Examining "The end of revolution": a foretaste of Wang Hui’s thought

Wang Hui is a significant contemporary Chinese thinker and a key representative of Chinese New Left thought. This article provides a critical review of some of the themes that emerge from Wang’s The End of Revolution as a means of situating his position in China’s intellectual landscape, with a particular mind to exploring the historicity of Wang’s thought as it informs his views. The essay engages some of the key discursive threads in The End of Revolution and provides a critical overview of Wang’s positions on neoliberalism, the tension between Western articulations of modernity and China’s own self-image

Deciphering Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: What Phenotype, Neuropathology and Genetics Are Telling Us about Pathogenesis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized phenotypically by progressive weakness and neuropathologically by loss of motor neurons. Phenotypically, there is marked heterogeneity. Typical ALS has mixed upper motor neuron (UMN) and lower motor neuron (LMN) involvement. Primary lateral sclerosis has predominant UMN involvement. Progressive muscular atrophy has predominant LMN involvement. Bulbar and limb ALS have predominant regional involvement. Frontotemporal dementia has significant cognitive and behavioral involvement. These phenotypes can be so distinctive that they would seem to have differing biology. But they cannot be distinguished, at least neuropathologically or genetically. In sporadic ALS (SALS), they all are characterized by ubiquitinated cytoplasmic inclusions of TDP-43. In familial ALS (FALS), where phenotypes are indistinguishable from SALS and similarly heterogeneous, each mutated gene has its own genetic and molecular signature. Putting this together, since the same phenotypes can have multiple causes including different gene mutations, there must be multiple molecular mechanisms causing ALS and ALS is a syndrome. But since multiple phenotypes can be caused by one single gene mutation, a single molecular mechanism can cause heterogeneity. What the mechanisms are remain unknown, but active propagation of the pathology neuroanatomically seems to be a principle component. Leading candidate mechanisms include RNA processing, cell-cell interactions between neurons and non-neuronal neighbors, focal seeding from a misfolded protein that has prion-like propagation, and fatal errors introduced during neurodevelopment of the motor system. If fundamental mechanisms can be identified and understood, ALS therapy could rationally target progression and stop disease—a goal that seems increasingly achievable.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke

Background  Aphasia is an acquired language impairment following brain damage that affects some or all language modalities: expression and understanding of speech, reading, and writing. Approximately one third of people who have a stroke experience aphasia.  Objectives  To assess the effects of speech and language therapy (SLT) for aphasia following stroke.  Search methods  We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched 9 September 2015), CENTRAL (2015, Issue 5) and other Cochrane Library Databases (CDSR, DARE, HTA, to 22 September 2015), MEDLINE (1946 to September 2015), EMBASE (1980 to September 2015), CINAHL (1982 to September 2015), AMED (1985 to September 2015), LLBA (1973 to September 2015), and SpeechBITE (2008 to September 2015). We also searched major trials registers for ongoing trials including ClinicalTrials.gov (to 21 September 2015), the Stroke Trials Registry (to 21 September 2015), Current Controlled Trials (to 22 September 2015), and WHO ICTRP (to 22 September 2015). In an effort to identify further published, unpublished, and ongoing trials we also handsearched theInternational Journal of Language and Communication Disorders(1969 to 2005) and reference lists of relevant articles, and we contacted academic institutions and other researchers. There were no language restrictions.  Selection criteria  Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing SLT (a formal intervention that aims to improve language and communication abilities, activity and participation) versus no SLT; social support or stimulation (an intervention that provides social support and communication stimulation but does not include targeted therapeutic interventions); or another SLT intervention (differing in duration, intensity, frequency, intervention methodology or theoretical approach).  Data collection and analysis  We independently extracted the data and assessed the quality of included trials. We sought missing data from investigators.  Main results  We included 57 RCTs (74 randomised comparisons) involving 3002 participants in this review (some appearing in more than one comparison). Twenty-seven randomised comparisons (1620 participants) assessed SLT versus no SLT; SLT resulted in clinically and statistically significant benefits to patients' functional communication (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06 to 0.49, P = 0.01), reading, writing, and expressive language, but (based on smaller numbers) benefits were not evident at follow-up. Nine randomised comparisons (447 participants) assessed SLT with social support and stimulation; meta-analyses found no evidence of a difference in functional communication, but more participants withdrew from social support interventions than SLT. Thirty-eight randomised comparisons (1242 participants) assessed two approaches to SLT. Functional communication was significantly better in people with aphasia that received therapy at a high intensity, high dose, or over a long duration compared to those that received therapy at a lower intensity, lower dose, or over a shorter period of time. The benefits of a high intensity or a high dose of SLT were confounded by a significantly higher dropout rate in these intervention groups. Generally, trials randomised small numbers of participants across a range of characteristics (age, time since stroke, and severity profiles), interventions, and outcomes.  Authors' conclusions  Our review provides evidence of the effectiveness of SLT for people with aphasia following stroke in terms of improved functional communication, reading, writing, and expressive language compared with no therapy. There is some indication that therapy at high intensity, high dose or over a longer period may be beneficial. HIgh-intensity and high dose interventions may not be acceptable to all

Genetic correlation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and schizophrenia

A. Palotie on työryhmän Schizophrenia Working Grp Psychiat jäsen.We have previously shown higher-than-expected rates of schizophrenia in relatives of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), suggesting an aetiological relationship between the diseases. Here, we investigate the genetic relationship between ALS and schizophrenia using genome-wide association study data from over 100,000 unique individuals. Using linkage disequilibrium score regression, we estimate the genetic correlation between ALS and schizophrenia to be 14.3% (7.05-21.6; P = 1 x 10(-4)) with schizophrenia polygenic risk scores explaining up to 0.12% of the variance in ALS (P = 8.4 x 10(-7)). A modest increase in comorbidity of ALS and schizophrenia is expected given these findings (odds ratio 1.08-1.26) but this would require very large studies to observe epidemiologically. We identify five potential novel ALS-associated loci using conditional false discovery rate analysis. It is likely that shared neurobiological mechanisms between these two disorders will engender novel hypotheses in future preclinical and clinical studies.Peer reviewe

Collecting and Classifying : Ming Dynasty Compendia and Encyclopedias (Leishu)

The mushrooming of reference (leishu) and daily-use encyclopedias (riyong leishu) in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries drew on earlier book collections, which Chinese literati previously had valued as texts while preparing for civil examinations or for collecting source materials needed by officials to carry out their activities. Since 1000, these traditional collections transmitted a specific epistemological approach for investigating things, events, and phenomena. Beginning in the mid-thirteenth century under Mongol rule, new types of leishu developed, some of which, owing to the steady expansion of printing as well as literacy and the corresponding proliferation of a bookish print culture, reached a much wider readership than ever before. On the one hand, these new types of leishu covered a wider range of knowledge. On the other hand, they represented a form of classicism that approached things/events/phenomena textually, i.e., in a lexicographic and etymological way. Using the encyclopedic form, compilers increasingly applied the ideals for " investigating things and extending knowledge " (gewu zhizhi) beyond the classical corpus. This textual approach to natural studies and practical knowledge culminated in the creation of textual repositories simulating " textual museums. "Collecter et classer: anthologies et encyclopédies au cours de la dynastie Ming Les leishu et les encyclopédies à usage quotidien des XVIe et XVIIe siècles se sont inspirés de collections de livres plus anciens, appréciés et utilisés par les lettrés chinois pour préparer les concours impériaux ou pour mener à bien leurs missions, grâce au matériau qui y était rassemblé. Depuis 1000, ces collections traditionnelles ont transmis une approche épistémologique spécifique pour explorer les choses, les événements et les phénomènes. Dès la moitié du XIIIe siècle, sous l'empire Mongol, de nouveaux types d'encyclopédies se développèrent, dont certains, du fait de l'expansion de l'imprimerie, de l'alphabétisation et de la culture du livre imprimé, gagnèrent un lectorat plus important que jamais. Ces nouvelles encyclopédies couvraient, d'une part, un champ de savoir plus étendu, et, d'autre part, elles incarnèrent une forme de classicisme appréhendant les choses/événements/phénomènes texmellement, c'est-à-dire, de façon lexicographique et étymologique. En utilisant la forme encyclopédique, les compilateurs appliquèrent l'idéal d'« explorer les choses et étendre la connaissance» au-delà du corpus classique. Cette approche textuelle des études naturelles et du savoir pratique culmina avec la création de trésors textuels comparables à des «musées textuels».Benjamin Elman mm&+-xm+tmm&m%mmmftftmmxAmwfàmm%u, m-g^m mmmuwiîimMAmmmo stëiooo^*, j&&mmtomwwÈ-m#%mm Mfàfàfj&vmmmwiRmn.. nm*A8mto+=.ms>*im, m^mmm%%i% -«**£«. Witt (M@ifn§lll!Êôu»,asi*. #Jfflit#ittS a, tà»%mmm "fê«*n- mmitmmn^Mx^z^h *xmï.muMz-&Elman Benjamin. Collecting and Classifying : Ming Dynasty Compendia and Encyclopedias (Leishu). In: Extrême-Orient, Extrême-Occident, 2007, hors série. Qu'était-ce qu'écrire une encyclopédie en Chine ? / What dit it mean to write an encyclopedia in China ? pp. 131-157