Bridging Theory and Empirical Research in Accounting

Formal theory and empirical research are complementary in building and advancing the body of knowledge in accounting in order to understand real-world phenomena. We offer thoughts on opportunities for empiricists and theorists to collaborate, build on each other's work, and iterate over models and data to make progress. For empiricists, we see room for more descriptive work, more experimental work on testing formal theories, and more work on quantifying theoretical parameters. For theorists, we see room for theories explicitly tied to descriptive evidence, new theories on individuals' decision making in a data-rich world, theories focused on accounting institutions and measurement issues, and richer theories for guiding empirical work and providing practical insights. We also encourage explicitly combining formal theory and empirical models by having both in one paper and by structural estimation

On the Effectiveness of Sexual Offender Treatment in Prisons: A Comparison of Two Different Evaluation Designs in Routine Practice

Although there is less continuity of sexual offending in the life course than stereotypes suggest, treatment should lead to a further reduction of reoffending. Contrary to this aim, a recent large British study using propensity score matching (PSM) showed some negative effects of the core sex offender treatment program (SOTP) in prisons. International meta-analyses on the effects of sex offender treatment revealed that there is considerable variety in the results, and methodological aspects and the context play a significant role. Therefore, this study compared different designs in the evaluation of sex offender treatment in German prisons. PSM was compared with an exact matching (EM) by the Static-99 in a sample of 693 sex offenders from Bavarian prisons. Most results were similar for both methods and not significant due to low base rates. There was a treatment effect at p < .05 on general recidivism in the EM and at p = .06 on serious reoffending in the PSM. For sexual recidivism, EM showed a negative trend, whereas PSM suggested the opposite. Overall, the study underlines the need for more replications of evaluations of routine practice, methodological comparisons, sensitive outcome criteria, and differentiated policy information

Agroforstforschung in Deutschland - Bewertungen von Ökosystemdienstleistungen

Das zunehmende Interesse an der Agroforstwirtschaft erfordert fundierte wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse, um die Entwicklung resilienter Agroforstsysteme zu unterstützen. Hier stellen wir den Forschungsansatz und erste Ergebnisse eines kürzlich eingerichteten Agroforstversuchs in Deutschland vor

Evidence from comprehensive independent validation studies for smooth pursuit dysfunction as a sensorimotor biomarker for psychosis

Smooth pursuit eye movements are considered a well-established and quantifiable biomarker of sensorimotor function in psychosis research. Identifying psychotic syndromes on an individual level based on neurobiological markers is limited by heterogeneity and requires comprehensive external validation to avoid overestimation of prediction models. Here, we studied quantifiable sensorimotor measures derived from smooth pursuit eye movements in a large sample of psychosis probands (N = 674) and healthy controls (N = 305) using multivariate pattern analysis. Balanced accuracies of 64% for the prediction of psychosis status are in line with recent results from other large heterogenous psychiatric samples. They are confirmed by external validation in independent large samples including probands with (1) psychosis (N = 727) versus healthy controls (N = 292), (2) psychotic (N = 49) and non-psychotic bipolar disorder (N = 36), and (3) non-psychotic affective disorders (N = 119) and psychosis (N = 51) yielding accuracies of 65%, 66% and 58%, respectively, albeit slightly different psychosis syndromes. Our findings make a significant contribution to the identification of biologically defined profiles of heterogeneous psychosis syndromes on an individual level underlining the impact of sensorimotor dysfunction in psychosis

Blockade of MCAM/CD146 impedes CNS infiltration of T cells over the choroid plexus

Background: Very late antigen 4 (VLA-4;integrin alpha 4 beta 1) is critical for transmigration of T helper (T-H) 1 cells into the central nervous system (CNS) under inflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS). We have previously shown that VLA-4 and melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) are important for trans-endothelial migration of human T(H)17 cells in vitro and here investigate their contribution to pathogenic CNS inflammation. Methods: Antibody blockade of VLA-4 and MCAM is assessed in murine models of CNS inflammation in conjunction with conditional ablation of alpha 4-integrin expression in T cells. Effects of VLA-4 and MCAM blockade on lymphocyte migration are further investigated in the human system via in vitro T cell transmigration assays. Results: Compared to the broad effects of VLA-4 blockade on encephalitogenic T cell migration over endothelial barriers, MCAM blockade impeded encephalitogenic T cell migration in murine models of MS that especially depend on CNS migration across the choroid plexus (CP). In transgenic mice lacking T cell alpha 4-integrin expression (CD4::/tga4(-/-)), MCAM blockade delayed disease onset. Migration of MCAM-expressing T cells through the CP into the CNS was restricted, where laminin 411 (composed of alpha 4, beta 1, gamma 1 chains), the proposed major ligand of MCAM, is detected in the endothelial basement membranes of murine CP tissue. This finding was translated to the human system;blockade of MCAM with a therapeutic antibody reduced in vitro transmigration of MCAM-expressing T cells across a human fibroblast-derived extracellular matrix layer and a brain-derived endothelial monolayer, both expressing laminin alpha 4. Larninin alpha 4 was further detected in situ in CP endothelial-basement membranes in MS patients' brain tissue. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that MCAM-laminin 411 interactions facilitate trans-endothelial migration of MCAM-expressing T cells into the CNS, which seems to be highly relevant to migration via the CP and to potential future clinical applications in neuroinflammatory disorders

Real-World Experience Treating Pediatric Epilepsy Patients With Cenobamate

IntroductionIn one third of all patients with epilepsy, seizure freedom is not achieved through anti-seizure medication (ASM). These patients have an increased risk of earlier death, poorer cognitive development, and reduced quality of life. Cenobamate (CNB) has recently been approved as a promising novel ASM drug for the treatment of adults with focal-onset epilepsy. However, there is little experience for its application in pediatric patients.MethodsIn a multicenter study we evaluated retrospectively the outcome of 16 pediatric patients treated “off label” with CNB.ResultsIn 16 patients with a mean age of 15.38 years, CNB was started at an age of 15.05 years due to DRE. Prior to initiation of therapy, an average of 10.56 (range 3–20) ASM were prescribed. At initiation, patients were taking 2.63 (range 1–4) ASM. CNB was increased by 0.47 ± 0.27mg/kg/d every 2 weeks with a mean maximum dosage of 3.1 mg/kg/d (range 0.89–7) and total daily dose of 182.81 mg (range 50–400 mg). Seizure freedom was achieved in 31.3% and a significant seizure reduction of &gt;50% in 37.5%. Adverse events occurred in 10 patients with fatigue/somnolence as the most common. CNB is taken with high adherence in all but three patients with a median follow-up of 168.5 daysConclusionCenobamate is an effective ASM for pediatric patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. In addition to excellent seizure reduction or freedom, it is well-tolerated. Cenobamate should be considered as a novel treatment for DRE in pediatric patients

Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely