Various authors have claimed that citizenship norms have changed dramatically in contemporary societies. Recent research has studied the implications of Russell Dalton's argument that duty-based ...citizenship norms (emphasizing voting and obeying the law) are being replaced by engaged citizenship norms (emphasizing self-expressive and non-institutionalized forms of participation). In this article we use the 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Education Survey (n=140,650) to ascertain the cross-national empirical validity of engaged and duty-based norms. By means of latent class analysis, we show that both of these citizenship norms are indeed adhered to by different groups of adolescents. We also show, however, that only half of the research population holds these two norms, while other more traditional norms are also identified. The findings confirm expectations that high-status respondents with low political trust are more likely to adhere to engaged norms, but the country-level findings contradict expectations: engaged norms are less prevalent in highly developed stable democracies, and this casts doubts on the hypothesis that new engaged citizenship norms are predominantly found in stable highly developed democracies.
Background Despite the undeniable diagnostic benefits of urodynamic studies (UDS), their adoption into clinical practice in Africa has been slow. This study aimed to review the use of invasive UDS in ...children at a tertiary paediatric hospital in South Africa. Methods A retrospective analysis of 1108 UDS was conducted. Patient demographic characteristics, primary diagnosis, indication and urodynamic outcomes were reviewed. Presence of urodynamic high-risk features were documented, and a comparison was made between the first study and follow-up study. Results This study revealed increasing trends in the use of UDS from 2015. Referrals were from Urology (37.7%), Spinal defects clinic (34.4%), Nephrology (20.8%) and other departments (7.0%). The most common reason for referral was review of medical treatment (36.5%). Spinal dysraphism (58.3%) accounted for the majority of conditions seen. Majority (59.1%) of the patients were receiving more than one type of bladder treatment at the time of their first study, with clean intermittent catheterisation (46.5%) being the most common form of bladder management. 97.5% of studies were performed using transurethral bladder catheterization. Urodynamic diagnosis was neurogenic in 74.0%, anatomical (12.2%), functional (8.8%) and normal (5.0%). There was statistically significant improvement in bladder compliance, detrusor leak point pressure and detrusor sphincter dyssynergia between the first study and a subsequent study following therapeutic intervention. Conclusions The unique ability of UDS to demonstrate changes in detrusor pressures, which is a common reason for therapy failure, makes UDS an invaluable tool in the diagnosis and management of children with lower urinary tract dysfunction. Keywords: Urodynamic Study, LUTD, ICCS, DSD, NDO, DLPP, NLUTD
Hypoganglionosis resembles Hirschsprung's disease as in both diseases, patients may present with severe constipation or pseudo-obstruction. To date, diagnosis of hypoganglionosis is still difficult ...to be established due to lack of international consensus regarding diagnostic criteria. This study aims to evaluate the use of immunohistochemistry to provide objective support for our initial subjective impression of hypoganglionosis as well as to describe the morphological features of this study.
This is a cross-sectional study. Three resected intestinal samples from patients with hypoganglionosis at Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan were included in this study. One healthy intestinal sample was used as control. All specimens were immunohistochemically stained with anti-S-100 protein, anti-α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and anti-c-kit protein antibodies.
(I) S-100 immunostaining: hypoplasia of the myenteric ganglia and marked reduction of intramuscular nerve fibers were observed in several segments of the intestine. (II) α-SMA immunostaining: the pattern of the muscular layers was almost normal in all segments; however, some areas showed hypotrophy of the circular muscle (CM) layers and hypertrophy of the longitudinal muscle (LM) layers. (III) C-kit immunostaining: a decreased in the number of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) was observed in almost all segments of the resected intestine, even around the myenteric plexus.
Each segment of intestine in hypoganglionosis had different numbers of ICCs, sizes, and distributions of ganglions, as well as patterns of musculature, which may range from severely abnormal to nearly normal. Further investigations regarding the definition, etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease should be performed to improve the prognosis of this disease.
Background
Electroacupuncture (EA) at ST‐36 could accelerate the delayed gastrointestinal (GI) motility in many GI motility dysfunction models, but the definite effect and mechanisms are unclear. In ...this study, we intended to investigate the effects of EA on intestinal manipulation (IM) mice model and involved mechanisms.
Methods
Male C57BL/6 mice were randomized into five groups: normal control, intestinal manipulation (IM), IM with sham EA (SEA), IM with high‐frequency EA (HEA), and IM with low‐frequency EA (LEA). The GI transit was evaluated. The infiltration of muscularis macrophages (MMφ) and its phenotype were analyzed with flow cytometry. Magnetic‐activated cell sorting was applied to isolate MMφ, and the relationship between the MMφ and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) was further investigated.
Results
(1) Compared with the IM group, HEA and LEA attenuated the delayed intestinal transit. (2) Both the HEA and LEA obviously reduced the MMφ and suppressed the M1 activation of the MMφ in the ileum. (3) EA restored the disrupted ICC networks through inhibiting the release of IL6 by the MMφ.
Conclusion
(1) Electroacupuncture at acupoint ST‐36 could accelerate the delayed intestinal transit in the IM murine model by restoring the ICC networks. (2) EA protected the ICCs through reducing the MMφ, inhibiting its M1 polarization and its IL6 secretion.
EA reduced the MMφ accumulation and suppressed its M1 polarization in ileum msucularis. EA reduced the release of IL6 in the MMφ. EA protected the disrupted ICC networks through targeting on IL6R.
The patients with anorectal malformations (ARM) have been identified with specific and non-specific pathological changes. The present study was conducted with the aim to study histomorphological ...changes and various immunohistochemical (IHC) markers (calretinin, S-100, CD117) in intestinal wall specimens to assess neuronal dysfunction in ARM patients.
Thirty children having ARM were included in our study. In all the cases, a representative biopsy was received. The tissue sections were processed and wax blocks were prepared. Various histopathological changes were examined on routine H&E. Representative sections were further subjected to IHC staining for ganglion cells (calretinin), interstitial cells of Cajal (CD117) and nerve bundles (S-100 protein). Descriptive variables were analyzed to assess neuronal dysfunction in cases of ARM. Chi-square was used to compare the categorical values. P-value <0.05 was accepted as statistically significant.
Biopsies were studied for histological changes using H&E stain. The most frequently observed histological finding in mucosa was inflammation and congestion in 87% and 67% of cases respectively. Disrupted muscularis mucosa was observed in 60%, eroded mucosa in 57%, and hemorrhage in 40% of cases. Submucosal inflammation and congestion were most common finding observed in submucosa in 87% and 80% cases respectively. CD117 was used to demonstrate altered density and distribution of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in cases of ARM. Majority of them belong to grade 2+ category (n=17, 57%) followed by grade 1+ (n=8, 17%) for ICC cells. Altered density and distribution of ICC was observed in ARM which was statistically significant (p=0.02).
The malformed segments in ARM show various specific and non-specific histomorphological changes. Examination of H&E sections along with IHC stains evaluation can minimize need for repeated biopsies and unnecessary radical treatment. CD117 immunohistochemistry is reliable adjunctive test in evaluation of ICC in motility disorders of bowel. Calretinin is good marker for identification of ganglion cells. In ARM, density and distribution of ICCs is significantly altered which can explain postoperative dysmotility.
•Secondary analyses were run on Italian International Civic and Citizenship Study data.•The study focused on school-level community, social, and economic risk indicators.•A Latent Class Analyses on ...risk indicators identified four classes of risk.•A significant relationship among classes of risk and school violence emerged.•Results suggested a gradient of increasing risk from No Risk to Multi-Risk classes.
School violence and bullying are a pandemic issue. The academic literature underlined the need to investigate social-contextual risk factors. The United Nations called for more comprehensive and disaggregated data to inform prevention strategies.
The present study comprises a set of secondary analyses on Italian data from the International Civic and Citizenship Study 2016. We adopted an innovative ‘bottom-up’ approach to identify the level of disaggregation for national data. The researchers focused on community, social, and economic risk indicators at school-level, and investigated whether it was possible to aggregate schools in different classes, depending on their risk profile.
Analyses were implemented on a nationally representative sample of 170 Principals of lower secondary schools, 2,527 teachers and 3,766 students at grade 8.
A Latent Class Analyses was conducted on risk indicators and four classes of risk were identified: No Risk, Community Risk, Socio-economic Risk, Multi-Risk (entropy = .786). No significant differences were found across classes in relation to urban/rural location, school size, and geographical macro-partition. On the contrary, significant differences emerged when considering teachers’ perception of bullying, social problem, and students’ behavior at school. Furthermore significant differences were found for the quality of relationship with teachers as reported by students.
Results a) suggested a potential gradient of increasing risk moving across the classes; b) provided a contribution to address the gap in the investigation of contextual factors and bullying; c) offered a new lens to tailor interventions to prevent school violence and bullying.
•Activation in the right IFG synchronized with the symptomatic change.•In this synchronization, the influence of medication was not significant statistically.•Activation in the bilateral MFG was ...stable over time.
Long-term longitudinal studies are necessary to establish neuroimaging indicators which contribute to the detection of severity changes over time in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).
One hundred sixty-five patients with MDD underwent clinical assessments and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) examination at the initial evaluation (T0). After 1.5 years, 45 patients who visited for the follow-up evaluation (T1.5) were included in the analysis. The authors conducted analyses using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) scores and mean oxy-hemoglobin concentration (oxy−Hb) changes during a cognitive task in NIRS at T0 (T0_HAMD, T0_oxy−Hb) and at T1.5 (T1.5_HAMD, T1.5_oxy−Hb), and their intra-individual longitudinal changes (ΔHAMD = T1.5_HAMD − T0_HAMD, Δoxy−Hb = T1.5_oxy−Hb − T0_oxy−Hb).
For severity-dependent regions, the Δoxy−Hb in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was negatively correlated with the ΔHAMD. For severity-independent regions, the intra-class correlation coefficients between T0_ and T1.5_oxy−Hb were moderate in the bilateral middle frontal gyri (MFG).
The percentage of patients included in the follow-up examination was relatively small.
Brain activation in the right IFG and the bilateral MFG as measured by NIRS may differentially indicate clinical severity and trait-related abnormalities in MDD.
This study explored the relationship between pedagogical practices and the civic knowledge and engagement of students from five Latin American and Caribbean countries, using a multilevel analysis of ...the 2016 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The results reveal the complex interplay of educational, sociodemographic, and attitudinal factors in shaping the civic knowledge and engagement of students. Extracurricular civic engagement showed a negative correlation with student civic knowledge and engagement as measured by the ICCS cognitive test. However, civic learning in school positively related to cognitive abilities, emphasizing the importance of integrating civic learning into the curriculum. Interestingly, students' educational aspirations emerged as a significant factor shaping their civic engagement, suggesting a strategy to foster high educational aspirations to enhance cognitive performance. Additionally, gender dynamics were evident in civic education, with girls consistently outperforming boys in all participating countries. The correlation between home literacy resources and test scores illuminated the significant role of home environments in academic achievement. Lastly, students’ attitudes towards political participation had a notable connection to civic knowledge outcomes, presenting an exciting avenue for future research. Collectively, these findings underscore the need for a comprehensive approach to civic education and further research to refine effective strategies.
Based on the lately identified role for the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) of mouse prostate in catecholamine production, as well as the well-established role for the master coregulator ...metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) in inflammation, we probed into the functional link between aberrant MTA1 expression and pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) using both a MTA1−/− mouse model of experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) and an in vitro chronic prostatitis model in cultured murine ICCs. EAP-induced MTA1 expression was enriched in ICCs of mouse prostate. EAP resulted in a higher increase in the pelvic pain response in MTA1−/− mice compared to WT mice. Consistently, the ICCs from MTA1−/− mice produced higher levels of catecholamines upon induction of in vitro chronic prostatitis. Mechanistically, MTA1 could directly suppress the transcription of Aadc, a rate-limiting enzyme during catecholamine synthesis, in a HDAC2-depdendent manner. Importantly, treatment with AADC inhibitor NSD-1015 significantly ameliorated EAP-elicited pain response and catecholamine overactivity in MTA1−/− mice. Taken together, our findings reveal an inherent regulatory role of the MTA1/AADC pathway in the maintenance of catecholamine production homeostasis in prostate ICCs, and also point to a potential use of HDAC inhibitors and/or AADC inhibitors to treat CP/CPPS.
•EAP-induced MTA1 expression is enriched in ICCs.•Chronic prostatitis stimulates MTA1 expression in ICCs.•MTA1/HDAC2 complex negatively regulates Aadc transcription.•AADC inhibition ameliorates EAP-elicited pain response in MTA1−/− mice.
The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of Taiwanese students' perceptions of good citizenship in terms of citizenship behaviours rooted in Western democracy and character and moral (CM) ...oriented citizenship. Data from Taiwanese eighth graders participating in the 2016 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) were examined. Citizenship behaviours were measured by items from the ICCS student questionnaire and the ICCS Asian Regional Module. The results showed that students who emphasised all but CM oriented citizenship had the weakest attitude towards the personal morality of politicians. Students who endorsed all citizenship behaviours had the highest levels of expected civic engagement. The findings suggest that the development of the good citizenship perceived by Taiwanese students may be enhanced by multiple sources in addition to citizenship education.
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