Expression of Concern Notice: Status of high-impact scientific publication in nursing in Latin America

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to analyze the situation of high-impact scientific publication in nursing in Latin America between 2003 and 2024 OBJECTIVES: Determine Status of high-impact scientific publishing in nursing. METHODS: The method quantified scientific productivity using bibliometric data. RESULTS: A total of 298 Scopus documents were selected for the study based on relevance and English keywords (scientific AND publishing, publication AND nursing). The largest substantial growth in scientific production occurred between 2019 and 2023 (n=112; 37.6%), with Brazil as the most prominent country (n=250 publications; 83.9%). The source Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem presented 33 publications, and Marziale, M.H.P. was the most cited author (103 citations; 4 papers). Most of these papers were scientific papers (85%) in the area of nursing (61%) and medicine (20%). It is concluded that the thematic diversity, authorship, sources and resources have increased, with respect to high impact scientific publication in nursing in Latin America, which allows a broader characterization of scientific production in the region according to its impacts, visibility and importance. CONCLUSION: Thus, this bibliometric analysis provides a framework for future research documenting a key support that aspires to transform Latin American society into a more just, free and healthy state.

Latin America is an active scientific research area, in particular with respect to the study of freshwater macroinvertebrates. The present serves as an introduction to a special issue that highlights recent research projects on macroinvertebrates in Latin America. As part of this introduction, we conducted a literature analysis of the last 14 years of publications from the region that highlights the steady increase in publications on macroinvertebrates. Most studies from 2000-2013 were conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica, and were focused on taxonomy and different issues related to biodiversity and distribution. There was a tendency for the use of local low-impact journals, but high impact publications were also found. This special issue contributes with 18 studies conducted in eight different countries. Two major topics are covered in the special issue, the ecology and natural history of aquatic macroinvertebrates and their use in the evaluation of anthropogenic impacts to aquatic ecosystems. Based on the literature review and contributions included in the issue, we discuss research needs for the region. Identified needs include: (1) to continue emphasizing taxonomic research, (2) assess mechanisms responsible for changes in biodiversity, (3) assess the role of macroinvertebrates in ecosystem processes and function, (4) improve biomonitoring efforts beyond unimetric indices, (5) the need for an ecosystem perspective, and (6) establishing long-term studies. This special issue is an initial effort to advance our knowledge on freshwater macroinvertebrates in Latin America.

One of the greatest areas of scientific progress has been the identification of certain infectious agents that are implicated in the carcinogenic process. This new knowledge has had broad repercussions not only in the application of new primary prevention options, such as prophylactic vaccines, but also in the definition of infection biomarkers that can be used as screening alternatives or as prognostic markers for neoplasia. We now know that chronic infection with the pathogenic bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is associated with gastrointestinal tract disorders, ranging from chronic gastritis to gastric adenocarcinoma; there is also evidence of a possible association with gastric lymphoma and peptic ulcer. Published reports support the existence of geographic regions where this bacterium is endemic and where H. pylori colonization occurs at a very early age in populations living in precarious sanitary conditions. For this reason, gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world in low-resource countries and, as noted in the accompanying articles [1, 2], one with great heterogeneity in terms of incidence and mortality in Latin America. As a result, this geographic region constitutes a fascinating setting for research and provides unique and important opportunities for gastric cancer prevention. From a public health perspective, there are currently two major lines of research and action in regard to H. pylori and gastric cancer. On the one hand, we should gain a more precise understanding of the natural history of H. pylori infection and, as a consequence, learn about the triggering mechanism(s) related to chronic exposure in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma. However, we also know that reducing future incidence of gastric cancer is possible by improving the living conditions of the general population from a hygienic perspective, as confirmed by Porras et al. [3] in this special edition. Evidence now exists, which established H. pylori as a part of normal human microbiota [4]. This line of work indicates that this bacterium has a special tropism for gastric mucosa, that strains with toxic potential exist, and that the bacteria secrete proteins such as vacA [5], which produce vacuolization in cultures of human epithelial cells as well as increased capacity to modify molecules. Given the existing evidence from biomedical and epidemiological research underscoring the high degree of genetic diversity in H. pylori [6], prevention is arguably very complex. Research groups in Latin America have generated an invaluable scientific tradition for generation of new hypotheses [7], evidence for interventions [8], and high-impact publications [9] related to the study of the carcinogenic process in gastroduodenal mucosa. Recently, a Latin American H. pylori research consortium was formed with the primary mission of evaluating effectiveness, feasibility, and cost of eradication using an antimicrobial regimen specifically for Latin America. Results are encouraging and demonstrate the technical and academic abilities of the participating groups [10]. They also indicate that treatment regimens for successful eradication need to be region-specific; thus, adopting successful treatment regimens from high-income countries may not be the best solution for lower-income countries. Adding to this line of work, results of a diverse set of research studies conducted in various regions of Latin America are presented in this special issue, which reveal the great heterogeneity that exists in the region. These publications include topics such as potential solutions for gastric cancer surveillance in low-resource countries [11], ecological data in support of the altitude–gastric cancer association [1], assessment of the utility of serologic biomarkers for risk of gastric cancer in three Latin American countries [2], confirmation of risk factors for H. pylori infection [3], and a meta-analysis of a variety of risk factors and gastric cancer risk [12]. The work presented in this special edition of the journal along with the recently formed consortium underscores the enormous potential that multi-centric regional studies have for addressing the magnitude of health problems, and even more important, identify solutions for prevention of future disease. These invaluable resources allow us to postulate new research hypotheses and to consolidate a regional group, which can contribute to improving therapeutic strategies for prevention and control of gastric cancer and build the foundation for evidence-based regional public policies aimed at improve the quality of life of the population.

Objective: Urolithiasis, a multifactorial disease, is increasingly recognized for its association with cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite the establishment of links between urolithiasis and CVD risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, this relationship remains underexplored. This study aims to characterize the trend of information regarding cardiovascular risk and urolithiasis through comprehensive bibliometric analysis, highlighting the importance of investigating this association further. Materials and Methods: We searched publications between 2002 and 2022 on the Web of Science (WOS) database, filtered by exclusion criteria. Impact factor (IF) 2021 and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) were evaluated and analyzed by mapping using VOSviewer. Results: We obtained 63 articles from 49 journals over the last two decades, identifying an increase in publications in the last two years without a rising annual trend. Gambaro G is the author of most citations (12,317), underscoring the extent of the global and interdisciplinary effort in understanding the cardiovascular implications of urolithiasis. Our findings highlight the varied impact of journals, with IFs ranging from 1 to 10.6, and point to a significant yet overlooked global research interest in the intersection between urolithiasis and cardiovascular risk. The USA was the country with the most publications (20.6%) followed by Taiwan (12.6%) and Spain (9.5%). Despite the observed increase, the rate of publications especially in high-impact journals remains low, particularly in Latin America, indicating a need for heightened research efforts in this important field. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis underscores a growing yet insufficient global scholarly interest in the relationship between urolithiasis and cardiovascular risk. Despite some high-impact publications, the overall scarcity points to a need for increased research efforts, particularly in underrepresented regions such as Latin America. The study calls for a broader interdisciplinary collaboration to further understand and address the cardiovascular implications of urolithiasis, aiming to improve patient care and outcomes in this significant public health intersection.

To coincide with the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014), IUCr Journals launched the comprehensive open-access journal IUCrJ in January 2014. The journal has had an excellent first year, and has already started to establish itself within the wider scientific communities that use results obtained from diffraction methods. All the indications are good in terms of the journal making a strong impact in attracting high-quality science papers of wide scientific significance from these communities. First impressions from authors, readers, referees and commentators are very positive with a number of papers receiving high downloads in line with high-impact publications. In addition to providing high-impact high-profile publications, IUCrJ also aims to provide fast publication for authors. Submissions undergo preliminary screening by a panel consisting of the five Main Editors (Ted Baker, Richard Catlow, Gautam Desiraju, Sine Larsen, John Spence) and the Editor-in-Chief (Samar Hasnain), and this has helped to provide a rapid and efficient review process. Preliminary screening is generally complete within 72 hours, and any articles that do not meet the journal's requirement for broad scientific significance are usually transferred, with the agreement of the authors, to one of our other journals. Such transfers are seamless and do not require any further work by the authors. The six issues of IUCrJ published in 2014 have featured papers from a wide variety of areas including biology, chemistry, crystal engineering, materials, physics and FELs. The number of articles submitted to the journal in its first year was 130; this was well ahead of our target of 100 articles. A total of 72 papers have been published with an average turnaround time of 14 weeks. IUCrJ has set out to become the natural home for reporting breakthroughs and 'full' science reports rather than simply reporting a structure or how it was determined.We welcome your impressions of the first year of IUCrJ and ideas of measures we should collectively take for its widest acceptance by the broadest possible community. We feel that we have made an excellent start and have attracted many high-quality submissions in all of the areas we cover. To maintain this confident start we encourage continued pro-active engagement from the whole structural community in improving the rate of submission of high-quality papers across the board. We want IUCrJ to become the leading journal for high-quality structure-based papers in the chemical and biological sciences. We remind these communities to consider IUCrJ as one of their first choice journals for their work that may have broader appeal. In addition, we will continue to work closely with physicists, material scientists, computational crystallographers and pioneering FEL scientists to ensure that IUCrJ is able to meet the expectations of these communities.

Introduction: During the past decades, there has been a rapid change in the gender ratio of medical doctors, while gender differences in academia remain apparent. In transplantation research, a field already understaffed with women, there is little published data on the development in proportion, citations and funding of female researchers over the past years. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the academic impact of women in transplantation research, we conducted a bibliometric analysis (01-01-1999 until 31-12-2018) of high-impact scientific publications, subsequent citations and funding in this field. Web of Science data was used in combination with software R-Package “Gender”, to predict gender by first names. A total of 15.498 publications were included, resulting in 39.413 authors’ gender matches. Results: Overall, 14.161 (35.9%) authors were female, and 25.252 (64.1%) male. Globally, an increase in the percentage of female authors is seen since 1999, with a plateau starting in 2012. Female authors received significantly less citations compared to their male colleagues, with median 14 (95% CI 1 – 72) and median 15 (95% CI 1 – 84, p < 0.001) citations per single publication respectively. Differences were most apparent in high-impact publications (>200 citations), with 73.5% male and 26.5% female authors. A total of 6.574 (42.4%) publications reported external funding. From these publications, 2.732 (41.6%) had female and 3.842 (58.4%) had male first authors (p < 0.001). When comparing the 10 countries with the most publications, clear differences in percentages of female authors were seen, with a nearly equal contribution of female and male authors in the Netherlands (47.9% and 52.1%, respectively) and an unequal distribution in Japan (18.5% and 81.5%, respectively) (Figure 1).Conclusion: This study shows differences between male and female authors in citation rates and rewarded funding in transplantation research. Female authors remain underrepresented, with large differences in gender ratios between countries. This requires an active approach to eliminate potential gender bias in research reporting and funding rewarding.

Es liegt in der Natur der Gesittung, daß sie vorwärts schreitet ohne darum da zu erlöschen, wo sie zuerst entstanden war. Ihre fortschreitende Bewegung von Ost nach West, von Asien nach Europa, beweist nichts gegen diese Behauptung. Eine helle Lichtflamme behält ihren Glanz, auch wenn sie einen größeren Raum erleuchtet.1 The progressive, even revolutionary nature of Humboldt's thinking accounts for its sustained influence over time. Nowadays, science historians worldwide attest to the actuality of his pioneering views on nature and human-induced climate change, as well as on the viability of political and economic systems on both sides of the Atlantic. In the twenty-first century, discussions as to what Humboldt meant and still means have acquired a global character and look likely to continue gaining in significance. In this Special Number, we aim to provide a reappraisal of Humboldt's work which highlights a scientific practice that, through collaboration with other disciplines, engages with contemporary discussion and – with an inclusive and egalitarian outlook – does not shy away from acknowledging the links between science and wider structures of political and cultural power. In contrast to other essay compilations on Humboldt that have appeared in recent years, many of which mainly follow a retrospective approach,2 this volume seeks to explain his actuality, that is, his status as a thinker who is continually invoked as being synonymous with both scientific progress and humanistic change. Our aim is to go beyond Humboldt himself. He was unquestionably an original thinker, but he was also someone who took contemporary discussions to a higher level, and whose collaboration with other scientists triggered new discoveries. His fame – and his qualities as a thinker – also need to be assessed in relation to his worldwide legion of followers. Hence, we will explore how Humboldt's ideas have been expanded, furthered, and appropriated over the past centuries, examining a variety of scenarios, countries, and epochs to highlight the challenges posed by his thought and the manifold ways in which his validity has been defended. Our focus on the global reception of Humboldt's work identifies and unpicks key questions. What is lost and gained when applying this great thinker's thoughts to new problems and new audiences? How can we determine whether readings of his work remain accurate despite changes in time and place? Where do we draw the line between a creative reading, an appropriation, and mere instrumentalisation? And, finally, how coherent and unambiguous are Humboldt's works themselves? This volume is not designed merely as a standalone collection of articles. It is equally conceived within the larger framework of the major shift and expansion that Humboldtian studies have undergone in recent decades. Until the 1970s, Humboldt's oeuvre was traditionally limited to the domain of the ‘hard’ natural sciences, as well as of philosophy and history (written largely from a strictly national perspective) and its reception was mostly limited to his American travel. The work of pioneering specialists such as Marianne Oeste de Bopp,3 Juan Ortega y Medina,4 Edmundo O'Gorman,5 Kurt-R. Biermann,6 Hanno Beck7 and Charles Minguet8, to mention just a handful, exercised a pervasive influence among several generations of Humboldt scholars in both Europe and the Americas. Their work went hand-in-hand with a substantial editorial effort, as the works of Alexander von Humboldt were revisited in new editions and translations. Such developments led to a reappraisal of Humboldt's role in shaping the intellectual and scientific life of the United States, Latin America, and Europe. These reappraisals of Humboldt have flourished in the last thirty years, as reflected in the scientific and editorial work undertaken by academics who, based both in Europe and the Americas, represent a variety of disciplines. Among many others, these include Jaime Labastida,9 Nicolaas Rupke,10 Michael Zeuske,11 Sandra Rebok,12 Ottmar Ette,13 Oliver Lubrich,14 and Laura Dassow Walls.15 In parallel with the extensive scholarship on Humboldt produced within universities and institutes of higher education, Humboldt's name is also commonly cited in the realm of European public culture.16 Nowadays, the most recent scholarship on the great scientist and thinker continues to be inseparable from major translation, publication, and digitalisation projects, many of them multilingual, including his complete travelogues (Potsdam),17 his vast collection of essays and articles (Berne),18 his complete writings on the Viceroyalty of New Granada (Bogotá),19 and a new translation of canonical works such as Kosmos (Mexico).20 These recent and ongoing endeavours constitute invaluable new tools for researchers; this Special Number both contributes to and benefits from them. It brings together an international and inter-disciplinary group of scholars so that early-career researchers can present their findings alongside established Humboldt scholars. Thus, here, we unfold the issue of Humboldt's actuality, combining perspectives from the fields of literature (Adrián Herrera Fuentes); history (Michael Zeuske, Sandra Rebok, and Andrea Acle-Kreysing); science, with a particular emphasis on ecology (Michael Strobl and Daniel Grana-Behrens); and metabiographical studies (Nicolaas Rupke). Each of these contributions reflects the interests of different national and transnational academic traditions, underlining subjects that are relevant to current social, ecological, and political debates. The articles in this volume can be read as an assemblage of possibilities concerning how to measure Humboldt's actuality from a contemporary perspective. The whole enables a two-fold discussion: firstly, it opens up perspectives on the advantages (and disadvantages) of specific methods of research, as different disciplines and approaches are brought into play. Secondly, it calls to attention the pitfalls – and promises – of reception on Humboldt. While citations from Humboldt are often used to validate claims of faithfulness to the ‘original’, the fact is that all researchers and commentators are caught in networks of transmission and interpretation. As the pioneering study by Rupke (2005) in relation to Germany has shown, a parade of different ‘Humboldts’ has been brought to life and celebrated over the past 200 years, each tailored to conform to specific settings and claims. Therefore, we argue, objectivity – however relative – should be measured less in terms of faithfulness to the ‘original’, but more in terms of a heightened awareness of the ‘lens’ through which Humboldt is considered. This involves, on the part of the researcher, a willingness to acknowledge that his or her views are often inscribed within one – or multiple – scholarly traditions and national discourses, sometimes complementary, sometimes not. It was Humboldt's ability to synthesise an extraordinary interplay of influences and inputs that gave a universal quality to his oeuvre. An initial challenge is posed by the works of Humboldt himself. In the second article of this volume ‘Contemplation and Empathy: On the Joy of Nature (‘Naturgenuss’) and Feeling for Nature (‘Naturgefühl’) in Alexander von Humboldt's Approach to Science’, Adrián Herrera Fuentes traces a link between Humboldt's early works such as Ansichten der Natur (1808; Nördlingen 1986) and his magnum opus, Kosmos (1845–62; Berlin 2014). Herrera Fuentes claims that, for Humboldt, science was ‘the bridge between the contemplative and the instrumental’ while also maintaining an aesthetic and pleasurable dimension. Through the sense of sight, Humboldtian science fostered a relationship between spiritual pleasure, the emotions, and scientific work. In doing so, Herrera Fuentes contends, Humboldt implicitly challenged the idea that science could be understood only as a means to purely pragmatic and profit-oriented ends. Finally, this article brings to the fore the importance of a contextual reading, not only by reconstructing Humboldt's ideas through time, but by ascertaining how he implicitly entered into a dialogue with the previous generation of Enlightenment thinkers in Germany. The pervasive influence that Humboldt has exercised upon the intellectual and cultural elites of the New World is the subject of the next set of articles. In the last two centuries, these elites have often invoked the figure of an almost mythical Humboldt in order to validate their own political agendas. Hence the need to substitute the legendary Humboldt for the real one, the one whose scientific research was inescapably embedded in power relations, as well as constrained by the practicalities of life and travel. In the third article, ‘Humboldt in Venezuela and Cuba: The “Second Slavery”’, Michael Zeuske casts a critical eye on Humboldt's famous stance against slavery. His focus is on the time that Humboldt and his companion Aimé Bonpland spent in Venezuela (1799/1800), as well as on the few months they spent in Cuba between 1800/1 and 1804. There, they encountered so-called ‘second slavery’, which was then the most modern and technologically advanced stage of this exploitative system, controlled by an elite composed of slave-owners and slave-traders (negreros in Spanish). In practical terms, this meant that many of Humboldt's most useful social contacts, the ones capable of facilitating his travels and research, belonged to this elite. Yet the fact that Humboldt's host in Havana was a thriving negrero, Juan Luis de la Cuesta, is rarely mentioned in Cuban scholarship on the scientist, which often tends towards hagiography. Zeuske reconstructs Humboldt's stay at De la Cuesta's house, showing that this enabled Humboldt to witness, at first hand, what the slave trade entailed, including the arrival of vessels crammed with enslaved adults and children who would be later sold at public auctions. Zeuske's method – a micro-historical reconstruction of the movements and acquaintances made by Humboldt in Latin America – sheds light on the dilemmas faced by Humboldt in reality. On the one hand, he was part of the solution, as shown by his straightforward condemnation of slavery in a later work, the Essai Politique sur lʼÎle de Cuba (Paris 1826); on the other, he was part of the problem, insofar as it was among Cuba's wealthy and cultured slave-owning elite that he found not only hospitality but also the power and influence that was translated into means for advancing his own research. From the 1810s onwards, as most of the Spanish colonies in the Americas became independent nations, the balance of power in the region changed dramatically. The demise of Spain as a colonial power opened the door to the rapid expansion of European (mainly British) and North American economic and political interests in the region. In the fourth article, ‘Humboldt and the American West: Defending or Defeating the "Manifest Destiny"?’, Sandra Rebok examines the appropriation of Humboldt's prestige to support the territorial expansion of the US, allegedly justified by the country's ‘exceptionalism’. Aided by correspondence and press articles, Rebok reconstructs Humboldt's visit to the US in mid-1804, stressing the friendship he established with President Thomas Jefferson as well as his overall admiration for the new nation. Humboldt, as Rebok states, praised the young democracy and was impressed by the active role its government played in the promotion of scientific knowledge. In 1804, he undoubtedly favoured the republican Jefferson over the Spanish Crown or even Napoleon, who had just declared himself Emperor. Rebok suggests that, in 1846, Humboldt might have entertained doubts about the US President James Polk, who, full of expansionist fervour, decided that year to invade Mexico, a country to which Humboldt had strong ties. It seems that Humboldt, despite his general admiration for US political and economic values (except for slavery in its southern states), refused to openly express his views on the ensuing Mexican-American War (1846/8) as it might have required him to play the role of judge in the conflict. Rebok nevertheless concludes that US expansionism was at odds with his ‘moral convictions’. Ultimately, the question raised by Rebok is not whether science can be neutral, but rather whether it can be ethical. After all, as the complex relationship established between Humboldt (the real one and the mythical one) and the US political and cultural elites shows, scientific practice – as knowledge is applied and resources are distributed – has an inescapably political dimension. The complicated relationship between ‘race’ and cultural difference is examined in the fifth article, ‘Bulwark against Racism? Humboldt's Influence on the Racial Notions of German Writers in Mexico (1920s–1940s)’ by Andrea Acle-Kreysing. Writers such as Alfons Goldschmidt and B. Traven represented a first wave of politically committed travellers which extended to a second wave composed of refugees from fascism, such as Egon Erwin Kisch, Ludwig Renn, and Gustav Regler. In this article, the author emphasises the intricacies of reception, noting that the appraisal of Humboldt was coloured by political ideology and national discourses. As a starting point, Acle-Kreysing recounts how Humboldt's appreciation for the indigenous peoples of the Americas, an illustration of his belief in the essential unity of humankind, was re-purposed by anti-fascist exiles as a weapon in their own struggle against the racist tenets of National Socialism – which was also present in Mexico's German colony. Acle-Kreysing takes a polemical approach to demonstrate that Humboldt's legacy was not free of ambiguity, and therefore the implementation of his anti-racist ideals was not as self-evident as these exiles claimed. It was one thing to affirm the abstract equality of all peoples, and another to consider non-Europeans as intellectual peers. Significantly, Acle-Kreysing seeks to vindicate the figure of Goldschmidt who, putting himself under the symbolic patronage of Humboldt, became an outspoken critic of Nazi racial thinking as well as of the alleged superiority of European civilisation. This article contributes to a strand of scholarship that seeks to emphasise how Humboldt – and, by extension, his followers – need to be read in the context of a reciprocal exchange of ‘knowledges’ and scholarly traditions between Europe and the Americas.21 Another way of measuring Humboldt's actuality is to revisit his research methodology, as well as the impact of his findings within the realm of the natural sciences. In the sixth article of this volume, ‘Alexander von Humboldt's Climatological Writings’, Michael Strobl sets himself the task of reconstructing Humboldt's climatological thinking. This topic, far from being the subject of a single work by Humboldt, is scattered across several of his writings and essays, many of which have recently been newly re-published.22 Strobl exposes how Humboldt's innovative research on isothermal lines allowed him to debunk the traditional climate anthropologies of the Enlightenment, which posited, among other things, the inferiority of the New World's inhabitants on the basis of climatic determinism. By sponsoring scientific theories such as monogenism (the common origin of humanity) and affirming that all people could acclimatise to different weathers, Humboldt made clear political statements. Strobl asks to what extent Humboldt transformed, redirected, and corrected the then current knowledge on climatology and to what extent these results anticipated contemporary discussions on climate change. In the seventh article of this Special Number, ‘“Big Data” and Alexander von Humboldt's Approach to Science’, by painstakingly reconstructing the number of scientific instruments deployed by Humboldt, as well as the areas of knowledge covered by his massive collection of observations (which nowadays we would call data), Daniel Grana-Behrens shows how the Prussian scholar was able not only to move across different disciplines, but to connect apparently insignificant details to major global results. He examines how the scientist dealt with the monumental task of linking and combining seemingly unrelated information in a navigable manner. Grana-Behrens is convinced that the systematic way in which Humboldt collected and stored his data, seen as ‘the basis of empirical science to describe cross-connections’, strongly anticipated modern methods of research. Nonetheless, the difference between Humboldt and today's ‘Big Data’, as this author concludes, is that the latter not only describes but also predicts and seeks to manipulate these cross-connections. Yet, in both cases, as Grana-Behrens aptly reminds us, data cannot be regarded as being ‘raw knowledge’ as such. Data only makes sense in relation to a cultural context, and its transformation into actual ‘ideas’ involves a deliberate act of interpretation. In 2019, the celebration of Humboldt's 250th birthday marked a new peak in the output of Humboldt-themed writings and conferences. Roughly speaking, it marked the crystallisation of yet another ‘Humboldt’, one that prefigured today's post-colonial and globalised world, as well as modern eco-criticism. In other words, a Humboldt who was able to prophesy the shape of our contemporary times. This can be illustrated by a colloquium recently organised by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the German government, which presented Humboldt as ‘an international networker, a pioneer of climate research, a science communicator, and a marketing genius’ as well as ‘a political maverick’ who was ‘open to the viewpoints of other countries and peoples’.23 Yet the commemorative events also paved the way for deeper discussion of the real and imaginary Humboldt, thus a tension between sacralising and desacralising tendencies emerged. Such preoccupations are the subject of the final contribution to this Special Number, Nicolaas Rupke's article ‘Humboldt and Metabiography’, which can be read as a continuation of his ground-breaking monograph (2005), which showed how contingent upon time and place the reception of his works has been. In this text, Rupke shows how, in today's Germany, Alexander von Humboldt has served the purpose of conveying a desired idea of ‘Germanness’ in times when Germany, at the political and economic head of the European Union, strives for an identity that is more European than German, more continental than national, and decidedly multi-ethnic rather than exclusively ‘white’. Moreover, opening the door to future research topics, Rupke reflects on Humboldt's ‘non-German’ avatars and insists upon the need for reading him in the context of other cultural memories, beyond Germany. What picture of Humboldt emerges from this collection of articles? It is one that acknowledges the uniqueness of his thought, and yet refuses to see him as an exceptional individual, unconstrained by his context. He was indeed a harsh critic of colonialism, racism, and slavery in his lifetime, but it is also undeniable that Humboldt profited from the privileges of his nationality and his aristocratic background. There is, therefore, a need to read Humboldt in relation to the asymmetries of power – political and economic, but also cultural – which (still) exist between Europe and (Latin) America and between the so-called developed and developing countries (or the so-called Global North and South). And there is a need to acknowledge that these asymmetries, however unwittingly, often worked in Humboldt's favour, and opened countless doors for him.24 This gave him an advantage over other contemporary scientists when it came to establishing a new discourse on Nature and the Americas. Writing in French – the lingua franca of his age – from Paris, one of the of modern science, Humboldt and even the contributions of scientists in the of citations and his work, as has of the Humboldt could not but with the for the of while his ideas found reception among both and elites – often through and scientists he was with of both intellectual and Thus, in the of a universal scientist and he was not only by but by the means to follow by his vast and, that had by the patronage of both the Prussian and the which brought to his of final the idea that Humboldt's towards other prefigured an His was more than the of details and the It was also a specific way of to terms with difference – as by or Ottmar has that Humboldt's intellectual and was to between in at a first might only In doing Humboldt for an with the aim of his to between their own and that of This enabled him to qualities more still to common not only in past such as Europe and but also between such as and that, Humboldt went beyond and made of that a of an of An does not merely with within a what would be were or in and links for the of global or we are that Humboldt cannot provide with the for the different ecological, economic, and political raised in this volume, our contributions are based on the fact that his can to our globalised and age and, to the role of science in shaping today's Nonetheless, Nicolaas this an question – which is not free of – concerning our own reception of this German author and are we for an The to this volume to have found a and one – even he does not with the Humboldt they to enabled and by

Since the 1920s, when scholars first began to specialize in Latin American writing, the subject of Latin American literary studies has grown from a small subset of Spanish and Portuguese literary research and teaching to become the largest field within Hispanism and a significant presence in comparative literature. The expansion of their place in the academic world has often prompted students of Latin American literature to wonder whether, in being swept into the mainstream, their field has not left out of account the historical situations of Latin American nations. These reflections lead critics back to a problem that has troubled Latin American thinkers since Independence: the achievement, or erosion, of cultural autonomy. Though undeniably close to major powers, the Latin American nations are unequal partners in trade and cultural exchange. Corresponding to their uneven and shifting relations with Europe and later the United States, their cultural life evolves following a distinctive historical dynamic. This article considers recent efforts by scholars and essayists to characterize the features that distinguish Latin America from more politically and economically advantaged nations. Special attention goes to those scholars who, drawing on anthropological research, examine communicative and expressive practices of indigenous origin, and those who borrow from economic theory to view Latin America as shaped by its history of dependence on more powerful nations and regions.

New minimal invasive surgeries have been suggested as alternative options to transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) for the management of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy is a new technology that uses targeted, controlled water vapour energy (steam) to create necrotic tissue in the prostate. To assess the effects of convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. We performed a comprehensive search of multiple databases (the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, Latin American and the Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Scopus, Web of Science), trials registries, other sources of grey literature, and conference proceedings published up to 18 February 2020, with no restriction on the language or status of publication. We included parallel-group randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-RCTs, and non-randomised observational prospective studies with concurrent comparison groups, in which men with BPH underwent convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy, another active therapy, or a sham procedure. Two review authors independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. We had planned to perform statistical analyses using a random-effects model, and interpret them according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. We rated the certainty of the evidence according to the GRADE approach. We included asingle, industry-sponsored RCT, with 197 randomised men, that compared convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy to a sham procedure. The mean age 62.9 years, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) was 21.97, and the mean prostate volume was 45.4 mL. We only found short-term data, measured up to three months. Primary outcomes Convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy may improve urologic symptom scores more than a sham procedure, measured on a IPSSscale (0 to 35; higher score represents worse urological symptoms) by a mean difference (MD) of -6.9 (95% confidence interval (CI) -9.06 to -4.74; 195 men; low-certainty evidence), and likely improves quality of life (QoL), measured on a IPSS-QoL scale (0 to 6; higher score represents worse QoL), by a MD of -1.2 (95% CI -1.66 to -0.74; 195 men; moderate-certainty evidence). We are very uncertain about the effects of convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy on major adverse events (risk ratio (RR) 6.79, 95% CI 0.39 to 117.00; 197 men; very low-certainty evidence) assessed by the Clavien-Dindo classification system of III, IV, and V complications. Secondary outcomes We are very uncertain about the effects of convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy on retreatment (RR 1.36, 95% CI 0.06 to 32.86; 197 men; very low-certainty evidence). Convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy may have little to no effect on erectile function (MD 0.4, 95% CI -1.91 to 2.71; 130 men; low-certainty evidence) and ejaculatory function (MD 0.5, 95% CI -0.83 to 1.83; 130 men; low-certainty evidence). Convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy may increase minor adverse events assessed by the Clavien-Dindo classification system of Grade I and II complications (RR 1.89, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.11; 197 men; low-certainty evidence). This would correspond to 434 minor adverse events per 1000 men (95% CI 264 more to 714 more). We are very uncertain about the effects of convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy on acute urinary retention (RR 4.98, 95% CI 0.28 to 86.63; 197 men; very low-certainty evidence). It likely greatly increases the rate of men requiring indwelling urinary catheters (RR 35.58, 95% CI 15.37 to 82.36; 197 men; moderate-certainty evidence). We were unable to perform any of the predefined secondary analyses. We found no evidence for other comparisons, such as convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy versus TURP or other minimal invasive procedures. Compared to a sham procedure, urologic symptom scores and quality of life appear to improve with convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy, but we are very uncertain about major adverse events. The certainty of evidence ranged from moderate to very low, with study limitations and imprecision being the most common reasons for rating down. These findings are based on a single industry-sponsored study, with three-month short-term follow-up. We did not find any studies comparing convective radiofrequency water vapour thermal therapy to any other active treatment form, such as TURP.

Review question / Objective: This study reviews the current evidence on clinical characteristics and outcome of Acute Pancreatitis following spinal surgery. Condition being studied: Acute pancreatitis in spinal surgery. Information sources: All articles were searched electronically using PubMed/Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Latin American &amp; Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) before May 2020 without any restriction in the language or status of publication. Key words related to acute pancreatitis and its complications and various types of spinal surgeries were searched in the title and abstract fields.

The body of evidence indicates that UCTs can improve food security. Income generation interventions do not seem to make a difference for food security, but the evidence is unclear for the other interventions. CCTs, UCTs, interventions that help generate income, interventions that help minimise impact of food prices through food vouchers and subsidies can potentially improve dietary diversity. UCTs and food vouchers may have a potential impact on reducing stunting, but CCTs, income generation interventions or social environment interventions do not seem to make a difference on wasting or stunting. CCTs seem to positively impact cognitive function and development, but not UCTs, which may be due to school attendance, healthcare visits and other conditionalities associated with CCTs.

BackgroundShaped by its colonial origins, tropical medicine sustains inequitable power dynamics in global health, sidelining low-middle-income countries (LMICs) in critical decision-making processes over research agendas and priorities. Editorial boards of tropical medicine journals, dominated by scholars from high-income countries (HICs), risk reinforcing power imbalances and excluding context-driven expertise from endemic regions. This study examines the diversity of editorial boards across gender, geographic, socioeconomic, and geopolitical dimensions to assess systemic inequities.MethodA systematic search of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) catalog was conducted via a targeted strategy between October and December 2024. After screening 153 journals for title relevance and applying exclusion criteria based on publication status, availability of editorial information, and global scope, 24 journals were selected. Data on 2,226 editorial board members were extracted from journal and institutional websites. Data on gender, country of affiliation (classified by World Bank income/regions), and geopolitical groups (G7, G20, BRICS) were extracted from public sources. Gender determination used a sequential approach (journal descriptions, Genderize.io, and consensus). Descriptive statistics were used to perform the analysis.ResultsThe editorial board comprised 2,226 members, 66% male, 31.2% female, and 2.8% undetermined, from 120 nations. The regional contributions included Europe and Central Asia (21.9%), North America (20.9%), East Asia and the Pacific (16.6%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (16.2%), whereas Sub-Saharan Africa (11.2%), South Asia (9.7%), and the Middle East and North Africa (3.4%) were underrepresented. Over half (52.8%) were affiliated with high-income countries. Geopolitically, 40.3% were from the G7, 67.1% were from the G20, and 24.2% were from the BRICS. Some journals showed skewing, with 85.2% North American representation and 90.3% East Asia–Pacific dominance.ConclusionTropical medicine editorial boards are steeped in systemic inequities that echo colonial legacies, with the overrepresentation of HICs and men limiting LMIC perspectives and local expertise. This imbalance undermines research relevance and ethical integrity by prioritizing Global North agendas over the needs of populations most affected by tropical diseases. To address these disparities, substantial reforms are essential. Strategies such as instituting DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), creating targeted mentorship programs for LMIC researchers, and enforcing transparent, bias-resistant recruitment practices are important. Such measures will create a more inclusive editorial landscape that aligns research priorities with global health needs, promoting equitable and contextually relevant solutions.

BackgroundAsymptomatic malaria infections are highly prevalent in endemic areas. ObjectivesThis systematic review aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of malaria parasites in migrants screened in non-endemic areas. Data sourcesMEDLINE-Ovid, EMBASE, Web of Science, Global Health, Lilacs, Cochrane, and MedRxiv. Study eligibility criteriaCross-sectional studies and observational prospective or retrospective cohort studies conducted in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand regardless of language or publication status. Studies should include prevalence data on malaria in migrants that were recruited through a systematic screening approach. We excluded studies where people were tested because of malaria symptoms. ParticipantsMigrant individuals exposed to malaria infection Assessment of risk of biasA standardized and validated appraisal instrument was used for studies reporting prevalence data (Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis). Methods of data synthesisPooled estimates of the parasite prevalence by PCR, microscopy, and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) were calculated with a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was explored by stratification by age, region of origin, period of study, and quality of studies. ResultsOf 1819 studies retrieved, 23 studies were included with in total 4203 participant PCR data, 3186 microscopy and 4698 RDT data, respectively. Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa had a malaria parasite prevalence of 8.3% (95% CI 5.1–12.2) by PCR, 4.3% (1.5–8.2) by RDT, and 3.1% (0.7–6.8) by microscopy. For migrants from Asia and Latin America, the prevalence with PCR was 0% (0.0–0.08) and 0.4% (0.0–1.8), respectively. Migrants from the Central African Region had the highest PCR prevalence (9.3% [6.0–13.0]), followed by West African migrants (2.0% [0.0–7.7]). Restricting the analysis to sub-Saharan Africa migrants arriving to the host country within the previous year, the PCR-based prevalence was 11.6% (6.9–17.4). ConclusionWe provide estimates on the malaria parasite prevalence in migrants in non-endemic setting. Despite heterogeneity between settings, these findings can contribute to inform screening strategies and guidelines targeting malaria in migrants.

The main result of this review was that there was uncertainty as to the difference between fornix- and limbal-based trabeculectomy surgeries due to the small number of events and confidence intervals that cross the null. This also applied to postoperative complications, but without any impact on long-term failure rate between the two surgical techniques.

The incidence of pediatric Crohn's disease has been steadily increasing. In this population, the disease often presents with more extensive inflammation, a tendency toward a more aggressive course, and frequently requires early immunomodulation. Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antibodies work by neutralizing pro-inflammatory effectors, thus interrupting the inflammatory cascade. There is broad consensus that biologics are effective in achieving mucosal healing in Crohn's disease. Despite this, several important questions about anti-TNF therapy in children and adolescents remain unanswered. These include determining the optimal dosing regimen for both safety and durability, identifying the ideal timing for initiating anti-TNF treatment before irreversible bowel damage occurs, and deciding whether to use a top-down or step-up approach tailored to the individual patient's disease location, behavior, and other predictors of complicated outcomes. To assess the efficacy and safety of TNF-alpha antagonists for induction of remission in children and adolescents with active Crohn's disease. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase (Elsevier), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information database) (BIREME), and Science Citation Index Expanded and Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (Web of Science). We applied no language or document type restrictions. The last update of evidence was on 1 June 2024. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), irrespective of publication type, publication status, and language, assessing the benefits and harms of TNF-alpha antagonist for induction of remission treatment for pediatric Crohn's disease. Our critical outcomes were induction of clinical remission and incidence of serious adverse effects. Important outcomes were all-cause mortality and morbidity related to Crohn's disease, endoscopic remission, incidence of steroid withdrawal, proportion of participants in need of surgical intervention, loss of response to anti-TNF, and incidence of mild adverse events. We assessed risk of bias using Cochrane's RoB 1 tool. The only included trial was at overall high risk of bias. We used standard Cochrane methodology to perform this systematic review. We used the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of evidence per outcome. Only one study fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The study was an open-label, multicenter RCT conducted in 12 hospitals in three European countries, and included 100 children (51 boys and 49 girls) newly diagnosed with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease with a 52-week follow-up. Children were randomly assigned to first-line infiximab (FL-IFX) (n = 50) or conventional treatment (n = 50). The trial was at overall high risk of bias. Clinical remission was achieved by 59% (24/41) in the FL-IFX group versus 34% (15/44) in the conventional-treatment group, therefore favoring FL-IFX (risk ratio [RR] 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06 to 2.79; low certainty evidence). Endoscopic remission was achieved by 59% (16/27) in the FL-IFX group versus 17% (5/30) in the conventional-treatment group, therefore favoring FL-IFX (RR 3.56, 95% CI 1.51 to 8.39; low certainty evidence). The included study did not assess all-cause morbidity or mortality related to Crohn's disease or incidence of serious or mild adverse events. No funding information was provided. This study is part of the TISKid study, which is in development and includes the same population with a planned follow-up of five years. There is limited evidence to support the use of anti-TNF therapy for induction of remission in pediatric Crohn's disease. Only one randomized clinical trial at high risk of bias suggests that FL-IFX may result in a slight increase in induction of clinical remission and endoscopic remission when compared to conventional treatment. The results of this trial need to be interpreted with caution. Several important questions remain regarding the optimal timing of anti-TNF therapy, the preference between step-up versus top-down strategies, and other related issues. Further RCTs are needed to achieve stronger evidence, address these questions, and provide clearer guidance. There is a need for larger randomized clinical trials following the SPIRIT and CONSORT statements, assessing the benefits and harms of using anti-TNF versus conventional therapy for pediatric Crohn's disease induction treatment. This Cochrane review had no dedicated funding. The intervention protocol was published on Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022, DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD014497.