mRNAs are silenced, and have implications for piRNA evolution and biogenesis.
Outcomes of intracranial germinoma—A retrospective multinational Asian study on effect of clinical presentation and differential treatment strategies
Authors: Koh Kyung-Nam , Wong Ru Xin , Lee Dong-Eun , Han Jung Woo , Byun Hwa Kyung , Yoon Hong In , Kim Dong-Seok , Lyu Chuhl Joo , Kang Hyoung Jin , Hong Kyung Taek , Lee Joo Ho , Kim Il Han , Phi Ji Hoon , Kim Seung-Ki , Wong Tai-Tong , Lee Hsin-Lun , Lai I-Chun , Kang Yu-Mei , Ra Young-Shin , Ahn Seung Do , Im Ho Joon , Looi Wen Shen , Low Sharon Yin Yee , Tan Enrica Ee Kar , Park Hyun Jin , Shin Sang Hoon , Fuji Hiroshi , Suh Chang-Ok , Chen Yi-Wei , Kim Joo-Young
Published: December 2021

Background

This multinational study was conducted to report clinical presentations and treatment strategies in patients with intracranial germinomas across selected Asian centers, including failure patterns, risk factors, and outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective data collection and analysis of these patients, treated between 1995 and 2015 from eight healthcare institutions across four countries was undertaken.

Results

From the results, 418 patients were analyzed, with a median follow-up of 8.9 years; 79.9% of the patients were M0, and 87.6% had β-human chorionic gonadotropin values <50 mIU/mL. The 5/10-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 97.2%/96.2% and 89.9%/86.9%, respectively. RFS was predicted by the radiotherapy (RT) field, with focal RT having the worst outcome, whereas chemotherapy usage had no impact on survival. Among patients who received chemotherapy, response to chemotherapy did not predict survival outcomes. In M0 patients, primary basal ganglia tumors predicted a worse RFS. In patients with bifocal tumors, an extended field RT was associated with better outcomes. In multivariable analysis, only RT fields were associated with RFS. In relapsed patients, salvage rates were high at 85.7%. Additionally, patients who received salvage RT had a better outcome (91.6% vs. 66.7%).

Conclusions

Survival outcomes of patients with germinoma were excellent. Thus, the focus of treatment for intracranial germinoma should be on survivorship. Further studies are warranted to find the optimal intensity and volume of radiation, including the role of chemotherapy in the survival of patients with intracranial germinomas, considering age, primary tumor location, and extent of disease.
Introduction
Authors: Kumar Akshaya
Published: December 2021

This chapter prepares the comparative media crucible – an intensive synthesis of approaches to understand the media, in relation to capital, infrastructure, film form, narration, sovereign voice and geography. The book takes shape inside this analytical dwelling at the intersection of various grids – the recruitment of the province, capital and narrative voice, and the ideological containment of the masses – preparing the grounds for reading the coalitional tendencies before reassembling the role of media within the social order. It also assesses the provincial imperative acting upon ‘Bollywood’, and the attendant translations and purifications of the processes investigated in the book. The book thus grapples with a constellation which, this chapter argues, addresses an overflow of tendencies tethered to an unknowable ‘mass audience’. This search for an abstract mass, which breaches the embankments of region, class, language and culture, forces us to prepare the crucible with robust comparative analytics.
Language Politics in the Comparative Media Crucible
Authors: Kumar Akshaya
Published: December 2021

This chapter recounts the language politics of north India, with particular stress upon the heydays of Hindi nationalism, which wrested control of literary production from Urdu on behalf of the ‘Hindis’ of northern plains. Bhojpuri among other ‘tongues’ were therefore side-lined by the nationalist fervour. Tracing the trajectory of women’s folksongs, popular chapbooks and theatre troupes, the chapter reconstructs the resurgence of the vernaculars via audiocassettes, VCDs/DVDs and microSD cards. Electronic media thus absorbed the energies pushed out of the literate public sphere. The chapter also highlights the role played by a lateral-ness of address to unspool Bhojpuri from its ‘folk’ bearings and mount a mass address upon it. At the end, the chapter places the language politics of north India in relation to the Trojan horse of English, and the attendant struggle for the political existence of the vernacular linguistic communities.
Changing Childbirth in Twenty-First-Century South Asia
Authors: Jullien Clémence , Jeffery Roger
Published: December 2021

This introduction sets out why childbirth is a salient and timely issue for South Asia—for example, continuing, relatively high maternal and child mortality rates; growing health inequities within the countries; and new and unprecedented government schemes. It discusses the old challenges and new paradoxes of childbirth in South Asia in a global context, by reviewing the main turning points of state policies of four South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh) over the last century.
After offering an overview of some main policy reforms, the introduction explores the ambivalent effects of the introduction of new obstetrical technologies (including institutional practices) and the medicalization of childbirth. A third section reflects on the scope and the importance of rights-based approaches in maternal healthcare. The chapter concludes by explaining the structure of the book and briefly introducing each chapter.
Care’s Profit
Authors: Lange Isabelle L , Bhadauria Sunita , Singh Sunita , Penn-Kekana Loveday
Published: December 2021

Using a layered, ethnographic approach focusing on four small non-corporate private maternity hospitals, we turn a critical lens on what it means to work within this self-regulated bubble and examine the ‘creation’ of a cadre of healthcare workers. Our analysis addresses how a space of care and business is generated out of the precarious positions of both women and the health workers who depend on employment there. Clinic owners’ staffing strategies centred on hiring unlicensed labour room staff, trained on the job rather than in accredited institutes, who take care of all aspects of patient care, including deliveries. By exploring narratives surrounding training and overtreatment, this chapter highlights the tensions between the value placed on profit, care, and working conditions in the private maternal health sector, and examines the structural vulnerability of unlicensed health providers working there.
Introduction
Authors: Pentiuc Eugen J.
Published: December 2021

The introductory chapter deals with the Byzantine Orthodox Holy Week and its hymnography. This section of the book covers the Great Lent, a forty-day fasting period preceding Holy Week, as a baptismal/penitential liturgical cycle. The focus shifts then to Holy Week which culminates with Pascha or Easter vigil. The chapter reconstructs briefly the history of the Byzantine Holy Week with its main moments (i.e., Mar Sabas and Constantinopolitan rites and Constantinopolitan-Sabaic synthesis/symbiosis) and primary sources of evidence, such as the pilgrim Egeria’s Diary (384 C.E.) on Jerusalem rite. A close examination of Holy Week (Holy Monday through Holy Saturday) as observed currently by Orthodox communities follows. The introduction concludes with a brief summary of Byzantine hymnography prescribed for Holy Week, along with some of the most famous hymnographers, such as Theodore the Studite.
Building upon the Foundations of Branching Space-Times
Authors: Belnap Nuel , MÜller Thomas , Placek Tomasz
Published: December 2021

This chapter introduces a variety of events that are definable in BST and discusses in which histories these events occur. This gives rise to the concept of the occurrence proposition for events of various kinds. Of particular interest are transitions, defined as pairs of events, one of which is appropriately below the other. Transitions play a crucial role in later chapters. The chapter then discusses the topological aspects of BST, which are picked up again in Chapter 9. It defines a natural topology for BST: the diamond topology, and describes some important facts about it, focusing on the Hausdorff property and local Euclidicity. The chapter also gives an overview of how BST structures may be used to build semantic models for languages with temporal and modal operators.
The Good Poem According to Philodemus
Authors: McOsker Michael
Published: December 2021

This book explains the poetics of Philodemus of Gadara, a first-century BCE Epicurean philosopher and poet, whose On Poems survives among the Herculaneum papyri. His main critical principle is that form and content are inseparable and mutually reinforcing: a change in one means a change in the other. The poet uses this marriage of form and content to create a hard-to-pin-down psychological effect in the audience. Poems produce “additional thoughts” in the audience, and these entertain them. It seems clear that Philodemus expected good poets to arrange form and content suggestively, so that the poems could exert a lasting pull on the minds of the audience. Additionally, the book summarizes the views of Philodemus’ opponents, the terminology of Hellenistic literary criticism, and the history of the Garden’s engagement with poetics. Epicurus did not write an On Poems but Metrodorus did, and this is probably Philodemus’ touchstone for his own views. The book concludes with an appendix of topics that Philodemus handles but which do not fit neatly into another chapter. I discuss his views on genre, mimesis, “appropriateness,” utility, and various technical terms.
Epicurean Poetics before Philodemus
Authors: McOsker Michael
Published: December 2021

This chapter summarizes the evidence for discussion of poetry and poetics by Epicureans from Epicurus to the Epicureans who are contemporary with Philodemus. It turns out that, in all likelihood, the first generation of Epicureans developed an account of poetry and how it works, and that we should attribute this theory to Metrodorus and his On Poems. As is well known, Epicurus himself was concerned to deny a role in education to poetry (only his philosophy is truly educational), but he did not ban the writing or enjoyment of poetry. This allowed Metrodorus to write an On Poems, which probably served as the standard Epicurean account. Later Epicureans reflect that account, but do not add much to our own understanding, except for Demetrius Laco, who shows interest in less theoretical topics, such as defining features of genres and rhetorical/poetic tropes.
The Judgment of Poems and Their Psychological Effect
Authors: McOsker Michael
Published: December 2021

This chapter treats the judgment of poems: Philodemus required good form and content for a poem to be good, and bad form or bad content sufficed to make it a bad poem. The intermediate gradations are not clear. More interestingly, Philodemus states that a well-composed poem works some kind of effect on its audience, which are called “further thoughts:” a passage from his On Rhetoric III suggests that these further thoughts are an imaginative reverie provoked by the poem, though more details are not available. These further thoughts are the aspect of the poem that cause its pleasure. Finally, a few of Philodemus’ epigrams are examined for traces of this effect.
Conclusion
Authors: McOsker Michael
Published: December 2021

This chapter summarizes the contents of the previous chapters and discusses what might be considered particularly Epicurean about Philodemus’ theories. In short, Philodemus’ views on poetry can be traced in part to Epicurean commitments regarding (i) the irrationality of the senses, (ii) how language functions, (iii) their empiricism, and (iv) education, including ethics and theology. In addition, Philodemus’ views on poetry reflects the Epicurean view that philosophy is the only truly worthwhile activity. There is no unified Epicurean theory of fine arts, and poetry does not have any particular or special role to play in human life.
Retributive and Consequential Violence in 2 Sam 11–20
Authors: Gilmour Rachelle
Published: December 2021

Elements of David’s transgression in 2 Samuel 11–12 are delineated, suggesting that David is not condemned for murder and adultery per se but for violating God’s prerogative to give and the principle that God takes from the master to give to the servant. Building on Klaus Koch’s distinction between retribution and natural consequences for sin, it is shown that the violence against David described in Nathan’s oracle in 2 Samuel 12 is both a judicial, proportional punishment and natural consequences in the form of a curse. The dynamics of God’s forgiveness of David are explored in depth, including the apparent role of retributive punishment for restoring the offender identified in the work of Kant. The nature and implications of collective punishment in the story of David, including the effects of David’s sin on his household, are addressed.
Saul’s Rejection in the Book of Samuel
Authors: Gilmour Rachelle
Published: December 2021

In 1 Sam 13–15, Saul is guilty of breaking commands that he could not keep. Saul breaks a specific, not universal, command and is tested and scrutinised in a way that David is not. Positive characteristics of Saul’s accession, including humility, sparing opposition, and listening to the people, become weaknesses exploited by God’s command when Saul judges poorly, spares Agag, and listens to the people. The narrative construal of divine regret for Saul’s kingship reflects the compositional development of these texts. Interpreting 1 Sam 13 and 15 through 1 Sam 28, 2 Sam 7, and 1 Sam 25, Saul is not forgiven by God for his sin— he becomes God’s enemy and is paralleled to King Agag of the Amalekites. Because of the lack of restoration implied in divine hostility, Saul does not receive retribution. His punishment at his death is proportional to his offences, but these offences take place after the punishment is declared.
The Ethics and Characterisation of God, and the Rejection of Saul
Authors: Gilmour Rachelle
Published: December 2021

In dialogue with the thought of Martha Nussbaum, divine emotions point to God’s cherished projects and are relevant for the ethical evaluation of divine violence. There is complexity in analysing ancient concepts broadly labelled ‘emotions’ that hold emotive, cognitive, and physical dimensions, including regret and favour. Divine regret suggests that the divine violence against Saul is not a repayment of Saul’s guilt but a repayment of God’s own prior action in making Saul king. Divine regret is an emotion/cognition that is not based on an attempt to determine good and evil but on divine attachments and values, the need to remove Saul, and God’s favour for his neighbour. God’s characterisation is also described through the phrase ‘according to [God’s] own heart,’ and divine presence indicated the divine spirits upon Saul and David.
The Violence of the Ark
Authors: Gilmour Rachelle
Published: December 2021

Proposals that the violence of the ark in 2 Sam 6:7 can be explained in terms of punishment or educative violence are reviewed and shown to be unsupported by details in the text. Unlike the parallel account in 1 Chr 13 and 15, no laws are sufficient to ensure safety from the ark and the ark is simply removed. Similarly, there is a lack of evidence for punishment or educative violence in 1 Sam 6:19. It is proposed that the violence of the ark remains inexplicable, and fits the concept of Divine Violence as defined by Walter Benjamin. Divine Violence is neither a means to an end or end to a means, it is beyond law. It irrupts in the context of a misalignment in the world and is beyond ethics.
How grammar and culture interact in Zamucoan
Authors: Ciucci Luca
Published: December 2021

This paper analyzes the interaction between language and society in the Zamucoan languages (†Old Zamuco, Ayoreo and Chamacoco), spoken in south-eastern Bolivia and northern Paraguay. I show how grammatical gender was a source for poetic metaphors, systematically shaping Ayoreo mythology, and how change in Chamacoco cosmovision correlates with the development of gender switch in animal nouns. Also, some mismatches between linguistic and natural gender reflect the role of women in Ayoreo society. The relationship between the father and the first legitimate child is particularly important for the Ayoreo and is expressed through a teknonymic suffix. The attention to the preservation of the environment and the social practice to share consumable resources are reflected in the impossibility to directly possess animals and plants in Zamucoan. Competition did not play an important role in Zamucoan societies, which are traditionally egalitarian, and there are hints that Zamucoan had originally no dedicated comparative structures.
Rules, and Personal and Monarchical Regimes
Authors: Gill Graeme
Published: December 2021

This chapter analyses the way the rules work in two different types of authoritarian system, the personal dictatorship and the dynastic monarchy. These regime types are represented by Belarus under Lukashenka and Russia under Putin, and by the Gulf monarchies. The key characteristic of the personal regime is the dominant leader, and of the dynastic monarchy the ruling family. These institutions (dictator and family) profoundly affect the way the rules function. There is a strong imperative in both regime types to emphasize the insulation of the oligarchy from the elite, although this is achieved in different ways.
The Sentimental Life of International Law
Authors: Simpson Gerry
Published: December 2021

The Sentimental Life of International Law is about our age-old longing for a decent international society and the ways of seeing, being and speaking that might help us consummate that longing. This book treats international law as an experience, a language and an aspiration. It is the culmination of a decade of thinking about the practice of international lawyering (in classrooms, at conferences, in treaty negotiation) and the modes of thinking and being that naturalise that practice. In particular, it asks both how we might engage in a professional practice that has become, to adapt a title of Janet Malcolm’s, not just impossible but also difficult; and whether we might be disabled by the governing idioms of international lawyering and, then, importantly, re-enabled, by speaking different sorts of international law or by speaking international law in different sorts of ways. It tries to answer that question by making the effort to discern or, better still, to bring to the surface international law’s hidden literary prose or its redemptive enclaves, and it does so in a series of chapters on international law’s bathetic underpinnings, its friendly relations, the neurotic foundations of its underlying social order, its screened-off comic dispositions, its anti-method, and the life-worlds of its practitioners, and then, finally in a chapter in which international law is re-envisioned through the practice of gardening. All of this done in the hope of offering a contribution to the project of making international law, again, a compelling language for our times.