Oxford Research Articles

Evolving outcomes of surgery for retinal detachment in retinopathy of prematurity: the need for a national service in the United Kingdom : An audit of surgery for acute tractional retinal detachment complicating ROP in the UK.

To audit the structural and functional outcomes of surgery for acute tractional retinal detachment due to retinopathy or prematurity between 2004 and 2014 in Oxford UK. Consecutive operations were identified from a surgical log. Clinical data including demography, perioperative data, and retinal outcomes were extracted into a spreadsheet and compared against two international data sets referenced in the method section. Nonparametric tests (Fisher's exact, and the Mann-Whitney U-tests) were used for statistical analysis with a p-value < 0.05 considered significant. Twenty-nine eyes of 19 babies underwent surgery. The mean age (SD) at final follow-up was 6.4 (3.7) years of age and comparable to the reference data sets. The mean birth weight and gestational age of babies matched the ETROP data set referenced in the method section. Anatomical success was obtained in 16/29 (55.2%) of eyes and more likely with stage 4 ROP than stage 5 disease (p < 0.05). Thirteen of 29 eyes (44.8%) obtained form vision post-operatively. All instances of macular retinal reattachment during follow up were verified with post-operative OCT. Surgery for stage 5 ROP is not worthwhile. For stage 4 ROP it yielded better visual outcomes than ETROP but registration for visual impairment was not prevented. Innovation such as endoscopic vitrectomy could yield better outcomes. Earlier detection of vitreoretinal fibrosis could result in timelier referral. A formally funded national service is needed to ring-fence resource to avoid delays in access to surgery, which has a narrow surgical window.

Understanding Community: Engaging Oxford College Students in Loving God’s World

This article addresses town and gown relationships, those complicated interactions between colleges or universities and the communities in which they are situated. In particular, the focus is on the relationship between Oxford College of Emory University where I am the college chaplain and the city of Oxford, Georgia. Research demonstrated a gap between these communities - in the interactions between them as well as in the potential for creating belonging between Oxford College students in particular and the local community of Oxford, Georgia. My doctoral project addressed that gap through a course taught in the fall of 2016, Understanding Community: Oxford Encountering Oxford. In the course, students were required to move their bodies into the local community to see a community once invisible to them and to engage in loving God's world primarily through interviews with local residents. Theological themes of incarnation and revelation played a major role in this project, and are addressed here, especially with regard to implications for the church and its ministry in the world.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine: Encouraging Interim Results

The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (also known as AZD1222), developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine that

Does it matter that Freud thought Shakespeare was the Earl of Oxford?

Does it matter that Freud thought Shakespeare was the Earl of Oxford?

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF BIBLICAL LAW Edited by PamelaBarmashOxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. xv + 595 + xv. $150.

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF BIBLICAL LAW Edited by PamelaBarmashOxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. xv + 595 + xv. $150.

Real-world Independent Testing of e-ASPECTS Software (RITeS): statistical analysis plan

Background: Artificial intelligence-based software may automatically detect ischaemic stroke lesions and provide an Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score (ASPECTS) on CT, and identify arterial occlusion and provide a collateral score on CTA. Large-scale independent testing will inform clinical use, but is lacking. We aim to test e-ASPECTS and e-CTA (Brainomix, Oxford UK) using CT scans obtained from a range of clinical studies. Methods: Using prospectively collected baseline CT and CTA scans from 10 national/international clinical stroke trials or registries (total >6600 patients), we will select a large clinically representative sample for testing e-ASPECTS and e-CTA compared to previously acquired independent expert human interpretation (reference standard). Our primary aims are to test agreement between software-derived and masked human expert ASPECTS, and the diagnostic accuracy of e-ASPECTS for identifying all causes of stroke symptoms using follow-up imaging and final clinical opinion as diagnostic ground truth. Our secondary aims are to test when and why e-ASPECTS is more or less accurate, or succeeds/fails to produce results, agreement between e-CTA and human expert CTA interpretation, and repeatability of e-ASPECTS/e-CTA results. All testing will be conducted on an intention-to-analyse basis. We will assess agreement between software and expert-human ratings and test the diagnostic accuracy of software. Conclusions: RITeS will provide comprehensive, robust and representative testing of e-ASPECTS and e-CTA against the current gold-standard, expert-human interpretation.

Evaluation of a delineation software for cardiac atlas-based autosegmentation: An example of the use of artificial intelligence in modern radiotherapy

PurposeThe primary objective of this work was to implement and evaluate a cardiac atlas-based autosegmentation technique based on the “Workflow Box” software (Mirada Medical, Oxford UK), in order to delineate cardiac substructures according to European Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ESTRO) guidelines; review and comparison with other cardiac atlas-based autosegmentation algorithms published to date. Materials and MethodsOf an atlas of data set from 20 breast cancer patients’ CT scans with recontoured cardiac substructures creation according to the ESTRO guidelines. Performance evaluation on a validation data set consisting of 20 others CT scans acquired in the same treatment position: cardiac substructure were automatically contoured by the Mirada system, using the implemented cardiac atlas, and simultaneously manually contoured by a radiation oncologist. The Dice similarity coefficient was used to evaluate the concordance level between the manual and the automatic segmentations. ResultsDice similarity coefficient value was 0.95 for the whole heart and 0.80 for the four cardiac chambers. Average Dice similarity coefficient value for the left ventricle walls was 0.50, ranging between 0.34 for the apical wall and 0.70 for the lateral wall. Compared to manual contours, autosegmented substructure volumes were significantly smaller, with the exception of the left ventricle. Coronary artery segmentation was unsuccessful. Performances were overall similar to other published cardiac atlas-based autosegmentation algorithms. ConclusionThe evaluated cardiac atlas-based autosegmentation technique, using the Mirada software, demonstrated acceptable performance for cardiac cavities delineation. However, algorithm improvement is still needed in order to develop efficient and trusted cardiac autosegmentation working tools for daily practice.

Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Lipidology was launched in 1990. It is part of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of lipidology is divided into six sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editor for this issue. Section Editor Mohamad NavabMohamad NavabMohamad Navab is a Faculty and a co-project leader at David Geffen school of medicine, University of California Los Angeles. He obtained his PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University, in 1976. Subsequently, he served as an Assistant Professor and Head of Clinical Labs at the National University School of Medicine in Tehran, Iran. He started his research and teaching first at the UCLA Cancer Center in 1981 and subsequently at the Division of Cardiology at UCLA where he has been since 1983. Prof. Navab has received research support from NIH and has served as grant reviewer for the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute at NIH and the American Heart Association. He serves on the editorial board and advisory board of a dozen scientific journals. Prof. Navab has authored or been a coauthor for 203 papers indexed at PubMed and has presented 171 invited national and international medical lectures. Menno de WintherMenno de WintherMenno de Winther is a Professor of vascular immune cell biology at the AMC of the Amsterdam-University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Prof. de Winther graduated in biology at Utrecht University, Netherlands, and obtained his PhD in 1999 at Leiden University, Netherlands with a thesis on macrophage scavenger receptors in atherosclerosis. After completing the PhD, he was a postdoc in Oxford University, UK and Maastricht University, Netherlands and became a principal investigator studying the role of macrophages in cardiovascular disease. In 2011, Prof. de Winther was appointed as a Professor of vascular immune cell biology at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. Using cellular and animal models for disease, his group studies the molecular regulation of macrophages in inflammatory disease. His research particularly focuses on the transcriptional regulation of monocytes and macrophages in atherosclerosis, characterizing environmental factors (e.g. dyslipidemia, metabolic triggers, cytokines) that drives signaling pathways influencing cellular function in disease. Prof. de Winther's group was the first to define the role of the transcription factor NF-κB in atherosclerosis and more recently identified the epigenetic enzyme HDAC3 a major regulator of macrophage gene programs in atherosclerosis. Significant efforts in his group are now running on further delineating epigenetic pathways in atherosclerostic diseases. His group thrives on a combination of human and mouse cell- and animal models combined with patient studies through close interactions with the clinic. Dr de Winther is an established investigator of the Netherlands Heart Foundation and together with Dr Glass (UCSD) is currently coordinating a Leducq Transatlantic Network on epigenetics in atherosclerosis.

Accounting for care within human geography

Drawing on in‐depth interviews with first‐time parents in the city of Oxford, we offer a critical examination of how notions of care can transform practices of research and analysis within human geography. We argue care offers a committed practice of knowing and relating within research where data collection, analysis, and scholarly narratives are all implicated in the remaking of everyday worlds that, in turn, reveal a new terrain of political potentiality.

Ecological impact of phytoinvasions in Ukraine

Ecological impact of phytoinvasions in Ukraine

Review of Vincent Chetail, International Migration Law (Oxford University Press, 2019)

Recenzja ksiazki Vincent'a Chetail'a

Groundwork for a metaphysic of person-centred care: a contribution from Ordinary Language Philosophy

This article explores the meaning of person-centred care using an approach based on the ordinary language philosophy of J.L. Austin and others of the mid-twentieth Century ‘Oxford School’. Section I outlines the essential feature of ordinary language philosophy as a shift of attention from definition to use: ordinary language philosophy explores the meanings of terms (and their inherent conceptual challenges) not by the traditional philosophical approach of ever-more-careful definition but by exploring how the terms in question are actually used in everyday (i.e. unreflective) contexts. Section II explores the conceptual challenges presented by person-centred care by applying three particular components of ordinary language philosophy (philosophical field work, outputs as more complete views, and methodological teamwork) to two exemplar papers. Section III describes how the groundwork provided by ordinary language philosophy of the kind exemplified by Section II has been built on successfully in one particular form of person-centred care, namely the person- values -centred care of values-based practice. The chapter concludes with some of the limitations and challenges presented by an ordinary language philosophy of person-centred care. Of particular concern in the light of Isaiah Berlin’s work on the ‘challenge of pluralism’ is the inherent and irreducible pluralism of person-centred care.

Irek, Małgorzata. Travelling with the Argonauts: informal networks seen without a vertical lens. viii, 226 pp., bibliogr. Oxford, New York: Berghahn Books, 2018. £85.00 (cloth)

Irek, Malgorzata. Travelling with the Argonauts: Informal Networks Seen without a Vertical Lens. viii, 226 pp., bibliogr.Oxford, New York: Berghahn Books, 2018. £85.00 (cloth).

The dietary impact of the Norman Conquest: A multiproxy archaeological investigation of Oxford, UK.

Archaeology has yet to capitalise on the opportunities offered by bioarchaeological approaches to examine the impact of the 11th-century AD Norman Conquest of England. This study utilises an integrated multiproxy analytical approach to identify and explain changes and continuities in diet and foodways between the 10th and 13th centuries in the city of Oxford, UK. The integration of organic residue analysis of ceramics, carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of human and animal bones, incremental analysis of δ13C and δ15N from human tooth dentine and palaeopathological analysis of human skeletal remains has revealed a broad pattern of increasing intensification and marketisation across various areas of economic practice, with a much lesser and more short-term impact of the Conquest on everyday lifestyles than is suggested by documentary sources. Nonetheless, isotope data indicate short-term periods of instability, particularly food insecurity, did impact individuals. Evidence of preferences for certain foodstuffs and cooking techniques documented among the elite classes were also observed among lower-status townspeople, suggesting that Anglo-Norman fashions could be adopted across the social spectrum. This study demonstrates the potential for future archaeological research to generate more nuanced understanding of the cultural impact of the Norman Conquest of England, while showcasing a method which can be used to elucidate the undocumented, everyday implications of other large-scale political events on non-elites.

Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II. By Stephen Bullivant. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. xiii + 309 pp. $32.95 cloth.

Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II. By Stephen Bullivant. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. xiii + 309 pp. $32.95 cloth.

THU0135 PATIENT GLOBAL ASSESSMENT LEVELS PRECLUDE THE MAJORITY OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS OTHERWISE IN REMISSION, FROM REACHING THIS STATUS: SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND META-ANALYSES INCLUDING 23,297 PATIENTS

Background: Based on the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) Boolean-based remission definition for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the main reason for near-misses (failing Boolean remission solely due to one criterion >1) is a patient global assessment (PGA) >1/10.1-3 The frequency of this PGA-near-remission status has not been well established. Objectives: To synthesize the overall prevalence of ACR/EULAR Boolean-based remission and PGA-near-remission cross-sectionally in published studies, and to explore association with disease duration. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed database (from 1/jan/2011 till 15/jan/2020) for “Rheumatoid arthritis” AND Boolean [OR synonyms] AND PGA [OR synonyms], and carried out a hand search of the references of the included studies. Two reviewers independently assessed the study inclusion and extracted the data (n (%) of patients in each remission status, mean (SD) disease duration, and country/city). Studies were excluded if any of the four Boolean criterion was not considered (e.g. C-Reactive Protein not assessed), or if only patients with low disease activity or remission were selected. If different time assessments were provided, we selected the 1y follow-up, as the most common. Random effects meta-analyses of proportions with double arcsine transformation were performed (also by disease duration subgroups) using MEDCALC®. Heterogeneity was assessed by I2. Results: From 41 studies identified, 8 studies concerning 12 subsamples were analysed (n=23,297 patients; of which 22% had ≤2 years mean disease duration). The overall prevalence of Boolean remission was 12% (95%CI: 10-15%, p Conclusion: The overall prevalence of PGA-near-remission in patients with RA followed in clinical practice was 1/3 more prevalent than Boolean remission, a difference more pronounced in patients with established disease. Overall, over 61% of all RA patients otherwise in remission failed to satisfy the Boolean definition of remission solely due to a PGA>1. The use of PGA in the definition of treatment target exposes a substantial proportion of patients to the risk of overtreatment with immunosuppressive agents, while being deprived of the adjunctive therapy they probably need.

Young, Serinity. Women who fly: goddesses, witches, mystics, and other airborne females. xvi, 358 pp., illus., bibliogr. Oxford: Univ. Press, 2018. £19.99 (cloth)

Young, Serinity. Women who fly: goddesses, witches, mystics, and other airborne females. xvi, 358 pp., illus., bibliogr. Oxford: Univ. Press, 2018. £19.99 (cloth)

Real-world Independent Testing of e-ASPECTS Software (RITeS): statistical analysis plan.

Background: Artificial intelligence-based software may automatically detect ischaemic stroke lesions and provide an Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score (ASPECTS) on CT, and identify arterial occlusion and provide a collateral score on CTA. Large-scale independent testing will inform clinical use, but is lacking. We aim to test e-ASPECTS and e-CTA (Brainomix, Oxford UK) using CT scans obtained from a range of clinical studies. Methods: Using prospectively collected baseline CT and CTA scans from 10 national/international clinical stroke trials or registries (total >6600 patients), we will select a large clinically representative sample for testing e-ASPECTS and e-CTA compared to previously acquired independent expert human interpretation (reference standard). Our primary aims are to test agreement between software-derived and masked human expert ASPECTS, and the diagnostic accuracy of e-ASPECTS for identifying all causes of stroke symptoms using follow-up imaging and final clinical opinion as diagnostic ground truth. Our secondary aims are to test when and why e-ASPECTS is more or less accurate, or succeeds/fails to produce results, agreement between e-CTA and human expert CTA interpretation, and repeatability of e-ASPECTS/e-CTA results. All testing will be conducted on an intention-to-analyse basis. We will assess agreement between software and expert-human ratings and test the diagnostic accuracy of software. Conclusions: RITeS will provide comprehensive, robust and representative testing of e-ASPECTS and e-CTA against the current gold-standard, expert-human interpretation.

Thomas TUFTE (2018), Communication and Social Change

L’ouvrage de Thomas Tufte couronne ses longues recherches dans le domaine du changement social et de la modalite, ou la transformation de la communication influence le developpement social actuel et ou elle est influencee par celui-ci. Faisant appel aux exemples et aux situations concretes de communication, Tufte realise une analyse approfondie et complexe, souvent critique, des differents points de vue des theoriciens des medias de masse ou des sociologues, afin de demontrer comment le parad...

NICHOLS, Tom. The death of expertise: the campaign against established knowledge and why it matters. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. 252 p.

A desvalorização dos conhecimentos e do alcance de parte da produção científica são evidências de que vivemos em uma realidade de culto a ignorância? Qual a importância da formação desenvolvida nas universidades? Qual o papel do jornalismo, da internet e das redes sociais nesse cenário? Em suma: vivemos a morte da expertise e do conhecimento profissional? Essas indagações permitem problematizar parte da conjuntura atual. Um desses aspectos se refere a relação entre profissionais e cidadãos nas sociedades democráticas. De um lado, os especialistas podem assumir posturas arrogantes e autoritárias, centradas no elitismo e no enclausuramento do campo acadêmico. De outro, cidadãos, usualmente considerados ‘leigos’, têm assumido posturas e opiniões baseadas em crenças pouco articuladas com evidências científicas, propagando preconceitos, incompreensões, erros e até mesmo a própria negação do conhecimento.