bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Long-term exposure to monoclonal anti-TNF is associated with an increased risk of lymphoma in BAFF-transgenic mice
Authors: Nocturne Gaetane , Ly Bineta , Paoletti Audrey , Pascaud Juliette , Seror Raphaele , Nicco Carole , Mackay Fabienne , Vincent F B , Lazure Thierry , Ferlicot Sophie , Stimmer Lev , Pascal Quentin , Roulland Sandrine , Krzysiek Roman , Hacein-Bey Salima , Batteux Frederic , Mariette Xavier 
Published: April 2021

Summary
The impact of treatment on the risk of lymphoma in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unclear. Here, we aimed to assess if the risk of lymphoma differs according to the type of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi), comparing monoclonal anti-TNF antibodies to the soluble TNF receptor. We used B cell activating factor belonging to the TNF family (BAFF)-transgenic (Tg) mice as a model of autoimmunity-associated lymphoma. Six-month-old BAFF-Tg mice were treated with TNFi for 12 months. Histological examination of the spleen, assessment of the cellular composition of the spleen by flow cytometry and assessment of B cell clonality were performed at euthanasia. Crude mortality and incidence of lymphoma were significantly higher in mice treated with monoclonal anti-TNF antibodies compared to both controls and mice treated with the soluble TNF receptor, even at a high dose. Flow cytometry analysis revealed decreased splenic macrophage infiltration in mice treated with monoclonal anti-TNF antibodies. Overall, this study demonstrates, for the first time, that a very prolonged treatment with monoclonal anti-TNF antibodies increase the risk of lymphoma in B cell-driven autoimmunity. These data suggest a closer monitoring for lymphoma development in patients suffering from B cell-driven autoimmune disease with long-term exposure to monoclonal anti-TNF antibodies.
The prognostic value of lymph node metastasis and the eighth edition of AJCC for patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer
Authors: Zhang Hanpu , Zhao Yan‐Ci , Wu Qi , Wang Lijun , Sun Shengrong 
Published: April 2021

AbstractObjectiveThe eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC‐v8) for anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) made a revision in staging for patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM) based on the seventh edition of AJCC (AJCC‐v7). Our study aimed to evaluate the predictive ability of AJCC‐v8 for survival in patients with ATC by exploring the association between lymph node stage and prognosis of ATC patients.MethodsRetrospective study of ATC in Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. The association between LNM and survival of ATC was estimated by the Kaplan‐Meier method and Cox regression model. The predictive performances of the AJCC‐v8 and AJCC‐v7 were estimated through C‐index, Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC).ResultsA total of 313 patients with ATC were included in our analysis. Notably, LNM was identified as an independent risk factor for ATC mortality (adjusted HR, 1.47, 95% CI, 1.10–1.96; p = .009), while the risk of mortality in N1a group was comparable to that in N1b group according to univariate (HR, 1.30, 95% CI, 0.92–1.82; p = .133) and multivariate (adjusted HR 0.87, 95% CI, 0.60–1.27; p = .467) cox analyses. Applying the AJCC‐v8, the survival of migration population staged T1‐3aN1M0 was significantly worse than that of T1‐3aN0M0 patients (IVA stage), while was not different from that of T3b‐T4bN0/N1M0 patients (IVB stage). With a higher C‐index (0.60 vs. 0.59), lower AIC (2728 vs. 2732) and BIC (2732 vs. 2735), AJCC‐v8 was demonstrably a more favourable prediction model than AJCC‐v7.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that LNM was independently associated with poor prognosis of ATC, and AJCC‐v8 with the modified staging of patients with LNM showed better survival predictive performance in ATC patients than AJCC‐v7.
Appropriating the Concept of the Right to the City: Politics, Politicians, and Collective Actors in Mexico City☆
Authors: Zamorano Claudia 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThis article takes into consideration the importance of the concept of right to the city in Mexico City politics and raises three main questions: How have center‐left governments adapted the concept according to their own interests, in a neoliberalizing context marked by mandatory repositioning of planning and capital? How has the right to the city been taken up and modified by diverse social organizations aimed at influencing the production of urban space? To what extent has the concept, despite manipulations and misunderstandings, proved to be politically useful in bridging differences between government agencies and social movements? I focus on the social life of the concept. I suggest that its widespread dissemination has not meant its trivialization. On the contrary, the concept has taken on greater sociological complexity. It was not turned into a fixed concept, rather it became both a field of contention and a tool enabling political encounters.
Corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review of current trends and opportunities for future research
Authors: Farah Bassam , Elias Rida , Aguilera Ruth , Abi Saad Elie 
Published: April 2021

AbstractResearch Question/IssueWe systematically review the corporate governance (CG) literature on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), organize it into six main themes and their subthemes, and propose several opportunities for future research.Research Findings/InsightsWe highlight CG's unique characteristics in the MENA region as well as differences and similarities across MENA countries. We shed light on how organizations are governed in this region especially that their ownership structures are centered on families and the state, and that Islam plays a major role in their governance. Our review establishes a solid foundation for future research directed at CG practices in the MENA region and encourages policymakers and practitioners to improve CG in the region.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review covering CG in the MENA region. In an effort to encourage the continuing evolution of this research stream and augment its contributions to the broader CG literature, we develop an extensive research agenda focusing on several key topics that deserve further attention such as ownership and countries' political regimes, family business and royal families, Sharia law, and executive compensation, among others.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThis review invites policymakers and investors to consider implementing better policies aimed at improving CG practices, specifically by fomenting transparency, developing financial markets, providing stronger protections for minority shareholders, and enhancing compliance with existing and new regulations.
Incidence, risk factors, treatment, and consequences of antibody‐mediated kidney transplant rejection: A systematic review
Authors: Hart Allyson , Singh Devender , Brown Sarah Jane , Wang Jeffrey H. , Kasiske Bertram L. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundAntibody‐mediated rejection (AMR) is a leading cause of kidney allograft failure, but its incidence, risk factors, and outcomes are not well understood.MethodsWe searched Ovid MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Scopus from January 2000 to January 2020 to identify published cohorts of ≥500 incident adult or 75 pediatric kidney transplant recipients followed for ≥1 year post‐transplant.ResultsAt least two reviewers screened 5061 articles and abstracts; 28 met inclusion criteria. Incidence of acute AMR was 1.1%‐21.5%; most studies reported 3%‐12% incidence, usually within the first year post‐transplant. Few studies reported chronic AMR incidence, from 7.5%‐20.1% up to 10 years. Almost all patients with acute or chronic AMR received corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin; most received plasmapheresis, and approximately half with rituximab. Most studies examining death‐censored graft failure identified AMR as an independent risk factor. Few reported refractory AMR rates or outcomes, and none examined costs. Most studies were single‐center and varied greatly in design.ConclusionsCohort studies of kidney transplant recipients demonstrate that AMR is common and associated with increased risk of death‐censored graft failure, but studies vary widely regarding populations, definitions, and reported incidence. Gaps remain in our understanding of refractory AMR, its costs, and resulting quality of life.
Peacebuilding conditionalities: An alternative to migration conditionalities for European Union development policy
Authors: Rodríguez Aurrecoechea Ángel 
Published: April 2021

SummaryMotivationThe European Union (EU) has securitized its development policy with migration conditionalities, resulting in the subordination of development objectives to the externalization of migration control. This has called into question the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU development policy while failing to provide a solution that prevents future refugee crises. How can these trends be reversed?PurposeThis article examines the feasibility and implications of peacebuilding conditionalities as an alternative to migration conditionalities with the aim of addressing the root causes of refugee crises, ensuring the effectiveness of EU development policy, and preserving its legitimacy.Methods and approachThe article outlines a theoretical framework to categorize development policy conditionalities and better understand their strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by an analysis of the EU’s financial, legal, and electoral framework in order to evaluate peacebuilding conditionalities as an alternative policy option.FindingsPeacebuilding conditionalities limit the ability of donor countries to influence migration behaviour while promoting capacity development by ensuring stability in migrants’ countries of origin. Replacing migration conditionalities with peacebuilding conditionalities is a feasible policy option in the current EU framework that can help prevent future refugee crises while encouraging synergy between Member States in development co‐operation—a promising policy area for European integration.Policy implicationsPeacebuilding conditionalities for development co‐operation would constitute a legitimate, effective, and integrating alternative to migration conditionalities at a time of crisis for the European project. With the prospect of a ceasefire in Libya, this would be especially suitable for a post‐conflict scenario.
Brain stimulation effects on serum BDNF, VEGF, and TNFα in treatment‐resistant psychiatric disorders
Authors: Valiuliene Giedre , Valiulis Vladas , Dapsys Kastytis , Vitkeviciene Aida , Gerulskis Giedrius , Navakauskiene Ruta , Germanavicius Arunas 
Published: April 2021

AbstractResistance to pharmacological treatment poses a notable challenge for psychiatry. Such cases are usually treated with brain stimulation techniques, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Empirical evidence links treatment resistance to insufficient brain plasticity and chronic inflammation. Therefore, this study encompasses analysis of neurotrophic and inflammatory factors in psychiatric patients undergoing rTMS and ECT in order to refine the selection of patients and predict clinical outcomes. This study enrolled 25 drug‐resistant depressive patients undergoing rTMS and 31 drug‐resistant schizophrenia patients undergoing ECT. Clinical efficacy of brain stimulation therapies was gauged using MADRS and HAM‐D scales in the depression group and PANSS scale in the schizophrenia group. Blood‐derived BDNF, VEGF, and TNFα were analysed during the treatment course. For reference, 19 healthy control subjects were also enrolled. After statistical analysis, no significant differences were detected in BDNF, VEGF, and TNFα concentrations among healthy, depressive, and schizophrenic subject groups before the treatment. However, depressive patient treatment with rTMS has increased BDNF concentration, while schizophrenic patient treatment with ECT has lowered the concentration of TNFα. Our findings suggest that a lower initial TNFα concentration could be a marker for treatment success in depressed patients undergoing rTMS, whereas in schizophrenic patient group treated with ECT, a higher concentration of VEGF correlates to milder symptoms post‐treatment, especially in the negative scale.
Frontal circuit specialisations for decision making
Authors: Hunt Laurence T. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThere is widespread consensus that distributed circuits across prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex (PFC/ACC) are critical for reward‐based decision making. The circuit specialisations of these areas in primates were likely shaped by their foraging niche, in which decision making is typically sequential, attention‐guided and temporally extended. Here, I argue that in humans and other primates, PFC/ACC circuits are functionally specialised in two ways. First, microcircuits found across PFC/ACC are highly recurrent in nature and have synaptic properties that support persistent activity across temporally extended cognitive tasks. These properties provide the basis of a computational account of time‐varying neural activity within PFC/ACC as a decision is being made. Second, the macrocircuit connections (to other brain areas) differ between distinct PFC/ACC cytoarchitectonic subregions. This variation in macrocircuit connections explains why PFC/ACC subregions make unique contributions to reward‐based decision tasks and how these contributions are shaped by attention. They predict dissociable neural representations to emerge in orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during sequential attention‐guided choice, as recently confirmed in neurophysiological recordings.
Cycling of reduced phosphorus compounds in soil and potential impacts of climate change
Authors: Kehler Anchen , Haygarth Philip , Tamburini Federica , Blackwell Martin 
Published: April 2021

AbstractSoil phosphorus (P) remains an ever‐increasing topic of importance, notably for its key role as a nutrient for driving food production but with parallel concerns over damaging water quality, all against a backdrop of uncertainty of long‐term rock phosphate supplies. Soil is a key interface that holds P and regulates its onward flow to plants or leakage to waters. Often overlooked are a ubiquitous group of P compounds that exist in alternative oxidation states to that of phosphate (+5). Redox cycling, and the behaviour that chemically reduced P compounds exhibit in soils, introduces alternative routes of cycling P that may become more important as the soil system itself alters, especially due to the external pressures of climate change, bringing about critical dynamics in rainfall and runoff and also wetting and drying. All of these factors are known to affect soil redox potential and consequently the oxidation state of soil P. This review considers the chemically reduced species in the P cycle, exploring their sources and sinks, while considering their importance within the primary global biogeochemical cycling of P and how this may be impacted by climate change in the temperate climate of the northern hemisphere.Highlights
This paper addresses how climate change will affect soil phosphorus cycling.
This review is novel as it considers the reduced phosphorus forms when discussing P transfer in soils.
Climate change is likely to increase prevalence of reduced P and free phosphate in northern hemisphere temperate soils.
Phosphorus cycling relies partly on redox P processes. Their importance will increase as climate alters soils.
Estimation of the carbon valence from its average formal oxidation state in the soil organic matter
Authors: Visconti Fernando , de Paz José M. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe wet dichromate methods for the quantification of soil organic carbon on the basis of the reductant ability of soil organic matter have been widely used and they are still nowadays. The results obtained with these methods depart from the reference dry combustion with CO2 measurement and the discrepancies are interpreted in terms of incomplete oxidation under the wet dichromate conditions. However, in the calculations accompanying the dichromate methods a carbon valence (VC) equal to four is systematically used, even though the actual VC could be different. To assess the importance that an actual VC different from four could have in the mismatch between the wet dichromate methods and the reference dry combustion, the relationship between VC and the average formal oxidation state of carbon (zC) in soil organic matter should be known. On the basis of the definition of the equivalent weight and the average formal oxidation state, it is shown that a simple linear expression of the form VC = 4 – zC relates both concepts in carbon‐hydrogen‐oxygen‐nitrogen‐phosphorus‐sulphur compounds, which are representative of soil organic matter. On the basis of this equation the actual VC in soil organic matter can be assessed, thus helping in the interpretation of soil organic carbon determinations with the wet dichromate methods and, therefore, in the comparison between the dichromate methods and the reference dry combustion.Highlights
Although questioned, a carbon valence of four is always used in the wet dichromate methods for SOC.
How the valence of carbon depends on its average formal oxidation had not been previously shown.
Both concepts are related through a simple linear equation: VC = 4 – zC.
The mismatch between the dichromate oxidation and the dry combustion will be better interpreted.
Characterization of chronic active multiple sclerosis lesions with sodium (23Na) magnetic resonance imaging—preliminary observations
Authors: Eisele Philipp , Kraemer Matthias , Dabringhaus Andreas , Weber Claudia E. , Ebert Anne , Platten Michael , Schad Lothar R. , Gass Achim 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackground and purposeThere has been an increasing interest in chronic active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions as a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker of disease progression. Chronic active lesions are characterized by progressive tissue matrix damage, axonal loss and chronic inflammation. Sodium (23Na) MRI provides a biochemical marker of cell integrity and tissue viability in a quantitative manner. The aim of this study was to investigate with 23Na MRI tissue abnormalities in chronic active lesions as indicators of tissue destruction.MethodsTo identify chronic active lesions, two 3D magnetization‐prepared rapid acquisition gradient‐echo datasets obtained 12 months apart were processed using the voxel‐guided morphometry algorithm. Cross‐sectional 23Na MRI was performed during the 12‐month follow‐up period. Total sodium concentration was calculated in chronic active lesions compared to shrinking, chronic stable and acute contrast‐enhancing lesions.ResultsOverall, 70 MS lesions (21 chronic active, 10 shrinking, 29 chronic stable lesions, 10 acute contrast‐enhancing lesions) in 12 patients were included. Total sodium concentration in chronic active lesions (49.57 ± 8.47 mM) was significantly higher than in shrinking (42.16 ± 3.9 mM; p = 0.03) and chronic stable lesions (39.92 ± 4.82 mM; p < 0.001). Chronic active lesions showed similar sodium values compared to acute contrast‐enhancing lesions (48.06 ± 6.65 mM; p = 0.97). No differences between shrinking and chronic stable lesions were observed (p = 0.89).ConclusionHigh sodium values in chronic active MS lesions may be an indicator of ongoing inflammation and tissue damage.
Laparoscopic closure of the vaginal rings in the standing horse using a tacked intraperitoneal slitted mesh (TISM) technique
Authors: Wilderjans Hans , Meulyzer Michael 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundIndirect inguinal herniation (IIH) is a potentially life‐threatening condition in stallions. The ideal preventive measure for breeding stallions ensures a minimally invasive closure of the vaginal ring that avoids recurrence of IIH while preserving both testicles.ObjectivesTo describe a minimally invasive laparoscopic tacked intra‐peritoneal slitted mesh (TISM) technique in the standing horse to close the vaginal rings and to evaluate its efficacy in preventing recurrence of IIH in stallions.Study designRetrospective case series.MethodsMedical records of 17 stallions with a history of IIH were reviewed retrospectively. The surgical procedure was performed on the standing horse through a flank approach using four laparoscopic portals. The vaginal ring was covered with a commercial mesh. The mesh was partially cut to create a slitted mesh with two flaps: the dorsal flap was passed under the spermatic cord and ductus deferens and the ventral flap above. The mesh was secured in place with laparoscopic tacks. Long‐term follow‐up was obtained by a structured telephone interview of the owners.ResultsA total of 32 laparoscopic vaginal rings closures were successfully performed in 17 horses. No major intra‐ or postoperative complications occurred. None of the horse suffered from re‐occurrence. Nine of the 13 active breeding stallions were breeding again with similar semen quality as before treatment, 4/13 will resume their breeding activity during the next breeding season. None of the horses were castrated and none of the owners reported abnormal size or shape of the testicles. In three stallions, post‐operative pain and activity limitations were noted that gradually resolved after 6 months.Main limitationsThe lack of large numbers to compare the results of different mesh and tack combinations, the lack of follow‐up veterinary examinations and the limited number of laparoscopic rechecks.ConclusionThe TISM technique is an effective minimally invasive technique to surgically reduce the size of the vaginal ring and thereby prevent recurrence of IIH.
A global assessment of fish estuary associations: A numerical approach to assessing estuary‐associated fish functional guilds
Authors: Harrison Trevor D. , Whitfield Alan K. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractA novel fish estuary‐association scoring (FEAS) system that numerically expresses the relative position or level of estuarine‐association for each species has been developed. A dataset numerically describing the degree or level of estuarine‐association for some 6,000 fish species has been established based on an extensive review of the scientific literature on coastal and freshwater fishes. The FEAS reflects both globally recognized fish estuary‐association functional guilds as well as the continuum of fish estuarine use and dependence. The application of FEAS to numerically analyse and functionally compare estuarine fish communities using a range of statistical and analytical methods is demonstrated by examples from a variety of studies around the world; its use as a potential environmental monitoring and assessment tool is also presented.