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As South Africa moved from formal apartheid to multi-party elections between February 1990 and April 1994, a unique testing ground for theories of media and democracy became available for analysis. Political struggles and discourses at every level of state and civil society were dominated by the demands of pressure groups, some with military support. Little agreement existed on what constituted democracy, on how such a practice could be attained, and whether or not a single nation could be forged out of the linguistic, cultural, ethnic, racial, class and geographical patchwork into which South Africa has been fragmented by apartheid.

Background and rationale. Novel coronavirus-related disease (COVID-19) has profoundly influenced hospital organization and structures worldwide. In Italy, the Lombardy Region, with almost 17% of the Italian population, rapidly became the most severely affected area since the pandemic beginning. The first and the following COVID-19 surges significantly affected lung cancer diagnosis and subsequent management. Much data have been already published regarding the therapeutic repercussions whereas very few reports have focused on the consequences of the pandemic on diagnostic procedures. Methods. We, here, would like to analyze data of novel lung cancer diagnosis performed in our Institution in Norther Italy where we faced the earliest and largest outbreaks of COVID-19 in Italy. Results. We discuss, in detail, the strategies developed to perform biopsies and the safe pathways created in emergency settings to protect lung cancer patients in subsequent therapeutic phases. Quite unexpectedly, no significant differences emerged between cases enrolled during the pandemic and those before, and the two populations were homogeneous considering the composition and diagnostic and complication rates. Conclusions. By pointing out the role of multidisciplinarity in emergency contexts, these data will be of help in the future for designing tailored strategies to manage lung cancer in a real-life setting.

Background Neurology is a medical specialty that deals with prevalent diseases such as stroke, headache, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases. Many countries, such as Brazil, struggle to provide neurological care for their populations, but the inadequacy and unequal distribution of the neurologist workforce are real challenges. Objective To analyze the demographic evolution of neurologists and the first-year Neurology residency positions in Brazil during the last decade (2010–2020) and the distribution imbalance between regions. Methods The demographic and geographic distribution of neurologists was calculated based on data extracted from the Brazilian Federal Medical Council reports, and the number of Neurology residency positions was based on the Brazilian National Commission of Medical Residency reports. Indicators of wealth were associated with demographic data. Results The number of neurologists per 100,000 population has increased since 2011, with a similar increase in the geographic distribution of neurologists. However, there was a marked inequality of distribution of neurologists through regions, with a gap between the Northern (lowest) and Southeastern (highest) regions. Furthermore, the imbalance of distribution of neurologists strongly correlated with social inequality. The number of Neurology residency positions increased, but with an imbalance between North and Southeast regions. Conclusions Brazil has advanced in providing neurologists. However, instead of a shortage, inequality between regions is the greatest challenge regarding the neurological workforce. The training of new neurologists is unequal between regions and occurs at a slower rate than needed. Neurologists, public health authorities, and patients should discuss solutions for these issues. Resumo Antecedentes A Neurologia é uma especialidade médica que lida com doenças prevalentes, como acidente vascular cerebral, cefaleia, epilepsia e doenças neurodegenerativas. Muitos países, como o Brasil, se esforçam para oferecer assistência neurológica à população, mas a distribuição insuficiente e desigual da força de trabalho de neurologistas são desafios. Objetivo Analisar a evolução demográfica dos médicos neurologistas e das vagas de Programas de Residência Médica em Neurologia no Brasil durante a última década (2010-2020) e o desequilíbrio de distribuição entre as regiões. Métodos A distribuição demográfica e geográfica de neurologistas foi calculada com base nos dados extraídos de relatórios do Conselho Federal do Medicina do Brasil, e o número de vagas em Programas de Residência Médica em Neurologia foi extraído de dados da Comissão Nacional de Residência Médica. Os indicadores de riqueza foram associados aos dados demográficos. Resultados O número de neurologistas por 100.000 habitantes aumentou desde 2011, com um aumento similar na distribuição geográfica de neurologistas. Entretanto, houve uma nítida desigualdade na distribuição de neurologistas entre as regiões, com um hiato entre as regiões Norte e a Sudeste. Além disso, a desigualdade da distribuição de neurologistas se correlacionou fortemente com a desigualdade social. O número de vagas em Programas de Residência Médica aumentou, porém com desigualdade entre as regiões Norte e Sudeste. Conclusões O Brasil tem avançado na geração de neurologistas. Porém, ao invés de uma escassez, a desigualdade entre regiões é o maior desafio em relação à força de trabalho neurológica. O treino de novos neurologistas é desigual entre regiões e ocorre em um ritmo mais lento do que o necessário. Neurologistas, autoridades em saúde pública e pacientes devem discutir soluções para estes problemas.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Aims In functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR) patients, tricuspid leaflet tethering and relatively low jet velocity could result in proximal flow geometry distortions that lead to underestimation of TR. Application of correction factors on two-dimensional (2D) proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) equation may increase its reliability. This study sought to evaluate the impact of the corrected 2D PISA method in quantifying FTR severity. Methods and results In 102 patients with FTR, we compared both conventional and corrected 2D PISA measurements of effective regurgitant orifice area [EROA vs. corrected (EROAc)] and regurgitant volume (RegVol vs. RegVolc) with those obtained by volumetric method (VM) using three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), as reference. Both EROAc and RegVolc were larger than EROA (0.29 ± 0.26 vs. 0.22 ± 0.21 cm2; P < 0.001) and RegVol (24.5 ± 20 vs. 18.5 ± 14.25 mL; P < 0.001), respectively. Compared with VM, both EROAc and RegVolc resulted more accurate than EROA [bias = −0.04 cm2, limits of agreement (LOA) ± 0.02 cm2 vs. bias = −0.15 cm2, LOA ± 0.31 cm2] and RegVol (bias = −3.29 mL, LOA ± 2.19 mL vs. bias = −10.9 mL, LOA ± 13.5 mL). Using EROAc and RegVolc, 37% of patients were reclassified in higher grades of FTR severity. Corrected 2D PISA method led to a higher concordance of TR severity grade with the VM method (ĸ = 0.84 vs. ĸ = 0.33 for uncorrected PISA, P < 0.001). Conclusion Compared with VM by 3DE, the conventional PISA underestimated FTR severity in about 50% of patients. Correction for TV leaflets tethering angle and lower velocity of FTR jet improved 2D PISA accuracy and reclassified more than one-third of the patients.

The South African Copyright Amendment Bill of 2017 was passed in 2022. In justifying the weakening of copyright protections with regard to the educational arena, the Bill’s proponents have largely applied rhetorical discourses published in the popular media, also aggressively propagated at their public meetings. In contrast, the publishing industry has generated many hundreds of pages of economic impact studies supported by detailed legal arguments with reference to global treaties. My analysis assesses the different positions taken by the pro-Bill lobby, ReCreate, in comparison to the Copyright Coalition that questions the importation of an American fair use doctrine. The potential implications of the Bill for South African authors and artists operating in the educational environment are described. Since the object of study has been a moving target, and still was at the time of submission of this article, the conclusions that arise out of the ongoing debates are tentative – but prescient for the current conjuncture. The analysis relies on cross-referencing stakeholder submissions, newspaper articles and statements made by all parties to the discussion. In addition, a number of rejoinders were invited, which are published below. The study reveals the stark contradictions within emerging state policy relating to the creative industries in an era when information has economic value.

THIS paper builds on Gene Youngblood's use of cybernetic theory in film analysis. It combines the cybernetic method with Peircian-derived semiotics in an attempt to derive a meta-theory of social process and film textual structure. An attempt is made to resolve the more deterministic elements of Youngblood's theory, developing a more probabilistic approach. The paper ends with some conjecture on how the cyber- semiotic theory developed can be combined with Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxist approaches developed by the scholars contributing to the British journal Screen.

Semiotics and semiology are quite different paradigms stemming from different origins. This paper demonstrates the differences and developes C.S. Peirce's notions of Phaneroscopy, Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness, explores his notion of Interpretants and applies these to the study of film. Peirce's theory is shown to be much more adaptable than the semiology developed by Metz from de Saussure's linguistic con- cepts. Whereas Metz's theory of signs can only take account of narrative cinema, the extention of Peirce's theory proposed here is able to account for all types of cinema from narrative to abstract.

Zone Umide della Capitanata, located in the northeastern part of the Apulia Region, is one of the most extensive coastal wetlands of the Italian peninsula and one of the largest components of the Mediterranean wetland system. Despite its high ecological importance, this site has been undergoing a variety of pressures intensified in recent decades. This study analyzes and evaluates the changes occurred in this area between 2010 and 2020. Land cover and habitat maps were performed by photointerpretation and on-site surveys, and classified according to the FAO-LCCS and EUNIS taxonomies, respectively. To focus on local dynamics, four subset areas were analyzed separately. A set of landscape metrics was computed to analyze the landscape structure. The anthropogenic pressures affecting the study area were described through the DPSIR (Driving Forces-Pressures-State-Impact-Response) conceptual framework. Numerous changes were identified, deriving from both finest thematic redefinition and anthropogenic pressures. Both class conversions and class modifications were identified and quantified by means of transition matrices. Most of the observed conversions were borne by classes belonging to saltmarshes and to coastal dune systems. In particular, landscape configuration of coastal dune classes was well highlighted by a set of specific landscape metrics. Agriculture practices and changes in water flow pattern turned out to be the main driving forces exerting pressures on these natural systems. Significant differences were found between the four subsets under analysis, thus, indicating that different management strategies lead to different levels of conservation.

In this commentary the authors express their opinion on the role that the Vrye Weekblad in particular and the Press in general, can play in a post-apartheid South Africa. The article is not based on any empirical quantitative research. Rather, It should be seen as a critical analysis of comtemporary conjecture surrounding literature pertaining to this specific topic. The authors postulate that the Vrye Weekblad is ofter mistakenly portrayed as a radical newspaper by those who feel the mos threatened by the possible conse quences that its messages can produce. The value of this particular medium lles In the fact that it will help ensure that Afrikaans, as a language, will survive. It Is able to fulfil this function by showing that Afrikaans need not always be im. mediately equated with racism or suppression, but in sharp contrast, that Afrikaans can be synonomous with democracy. The difficulties and challenges facing the Vrye Weekblad (and other media) as a variable that will play a vital role in not only moulding, but also influencing a post-apartheid South Africa, are highlighted

This paper looks at two temporary phenomena: Information capitalism, and public service broadcasting. The crux of the paper is the question whether the ideal of public service broadcasting can survive the new technological and economic arrangements Impinging on broadcasting; and secondly, whether the public service ethos is worth saving, In view of all the shortcomings and Inherent contradictions within the system. To answer these questions, we need to clarify what we mean by technological revolution, or, what I feel is more appropriately referred to as "information capitalism". The paper will focus on what I see to be some of the key cultural, ideological and political questions thrown up by this new order, and how these changes may affect the present and future systems of broadcasting regulations and programme content. The paper also looks at what is meant by public service broadcasting, and how the concept has been applied in the South African context. It outlines some of the main crises to have bedevilled the system internationally, and focuses particularly on the somewhat spurious claim that public service broadcasting is politically neutral and non-aligned. After reviewing the criticisms levelled at the alternative to Public Service Broadcasting: Deregulated broadcasting, the paper concludes that the former is indeed worth saving, but only as part of the broader broad casting and televisual arrangements within a "mixed economy" which would include deregulated television arrangements

Mass media practices are generally of a "top down' nature. Messages manufactured by media institutions favour dominant perspectives. They are transmitted unilinearly and largely exclude the voices of ordinary people, the poor and the socially marginalised.Even in transitionary moments as occurred in Zimbabwe, the pre-revolutionary flow of communication from above is rarely transformed by new 'democratic' elites. This paper contests assumptions which have led to the monopoly of media practices by dominant elites.It is argued that there are no necessary technological or theological reasons why religious broadcasting should not be of a bottom-up kind which expresses and on gages various kinds of discourses. Individuals should have freedom to explore different perspectives in terms of their own class, ethnic, historical, language, gender, and cultural experiences. In the light of this perspective, in the first section below, we offer a political economy of televangelismTelevangelism we define as exhortatory messages broadcast by nondemoninational preachers who finance their network and cable programmes by appeals to their viewers (Biernatzki 1991:1). Teleministries refers to the institutional business operations and structures run by televangelists.

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This article critically examines the conventional researcher-researched relationship thatempowers the researcher over the researched. The orthodoxy of objectivity – claimed to locatethe researchers as neutral observer – is here argued to be a power relation that has an excludingeffect where subject communities are concerned. By means of an archaeological case study thatincluded mapping and interpretation of ancient rock engravings we offer a new way of negotiatinginterpretations. This new way involved four members from a Bushman community who helped usnavigate spiritual, ontological and environmental dimensions in making sense of rock art.

This article gives account of a research study that was conducted on a “beneficiary” community’sparticipation in HIV/AIDS communication through a community radio station. The aim was tounderstand the community’s presence and access to dialogue on HIV/AIDS, as practiced by theircommunity radio station. The research underpinning the article focused on a community radiostation based in Platfontein, Kimberley, in South Africa. X-K FM is a community radio station with!Xun and Khwe people as its primary target audience. The station is the only formal communicationchannel that targets these communities in their respective mother tongues. The researchersattempted to understand civil voices’ participation in and access to the strategies of HIV/AIDSprevention, care, support and treatment. The article is underpinned by Jürgen Habermas’stheory of structural transformation of the public sphere. Research data was gathered using semistructuredinterviews. The article concludes that the radio station has provided some avenues tofacilitate the process of beneficiary community participation in HIV/AIDS communication.

This paper examines how the social constructions of the notion of “being faithful” influenceduniversity students’ responses to messages encouraging partner fidelity, and their sexual practicesespecially with regard to concurrent and multiple sexual relationships. The discussions are basedon the results of a PhD study conducted at three universities in KwaZulu-Natal to explore students’responses to communication and media strategies relating to the prevention of infection with HIVthrough abstinence, being faithful to one partner and the correct and consistent use of condoms.Study findings show that a significantly high proportion (39.0%) of the study participants whoindicated having had sex in the previous 12 months had more than one sexual partner in the sameperiod. Close to half (48.5%) of the currently sexually active students had more than one sexualpartner. The study further established that the socially constructed meaning of “being faithful”, asa commitment towards matrimonial relationship, mainly influenced individual’s engagement inmultiple and concurrent sexual relationships. The study points out the need for the developmentof social communication programmes so as to generate spaces within which socially createdmeanings, beliefs and values can be renegotiated.

Refletindo sobre os tempos cronológico e climático que incidem sobre a transdisciplinar poética do fazer cerâmico, diversas percepções sobre o sul do sul são possibilitadas. A partir dos entendimentos ancestrais e ambientais, reiteram-se as técnicas seculares que permitem a aprendizagem em coletivo a partir da modelagem do barro em sua atual complexidade. Com olhar atento e sensível, dez ceramistas compartilham suas narrativas e experiências em quatro cidades do sul do país, durante dias de verão, outono, inverno e primavera. Elencando gambiarras e possibilidades, dialogam sobre a coleta do barro, sua modelagem e queima, dizendo também sobre a paisagem que estão inseridos e seus modos de trabalho. As estratégias compartilhadas, que transpassam o território, movimentam a pesquisa do grupo como um todo, enfatizando a potência de aprender consigo mesmo, com o ambiente e com o outro.

This partly autoethnographical account of my experiences as an author, editor and researcheroffers an experiential framework with which to make sense of publishing in the contemporaryera, governed as it is by neoliberal managerialist principles that tend to reduce activities tomeasureable units so as to render academic disciplines comparable. This is the context withinwhich Communicare is repositioning itself in communication and media studies, situated as it isbetween positivist communication science and interpretivist critical theory. Historical elements ofthe journal are examined via the author’s long-term association with it. The article ends with anexamination of the problems that scholarly work faces when universities measure finite productsat the expense of processes.

Publisher Copyright: © This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Manually defined control limits remain a common strategy for quality control in manufacturing due to their ease of deployment on the shop floor compared to more advanced data analysis approaches. Despite their continued importance, there is no systematic method of defining these control limits. However, sub-optimal control limits can lead to undetected faults or cause unnecessary interruption to production. This manuscript presents an algorithm that systematizes this manual process into an efficient search task. We conceptualized the search task as a sequence of sub-problems that are based on the conventional steps taken by process experts when defining control limits. This algorithm can be integrated into an expert tool for shop floor personnel to automate the definition of control limits in annotated time series data. We demonstrate the efficacy of the control limits found by our algorithm by comparing them to those manually defined by process experts in real-world process data from the automotive industry. Furthermore, we show that our algorithm generalizes to traditional time series classification problems and achieves state-of-the-art performance on selected benchmark datasets. Our work is the first effort in automating the otherwise manual definition of control limits for fault detection.

De acordo com o Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (INEP) as mulheres são maioria no ensino superior brasileiro, no entanto no escopo dos cursos de computação essa realidade é muito diferente. Tendo isso em vista, apresenta-se aqui uma análise dos dados públicos do ensino superior brasileiro, com foco nos cursos de bacharelado em Ciência da Computação nas universidades de ensino presencial e públicas do estado de Santa Catarina, abrangendo os anos de 2015 a 2019. O trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar as relações comparativas entre gênero, evasão e demais fatores impactantes como raça, forma de ingresso e idade. Como resultado, apresenta-se uma grande disparidade no número de homens e mulheres nos cursos analisados, observando a maior evasão em ambos os gêneros acima de 35 anos.

BACKGROUND: Patients with ≥2 ventricular arrhythmia (VA) events within 3 months (clustered VA) have increased risk for mortality. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the association of risk factors including scar characteristics on cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging with clustered VA and VA cycle length in nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) and ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). METHODS: Data from 329 primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator recipients (mean age 57 years, 26% women) were analyzed from the Left Ventricular Structural Predictors of Sudden Cardiac Death study. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients developed clustered VA (median time 2.7 years after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement). Men had the greatest risk for recurrent VA. Patients with NICM and scar had the highest incidence rate of clustered VA. In patients with NICM, each 1-g increase in core scar correlated with greater clustered VA risk (HR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.07–1.32). Gray scar was similar among subgroups. Patients with NICM with clustered VA had the longest mean VA cycle length (297 ± 40 milliseconds). Higher core scar burden correlated with longer VA cycle length in patients with NICM (P = 0.002), and higher body mass index correlated with shorter VA cycle length in those with ICM (P = 0.02). Type of VA was similar between cardiomyopathy subgroups, and no scar pattern predominated. CONCLUSIONS: Clustered VA was most common in patients with NICM and scar, with greatest risk among those with larger core scar. Core scar correlated with slower VA in patients with NICM, and higher body mass index correlated with faster VA in those with ICM. Type of VA was similar by cardiomyopathy etiology, and no dominant scar pattern was associated with clustered VA. (J Am Coll Cardiol EP 2022;8:957–966) © 2022 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review in order to evaluate the main effects of intradialytic physical exercise on different parameters of functional capacity in dialytic patients. The clinical question that guided the objective of this study was developed using the PICO method (Population, Intervention, Comparation and Outcome)." Where i) population: patients on hemodialysis; ii) intervention: physical exercise; iii) comparison: active vs sedentary patients; and iv) outcome: functional capacity. The combinations of the following keywords were used: CKD, physical exercise, exercise, physical training and hemodialysis. The selection of studies was performed using the PubMed database and only studies dating from 2011 to 2021 were selected. The search results led to 53 studies. The following steps were carefully analyzed, such as the title, abstract and the full paper description to evaluate whether they met the following inclusion criteria: i) target audience of the studies should be patients on hemodialysis; ii) outcomes that analyze different parameters of functional capacity; iii) Intervention using physical exercise; and iii) intradialytic exercise. The final results indicate that intradialytic physical exercise can cause significant changes in the evaluated outcomes of functional capacity, such as increased strength, improvement of cardiorespiratory function, and improvement of locomotor activity. It was concluded that intradialytic training protocols should be encouraged in clinical practices because they are responsible for causing beneficial changes in the functional capacity of hemodialytic patients.

COQ7 encodes a hydroxylase responsible for the penultimate step of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) biosynthesis in mitochondria. CoQ10 is essential for multiple cellular functions, including mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, lipid metabolism, and reactive oxygen species homeostasis. Mutations in COQ7 have been previously associated with primary coenzyme Q10 deficiency, a clinically heterogeneous multisystemic mitochondrial disorder. We identified COQ7 biallelic variants in nine families diagnosed with distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN) with upper neuron involvement, expending the clinical phenotype associated with defects in this gene. A recurrent p.Met1? change was identified in five families from Brazil with evidence of a founder effect. Fibroblasts isolated from patients revealed a substantial depletion of COQ7 protein levels, indicating protein instability leading to loss of enzyme function. HPLC assay showed that fibroblasts from patients had reduced levels of CoQ10, and abnormal accumulation of the biosynthetic precursor DMQ10. Accordingly, fibroblasts from patients displayed significantly decreased oxygen consumption rates in patients, suggesting mitochondrial respiration deficiency. iPSC-derived motor neurons from patient fibroblasts showed significantly increased levels of extracellular neurofilament light protein, indicating axonal degeneration. Our findings indicate a molecular pathway involving CoQ10 biosynthesis deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with dHMN. Further studies will be important to evaluate the potential benefits of CoQ10 supplementation in the clinical outcome of the disease.

This study checks the hypothesis that sustainable well-being is a determinant factor of fertility through the application of a multiversal method based on the assumptions of Vibration of Effects (VoE) model of multiversal sampling on the Italian Equitable and Sustain-able Well-being (BES) dataset. For 48 social indicators of well-being, adopting the Province as statistical unit, the estimate of linear effect has been systematically sampled 1,024 times. This multiversal sampling allows to estimate the component of the hypothetical variability of the estimate of the effect size that depends on the theoretical choices of the analysis. This component is commonly underestimated, hidden, or ignored in regular multivariate analysis or classical bootstrapping. Results do not allow to claim that any of the 48 social indicators is a robust linear predictor of fertility. Indicators associated with high statistical significance are also at risk of misleading the causal relationship. Implications for policy-making and the future direction of the research on BES are discussed in the conclusive remarks.

Multiverse analysis is a paradigm for estimation of the uncertainty regarding the veracity of a scientific claim, through a systemic not random sampling of a massive set of specifications of a model, which is the multiverse. Specifications, once fit on a sample, result in statistics. Observation of the variability of result statistics across groups of specifications is considered useful for checking the robustness of the claim or for better understanding its premises. However, the assumptions behind theseprocedures are not explicit and not always univocal: generally, the proprieties of a multiversal sample hold uniformly only for non-parametric assumptions. A new formal categorisation of the analytical choices in modelling is proposed. It helps to make the assumption of the multiverse more transparent and to check the parametric assumption. These theories are applied to the panel dataset. The analytical process is documented from the design of the hypothesis to the computation of the distribution of estimates for the same generalised linear effect. The analysis highlights the sensitivity of the model to the estimation of fixed covariates in the panel and how these results are so sensitive to this decision to twist the estimates of the linear effect. In the conclusion, the theory of multiversal sampling is related to the debate on how to weigh a multiverse.

Peatland ecosystems are a highly effective long-term carbon sink. However, the CO2 fluxes could be substantially altered by climate changes and the fate of carbon stored in these ecosystems is still uncertain. Currently, most studies concerning the carbon fluxes in peatlands were performed at high latitude sites, where these ecosystems are more widely distributed compared to temperate regions, where peatlands are less frequent and, in addition to climate pressure, increasingly threatened by human activities. However, the information we have on these peatlands is very scarce. To fill this knowledge gap, we studied CO2 fluxes in an alpine peatland, through light and dark incubations. Using the natural variation in ecological conditions, we identified the main drivers of CO2 fluxes, considering in particular their interactions and covariation. Ecosystem respiration and gross primary production were primarily stimulated by the lowering of the water table and the amount of photosynthetic radiation, respectively, whereas net ecosystem CO2 exchange showed greater variation along the growing season. The influence on CO2 fluxes of the interactions between the drivers investigated, including soil temperature and moisture as well as vegetation type and plant functional diversity, was found to be of pivotal importance. Finally, a substantial part of the variation in CO2 emission and uptake processes was regulated by the joint variation of atmospheric and edaphic factors. To understand and predict the CO2 dynamics of alpine peatlands, it is necessary to consider the interplays among ecological factors, especially in relation to the expected changes in climate and vegetation.

Online reviews provide users with the opportunity to rate various types of items such as movies, music, and video games using a combination of numeric scores and textual comments. The study proposes a novel method that combines network modeling with statistical matching to estimate the unbiased association between words and hyper-polarized items in online reviews. The application of this method to a sample of 40,665 items from the website Metacritic detects 218 hyper-polarized items; these are matched with an equal number of items using 8 covariates of item quality and network centrality. Application of the method reveals an unbiased association between hyper-polarization and semantics indicating reactive social action in online reviews, especially related to controversial political issues in the USA.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disorder characterized by tissue accumulation of CD1a+CD207+ LCH cells. In LCH, somatic mutations of the BRAFV600E gene have been detected in tissue LCH cells, bone marrow CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells, circulating CD14+ monocytes, and BDCA1+ myeloid dendritic cells (DC). Targeting BRAFV600E in clonal Langerhans cells (LC) and their precursors is a potential treatment option for patients whose tumors have the mutation. The development of mouse macrophages and LCs is regulated by the CSF1 receptor (CSF1R). In patients with diffuse-type tenosynovial giant cell tumors, CSF1R inhibition depletes tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) with therapeutic efficacy; however, CSF1R signaling in LCs and LCH has not been investigated. We found through IHC and flow cytometry that CSF1R is normally expressed on human CD1a+CD207+ LCs in the epidermis and stratified epithelia. LCs that were differentiated from CD14+ monocytes, BDCA1+ DCs, and CD34+ cord blood progenitors expressed CSF1R that was downregulated upon maturation. Immature LCs migrated toward CSF1, but not IL34. Administration of the c-FMS/CSF1R kinase inhibitors GW2580 and BLZ945 significantly reduced human LC migration. In LCH clinical samples, LCH cells (including BRAFV600E cells) and TAMs retained high expression of CSF1R. We also detected the presence of transcripts for its ligand, CSF1, but not IL34, in all tested LCH cases. CSF1R and CSF1 expression in LCH, and their role in LC migration and differentiation, suggests CSF1R signaling blockade as a candidate rational approach for treatment of LCH, including the BRAFV600E and wild-type forms of the disease.

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Supplementary Figures 1-9

Aims A byproduct of left atrial (LA) strain analysis is the automated measurement of LA maximal volume (LAVmax), which may decrease the time of echocardiography reporting, and increase the reproducibility of the LAVmax measurement. However, the automated measurement of LAVmax by two-dimensional speckle-tracking analysis (2DSTE) has never been validated. Accordingly, we sought to (i) assess the feasibility of automated LAVmax measurement by 2DSTE; (ii) compare the automated LAVmax by 2DSTE with conventional two-dimensional (2DE) biplane and three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) measurements; and (iii) evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of the three echocardiography techniques. Methods and results LAVmax (34–197 mL) were obtained from 198/210 (feasibility 94%) consecutive patients (median age 67 years, 126 men) by 2DSTE, 2DE, and 3DE. 2DE and 2DSTE measurements resulted in similar LAVmax values [bias = 1.5 mL, limits of agreement (LOA) ± 7.5 mL], and slightly underestimated 3DE LAVmax (biases = −5 mL, LOA ± 17 mL and −6 mL, LOA ± 16 mL, respectively). LAVmax by 2DSTE and 2DE were strongly correlated to those obtained by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) (r = 0.946 and r = 0.935, respectively; P Conclusion Automated LAVmax measurement by 2DSTE is highly feasible, highly reproducible, and provided similar values to conventional 2DE calculations in consecutive patients with a wide range of LAVmax.

ObjectivesWe sought to analyze if left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) measured by three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) have incremental prognostic value over measurements obtained from two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) in patients referred to a high-volume echocardiography laboratory for routine, clinically-indicated studies.MethodsWe measured LV volumes and EF using both 2DE and 3DE in 725 consecutive patients (67% men; 59 ± 18 years) with various clinical indications referred for a routine clinical study.ResultsLV volumes were significantly larger, and EF was lower when measured by 3DE than 2DE. During follow-up (3.6 ± 1.2 years), 111 (15.3%) all-cause deaths and 248 (34.2%) cardiac hospitalizations occurred. Larger LV volumes and lower EF were associated with worse outcome independent of age, creatinine, hemoglobin, atrial fibrillation, and ischemic heart diseases). In stepwise Cox regression analyses, the associations of both death and cardiac hospitalization with clinical data (CD: age, creatinine, hemoglobin, atrial fibrillation, and ischemic heart disease) whose Harrel’s C-index (HC) was 0.775, were augmented more by the LV volumes and EF obtained by 3DE than by 2DE parameters. The association of CD with death was not affected by LV end-diastolic volume (EDV) either measured by 2DE or 3DE. Conversely, it was incremented by 3DE LVEF (HC = 0.84, p < 0.001) more than 2DE LVEF (HC = 0.814, p < 0.001). The association of CD with the composite endpoint (HC = 0.64, p = 0.002) was augmented more by 3DE LV EDV (HC = 0.786, p < 0.001), end-systolic volume (HC = 0.801, p < 0.001), and EF (HC = 0.84, p < 0.001) than by the correspondent 2DE parameters (HC = 0.786, HC = 0.796, and 0.84, all p < 0.001) In addition, partition values for mild, moderate and severe reduction of the LVEF measured by 3DE showed a higher discriminative power than those measured by 2DE for cardiac death (Log-Rank: χ2 = 98.3 vs. χ2 = 77.1; p < 0.001). Finally, LV dilation defined according to the 3DE threshold values showed higher discriminatory power and prognostic value for death than when using 2DE reference values (3DE LVEDV: χ2 = 15.9, p < 0.001 vs. χ2 = 10.8, p = 0.001; 3DE LVESV: χ2 = 24.4, p < 0.001 vs. χ2 = 17.4, p = 0.001).ConclusionIn patients who underwent routine, clinically-indicated echocardiography, 3DE LVEF and ESV showed stronger association with outcome than the corresponding 2DE parameters.

Voltage-gated sodium (Nav1.5) channels support the genesis and brisk spatial propagation of action potentials in the heart. Disruption of Na