Junkie love : romance and addiction on the big screen

This article investigates the filmic construction of two disparate but intertwining cultural practices: those engaging in the life-affirming rituals of romantic love and those performing the potentially self-destructive rituals of hard drug consumption. Discussing a number of key feature films from the (mini) genre “junkie love”, it aims to show what happens when elements of mainstream romantic drama merge with the horror conventions of the heroin addiction film. Drawing amongst others on Murray Smith’s theory of “levels of [spectator] engagement” and Greg Smith’s concept of the “emotion system”, the article concludes that junkie love films, using tropes of the romantic tragedy in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet, present a more complex and nuanced approach to drug addicts than the predominantly condemnatory media coverage—one that arguably invites the spectator’s understanding and compassion

Military business and the business of the military

Contrary to dominant approaches that locate the causes for military entrepreneurialism in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo predominantly in criminal military elites, this article highlights the importance of the Congolese military’s (FARDC) civilian context for understanding military revenue-generation. It analyses how the latter is shaped by structures of domination, signification and legitimisation that drive and are driven by the FARDC’s governance, private protection and security practices. It argues that these practices contribute to bestowing a degree of legitimacy on both the FARDC’s position of power and some of its revenue-generation activities. Furthermore, by emphasising that the FARDC’s regulatory and protection practices are partly the product of popular demands and the routine actions of civilians, the article contends that the causes of military revenue-generation are co-located in the military’s civilian environment. In this manner, it offers a more nuanced conceptualisation of military entrepreneurialism, thus opening up new perspectives on policy interventions in this area

Magnetic resonance imaging for the differentiation of neoplastic, inflammatory, and cerebrovascular brain disease in dogs

BACKGROUND: The reliability and validity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting neoplastic, inflammatory, and cerebrovascular brain lesions in dogs are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate sensitivity, specificity, and inter-rater agreement of MRI for classifying histologically confirmed neoplastic, inflammatory, and cerebrovascular brain disease in dogs. ANIMALS: One hundred and twenty-one client-owned dogs diagnosed with brain disease (n = 77) or idiopathic epilepsy (n = 44). METHODS: Retrospective, multi-institutional case series; 3 investigators analyzed MR images for the presence of a brain lesion with and without knowledge of case clinical data. Investigators recorded most likely etiologic category (neoplastic, inflammatory, cerebrovascular) and most likely specific disease for all brain lesions. Sensitivity, specificity, and inter-rater agreement were calculated to estimate diagnostic performance. RESULTS: MRI was 94.4% sensitive (95% confidence interval [CI] = 88.7, 97.4) and 95.5% specific (95% CI = 89.9, 98.1) for detecting a brain lesion with similarly high performance for classifying neoplastic and inflammatory disease, but was only 38.9% sensitive for classifying cerebrovascular disease (95% CI = 16.1, 67.0). In general, high specificity but not sensitivity was retained for MR diagnosis of specific brain diseases. Inter-rater agreement was very good for overall detection of structural brain lesions (j = 0.895, 95% CI = 0.792, 0.998, P < .001) and neoplastic lesions, but was only fair for cerebrovascular lesions (j = 0.299, 95% CI = 0, 0.761, P = .21). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: MRI is sensitive and specific for identifying brain lesions and classifying disease as inflammatory or neoplastic in dogs. Cerebrovascular disease in general and specific inflammatory, neoplastic, and cerebrovascular brain diseases were frequently misclassified.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1939-1676ab201

Standardisation framework for the Maudsley staging method for treatment resistance in depression

Background: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a serious and relatively common clinical condition. Lack of consensus on defining and staging TRD remains one of the main barriers to understanding TRD and approaches to intervention. The Maudsley Staging Method (MSM) is the first multidimensional model developed to define and stage treatment-resistance in “unipolar depression”. The model is being used increasingly in treatment and epidemiological studies of TRD and has the potential to support consensus. Yet, standardised methods for rating the MSM have not been described adequately. The aim of this report is to present standardised approaches for rating or completing the MSM. Method: Based on the initial development of the MSM and a narrative review of the literature, the developers of the MSM provide explicit guidance on how the three dimensions of the MSM–treatment failure, severity of depressive episode and duration of depressive episode– may be rated. Result: The core dimension of the MSM, treatment failure, may be assessed using the Maudsley Treatment Inventory (MTI), a new method developed for the purposes of completing the MSM. The MTI consists of a relatively comprehensive list of medications with options for rating doses and provisions treatment for multiple episodes. The second dimension, severity of symptoms, may be assessed using simple instruments such as the Clinical Global Impression, the Psychiatric Status Rating or checklist from a standard diagnostic checklist. The standardisation also provides a simple rating scale for scoring the third dimension, duration of depressive episode. Conclusion: The approaches provided should have clinical and research utility in staging TRD. However, in proposing this model, we are fully cognisant that until the pathophysiology of depression is better understood, staging methods can only be tentative approximations. Future developments should attempt to incorporate other biological/ pathophysiological dimensions for staging

Evaluation of standard magnetic resonance characteristics used to differentiate neoplastic, inflammatory, and vascular brain lesions in dogs

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics are commonly used to help predict intracranial disease categories in dogs, however, few large studies have objectively evaluated these characteristics. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate MR characteristics that have been used to differentiate neoplastic, inflammatory, and vascular intracranial diseases in a large, multi-institutional population of dogs. Medical records from three veterinary teaching hospitals were searched over a 6-year period for dogs that had diagnostic quality brain MR scans and histologically confirmed intracranial disease. Three examiners who were unaware of histologic diagnosis independently evaluated 19 MR lesion characteristics totaling 57 possible responses. A total of 75 dogs with histologically confirmed intracranial disease were included in analyses: 51 with neoplasia, 18 with inflammatory disease, and six with cerebrovascular disease. Only strong contrast enhancement was more common in neoplasia than other disease categories. A multivariable statistical model suggested that extra-axial origin, T2-FLAIR mixed intensity, and defined lesion margins were also predictive of neoplasia. Meningeal enhancement, irregular lesion shape, and multifocal location distinguished inflammatory diseases from the other disease categories. No MR characteristics distinguished vascular lesions and these appeared most similar to neoplasia. These results differed from a previous report describing seven MR characteristics that were predictive of neoplasia in dogs and cats. Findings from the current study indicated that the high performance of MR for diagnosing canine intracranial diseases might be due to evaluator recognition of combinations of MR characteristics vs. relying on any one MR characteristic alone.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1740-8261hb201

The Lack of ADAM17 Activity during Embryonic Development Causes Hemorrhage and Impairs Vessel Formation

Background: ADAM17/TACE activity is important during embryonic development. We wished to investigate possible roles of this metalloprotease, focusing on vascular development. Methodology/Principal Findings: Mice mutant in the enzymatic activity of ADAM17 were examined at various stages of embryonic development for vascular pattern and integrity using markers for vessel wall cells. We observed hemorrhage and edema starting at embryonic day E14.5 and becoming more severe as development proceeded; prior to embryonic day E14.5, embryos appeared normal. Staining for PECAM-1/CD31 revealed abnormalities in the patterns of branching of the embryonic vasculature at E14.5. Conclusions/Significance: These abnormalities preceded association of pericytes or monocyte/macrophage cells with the affected vessels and, therefore, presumably arise from defects in endothelial function consequent upon failure of ADAM17 to cleave one or more substrates involved in vascular development, such as Notch, Delta, VEGFR2 or JAM-A. Our study demonstrates a role for ADAM17 in modulating embryonic vessel development and function

Identification of Novel Genetic Risk Loci in Maltese Dogs with Necrotizing Meningoencephalitis and Evidence of a Shared Genetic Risk across Toy Dog Breeds

Necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) affects toy and small breed dogs causing progressive, often fatal, inflammation and necrosis in the brain. Genetic risk loci for NME previously were identified in pug dogs, particularly associated with the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) class II complex on chromosome 12, but have not been investigated in other susceptible breeds. We sought to evaluate Maltese and Chihuahua dogs, in addition to pug dogs, to identify novel or shared genetic risk factors for NME development. Genome-wide association testing of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Maltese dogs with NME identified 2 regions of genome-wide significance on chromosomes 4 (chr4:74522353T>A, p = 8.1×10-7) and 15 (chr15:53338796A>G, p = 1.5×10-7). Haplotype analysis and fine-mapping suggests that ILR7 and FBXW7, respectively, both important for regulation of immune system function, could be the underlying associated genes. Further evaluation of these regions and the previously identified DLA II locus across all three breeds, revealed an enrichment of nominal significant SNPs associated with chromosome 15 in pug dogs and DLA II in Maltese and Chihuahua dogs. Meta-analysis confirmed effect sizes the same direction in all three breeds for both the chromosome 15 and DLA II loci (p = 8.6×10-11 and p = 2.5×10-7, respectively). This suggests a shared genetic background exists between all breeds and confers susceptibility to NME, but effect sizes might be different among breeds. In conclusion, we identified the first genetic risk factors for NME development in the Maltese, chromosome 4 and chromosome 15, and provide evidence for a shared genetic risk between breeds associated with chromosome 15 and DLA II. Last, DLA II and IL7R both have been implicated in human inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, suggesting that similar pharmacotherapeutic targets across species should be investigated