Protein-Protein Interaction Analysis Highlights Additional Loci of Interest for Multiple Sclerosis

PMCID: PMC3475710This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Exploring the craft of visual accounts through arts: Fear, voids and illusion in corporate reporting practices

This paper explores the craft of visual accounts in corporate reporting practices through an arts-inspired perspective. We research the subtle mechanisms underpinning the craft of visual accounts since their preparation phase, as these accounts engage with the emotional sphere of their preparers, including the fear and the power struggles surrounding the preparers’ role within the organization. We rely upon an artistic line of inquiry based on baroque art to unpack the voids and absences underpinning accounting visualizations. By drawing on this lens, we examine the case of a large European bank where we investigate the craft of visual accounts in corporate reports from the perspective of the preparers of these accounts. We extend prior studies on the visual and emotional dimensions of accounting by showing that the craft of visual accounts evolves as the preparers of these accounts experience voids in the meanings that they attempt to represent and the fear of being excluded from their role. We also demonstrate that the mixed emotions of fear and self-celebration, illusion and disillusion experienced by the preparers of accounting visualizations may follow intra-organizational power struggles in between the different organizational roles involved in corporate reporting. In so doing, we reveal how the philosophical underpinnings of artistic movements, such as baroque art, can be drawn upon to critically delve into the power of voids and absences in accounting visualizations

Accountability and music: accounting, emotions and responses to the 1913 concert for Giuseppe Verdi

Purpose: This study aims to explore the engagement between accounting and music in the social and relational construction of accountability. The authors conceive this construction as a dynamic and recursive interplay between the giving of different accounts and the responses that these accounts provoke. The authors investigate the emotional dimension of this interplay, as it is also triggered by music, feeding back into how accountability is constructed and evolves over time. Design/methodology/approach: This study relies upon a historical analysis of archival and secondary sources about the main music concert organized in 1913 by the founder of “Accademia Chigiana”, one of the leading music academies in Italy. The concert celebrated the first centenary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi, a worldwide famous Italian music composer, and icon of Italian national sentiment. Findings: This study shows that music and accounting were profoundly intertwined in the social and relational construction of accountability for the 1913 concert. Accountability evolved through different accounts, also linked to music, and the complex emotional reactions these accounts provoked in the audiences, citizens, media and institutions, leading to always further responses and accounts in the ongoing construction of accountability. Originality/value: This study extends prior literature on the chameleonic nature of accountability, as well as on its relational and emotional dimensions. The study shows that accountability is relationally constructed and evolves over time through the giving of accounts and the emotional reaction they provoke from others, feeding into further responses and accounts of the accountable subject. The authors show how the chameleonic nature of accountability permeates not only the accounts and the relations of accountability but also the subjects giving and demanding the accounts: these subjects change as chameleons through their interactions and emotions, feeding into the dynamic construction of accountability. The authors also show how arts, like music, can participate in the chameleonic nature of accountability and of its subjects, precisely by engaging with their emotional reactions and responses

When strategy meets purpose.

Effectively realizing corporate purpose requires mediating, integrating, and balancing the interests of different corporate stakeholders and their goals. And the trade-offs that result from such a balancing act need to be acknowledged, measured, and communicated as the organization reports the efforts and performance connected to the creation of long-term sustainable value. Moving from the articulation of a company’s purpose to execution requires strategy and capital allocation with a comprehensive management system able to link sustainability strategies with financial returns. It involves reconciling competitiveness and sustainable growth within the context of an inclusive business model to take advantage of the opportunities and face the challenges of the market. Importantly, this requires the development of new measurement practices that can capture whole processes of long-term value creation—taking into account the social and environmental externalities produced by its operations and, especially, its products and services, as well as how the multiple and heterogeneous resources provided by the company’s stakeholders contribute to its financial and nonfinancial performance. Today, the investment community broadly recognizes the need to better understand how material environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues matter to financial performance

Under & Over: A randomised controlled study to develop an upper limb rehabilitation tool for people with Multiple Sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Impairment of upper limb function is common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Rehabilitation remains a key strategy to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The Under & Over study assessed the effectiveness of a rehabilitation programme in people with advanced MS. OBJECTIVE: To determine if repeated use of Under & Over can improve upper limb function for people with MS. METHODS: One hundred and six (N = 106) people with MS participated in this 3-month study. The primary outcome measure was the cardboard 9-hole peg test (c9HPT), with secondary outcomes including the EuroQol-5Dimensions, 5-Level Questionnaire (EQ5D-5 L) questionnaire. There were three arms: Arm 1a, the 'Daily Group', engaged with the Under & Over tool daily for 30 min. Arm 1b, the 'Free Use Group', used the same tool without time constraints, with the added feature of a community sharing platform. Arm 2, the 'Delayed Start Group', initially completed the c9HPT for three months before switching to the 'Free Use' programme. RESULTS: 43/106 (41 %) of those randomised completed the primary end point. No significant difference between c9HPT at baseline and 3 months was seen in Arm 1a or 1b. Participants in Arm 2 who had been completing the c9HPT 5 days a week for 3 months showed a training effect in the dominant hand (mean speed at baseline 0.0455 (s-1), mean at 3 months 0.0341, difference 0.011; 95 % CI 0.0080 to 0.0148, p < 0.001). No significant difference was seen in c9HPT time following 3 months of active use of the Under & Over tool. The study faced significant limitations, notably in participant adherence, with fewer than half (43/106 (41 %)) completing the final assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates how a small, engaged, and motivated group were able to complete a remote rehabilitation programme. Future remote intervention studies could benefit from incorporating adaptive engagement strategies, such as personalised reminders and participant-tailored activity adjustments, to enhance adherence and capture a broader spectrum of patient experiences

Age-specific effects of childhood body mass index on multiple sclerosis risk

OBJECTIVE: Higher body mass index (BMI) during early life is thought to be a causal risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). We used longitudinal Mendelian randomisation (MR) to determine whether there is a critical window during which BMI influences MS risk. METHODS: Summary statistics for childhood BMI (n ~ 28,000 children) and for MS susceptibility were obtained from recent large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) (n = 14,802 MS, 26,703 controls). We generated exposure instruments for BMI during four non-overlapping age epochs (< 3 months, 3 months–1.5 years, 2–5 years, and 7–8 years) and performed MR using the inverse variance weighted method with standard sensitivity analyses. Multivariable MR was used to account for effects mediated via later-life BMI. RESULTS: For all age epochs other than birth, genetically determined higher BMI was associated with an increased liability to MS: Birth [Odds Ratio (OR) 0.81, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.50–1.31, Number of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (N(SNPs)) = 7, p = 0.39], Infancy (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.04–1.33, N(SNPs) = 18, p = 0.01), Early childhood (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.03–1.66, N(SNPs) = 4, p = 0.03), Later childhood (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.08–1.66, N(SNPs) = 4, p = 0.01). Multivariable MR suggested that these effects may be mediated by effects on adult BMI. CONCLUSION: We provide evidence using MR that genetically determined higher BMI during early life is associated with increased MS risk. This effect may be driven by shared genetic architecture with later-life BMI. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00415-022-11161-4

Evaluation of the Effects of Sativex (THC BDS: CBD BDS) on Inhibition of Spasticity in a Chronic Relapsing Experimental Allergic Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis: A Model of Multiple Sclerosis.

This study investigated the antispasticity potential of Sativex in mice. Chronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis was induced in adult ABH mice resulting in hind limb spasticity development. Vehicle, Sativex, and baclofen (as a positive control) were injected intravenously and the "stiffness" of limbs assessed by the resistance force against hind limb flexion. Vehicle alone caused no significant change in spasticity. Baclofen (5 mg/kg) induced approximately a 40% peak reduction in spasticity. Sativex dose dependently reduced spasticity; 5 mg/kg THC + 5 mg/kg CBD induced approximately a 20% peak reduction; 10 mg/kg THC + 10 mg/kg CBD produced approximately a 40% peak reduction in spasticity. Sativex has the potential to reduce spasticity in an experimental mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Baclofen reduced spasticity and served as a positive control. Sativex (10 mg/kg) was just as effective as baclofen, providing supportive evidence for Sativex use in the treatment of spasticity in MS

The Impact of Specific Viruses on Clinical Outcome in Children Presenting with Acute Heart Failure

Abstract: The presence and type of viral genomes have been suggested as the main etiology for inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy. Information on the clinical implication of this finding in a large population of children is lacking. We evaluated the prevalence, type, and clinical impact of specific viral genomes in endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) collected between 2001 and 2013 among 63 children admitted to our hospital for acute heart failure (median age 2.8 years). Viral genome was searched by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Patients underwent a complete two-dimensional echocardiographic examination at hospital admission and at discharge and were followed-up for 10 years. Twenty-seven adverse events (7 deaths and 20 cardiac transplantations) occurred during the follow-up. Viral genome was amplified in 19/63 biopsies (35%); PVB19 was the most commonly isolated virus. Presence of specific viral genome was associated with a significant recovery in ejection fraction, compared to patients without viral evidence (p < 0.05). In Cox-regression analysis, higher survival rate was related to virus-positive biopsies (p < 0.05). When comparing long-term prognosis among different viral groups, a trend towards better prognosis was observed in the presence of isolated Parvovirus B19 (PVB19) (p = 0.07). In our series, presence of a virus-positive EMB (mainly PVB19) was associated with improvement over time in cardiac function and better long-term prognosis