bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conclusion
Authors: Menz Georg
Published: November 2017

This chapter summarizes some of the book’s main arguments and provides avenues for future research. We point to the ideational turn as well as to culturally based enquiries into Comparative Political Economy as offering particular promise. Finally, this chapter additionally points to two major sources of societal and economic transformation, discussing in passing other major economic changes, such as increasing automation, advances in artificial intelligence, and the roll-out of robots across a variety of economic sectors. These two potentially explosive sources of change include energy security, a field in which the race for autarchy is juxtaposed with limits to the practical applicability of renewable energy sources. Environmental factors and environmental degradation similarly impose dramatic constraints to further economic development and might induce a dramatic reconfiguration.
Introduction
Authors: Rau Jochen
Published: November 2017

Statistical mechanics concerns the transition from the microscopic to the macroscopic realm. On a macroscopic scale new phenomena arise that have no counterpart in the microscopic world. For example, macroscopic systems have a temperature; they might undergo phase transitions; and their dynamics may involve dissipation. How can such phenomena be explained? This chapter discusses the characteristic differences between the microscopic and macroscopic realms and lays out the basic challenge of statistical mechanics. It suggests how, in principle, this challenge can be tackled with the help of conservation laws and statistics. The chapter reviews some basic notions of classical probability theory. In particular, it discusses the law of large numbers and illustrates how, despite the indeterminacy of individual events, statistics can make highly accurate predictions about totals and averages.
Processes and Responses
Authors: Rau Jochen
Published: November 2017

Thermodynamic processes involve energy exchanges in the forms of work, heat, or particles. Such exchanges might be reversible or irreversible, and they might be controlled by barriers or reservoirs. A cyclic process takes a system through several states and eventually back to its initial state; it may convert heat into work (engine) or vice versa (heat pump). This chapter defines work and heat mathematically and investigates their respective properties, in particular their impact on entropy. It discusses the roles of barriers and reservoirs and introduces cyclic processes. Basic constraints imposed by the laws of thermodynamics are considered, in particular on the efficiency of a heat engine. The chapter also introduces the thermodynamic potentials: free energy, enthalpy, free enthalpy, and grand potential. These are used to describe energy exchanges and equilibrium in the presence of reservoirs. Finally, this chapter considers thermodynamic coefficients which characterize the response of a system to heating, compression, and other external actions.
European Socialists and the International Order, 1918–1925
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines the collective efforts of British, French, and German socialists to place a socialist stamp on the emerging post-war political order both within and between countries. The period covered runs from the end of the First World War to the mid-1920s, a moment that several recent scholars have identified as marking the end of the post-war period and the making of a ‘real peace’. In exploring the post-war practice of socialist internationalism, the chapter focuses on a series of interlocking issues: the peace treaties; national self-determination; reparations and economic reconstruction; and the League of Nations and post-war security. On issues such as reparations and Western European security, European socialists claimed with justice to have pointed the way forward to intergovernmental arrangements. But if socialists could rightly boast of their role as trailblazers, their deliberations also exposed the fragile nature of the much-vaunted ‘real peace’ achieved by mid-decade.
The Quest for Disarmament, 1925–1933
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines the efforts of European socialists to grapple with disarmament, one of the most fraught international issues of the interwar period. From the outset, European socialists supported the quest for disarmament, and during the second half of the 1920s they not only pressured governments to pursue international negotiations but also strove to work out their own proposals. Ultimately, however, socialists failed to work out a practical programme for disarmament, a failure that underscores the near-impossibility of anyone doing so. After all, if such fervent proponents of disarmament as European socialists could not reach a consensus, then who could? The experience of socialists also highlights the complex ways in which the national and international realms interacted. For European socialists, disarmament was maddeningly complex not only because it was inseparable from other issues, most notably security; but also because it raised unresolved questions regarding the meaning of international socialism.
European Socialists and Empire between the Wars
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines the position of European socialists towards empire and especially towards colonialism. Although European socialists ostensibly supported the notion of trusteeship, embodied in the League of Nations mandate system, their thinking on reformist colonialism was more uncertain and contested than is often contended. Indeed, socialist thinking included a strand of anti-colonialism that manifested itself in calls for the International to adopt a policy of more active support for anti-colonial movements in the colonies as well as a more systemic opposition to the global political and economic order in which colonialism was embedded. Partly in reaction to communist anti-colonialism, however, this socialist anti-colonialism was marginalized by the end of the 1920s as mainstream socialism endorsed trusteeship not because it provided a well-defined political programme but as a means to close off more far-reaching proposals. During the later 1930s socialist anti-colonialism would reappear in the form of colonial appeasement.
Entr’acte
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

In the summer of 1939, with Europe poised on the precipice of another war, Friedrich Adler, the LSI’s secretary, circulated an anguished memorandum to socialist parties. Never before, he asserted, had the International been so removed from the hopes and ideals of socialists. Emphasizing the ‘autonomist’ and ‘isolationist’ tendencies within the LSI, Adler blamed the current predicament on the decline in the ‘international ...
Constructing Europe, 1945–1960
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines the contribution of European socialists to the process of European integration after 1945. European socialists exerted a steady and sometimes decisive influence on the construction of Europe. Socialist parties worked closely together on questions of European unity, making it impossible to understand the policy of one party independently of the others. The international socialist context helps to explain the decisions of the socialist-led French government in 1955–1956, which committed France to what became the Rome Treaties; and it helps to explain Labour’s growing interest in the late 1950s in a British application to join the EEC. More basically, this chapter explores how European socialists came to persuade themselves that the EEC (and especially a common market) was compatible with their goal of constructing a socialist Europe.
Conclusion
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

In examining the practice of socialist internationalism, this book has sought to combine three fields of historical scholarship (socialism, internationalism, and international politics) in the aim of contributing to each one. The contribution to the first area, socialism, is perhaps the most obvious. Contrary to numerous claims, socialist internationalism did not die in August 1914 but survived the outbreak of war and afterwards even flourished at times. Indeed, during the two post-war periods, European socialists worked closely together on a variety of pressing issues, endowing the policymaking of the British, French, and German parties with an important international dimension. This international dimension was never all-important: it rarely, if ever, trumped the domestic political and intra-party dimensions of policymaking. But its existence means that the international policies of any one socialist party cannot be fully understood in isolation from the policies of other parties. The practice of socialist internationalism was rarely easy: contention was present and sometimes rife. Equally pertinent, idealism could be in short supply. Often enough, European socialists instrumentalized internationalism for their own ends, whether it was Ramsay MacDonald with the Geneva Protocol during the 1920s or Guy Mollet, who hoped to discredit internal party critics of his Algerian policy during the 1950s. Nevertheless, the attempts to instrumentalize socialist internationalism underscore the latter’s significance. After all, such attempts would be inconceivable unless socialist internationalism meant something to European socialists....
A Framework for Thinking about Intellectual Property Subject Matter
Authors: Pila Justine
Published: November 2017

This chapter proposes a framework for thinking about the subject matter protectable by intellectual property (IP) and related questions of analytic assistance. The proposed framework is built around certain devices of philosophy, including the artifact, types and tokens, the category, and the property. In combination, these devices support a paradigmatic or focal conception of the subject matter protectable by European and UK IP law. According to that conception, IP subject matter are artifact types distinguished by their properties and categorized accordingly. The analytic and normative value of this conception is discussed, and certain distinctions of importance for IP subject matter outlined, complementing those identified in Chapter 2. The questions of analytic assistance derived from the framework concern the essential properties of IP subject matter, the method of their individuation, their relationship with their concrete instances or tokens, and the manner by which their and their tokens’ existence is known.
Habeas Corpus in Wartime
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

Habeas Corpus in Wartime unearths and presents a comprehensive account of the legal and political history of habeas corpus in wartime in the Anglo-American legal tradition. The book begins by tracing the origins of the habeas privilege in English law, giving special attention to the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which limited the scope of executive detention and used the machinery of the English courts to enforce its terms. It also explores the circumstances that led Parliament to invent the concept of suspension as a tool for setting aside the protections of the Habeas Corpus Act in wartime. Turning to the United States, the book highlights how the English suspension framework greatly influenced the development of early American habeas law before and after the American Revolution and during the Founding period, when the United States Constitution enshrined a habeas privilege in its Suspension Clause. The book then chronicles the story of the habeas privilege and suspension over the course of American history, giving special attention to the Civil War period. The final chapters explore how the challenges posed by modern warfare during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have placed great strain on the previously well-settled understanding of the role of the habeas privilege and suspension in American constitutional law. Throughout, the book draws upon a wealth of original and heretofore untapped historical resources to shed light on the purpose and role of the Suspension Clause in the United States Constitution, revealing all along that many of the questions that arise today regarding the scope of executive power to arrest and detain in wartime are not new ones.
Rebellion and Treason
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

During the American Revolution, the treatment of the American “rebels” fighting for independence posed a series of difficult questions about the reach and framework of British law. The centerpiece of the legal calculus governing the detention of prisoners during the war—both in Great Britain and in the United States—remained the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. The war also confirmed the Act’s limitations on two scores. First, well before Americans declared independence, the British government had denied the Act’s application in the colonies, thereby taking the position that its geographic sweep did not follow British rule wherever it went. Second, during the war, Parliament suspended the Act’s application to Americans held on English soil. With independence, however, Parliament permitted the suspension to lapse and treated the American rebels as prisoners of war whose rights would be governed by the law of nations.
Forging a New Allegiance
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

During the Revolutionary War, the British were not the only side that had to work through difficult questions surrounding the legal status of prisoners. The American states faced the very same questions during the war when detaining British soldiers and the disaffected “Loyalists” among their ranks. In constructing new legal frameworks to govern these matters, the states drew heavily on the English model that had governed before the war and under which so many of their legal elite had trained. This chapter discusses the concept of allegiance, dividing those falling “within protection” and those outside of it, and how it played a crucial role in triggering the application of domestic law. This chapter also chronicles the story of the long-standing struggle of the states to claim the English Habeas Corpus Act’s protections for themselves, while highlighting the pervasive influence of the Act—including especially its seventh section—on early American habeas jurisprudence.
The Suspension Clause in the Early Republic
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

The period following ratification of the Constitution is possibly most significant for the fact that it did not witness any suspensions of habeas corpus at the federal level, notwithstanding the occurrence of two insurrections that challenged the authority of the federal government and at least one major war of international character on American soil. Nonetheless, studying the government’s handling of the Whiskey and Fries Rebellions, the Burr Conspiracy, and the War of 1812, as well as early Supreme Court opinions, reveals many insights into how the Suspension Clause was understood during the early Republic. Among other things, the evidence explored here underscores that during this period, all three branches of government understood the Suspension Clause to adopt the English suspension model and embrace a constitutional privilege born out of the English Habeas Corpus Act that required charging suspected traitors criminally in the absence of a suspension.
Civil War and the “Great Suspender”
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

It was not until the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and the beginning of the Civil War that the United States witnessed its first suspension at the federal level. Within days of the attack, Lincoln authorized Union military leaders to suspend habeas wherever they believed it necessary to protect key geographic areas. Lincoln did so famously on his own and without congressional approval. As explored in this chapter, although Lincoln was wrong to lay unilateral claim to the suspension power, his understanding of the necessity of suspension to legalize arrests made outside the criminal process was fully consistent with the historical view of the suspension model and shared by Congress in the 1863 suspension legislation that it finally passed after two years of debate. Studying this period reveals the continuing influence of the English suspension framework along with the importance of allegiance with respect to the protections of domestic law.
Liberty in the Shadow Constitution
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

As explored in this chapter, the Confederate experience provides further evidence that English legal tradition heavily influenced the understanding of the constitutional privilege and suspension that controlled during the Civil War period. Just as in the North, the South viewed suspension as a necessary predicate to detaining persons outside the criminal process. Further, in keeping with the ratification debates and the decisions of the Marshall and Taney Courts, the Confederacy recognized the English Habeas Corpus Act as the foundation of the American constitutional privilege. Likewise, the dominant view in the Confederacy did not view suspension as justification for military trials of civilians. The South did, however, disagree over which branch of government possesses the power to suspend. Throughout the war, Confederate president Jefferson Davis never once questioned that the power resided solely in the Confederate Congress.
World War II
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, ushered the United States into World War II. Within hours, and suspension and martial law came to rule the Hawaiian Territory. On the mainland, the military imposed curfews, designated huge portions of the western United States to be military areas of exclusion, and ultimately created “relocation centers” across the west to detain over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, including over 70,000 citizens. As this chapter explores, in the face of serious constitutional questions about the propriety of martial law, internment of citizens, and military trials of civilians, constitutional considerations generally gave way to war hysteria. But, as many key government actors recognized at the time, the detention of Japanese American citizens violated the Suspension Clause, standing as it did at odds with the entire history of the Clause. As challenges to the relevant military policies spilled over into the courts, the institution arguably best situated to identify and highlight their constitutional infirmities—the Supreme Court—never did so, leaving this episode standing as both a dangerous and deeply problematic precedent in American constitutional history.
Origins of the Self-Esteem Imaginary
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 1, “Origins of the Self-Esteem Imaginary,” traces the social imaginary of childrearing and self-esteem to its origins in the writings of William James and other nineteenth-century visionaries. This is the first of two chapters that sketch the intellectual history of self-esteem and its intersection with progressive childrearing. Although psychologists “invented” self-esteem, propounded a host of theories, and conducted the first major study of children’s self-esteem, bestselling novelists and authors of popular childrearing manuals played an important role in spreading these ideas to the reading public in the mid-twentieth century. At the same time, children’s self-esteem became a critical piece of evidence in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that dismantled the legal basis for racial segregation. Countering assaults to self-esteem became part of the discourse of the social justice movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
A Chorus of Parental Voices
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 3, “A Chorus of Parental Voices,” is the first of two chapters examining Centerville parents’ beliefs about childrearing and self-esteem, based on interviews with a diverse sample of parents from the Millennial study. Parents invoked a shared understanding of childrearing in which cultivating children’s self-esteem was a cherished goal, crucial to children’s healthy development. This understanding, espoused with strong conviction, was not confined to the highly educated or economically advantaged. This chapter delineates the contours of this social imaginary, quoting extensively from the parents. The chapter also describes parents’ complex engagement with self-esteem, encompassing mundane exposure to ambient images as well as active, creative response, from the invention of original metaphors for expressing the meanings of self-esteem to adjusting received knowledge to fit the idiosyncrasies of their own child. Parents believed that shyness was an indicator of low self-esteem, yet exempted their own shy children from this diagnosis.
Praise and Affirmation
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 5, “Praise and Affirmation,” is the first of three chapters that examine families’ everyday practices, based on ethnographic observations of six Centerville families over the course of a year. This chapter describes parents’ use of praise and affirmation in and around the home. Consistent with their expressed belief that praise boosts children’s self-esteem, parents dispensed praise for a wide array of accomplishments, however small, in dramatic contrast to the ethnographic cases discussed at the beginning of the chapter. Praise ranged from the automatic to the strategic and inventive. By age three, children were adept at praising themselves and soliciting praise from adults. The chapter presents vignettes of observed episodes that illustrate the complex ways in which praise was garnered, enacted, and sustained by parents and children. This chapter also describes praise and affirmation dispensed by others outside the home, including teachers and coaches who regularly interacted with the children.
Child-Affirming Artifacts
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 7, “Child-Affirming Artifacts,” uses ideas from Vygotskian theory to describe the child-affirming artifacts that populated children’s homes. Some artifacts were widely distributed consumer products. Children interacted with toys and electronic games that dispensed praise. Children’s books and TV shows, marketed as promoting children’s self-esteem, featured characters who were celebrated for their achievements, individuality, inherent worth, and potential. Several children loved Blue’s Clues, a show whose star constantly praised its characters and audience. These consumer products instantiated the same self-enhancing practices that parents believed fostered children’s self-esteem, thereby amplifying the social imaginary. This chapter also describes personalized, handmade artifacts designed by the families to celebrate their children. Photos of the children and artwork by children were on display in every household, and some adults created original homages to their children, which prompted commentary and stories that extolled the children’s achievements and reminded them how much they were loved and cherished.
Emily Parker and Her Family
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 8, “Emily Parker and Her Family,” is the first of four chapters that focus on individual children and their families. Forming the “Persons” part of the book, these chapters provide intimate portraits of the children and their circumstances, complementing the preceding chapters, which focused on normative practices. Emily Parker was the middle child in a middle-class European American family. She was an affectionate child who loved to please people and remained close to her older sister, despite their wrangles. Emily was sensitive to criticism from her parents but was unperturbed by her sister’s jibes. Mr. and Mrs. Parker immersed their children in a rich and varied social life in which Emily developed precocious social skills—evidence, her parents believed, of her high self-esteem. Emily learned to praise herself and to ask adults for help.
Brian Tatler and His Family
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 11, “Brian Tatler and His Family,” describes a middle-class European American family with two children. Brian and his younger brother went to day care and spent two afternoons a week with their grandmothers while their parents worked full-time. Brian was a placid child and an avid participant in pretend play, whose special stuffed animals were almost like family members. The Tatler family enjoyed a robust expressive life, which included singing, book reading, and telling a hybrid genre of stories of their own invention, which became part of Brian’s bedtime ritual. Brian was learning to be comfortable with his feelings within a set of family practices that were highly attuned to the full spectrum of emotional life. His parents believed that he had high self-esteem, citing his growing awareness of his own successes, his positive attitude, his willingness to try new things, and his ability to shift focus when upset.
Commentary
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 12, “Commentary: Personalization,” discusses the process of personalization, based on the portraits presented in Chapters 8–11. Personalization is not just a matter of individual variation; it is a form of active engagement through which individuals endow imaginaries with personal meanings and refract the imaginary through their own experiences. The portraits illustrate how the social imaginary of childrearing and self-esteem entered into dialogue with the complex realities of people’s lives. Parents’ ability to implement their childrearing goals was constrained and enabled by their past experiences and by socioeconomic conditions. The individual children were developing different strategies of self-evaluation, different expectations about how affirming the world would be, and different self-defining interests, and their self-making varied, depending on the situation. Some children received diagnoses of low self-esteem as early as preschool.
Conclusions
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Conclusions discusses the significance of the book’s findings. By approaching self-esteem as part of a social imaginary, this project shows how thoroughly entangled self-esteem was in the life and times of the children and parents within its orbit. Despite its long evolution, this imaginary, carried in the hearts and minds and daily actions of ordinary people, retained echoes of the cultural ideals that inspired early visionaries and later generations of thinkers. A known quantity, yet paradoxically invisible, the self-esteem imaginary was held with deep conviction by diverse parents. The developmental trajectory that their children embarked on bore the marks of the historical moment in which their parents were raising them. These findings illuminate key theoretical problems related to human development in cultural context: naturalization (Bourdieu), personalization (Taylor), and the intersection of historical and developmental trajectories (Vygotsky). The chapter ends by considering how this version of childrearing could be reimagined.
Perioperative Complications of Cesarean Delivery Myomectomy
Authors: Pergialiotis Vasilios , Sinanidis Ilias , Louloudis Ioannis-Evangelos , Vichos Theodoros , Perrea Despina N. , Doumouchtsis Stergios K.
Published: November 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the association of myomectomy during cesarean delivery with intraoperative and perioperative maternal morbidity.

DATA SOURCES:

We searched MEDLINE (1966–2017), Scopus (2004–2017), ClinicalTrials.gov (2008–2017), EMBASE (1980–2017), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials CENTRAL (1999–2017) databases.

METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION:

We selected all observational studies that reported outcomes on patients undergoing myomectomy at the time of cesarean delivery. Statistical meta-analysis was performed with RevMan 5.3.

RESULTS:

Nineteen studies were included in our systematic review with a total number of 3,900 women. Among them, 2,301 women had myomectomy during cesarean delivery and 1,599 had cesarean delivery only. Women undergoing concomitant myomectomy had a mild decline in hemoglobin compared with those who had cesarean delivery only (mean difference 0.25 mg/dL, 95% CI 0.06–0.45). Myomectomy at the time of cesarean delivery is associated with longer surgical time compared with cesarean delivery alone (mean difference 13.87 minutes, 95% CI 4.78–22.95). Blood transfusion (odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95% CI 0.96–2.07) and postoperative fever (OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.80–1.56) rates did not differ between the two groups (myomectomy compared with no myomectomy). A statistically, but not clinically, significant increase in postoperative hospitalization was evident in the myomectomy group (mean difference 0.35 days, 95% CI 0.25–0.46).

CONCLUSION:

This systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies demonstrated an association with increased operative time and hemoglobin drop in patients who underwent cesarean myomectomy compared with cesarean delivery alone. No increased rate of major hemorrhage or need for transfusion was identified. Cesarean myomectomy may be considered in cases of isolated myomas, although randomized trials are needed.
Effect of Cervical Cancer Screening Programs on Preterm Birth
Authors: Kamphuis Esmé I. , Naber Steffie K. , Danhof Noor A. , Habbema J. Dik F. , de Groot Christianne J. M. , Mol Ben W. J.
Published: November 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the effect of age at initiation and interval of cervical cancer screening in women of reproductive age on the risk of future preterm birth and subsequent adverse neonatal outcome relative to maternal life-years gained and cost of both screening and preterm birth.

METHODS:

In this decision and cost-effectiveness analysis, we compared eight cytology-based screening programs varying in age of onset (21, 24, 25, 27, or 30 years) and screening interval (3 or 5 years) in a fictive cohort of 100,000 women. We used the microsimulation screening analysis model to estimate number of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia diagnoses, large loop excisions of the transformation zone (LLETZs), life-years gained, cervical cancer cases, deaths, and costs of screening and treatment. We used the number of LLETZs to calculate additional preterm births, subsequent neonatal morbidity, mortality, and associated costs.

RESULTS:

The number of LLETZs per 100,000 women varied from 9,612 for the most intensive screening (every 3 years from age 21 years) to 4,646 for the least intensive screening (every 5 years from age 30 years). Compared with the least intensive program, the most intensive program increased maternal life-years gained by 9% (10,728 compared with 9,839), decreased cervical cancer cases by 67% (52 compared with 158), and cervical cancer deaths by 75% (four compared with 16) at the expense of 250% (158 compared with 45) more preterm births and 320% (four compared with one) more neonatal deaths while increasing total costs by $55 million ($77 compared with $23 million). The number of maternal life-years gained per additional preterm birth varied from 68 to 258 with subsequent total costs per maternal life-years gained of $7,212 and $2,329.

CONCLUSION:

Cervical cancer screening every 3 years and subsequent treatment in women aged younger than 30 years yield limited life-years but may have substantial perinatal adverse effects. Consequently, women who plan to have children may benefit from a more cautious screening approach, taking into account their risk for both cancer and preterm birth.
Placental Alpha Microglobulin-1 Compared With Fetal Fibronectin to Predict Preterm Delivery in Symptomatic Women
Authors: Wing Deborah A. , Haeri Sina , Silber Angela C. , Roth Cheryl K. , Weiner Carl P. , Echebiri Nelson C. , Franco Albert , Pappas Lanissa M. , Yeast John D. , Brebnor Angelle A. , Quirk J. Gerald , Murphy Aisling M. , Laurent Louise C. , Field Nancy T. , Norton Mary E.
Published: November 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To compare the rapid bedside test for placental α microglobulin-1 with the instrumented fetal fibronectin test for prediction of imminent spontaneous preterm delivery among women with symptoms of preterm labor.

METHODS:

We conducted a prospective observational study on pregnant women with signs or symptoms suggestive of preterm labor between 24 and 35 weeks of gestation with intact membranes and cervical dilatation less than 3 cm. Participants were prospectively enrolled at 15 U.S. academic and community centers. Placental α microglobulin-1 samples did not require a speculum examination. Health care providers were blinded to placental α microglobulin-1 results. Fetal fibronectin samples were collected through speculum examination per manufacturer requirements and sent to a certified laboratory for testing using a cutoff of 50 ng/mL. The coprimary endpoints were positive predictive value (PPV) superiority and negative predictive value (NPV) noninferiority of placental α microglobulin-1 compared with fetal fibronectin for the prediction of spontaneous preterm birth within 7 days and within 14 days.

RESULTS:

Of 796 women included in the study cohort, 711 (89.3%) had both placental α microglobulin-1 and fetal fibronectin results and valid delivery outcomes available for analysis. The overall rate of preterm birth was 2.4% (17/711) within 7 days of testing and 4.2% (30/711) within 14 days of testing with respective rates of spontaneous preterm birth of 1.3% (9/703) and 2.9% (20/701). Fetal fibronectin was detected in 15.5% (110/711), and placental α microglobulin-1 was detected in 2.4% (17/711). The PPVs for spontaneous preterm delivery within 7 days or less among singleton gestations (n=13) for placental α microglobulin-1 and fetal fibronectin were 23.1% (3/13) and 4.3% (4/94), respectively (P<.025 for superiority). The NPVs were 99.5% (619/622) and 99.6% (539/541) for placental α microglobulin-1 and fetal fibronectin, respectively (P<.001 for noninferiority).

CONCLUSION:

Although placental α microglobulin-1 performed the same as fetal fibronectin in ruling out spontaneous preterm delivery among symptomatic women, it demonstrated statistical superiority in predicting it.
PARACENTRAL ACUTE MIDDLE MACULOPATHY IN A PERIVENULAR FERN-LIKE DISTRIBUTION WITH EN FACE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY
Authors: Garrity Sean T. , Tseng Victoria L. , Sarraf David
Published: November 2017

Purpose:

To report a case of central retinal vein occlusion resulting in a perivenular pattern of paracentral acute middle maculopathy lesions best identified with en face optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods:

Retrospective case report. Optos ultra–widefield fluorescein angiography, spectral domain OCT, en face OCT, and OCT angiography were performed.

Results:

A 41-year-old man presented with decreased vision in the right eye for 2 weeks. Funduscopic examination of the affected right eye was notable for subtle retinal whitening in the macula, mild retinal venous dilation and tortuosity, and few scattered retinal dot and blot hemorrhages consistent with an acute central retinal vein occlusion. Widefield fluorescein angiography demonstrated delayed arterial and venous filling but no evidence of significant peripheral retinal vascular ischemia. En face OCT segmented at the inner nuclear layer illustrated a remarkable and precise perivenular distribution of fern-like paracentral acute middle maculopathy with periarterial sparing, whereas en face OCT segmented at the outer nuclear layer demonstrated florid cystoid macular edema. At 6-week follow-up, OCT demonstrated patchy areas of atrophic inner nuclear layer and spontaneous resolution of the cystoid macular edema. Optical coherence tomography angiography at the level of the deep capillary plexus illustrated remarkable flow reduction of the deep capillary plexus in mainly a perivenular distribution.

Conclusion:

The authors report a case of a central retinal vein occlusion with mild retinal findings associated with a remarkable perivenular pattern of paracentral acute middle maculopathy with en face OCT. Follow-up OCT angiography demonstrated significant flow reduction of the deep capillary plexus in a perivenular pattern. The perivenular pattern of paracentral acute middle maculopathy lesions with en face OCT can be an important finding suggestive of a central retinal vein occlusion.
PARACENTRAL ACUTE MIDDLE MACULOPATHY ASSOCIATED WITH BILATERAL OPTIC DISK SWELLING AND MENINGITIS
Authors: Zhao Zhenyang , Faith Parker , Pakzad-Vaezi Kaivon , Chu Zhongdi , Wang Ruikang K. , Mudumbai Raghu C. , Rezaei Kasra A.
Published: November 2017

Background/Purpose:

To present a novel case of paracentral acute middle maculopathy associated with bilateral optic disk swelling.

Methods:

Retrospective case report.

Results:

A 67-year-old woman presented with sudden onset of central vision loss and subsequent bilateral optic disk edema, retinal vessel attenuation, and anterior uveitis. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed signs of inflammation. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography demonstrated the pathognomonic hyperreflectivity of the middle retinal layers consistent with paracentral acute middle maculopathy. Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography with custom vessel analysis demonstrated a 18.3% decrease in the deep retinal vascular density and 2.4 times increase in absent flow area in the affected eye compared with the fellow eye.

Conclusion:

This case demonstrates a novel association between paracentral acute middle maculopathy and bilateral optic disk swelling secondary to central nervous system inflammation and possible infection. Although spectral domain optical coherence tomography is valuable in detecting paracentral acute middle maculopathy, optical coherence tomography angiography with vessel analysis can provide additional insight into the disease mechanism.
Update on treatment of adolescent Blount disease
Authors: de Pablos Julio , Arbeloa-Gutierrez Lucas , Arenas-Miquelez Antonio
Published: November 2017

Purpose of review

Treatments available to correct adolescent Blount disease deformities differ in terms of features, advantages, and disadvantages. Each is indicated, therefore, for different scenarios of severity, physeal condition, and maturity. The purpose of this review is to update basic concepts, surgical treatments, and controversies concerning this disorder.

Recent findings

The cause of Blount disease is unknown although etiologic factors as morbid obesity and hypovitaminosis D are thought to be associated with it. Recently, semiinvasive techniques (guided growth) have been proposed for mild deformities but remain controversial. Osteotomies with external fixation (hexapodes) are still the most recommended corrective treatment in this condition.

Little is known about the origin and natural history of Blount disease. Treatment is always surgical and, given their complexity, should be preceded by a thorough analysis and planning regarding all deformities. Treatment principles are to correct the three-dimensional deformity and avoid recurrence. The choice of technique mainly depends on patient maturity and severity. Guided growth is a good choice for more immature patients with moderate deformities. Progressive correction using osteotomy or physeal distraction is indicated for patients with severe deformities and low remaining growth. The Taylor spatial frame is currently the most popular progressive correction device.
111In-DTPA-Octreotide SPECT (OctreoScan) Uptake in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma to the Pancreas
Authors: Chan Kenneth , Luong Tu Vinh , Navalkissoor Shaunak
Published: November 2017

We report a case of late presentation of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) demonstrating intense 111In-DTPA-octreotide uptake in pancreas without recurrence at the primary site. Immunohistochemistry study revealed somatostatin receptor subtype 2 of metastatic RCC preferentially expressed on tumor endothelial cells. The typical hypervascular features of RCC with intense homogeneous contrast enhancement in the arterial phase on CT should raise the possibility of metastatic RCC. This case illustrates that RCC can demonstrate high octreotide uptake in abdominal metastases.
The Impact of Hepatectomy Time of the Liver Graft on Post-transplant Outcome
Authors: Jochmans Ina , Fieuws Steffen , Tieken Ineke , Samuel Undine , Pirenne Jacques
Published: November 2017

Objective:

Assessing the effect of donor hepatectomy time on outcome after transplantation.

Summary of Background Data:

When blood supply in a deceased organ donor stops, ischemic injury starts. Livers are cooled to reduce cellular metabolism and minimize ischemic injury. This cooling is slow and livers are lukewarm during hepatectomy, potentially affecting outcome.

Methods:

We used the Eurotransplant Registry to investigate the relationship between donor hepatectomy time and post-transplant outcome in 12,974 recipients of deceased-donor livers (January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2013). Cox regression analyses for patient and graft survival (censored and uncensored for death with a functioning graft) were corrected for donor, preservation, and recipient variables. Donor hepatectomy time was defined as time between start of aortic cold flush and placement of the liver in the ice-bowl.

Results:

Median donor hepatectomy time was 41 minutes [interquartile range (IQR) 32 to 52]. Livers donated after circulatory death had longer hepatectomy times than those from brain-dead donors [50 minutes (35 to 68) vs 40 minutes (32 to 51), P < 0.001]. Donor hepatectomy time was independently associated with graft loss [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.03 for every 10-minute increase, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.02–1.05; P < 0.001]. The magnitude of this effect was comparable to the effect of each hour of additional cold ischemia time (adjusted HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02–1.05; P < 0.001). Donor hepatectomy time had a similar effect on death-censored graft survival and patient survival. Livers donated after circulatory death and those with a higher donor risk index were more susceptible to the effect of donor hepatectomy time on death-censored graft survival.

Conclusion:

Donor hepatectomy time impairs liver transplant outcome. Keeping this time short together with efficient cooling during hepatectomy might improve outcome.
Lateral Transperitoneal Adrenalectomy Versus Posterior Retroperitoneoscopic Adrenalectomy for Benign Adrenal Gland Disease
Authors: Chai Young Jun , Yu Hyeong Won , Song Ra-Yeong , Kim Su-jin , Choi June Young , Lee Kyu Eun
Published: November 2017

Objective:

The aim of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of lateral transperitoneal adrenalectomy (LTA) and posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy (PRA) for benign adrenal tumor.

Background:

Although LTA is the standard treatment for benign adrenal gland tumor, PRA has recently gained popularity. Studies comparing the surgical outcomes of the 2 approaches have reported conflicting findings and thus it remains unclear which approach is superior.

Methods:

This trial was conducted between September 2012 and February 2016. Patients were randomized to either LTA or PRA groups in a 1:1 ratio using web-based randomization. The primary outcome was operative time, and the secondary outcomes were blood loss, intraoperative hemodynamic stability, postoperative pain, recovery of bowel movement, and complication rates. This trial was registered with ClincalTrials.gov, number NCT01676025.

Results:

A total of 83 patients were randomly assigned to the LTA group (n = 42) or the PRA group (n = 41). Median follow-up was 31.3 months. The mean operative times of LTA and PRA were comparable (59.7 ± 18.6 vs 67.6 ± 28.7 minutes, P = 0.139). Logistic regression analysis showed that male sex [odds ratio (OR) = 4.20] and pheochromocytoma (OR = 5.06) were associated with an operative time ≥60 minutes. There were no differences in the secondary outcomes between the groups. One patient in the PRA group required open conversion.

Conclusion:

Both LTA and PRA were performed safely with similar operative outcomes, and thus are comparable options for the treatment of benign adrenal gland tumor.
Uncertainty, epistemics and active inference
Authors: Parr Thomas , Friston Karl J.
Published: November 2017

Biological systems—like ourselves—are constantly faced with uncertainty. Despite noisy sensory data, and volatile environments, creatures appear to actively maintain their integrity. To account for this remarkable ability to make optimal decisions in the face of a capricious world, we propose a generative model that represents the beliefs an agent might possess about their own uncertainty. By simulating a noisy and volatile environment, we demonstrate how uncertainty influences optimal epistemic (visual) foraging. In our simulations, saccades were deployed less frequently to regions with a lower sensory precision, while a greater volatility led to a shorter inhibition of return. These simulations illustrate a principled explanation for some cardinal aspects of visual foraging—and allow us to propose a correspondence between the representation of uncertainty and ascending neuromodulatory systems, complementing that suggested by Yu & Dayan (Yu & Dayan 2005
Neuron
46
, 681–692. (
doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.04.026
)).
A shared arena: the private astronomy lecturing trade and its institutional counterpart in Britain, 1817–1865
Authors: Huang Hsiang-Fu
Published: November 2017

Public lecturing on astronomy was prevalent in Britain throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Many lecturers were private entrepreneurs operating lecturing businesses without institutional affiliations. Private lecturers enjoyed popularity in various places and sites ranging from metropolitan theatres to provincial town halls. By focusing on private lecturers, including Deane Franklin Walker (1778–1865), John Bird (d. 1840) and Robert Children, this paper explores the private astronomy lecturing trade and compares it with public lectures that took place inside scientific institutions. The careers of two London-based institutional lecturers, John Wallis (1788–1852) and George Henry Bachhoffner (1810–1879), are analysed as a comparison. Despite the trend towards institutionalized science, the activities of private astronomy lecturers had not been undermined by institutional competitors until the early 1860s. Astronomy remained largely an amateur practice in early Victorian Britain; public lecturing on astronomy was also far from a profession. Many astronomical lecturers, whether private or institutional, were not scientific practitioners working on original research or observational tasks. Some of their lecturing, and particularly their Lenten astronomical lectures, purveyed a distinctive kind of popular astronomy, which was a blend of instruction, amusement and religious sentiments. They indicate complex features of performance and showmanship beyond simply conveying popularized scientific knowledge.
Foxj1a is expressed in ependymal precursors, controls central canal position and is activated in new ependymal cells during regeneration in zebrafish
Authors: Ribeiro Ana , Monteiro Joana F. , Certal Ana C. , Cristovão Ana M. , Saúde Leonor
Published: November 2017

Zebrafish are able to regenerate the spinal cord and recover motor and sensory functions upon severe injury, through the activation of cells located at the ependymal canal. Here, we show that cells surrounding the ependymal canal in the adult zebrafish spinal cord express Foxj1a. We demonstrate that ependymal cells express Foxj1a from their birth in the embryonic neural tube and that Foxj1a activity is required for the final positioning of the ependymal canal. We also show that in response to spinal cord injury, Foxj1a ependymal cells actively proliferate and contribute to the restoration of the spinal cord structure. Finally, this study reveals that Foxj1a expression in the injured spinal cord is regulated by regulatory elements activated during regeneration. These data establish Foxj1a as a pan-ependymal marker in development, homeostasis and regeneration and may help identify the signals that enable this progenitor population to replace lost cells after spinal cord injury.