bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making Child Protection Systems Work for Children
Authors: Mushunje Mildred T.
Published: March 2023

This chapter notes the lessons from Zimbabwe on making child protection systems work for children. Poverty reduction and increased social expenditure had been emphasized in the government’s plans to address inequalities and shift towards an egalitarian society. Additionally, poverty is a factor in the transformation of the child protection support systems. The Children’s Act, which is the key to child protection, underwent several amendments in response to the shifting needs of children. Children who need care can go through a court process to be fostered, adopted, or placed in an institution or under the supervision of a probation officer. However, the institutionalization of children in need of care remained to be the last resort.
Child Protection Systems in Uganda
Authors: Yiga Deogratias
Published: March 2023

This chapter spotlights the child protection systems in Uganda. Almost three decades have passed since Uganda ratified the UNCRC and African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Efforts are underway to ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Inter country Adoption to ensure that children grow up in a safe environment free from all forms of maltreatment, violence, and exploitation. Notwithstanding, a strong legal and policy framework children in Uganda continue to experience physical, sexual, and emotional violence and are exposed to varied risk contexts such as child labor, child trafficking, child marriage, and teenage pregnancies. Efforts to translate legal and policy commitments into protection outcomes for children continue to be constrained by limited adherence to established standards, programming pitfalls, limited data, and inadequate investment in child protection systems development and functionality.
Children at Risk in Mexico
Authors: Frías-Armenta Martha
Published: March 2023

Children represent approximately one- third of the population of Mexico, home to around 39.2 million individuals under the age of 18 (Instituto Nacional Estadística Geografía e Informática [INEGI], 2015a). One of the main problems children in Mexico face is poverty, which increases the risk of malnourishment and the likelihood of suboptimal social, cognitive, physical, and emotional development. Poverty is also a potent predictor of antisocial behaviors and violence. This chapter will review key issues faced by children in Mexico, highlight core policies and laws that protect children’s rights and criminalize maltreatment, and explore current policies and interventions aimed at addressing maltreatment.
The Colombian Child Protection System
Authors: Torrado P. María Cristina , Duran Strauch Ernesto
Published: March 2023

This chapter looks into the child protection system in Colombia. The protection of childhood is divided among the purposes of philanthropy, morality, social control devices, and equitable societies. Additionally, child protection systems justify their existence in an alleged inability of poor families to care for their children. Cases of abuse and violence against children are understood as situations of threat or violation of their rights due to omissions or non-compliance with the obligations of the state and society. Significant improvements have been recorded in the last few years concerning the quality of life of the child population. However, ethnicity, area of residence, and home characteristics remain as factors of the social service’s accessibility.
Child Protection and Children’s Services in Switzerland
Authors: Schnurr Stefan , Gautschi Joel
Published: March 2023

This chapter notes Switzerland’s child protection and children’s services. The core principles of subsidiary and federalism are upheld at all levels of policy-making and policy implementation. Thus, the country’s political system and federalism have a significant impact on the institutionalization of child protection and children’s services. The distinctiveness of child protection in Switzerland is due to the diversity of its institutional arrangements linked to numerous policies, programs, and cultures of decision making. Decisions on child protection measures are related to the requirement that a child’s best interests are threatened and the parents are unwilling or unable to remedy the situation.
Vera Lynn in Nashville (1977)
Authors: Baade Christina
Published: March 2023

The 1977 album Vera Lynn in Nashville could be dismissed as country crossover gone too far. But what if, drawing on notions of the musical middlebrow, we take Vera Lynn at her word and treat the album as a sincere expression of musical affinity? The album grew out of postwar popular music genres that were shaped by middlebrow values—both what Keir Keightley calls “easy listening” and country music’s Nashville Sound. It also emerged from the transnational flows of popular music influence, marketing, and exchange. Rooted in the 1970s, a messy decade for middlebrow studies, this chapter explores how transatlantic country crossover can both complicate narratives of “blue-eyed soul” appropriation and highlight themes of white working-class affinity. It reveals how Vera Lynn in Nashville was animated by the uneasy relation between performances of white, working-class femininity and notions of respectability, musical authenticity, and nationalism.
“All These Songs Help Us to Trace History”
Authors: Caplan Lucy
Published: March 2023

The genre of the Black music history narrative—in which authors and artists recounted the development of Black music from past to present—was a cornerstone of early-twentieth-century African American cultural production. A product of both the Harlem Renaissance and nascent middlebrow culture, the genre spoke to these movements’ shared concern with the boundary between high and low culture, commitment to education, and ideological contradictions. Two notable Black music history narratives, Shirley Graham’s essay “Spirituals to Symphonies” and Maud Cuney Hare’s Negro Musicians and Their Music, revise the genre’s standard conventions. In particular, Graham and Cuney Hare’s works take a diasporic rather than nationalist approach, highlight musical plenitude over elite-led progress, and center women’s voices. As foundational but underrecognized works of music history, Graham and Cuney Hare’s narratives ultimately complicate dominant understandings of Black music historiography and its relationship to middlebrow culture.
Bird, Schedule, Name
Authors: Peters John Durham
Published: March 2023

Borges’s direct influence on media studies has been relatively small, and thus rather than cataloguing chapter and verse, this chapter investigates affinities of Borges’s (oeuvre with central ideas in media theory through a close reading of a selection of his essays and stories. Taking three apparently disparate themes in Borges—a bird’s cry, a train schedule, and proper names—this chapter shows there to be a coherent media-theoretical understanding uniting them as metaphysical markers of the existential fact that possibilities are plentiful and cheap while contingencies are scarce and precious. The chapter, in other words, is a fresh approach to the old realist problem of why small aesthetic touches can have such large existential effects.
Superhero Science Fiction
Authors: Ndalianis Angela
Published: March 2023

This chapter examines the superhero film’s relationship with the larger science fiction (sf) genre. While looking at some early overlaps of both types, the main focus is on examples drawn from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and especially Iron Man (2008). Iron Man (like its comic book predecessors) presents itself firmly within the parameters of the superhero narrative, but it does so by absorbing sf into its superhero structure. The chapter thus views Iron Man as an example of sf that aligns with what Istvan Csicsery-Ronay calls the “seven beauties” of sf; however, the chapter argues that Iron Man applies a superhero logic to this schema, resulting in an adjustment that we might term “the seven beauties of superhero-sf.”
Digital Science Fictions
Authors: Tryon Chuck
Published: March 2023

Digital technologies have profoundly altered not only our definition of cinema but also such basic concepts as identity, time, and space. The science fiction (sf) film has been one of the central sites where the digital is most fundamentally involved and where filmmakers have most deeply theorized it, both within their storytelling and within the very practices of making and delivering movies. This chapter demonstrates how the sf film invites us to “think digitally,” that is, to use the observed effects of the digital to make sense of its impact on our movies and our daily lives.
Utopianism
Authors: Edwards Caroline
Published: March 2023

This chapter examines how utopian thinking has influenced the broad field of science fiction (sf) narratives, focusing on three examples: Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010), Luc Besson’s Lucy (2014), and Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011). While these films are not conventional utopian narratives, which envision futuristic cities or ideal societies, the chapter using them to show how the notion of utopia can serve as an analytic method to help us understand the ways in which films try to dismantle and recast human subjectivity through innovative narrative structures.
Heterotopias
Authors: Gordon Joan
Published: March 2023

Drawing on the intellectual archaeologies of Michel Foucault, the notion of the heterotopic—of the other place that is neither utopian nor dystopian, and of the other figures who might inhabit such places—uses configurations of abnormality as a way of interrogating our sense of the normal. Capitalizing on the new digital technologies common to science fiction (sf) film, sf heterotopias are able to visualize, almost effortlessly, other possible spaces and beings, in the process doing the most fundamental work of sf—challenging a set and bounded sense of world and self, while hinting at better alternatives. This chapter primarily considers District 9 (2009) and Arrival (2016) in terms of Foucault’s formulation and Mary Louise Pratt’s notion of the “contact zone,” a contested site of colonialist heterotopias.
Steampunk Cinema
Authors: Lamarre Thomas
Published: March 2023

Steampunk cinema begins earlier than steampunk literature, with Karel Zeman’s Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy, 1958). This film offers a point of departure for exploring the relation between cinema and steampunk, for it not only extrapolates nineteenth-century technologies to invent alternative kinds of machines, but it also frames them within the early film context of “trick cinema” or a “cinema of attractions.” Various filmmakers and animators have drawn on the strange temporality of Zemen’s cinematic innovations, among them Miyazaki Hayao, Terry Gilliam, and Tim Burton, and the connection continues in more recent steampunk efforts by Ōtomo Katsuhiro, Project Itō, and Ken Liu. This work also provides insight into the turn of “hard sf” writers like Stephen Baxter toward steampunk extrapolations of Victorian science fiction (sf).
Negative Affect and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
Authors: Swerdlow Benjamin A. , Pearlstein Jennifer G. , Sandel Devon B. , Johnson Sheri L.
Published: March 2023

Virtually all contemporary models of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) emphasize negative affectivity as central to the phenomenology of NSSI. This chapter briefly illustrates the major points of divergence among these contemporary models before turning to the current state of the empirical literature. The focus, in particular, is on reviewing findings related to three facets of the negative affect-NSSI relationship: (a) negative affectivity as a risk factor for NSSI initiation and frequency, including trait-like individual differences, stressful life experiences, and central and peripheral neurophysiology; (b) heightened negative affect as a precursor to NSSI acts; and (c) short- and long-term consequences of NSSI engagement for negative affect. Several key takeaways emerge from this review. First, across multiple units of analysis, heightened negative affectivity and difficulties responding to negative affect are consistent risk factors for NSSI. Second, retrospective and ecological sampling studies converge on the conclusion that NSSI acts are typically preceded by higher-than-usual negative affect. Third, laboratory studies have demonstrated that pain offset is capable of reducing negative affect, arousal, and rumination in people with and without histories of NSSI, consistent with regulation of negative affect being the single most commonly endorsed function of NSSI. However, inconsistent findings from ecological sampling studies suggest that the affective consequences of NSSI are variable in practice, and evidence from longitudinal studies suggests that NSSI engagement is a harbinger of increased negative affectivity in the long run. These key findings are illustrated with a brief clinical vignette. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research conclude the chapter.
Experiential Therapies and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
Authors: Kress Victoria E. , Whisenhunt Julia , Stargell Nicole A. , McAllister Christine A.
Published: March 2023

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is widely considered to be a form of emotion regulation. Experiential approaches generally address the here and now rather than the past or the future, and they focus on clients processing emotions and behaviors in the current moment. There are a number of experiential techniques that may be helpful when counseling those who self-injure. Expressive arts activities (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, writing, and drama) may be helpful techniques to use in facilitating experiential awareness when counseling those who self-injure. Additionally, guided imagery is a system of visualization that may be used to promote relaxation and allow clients to imagine a future that does not include NSSI. Experiential therapies that focus on relationships are well suited for NSSI. Emotion-focused therapy addresses insecure attachment patterns and increasing emotional regulation. Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) is helpful in addressing trauma and dissociation; clients mindfully reflect on the present moment and make healthier choices in real time. Enhancing self-compassion in those who use NSSI may also be helpful. Additionally, mindfulness techniques may facilitate emotion regulation and promote acceptance and change. The emotional freedom technique (EFT) blends cognitive therapy, behavioral exposure, and acupressure to help clients reprocess their thoughts and feelings. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic approach to help clients work toward changing maladaptive thoughts. Resource development and installation (RDI) is a method for clients to recognize adaptive coping mechanisms and put them into practice.
Formal Models in Historical Political Economy
Authors: Gailmard Sean
Published: March 2023

This chapter discusses approaches to formal modeling in historical political economy and leading examples of formal models in this area. It argues that formal models are useful because they can depict causal mechanisms with a high degree of clarity. This in turn enables causal explanation, an important complement to causal identification from credible empirical research. Moreover, the clarity of causal mechanisms in models can help us understand when two seemingly disparate historical processes potentially result from a similar mechanism, thus enabling a sort of causal generalization.
Servicescape Concept in the Cultural and Creative Sectors
Authors: Julmi Christian
Published: March 2023

The concept of servicescape refers to the spatial setting in which a service process takes place. The servicescape shapes the expectations of customers and is purposefully designed to influence their behavior in a desired way. This influence takes place through a variety of physical, social, and psychological factors that are perceived holistically by customers. Through this holistic perception, the concept of servicescape is closely related to the concept of atmosphere, referred to as atmospherics or store atmosphere. At the uppermost level, two types of research approaches to servicescapes can be distinguished: dualistic and nondualistic approaches. Dualistic approaches have their roots in environmental psychology and assume that the stimuli of an environment incite the cognitive and emotional state of an individual and subsequently evoke a certain behavior. To study this influence, the environment is usually operationalized into single stimuli whose effects are studied more or less in isolation. In contrast, nondualistic approaches take a phenomenological lens and try to study servicescapes more holistically. Such approaches conceptualize atmospheres as something irreducible that lies in between or goes beyond subject and object. This chapter summarizes for each of the two approaches the basic assumptions, considered servicescape dimensions, and empirical findings in the cultural and creative sectors.
Rhetoric
Authors: Gunderson Erik
Published: March 2023

Rhetoric and philosophy are empirically joined for Roman gentlemen. The cultural and intellectual foundations of each are significantly shared. Some may strive to posit heterogeneity and divergence between the domains, but this is a misleading stance and effectively a rhetorical move in its own right. Leading figures cultivate the conjunction between the two. Synergistic moments abound. Philosophical discourse is rhetorically inflected and elaborated. Similarly rhetoric bolsters its own legitimacy by appeals to philosophy. Three brief case studies are offered: Cicero, Seneca, and Apuleius. Cicero argues for a reciprocity between the two. Seneca has a hierarchical pairing where philosophy is dominant. Apuleius’ pairing inverts the ranking.
Environment
Authors: Bertoni Daniel
Published: March 2023

Roman attitudes to the environment—that place where culture and nature meet—blend appreciation for the land’s usefulness, its divinity, and its beauty. Musings on the natural world appear in agricultural treatises, and philosophers and poets consider how nature is wild and tamed, productive and destructive. Drawing on ecocritical theory and the ways humans create and shape their interactions with the natural world, this chapter traces the varied conceptions of the Roman environment through the trope of the locus amoenus, the gods of fields and groves, and the quintessentially Roman appreciation of the beauty of a fertile field. What emerges is an appreciation for nature in its interactions with people, a reciprocal relationship considered to benefit both people and place.
Latin Neoplatonism
Authors: Kijewska Agnieszka
Published: March 2023

This chapter discusses the selected topics from the Latin tradition of Neoplatonism to give the reader some idea about the richness and variety of that tradition. The authors chosen belong to late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, and represent the three currents of the Neoplatonic tradition that developed in this period: Augustinian, Dionysian, and Boethian Neoplatonism. Each of these forms of Neoplatonism was started in Christian antiquity by a “founding father” of its own, was developed by some medieval followers, and had its beginning in the philosophical schools of pagan antiquity. The chapter presents the way all three revolved around the same principal theme, that is, man as microcosm, yet each of them stressed a different aspect of that rich subject.
Seneca and Stoic Moral Psychology
Authors: Reydams-Schils Gretchen
Published: March 2023

The first part of this chapter addresses the question of the influence of Platonic psychology on Seneca. Seneca has often been interpreted as “eclectic,” and so to assess the extent of his commitment to Stoic views, requires a sense of how he handles material from other schools of thought, and especially Platonism. The second part, takes a closer look at one of his more technical expositions, his analysis of the pre-emotions and anger. Such accounts, however, need to be balanced with other features of his writings. The range of expressions that Seneca uses in his On Tranquility of Mind to capture the different ways in which a human being can relate to him- or herself provides a good window onto his overall approach. Finally, no picture of Seneca’s moral psychology would be complete without addressing how a human being relates to others and to the order of the cosmos.
The Epicureanism of Lucretius
Authors: O’Keefe Tim
Published: March 2023

What is distinctive about Lucretius’s version of Epicureanism? The answer might appear to be “nothing,” for two reasons. First, Epicureanism in general is doctrinally conservative, with followers of Epicurus claiming to follow his authority. Second, Lucretius claims to be merely transmitting the arguments of his beloved master Epicurus in a pleasing manner. I contend that these considerations do not prevent De rerum natura from presenting a distinct version of Epicureanism. Its arguments in physics are almost certainly drawn from Epicurus himself. But in the examples Lucretius uses to illustrate these arguments, as well as in his descriptions of things like the fear of death and the formation of society, Lucretius delivers unexpected insights into human psychology, ones not clearly present in the other sources we have on Epicureanism. Furthermore, the way in which Lucretius presents his arguments can rightly be considered original philosophically and not just poetically. In his use of literary and rhetorical methods of persuasion alongside his argumentation, Lucretius alone among the Epicureans shows a sensitivity to the need to present his arguments in a way that also takes into account the biases, stereotypes, and other psychological factors that hinder his audience from accepting the healing gospel of Epicurus.
Hyaluronic acid methacrylate/laponite hydrogel loaded with BMP4 and maintaining its bioactivity for scar-free wound healing
Authors: Chang Likun , Xu Yulong , Wu Zhouying , Shao Yichun , Yu Dan , Yang Wenyue , Ye Liyuan , Wang Xinyu , Li Binbin , Yin Yixia
Published: March 2023

Scar-free wound healing is a challenging process due to the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix and collagen. To overcome this issue, hydrogels with superior biochemical and mechanical properties have been used in combination with medicinal compounds as wound dressings. In this study, a novel composite hydrogel consisting of double-crosslinked photocurable hyaluronic acid methacrylate (HAMA) and Laponite (Lap) loaded with bioactive bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) was developed and thoroughly characterized for its properties such as degradation, morphology, porosity, compression, skin adhesion and load release. The effect of the HAMA/Lap/BMP4 hydrogel was evaluated through both in vitro and in vivo experiments. In the in vivo rabbit ear-scar model, the HAMA/Lap/BMP4 hydrogel dressing was found to reduce scar-related expressions of α-SAM and decrease the ratio of collagen Ι/III in wounded tissue. Additionally, histopathological examination indicated that the HAMA/Lap/BMP4 hydrogel-treated groups exhibited enhanced wound repair and increased levels of collagen maintenance compared to other standard groups, ultimately leading to scarless wound healing. Therefore, this sustained-release photocurable HAMA/Lap/BMP4 hydrogel offers a therapeutic approach for scar-free wound healing.
Syntactic Network Analysis in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Ciampelli Silvia , de Boer Janna N , Voppel Alban E , Corona Hernandez Hugo , Brederoo Sanne G , van Dellen Edwin , Mota Natalia B , Sommer Iris E C
Published: March 2023

Background

Language anomalies are a hallmark feature of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD). Here, we used network analysis to examine possible differences in syntactic relations between patients with SSD and healthy controls. Moreover, we assessed their relationship with sociodemographic factors, psychotic symptoms, and cognitive functioning, and we evaluated whether the quantification of syntactic network measures has diagnostic value.

Study Design

Using a semi-structured interview, we collected speech samples from 63 patients with SSD and 63 controls. Per sentence, a syntactic representation (ie, parse tree) was obtained and used as input for network analysis. The resulting syntactic networks were analyzed for 11 local and global network measures, which were compared between groups using multivariate analysis of covariance, considering the effects of age, sex, and education.

Results

Patients with SSD and controls significantly differed on most syntactic network measures. Sex had a significant effect on syntactic measures, and there was a significant interaction between sex and group, as the anomalies in syntactic relations were most pronounced in women with SSD. Syntactic measures were correlated with negative symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) and cognition (Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia). A random forest classifier based on the best set of network features distinguished patients from controls with 74% cross-validated accuracy.

Conclusions

Examining syntactic relations from a network perspective revealed robust differences between patients with SSD and healthy controls, especially in women. Our results support the validity of linguistic network analysis in SSD and have the potential to be used in combination with other automated language measures as a marker for SSD.
World Society Corridors: Partnership Patterns in the Spread of Human Rights
Authors: Sendroiu Ioana , Levi Ron
Published: March 2023

Considerable sociological work shows that the human rights regime is rapidly expanding through isomorphic processes. We provide new insight into human rights diffusion through an analysis of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a global forum in which all states receive human rights recommendations from their peers. We convert the roughly 50,000 recommendations from the first two cycles of the UPR into a relational dataset of states making and receiving recommendations, inductively modeling this process of human rights diffusion through latent class regression. Building on research in the new institutionalism, we find that asymmetric relationships between states make it less likely for human rights recommendations to be accepted, with accepted recommendations tending to be more general and easier to implement. We argue that these partnership patterns provide evidence for normative corridors that give world society its shape. By drawing together world society approaches with relational sociology, we develop new insights into the structuration of human rights and normative change more broadly.
Realizing the Full Potential of Advanced Microscopy Approaches for Interrogating Plant-Microbe Interactions
Authors: Czymmek Kirk J. , Duncan Keith E. , Berg Howard
Published: March 2023

Microscopy has served as a fundamental tool for insight and discovery in plant-microbe interactions for centuries. From classical light and electron microscopy to corresponding specialized methods for sample preparation and cellular contrasting agents, these approaches have become routine components in the toolkit of plant and microbiology scientists alike to visualize, probe and understand the nature of host-microbe relationships. Over the last three decades, three-dimensional perspectives led by the development of electron tomography, and especially, confocal techniques continue to provide remarkable clarity and spatial detail of tissue and cellular phenomena. Confocal and electron microscopy provide novel revelations that are now commonplace in medium and large institutions. However, many other cutting-edge technologies and sample preparation workflows are relatively unexploited yet offer tremendous potential for unprecedented advancement in our understanding of the inner workings of pathogenic, beneficial, and symbiotic plant-microbe interactions. Here, we highlight key applications, benefits, and challenges of contemporary advanced imaging platforms for plant-microbe systems with special emphasis on several recently developed approaches, such as light-sheet, single molecule, super-resolution, and adaptive optics microscopy, as well as ambient and cryo-volume electron microscopy, X-ray microscopy, and cryo-electron tomography. Furthermore, the potential for complementary sample preparation methodologies, such as optical clearing, expansion microscopy, and multiplex imaging, will be reviewed. Our ultimate goal is to stimulate awareness of these powerful cutting-edge technologies and facilitate their appropriate application and adoption to solve important and unresolved biological questions in the field.

[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license .
Characterization of Podosphaera macularis on the Most Prevalent Hop Genotype in the Pacific Northwest
Authors: Gent David H. , Block Mary , Cooperider Carly R. , Wiseman Michele S.
Published: March 2023

As of 2020, the hop cultivar ‘HBC 394’, trademarked name Citra brand, was the most widely planted hop cultivar in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, with the acreage harvested in all three states nearly doubling from 2018 to 2020. This research characterized the pathogenic diversity of isolates of Podosphaera macularis on Citra brand and determined whether isolates with local or general adaption have emerged coincident with Citra brand becoming the most widely planted cultivar in the region. Among 27 isolates obtained from Citra brand, all could infect differential cultivars possessing the R-genes Rb, R3, and R5; nine isolates were also virulent on the differentials for R4 and R6. In a broader collection of 92 other isolates from Citra brand, 91 (98.9%) lacked R6 virulence. Inoculations of seven P. macularis isolates with complex virulence onto detached leaves of Citra brand all produced disease, indicating that a known major R-gene does not predict the powdery mildew phenotype in Citra brand. Citra brand-derived isolates and isolates representing the three predominant pathogenic races of P. macularis in the Pacific Northwest had no major difference in aggressiveness when inoculated on Citra brand leaves. Citra brand-derived isolates also caused disease levels on a range of hop cultivars similar to levels caused by isolates derived from other hop cultivars. These findings adduce that P. macularis isolates found on Citra brand may have varied phenotypes associated with known Pacific Northwest pathogen races. However, currently, isolates derived from Citra brand display neither local adaptation for increased virulence on Citra brand nor general adaptation for enhanced virulence on other cultivars.

[Formula: see text] The author(s) have dedicated the work to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 “No Rights Reserved” license by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law, 2023.
Gut microbial metabolite butyrate improves anticancer therapy by regulating intracellular calcium homeostasis
Authors: Che Yibin , Chen Guoyu , Guo Qianqian , Duan Yourong , Feng Haizhong , Xia Qiang
Published: March 2023

Background and Aims:

Gut microbiota are recognized to be important for anticancer therapy, yet the underlying mechanism is not clear. Here, through the analysis of clinical samples, we identify the mechanism by which the gut microbial metabolite butyrate inhibits HCC and then explore new strategies for HCC treatment.

Approach and Results:

In our study, we demonstrate that gut microbial metabolite butyrate improves anticancer therapy efficacy by regulating intracellular calcium homeostasis. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, we found that butyrate metabolism is activated in HCC patients compared with healthy individuals. Butyrate levels are lower in the plasma of HCC patients by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Butyrate supplementation or depletion of short-chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCAD) gene (ACADS), encoding a key enzyme for butyrate metabolism, significantly inhibits HCC proliferation and metastasis. The profiling analysis of genes upregulated by butyrate supplementation or ACADS knockdown reveals that calcium signaling pathway is activated, leading to dysregulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis and production of reactive oxygen species. Butyrate supplementation improves the therapy efficacy of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib. On the basis of these findings, we developed butyrate and sorafenib coencapsulated mPEG-PLGA-PLL nanoparticles coated with anti-GPC3 antibody (BS@PEAL-GPC3) to prolong the retention time of drugs and enhance drug targeting, leading to high anticancer efficacy. BS@PEAL-GPC3 nanoparticles significantly reduce HCC progression. In addition, BS@PEAL-GPC3 nanoparticles display excellent HCC targeting with excellent safety.

Conclusions:

In conclusion, our findings provide new insight into the mechanism by which the gut microbial metabolites inhibit HCC progression, suggesting a translatable therapeutics approach to enhance the clinical targeted therapeutic efficacy.
Anterior Chamber Washout During Ahmed Valve Glaucoma Surgery Reduces the Incidence of Hypertensive Phase
Authors: Chang Melissa M. , Yang Christopher D. , Ly Huy Q. , Minckler Donald S. , Lin Ken Y.
Published: March 2023

Précis:

Intraoperative anterior chamber (AC) washout reduces the odds of hypertensive phase (HP) by 95% compared with those not receiving washout during Ahmed glaucoma implant (AGI), suggesting AC washout is an effective prophylaxis for postoperative HP.

Purpose:

To characterize the incidence of postoperative HP in patients receiving AC washout at the time of AGI.

Patients and Methods:

A total of 24 patients with medically refractory glaucoma who underwent AGI surgery at a tertiary academic medical center in Southern California from December 2018 through March 2021 were included in this retrospective comparative case series. Patients who received a pediatric implant and underwent concurrent intraocular surgery or did not complete a minimum of 6 months of follow-up were excluded. Nine patient’s eyes received AC washout and 15 controls that were analyzed through 6 months postprocedure. HP was defined as intraocular pressure (IOP) above 21 mm Hg within 6 months postprocedure with maximum tolerated medical therapy. AC washout was performed by irrigating the AC with a 5 mL balanced salt solution before placing the tube of the AGI into the AC. The rate of postoperative HP, defined as peak IOP >21 mm Hg, at 6 months follow-up, was observed as the primary outcome measure.

Results:

Patients included in the study had a high mean preoperative IOP (X̅ = 44.11, SD = 13.85). There were no baseline differences between the washout and control groups. The odds of HP were significantly reduced (odds ratio: 0.050; 95% CI: 0.004, 0.706; P = 0.027) for patients who underwent intraoperative AC washout compared with those who did not. Bivariate analysis of subject baseline characteristics revealed that only washout status was significantly different in subjects with HP compared with subjects without HP (P = 0.015). A multivariate logistic regression model using washout status and autoimmune conditions as covariates was significant in predicting HP (X
2 (2) = 12.337, P = 0.002), with washout as a significant predictor when controlling for autoimmune comorbidities (P = 0.027).

Conclusions:

AC washout significantly decreases the odds of HP after AGI surgery. AC washout with balanced salt solution adds minimal time and risks to surgery and therefore may be an effective adjunct during AGI placement.
The Success Rate of Glaucoma Drainage Device Revision
Authors: Bouris Ella , de Gainza Agustina , Barsegian Arpine , Caprioli Joseph
Published: March 2023

Précis:

We report the survival of surgical revision to glaucoma drainage devices for several indications in a large cohort of patients, with an overall success rate of 45% at 36 months.

Purpose:

To evaluate the outcomes of surgical revision for complications of glaucoma drainage devices.

Methods:

Three hundred thirty-five eyes of 318 patients who underwent tube revision or removal at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Jules Stein Eye Institute between 1997 and 2019 were included. The pre-defined primary outcome measure was surgical success of the initial revision, defined as resolution of the condition with no additional revisions required, no functionally significant change in vision, and no instances of intraocular pressure > 21 mmHg at 2 consecutive visits postoperatively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied to evaluate survival at 36 months based on these criteria. The Wilcoxon paired test was used to compare mean preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure, medication usage, and visual acuity.

Results:

Overall, survival of revised tubes at 36 months was 45%. The 4 most common indications for revision were exposure of the implant (42% of all revisions), occlusion (14%), corneal failure or threat of failure (12%), and hypotony (11%). Survival at 36 months for each of these indications was 44%, 45%, 52%, and 37%, respectively.

Conclusions:

These results suggest that eyes with glaucomatous damage with long-term glaucoma drainage device complications can still have a reasonably successful outcome when a revision is performed. However, with substantial rates of vision loss and a frequent need for additional revisions to manage complications, managing patient expectations for success and making them aware of the likelihood of additional surgeries or failure is important.
Buprenorphine Program Evaluation in a Private Psychiatric Office-Based Practice
Authors: Palmer Joshua , Mitchell Ann M. , Schlenk Elizabeth A. , Mullick Prabir , Lee Heeyoung
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The opioid crisis has contributed to the mortality, morbidity, and rising healthcare costs in the United States. Buprenorphine (BUP) is an effective medication for opioid use disorder. The aims of this quality assurance evaluation of a BUP program were to (a) evaluate the clinic's performance in illicit opioid abstinence and (b) identify patient risk and resilience characteristics to improve patient success in recovery with BUP.

Methods

A retrospective chart review of open (n = 35) and closed (n = 21) cases and a cross-sectional survey in open cases were completed. Adults (aged ≥18 years) who completed 6 months of BUP treatment at a psychiatric clinic were included. Clinical performance was measured with percentages of opioid-negative urine and completed monthly urine drug tests (UDTs) for the first 6 months. Open cases were surveyed regarding risk and resilience characteristics (frequency of opioid cravings and triggers, therapy participation, and coping skills). Descriptive statistics, t test, and chi-square test were used to analyze data.

Results

Average opioid-negative urine was significantly higher in open cases than closed cases (88.57% vs. 74.82%; t = 2.885, p = .004). There was no significant association between open cases (61.4%) and closed cases (73.8%) in completed monthly UDT. Opening and closing of cases stabilized with mandatory monthly UDT. Most individuals reported therapy participation, minimal opioid cravings, and use of distraction to cope with chronic-pain-induced cravings.

Conclusions/Implications

This clinic met benchmarks leading to improved substance recovery. Recommendations include regular evaluations of UDT, cravings, and chronic pain; therapy participation; and continuous quality assurance activities.
End-of-Life Care Planning in Diverse Individuals Across Age Groups
Authors: Rahemi Zahra , Malatyali Ayse , Wiese Lisa Ann Kirk , Dye Cheryl J.
Published: March 2023

Background:

End-of-life planning helps nurses meet the needs of their patients at a crucial time of life.

Purpose:

This article presents a conceptual model of end-of-life care planning for nurses, especially those in palliative and hospice care, focusing on holistic nursing views.

Methods:

Based on a literature review, we developed a new conceptual model illustrating the concepts and dimensions of end-of-life care planning among diverse individuals across countries, life spans and age groups, ethnographies, and residential statuses.

Results:

This conceptual model includes 3 concepts: personal factors, stakeholders, and environmental and social factors. Each concept encompasses multiple dimensions. The concepts are interrelated and directly related to end-of-life care planning.

Conclusion:

This work addresses the need for a comprehensive end-of-life care planning model and can help enhance the quality of end-of-life care. This article identifies implications for nursing education, practice, and research.
Developing and Implementing In-Person and Virtual SoilSHOPs in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Community-Engaged Approach to Screen and Prevent Soil Lead Exposure
Authors: Saikawa Eri , Lebow-Skelley Erin , Hernandez Rosario , Flack-Walker Faith , Bing Leann , Hunter Candis M.
Published: March 2023

Urban agriculture presents the opportunity for increased availability of local, fresh foods; however, exposure to lead soil contamination can occur through gardening in urban environments. Through a community-engaged partnership, we implemented Soil Screening, Health, Outreach and Partnerships (soilSHOPs), in-person and virtually, to screen soils for lead in Atlanta, Georgia. These soilSHOPs inform best practices for increasing awareness about lead exposure and grounding interventions in residents' lived experiences and also led the US Environmental Protection Agency to identify a Superfund site.
A “Gold Standard” in the Management of Arthritis
Authors: Chan Karmela Kim
Published: March 2023

Hand radiographs show gold thread used as part of acupuncture treatment for arthritis.
Opportunities for High-plex Spatial Transcriptomics in Solid Organ Transplantation
Authors: Cross Amy R. , Gartner Lisa , Hester Joanna , Issa Fadi
Published: March 2023

The last 5 y have seen the development and widespread adoption of high-plex spatial transcriptomic technology. This technique detects and quantifies mRNA transcripts in situ, meaning that transcriptomic signatures can be sampled from specific cells, structures, lesions, or anatomical regions while conserving the physical relationships that exist within complex tissues. These methods now frequently implement next-generation sequencing, enabling the simultaneous measurement of many targets, up to and including the whole mRNA transcriptome. To date, spatial transcriptomics has been foremost used in the fields of neuroscience and oncology, but there is potential for its use in transplantation sciences. Transplantation has a clear dependence on biopsies for diagnosis, monitoring, and research. Transplant patients represent a unique cohort with multiple organs of interest, clinical courses, demographics, and immunosuppressive regimens. Obtaining high complexity data on the disease processes underlying rejection, tolerance, infection, malignancy, and injury could identify new opportunities for therapeutic intervention and biomarker identification. In this review, we discuss currently available spatial transcriptomic technologies and how they can be applied to transplantation.
Nonuniform structural properties of wings confer sensing advantages
Authors: Weber Alison I. , Babaei Mahnoush , Mamo Amanuel , Brunton Bingni W. , Daniel Thomas L. , Bergbreiter Sarah
Published: March 2023

Sensory feedback is essential to both animals and robotic systems for achieving coordinated, precise movements. Mechanosensory feedback, which provides information about body deformation, depends not only on the properties of sensors but also on the structure in which they are embedded. In insects, wing structure plays a particularly important role in flapping flight: in addition to generating aerodynamic forces, wings provide mechanosensory feedback necessary for guiding flight while undergoing dramatic deformations during each wingbeat. However, the role that wing structure plays in determining mechanosensory information is relatively unexplored. Insect wings exhibit characteristic stiffness gradients and are subject to both aerodynamic and structural damping. Here we examine how both of these properties impact sensory performance, using finite element analysis combined with sensor placement optimization approaches. We show that wings with nonuniform stiffness exhibit several advantages over uniform stiffness wings, resulting in higher accuracy of rotation detection and lower sensitivity to the placement of sensors on the wing. Moreover, we show that higher damping generally improves the accuracy with which body rotations can be detected. These results contribute to our understanding of the evolution of the nonuniform stiffness patterns in insect wings, as well as suggest design principles for robotic systems.
Transport collapse in dynamically evolving networks
Authors: Berthelot Geoffroy , Tupikina Liubov , Kang Min-Yeong , Dedecker Jérôme , Grebenkov Denis
Published: March 2023

Transport in complex networks can describe a variety of natural and human-engineered processes including biological, societal and technological ones. However, how the properties of the source and drain nodes can affect transport subject to random failures, attacks or maintenance optimization in the network remain unknown. In this article, the effects of both the distance between the source and drain nodes and the degree of the source node on the time of transport collapse are studied in scale-free and lattice-based transport networks. These effects are numerically evaluated for two strategies, which employ either transport-based or random link removal. Scale-free networks with small distances are found to result in larger times of collapse. In lattice-based networks, both the dimension and boundary conditions are shown to have a major effect on the time of collapse. We also show that adding a direct link between the source and the drain increases the robustness of scale-free networks when subject to random link removals. Interestingly, the distribution of the times of collapse is then similar to the one of lattice-based networks.
Identifying the genetic basis of viral spillover using Lassa virus as a test case
Authors: Whitlock Alexander O. B. , Bird Brian H. , Ghersi Bruno , Davison Andrew J. , Hughes Joseph , Nichols Jenna , Vučak Matej , Amara Emmanuel , Bangura James , Lavalie Edwin G. , Kanu Marilyn C. , Kanu Osman T. , Sjodin Anna , Remien Christopher H. , Nuismer Scott L.
Published: March 2023

The rate at which zoonotic viruses spill over into the human population varies significantly over space and time. Remarkably, we do not yet know how much of this variation is attributable to genetic variation within viral populations. This gap in understanding arises because we lack methods of genetic analysis that can be easily applied to zoonotic viruses, where the number of available viral sequences is often limited, and opportunistic sampling introduces significant population stratification. Here, we explore the feasibility of using patterns of shared ancestry to correct for population stratification, enabling genome-wide association methods to identify genetic substitutions associated with spillover into the human population. Using a combination of phylogenetically structured simulations and Lassa virus sequences collected from humans and rodents in Sierra Leone, we demonstrate that existing methods do not fully correct for stratification, leading to elevated error rates. We also demonstrate, however, that the Type I error rate can be substantially reduced by confining the analysis to a less-stratified region of the phylogeny, even in an already-small dataset. Using this method, we detect two candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with spillover in the Lassa virus polymerase gene and provide generalized recommendations for the collection and analysis of zoonotic viruses.