Collective autobiographical reflexivity on active and compassionate citizenship in the COVID-19 crisis

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, socio-economic inequalities have become exacerbated and COVID-19 related hate crimes have increased. This paper explores how citizenship education might be reimagined in response to this context, with the vision of rebuilding a more equitable and compassionate society. By using a collective autobiographical writing approach, this study documented six different autobiographical reflexivities of citizenship education scholars who were from different parts of the world: China, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, Nepal and the United Kingdom. It also observed the way the pandemic played out in the location where they were situated during the research as well as how it played out in their countries of origin, and further, how it affected the civic development in each context. The scholars' range of autobiographical expressions resulted in insights for developing a type of citizenship education, namely, education for active and compassionate citizenship

Risk Factors for Nonsynchronous Second Primary Malignancy and Related Death in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) survivors are at increased risk of developing nonsynchronous second primary malignancy (NSPM). This study aims to examine possible risk factors leading to occurrence of NSPM as well as risk factors leading to NSPM-related death in patients with DTC. METHODS: Of the 1,106 patients with DTC managed at our institution, 92 (8.3%) patients developed NSPM and 40 (3.6%) patients died of NSPM. All causes of death were confirmed by medical record, autopsy report or death certificate. Clinicopathological variables were compared between those without NSPM and with NSPM as well as between those who died of NSPM and did not die of NSPM. Significant variables on univariate analysis were entered into a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The median latency period from diagnosis of DTC to NSPM was 142.7 (range 16.8-511.0) months. For occurrence of NSPM, age at DTC diagnosis >/=50 years old [relative risk (RR) = 2.35], cumulative radioactive iodine (RAI) activity 3.0-8.9 GBq (RR = 2.38), and external local radiotherapy (ERT) (RR = 1.95) were significant risk factors. For NSPM-related death, age at DTC diagnosis >/=50 years old (RR = 3.32) and nonbreast cancer (RR = 5.76) were significant risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: NSPM accounted for 18.7% of all deaths in DTC, but mortality was high (43.5%). Age at DTC diagnosis >/=50 years old, cumulative RAI activity 3.0-8.9 GBq, and ERT were significant risk factors for occurrence of NSPM, whereas age at DTC diagnosis >/=50 years old and the diagnosis of nonbreast cancer were significant risk factors for NSPM-related death.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Assessment of Diet and Physical Activity in Paediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients: A United Kingdom Case Control Study

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children, with prevalence rising alongside childhood obesity rates. This study aimed to characterise the habitual diet and activity behaviours of children with NAFLD compared to obese children without liver disease in the United Kingdom (UK). Twenty-four biopsy-proven paediatric NAFLD cases and eight obese controls without biochemical or radiological evidence of NAFLD completed a 24-h dietary recall, a Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ), a Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) and a 7-day food and activity diary (FAD), in conjunction with wearing a pedometer. Groups were well matched for age and gender. Obese children had higher BMI z-scores (p = 0.006) and BMI centiles (p = 0.002) than participants with NAFLD. After adjusting for multiple hypotheses testing and controlling for differences in BMI, no differences in macro- or micronutrient intake were observed as assessed using either 24-h recall or 7-day FAD (p > 0.001). Under-reporting was prevalent (NAFLD 75%, Obese Control 87%: p = 0.15). Restrained eating behaviours were significantly higher in the NAFLD group (p = 0.005), who also recorded more steps per day than the obese controls (p = 0.01). In conclusion, this is the first study to assess dietary and activity patterns in a UK paediatric NAFLD population. Only a minority of cases and controls were meeting current dietary and physical activity recommendations. Our findings do not support development of specific dietary/ physical activity guidelines for children with NAFLD; promoting adherence with current general paediatric recommendations for health should remain the focus of clinical management

Celecoxib exerts protective effects in the vascular endothelium via COX-2-independent activation of AMPK-CREB-Nrf2 signalling

Although concern remains about the athero-thrombotic risk posed by cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2-selective inhibitors, recent data implicates rofecoxib, while celecoxib appears equivalent to NSAIDs naproxen and ibuprofen. We investigated the hypothesis that celecoxib activates AMP kinase (AMPK) signalling to enhance vascular endothelial protection. In human arterial and venous endothelial cells (EC), and in contrast to ibuprofen and naproxen, celecoxib induced the protective protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Celecoxib derivative 2,5-dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC) which lacks COX-2 inhibition also upregulated HO-1, implicating a COX-2-independent mechanism. Celecoxib activated AMPKα(Thr172) and CREB-1(Ser133) phosphorylation leading to Nrf2 nuclear translocation. Importantly, these responses were not reproduced by ibuprofen or naproxen, while AMPKα silencing abrogated celecoxib-mediated CREB and Nrf2 activation. Moreover, celecoxib induced H-ferritin via the same pathway, and increased HO-1 and H-ferritin in the aortic endothelium of mice fed celecoxib (1000 ppm) or control chow. Functionally, celecoxib inhibited TNF-α-induced NF-κB p65(Ser536) phosphorylation by activating AMPK. This attenuated VCAM-1 upregulation via induction of HO-1, a response reproduced by DMC but not ibuprofen or naproxen. Similarly, celecoxib prevented IL-1β-mediated induction of IL-6. Celecoxib enhances vascular protection via AMPK-CREB-Nrf2 signalling, a mechanism which may mitigate cardiovascular risk in patients prescribed celecoxib. Understanding NSAID heterogeneity and COX-2-independent signalling will ultimately lead to safer anti-inflammatory drugs

A momentum-dependent perspective on quasiparticle interference in Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+\delta}

Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) probes the momentum-space electronic structure of materials, and provides invaluable information about the high-temperature superconducting cuprates. Likewise, the cuprate real-space, inhomogeneous electronic structure is elucidated by Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS). Recently, STS has exploited quasiparticle interference (QPI) - wave-like electrons scattering off impurities to produce periodic interference patterns - to infer properties of the QP in momentum-space. Surprisingly, some interference peaks in Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+\delta} (Bi-2212) are absent beyond the antiferromagnetic (AF) zone boundary, implying the dominance of particular scattering process. Here, we show that ARPES sees no evidence of quasiparticle (QP) extinction: QP-like peaks are measured everywhere on the Fermi surface, evolving smoothly across the AF zone boundary. This apparent contradiction stems from different natures of single-particle (ARPES) and two-particle (STS) processes underlying these probes. Using a simple model, we demonstrate extinction of QPI without implying the loss of QP beyond the AF zone boundary

Understanding Liver Health Using the National Center for Health Statistics

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is the principal health statistics agency for the United States. It seeks to provide accurate, relevant, and timely data on health status and utilization of health care. As such, the NCHS represents a tremendous repository of behavioral, biological, and clinical data that can be employed to identify issues and effect change in public policy related to liver health and disease. By providing an understanding of the rich, publicly available data systems within the NCHS, investigators may capitalize on an efficient means to shape current knowledge of liver disease

Eye Movements Predict Recollective Experience

Previously encountered stimuli can bring to mind a vivid memory of the episodic context in which the stimulus was first experienced ("remembered'' stimuli), or can simply seem familiar ("known'' stimuli). Past studies suggest that more attentional resources are required to encode stimuli that are subsequently remembered than known. However, it is unclear if the attentional resources are distributed differently during encoding and recognition of remembered and known stimuli. Here, we record eye movements while participants encode photos, and later while indicating whether the photos are remembered, known or new. Eye fixations were more clustered during both encoding and recognition of remembered photos relative to known photos. Thus, recognition of photos that bring to mind a vivid memory for the episodic context in which they were experienced is associated with less distributed overt attention during encoding and recognition. The results suggest that remembering is related to encoding of a few distinct details of a photo rather than the photo as a whole. In turn, during recognition remembering may be trigged by enhanced memory for the salient details of the photos

Oxygen-related band gap state in single crystal rubrene

A molecular exciton signature is established and investigated under different ambient conditions in rubrene single crystals. An oxygen-related band gap state is found to form in the ambient atmosphere. This state acts as an acceptor center and assists in the fast dissociation of excitons, resulting in a higher dark and photoconductivity of oxidized rubrene. The band gap state produces a well-defined photoluminescence band at an energy 0.25 eV below the energy of the 0-0 molecular exciton transition. Two-photon excitation spectroscopy shows that the states are concentrated near the surface of naturally oxidized rubrene

The Role of the Mucus Barrier in Digestion

Mucus forms a protective layer across a variety of epithelial surfaces. In the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the barrier has to permit the uptake of nutrients, while excluding potential hazards, such as pathogenic bacteria. In this short review article, we look at recent literature on the structure, location, and properties of the mammalian intestinal secreted mucins and the mucus layer they form over a wide range of length scales. In particular, we look at the structure of the gel-forming glycoprotein MUC2, the primary intestinal secreted mucin, and the influence this has on the properties of the mucus layer. We show that, even at the level of the protein backbone, MUC2 is highly heterogeneous and that this is reflected in the networks it forms. It is evident that a combination of charge and pore size determines what can diffuse through the layer to the underlying gut epithelium. This information is important for the targeted delivery of bioactive molecules, including nutrients and pharmaceuticals, and for understanding how GI health is maintained