Quarter Century Research Articles

Epidemiology of malignant brain tumors in Genova, Italy. 1993–2017

We present an updated analysis on the incidence of primary brain tumors in the Metropolitan Area of Genova, the capital of the northwestern Italian region Liguria.The number of cases and incidence rates for all malignant brain tumors, glioblastoma, malignant brain tumors other than glioblastoma, and brain tumors not otherwise specified were calculated for each of seven three-year and one-eighth four-year periods in which the quarter century 1993–2017 was divided. The rates were age-adjusted (AAR) using the 2013 European standard population, presented per 100,000 person-years and the average percentage change over the three-year period was calculated.The number of cases of all malignant brain tumors and glioblastoma was higher in males than in females in each three-year period and in the entire quarter century 1993–2017. During the latter, the average three-year percentage change in AARs for all brain tumors was minimal [0.6 (95% C.I. = -1.0/2.1) %] while for glioblastoma there was a change of 5.3 (95% C.I. = -0.4/11.3) %. The partially concurrent decline in the incidence rates of malignant brain tumors other than glioblastoma or not otherwise specified suggests that the observed increase in the incidence rate of glioblastoma during 1993–2017 may have been at least partially linked to the improvement during the same period in sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of glioblastoma, depleting the reservoirs of other malignant or unspecified brain tumors. Research into possibly increased environmental risk factors (e.g., population exposure to ionizing radiation) for glioblastoma in Genova remains warranted.

The Evolution of Health Information Technology for Enhanced Patient-Centric Care in the United States: Data-Driven Descriptive Study.

Health information technology (health IT) has revolutionized health care in the United States through interoperable clinical care data exchange, e-prescribing, electronic public health reporting, and electronic patient access to health information. This study aims to examine progress in health IT adoption and its alignment with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP's) mission to enhance health care through data access and exchange. This study leverages data on end users of health IT to capture trends in engagement in interoperable clinical care data exchange (ability to find, send, receive, and integrate information from outside organizations), e-prescribing, electronic public health reporting, and capabilities to enable patient access to electronic health information. Data were primarily sourced from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey IT Supplement (2008 to 2023), Surescripts e-prescribing use data (2008 to 2023), the National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey (2014 to 2022), and the National Center for Health Statistics' National Electronic Health Records Survey (2009 to 2023). Since 2009, there has been a 10-fold increase in electronic health record (EHR) use among hospitals and a 5-fold increase among physicians. This enabled the interoperable exchange of electronic health information, e- prescribing, electronic public health data exchange, and the means for patients and their caregivers to access crucial personal health information digitally. As of 2023, 70% of hospitals are interoperable, with many providers integrated within EHR systems. Nearly all pharmacies and 92% of prescribers possess e-prescribing capabilities, an 85%-point increase since 2008. In 2013, 40% of hospitals and one-third of physicians allowed patients to view their online medical records. Patient access has improved, with 97% of hospitals and 65% of physicians possessing EHRs that enable patients to access their online medical records. As of 2022, three-fourths of individuals report being offered access to patient portals, and over half (57%) report engaging with their health information through their patient portal. Electronic public health reporting has also seen an increase, with most hospitals and physicians actively engaged in key reporting types. Federal incentives have contributed to the widespread adoption of EHRs and broad digitization in health care, while efforts to promote interoperability have encouraged collaboration across health care entities. As a result, interoperable clinical care data exchange, e-prescribing, electronic public health reporting, and patient access to health information have grown substantially over the past quarter century and have been shown to improve health care outcomes. However, interoperability hurdles, usability issues, data security concerns, and inequitable patient access persist. Addressing these issues will require collaborative efforts among stakeholders to promote data standardization, implement governance structures, and establish robust health information exchange networks.

From the Pages

In the Fall 1967 issue, Volume 25, Number 4, editor Alva W. Stewart briefly described the evolution of the North Carolina Libraries journal during its first quarter century. One way Stewart highlighted this was to include articles about the growth and development of various kinds of libraries within our state, including public, academic, school, special, and community college libraries. This present issue hearkens back to the spirit of this introspection by including articles about contemporary issues facing academic libraries, the evolution of special libraries, an in-depth look at a special public library, and a crucial opportunity for collaboration that community college libraries are taking advantage of. With all our editors along the way, it is also my hope that our journal will “serve the cause of books and libraries throughout our state.”

AKT and the Hallmarks of Cancer.

Nearly a quarter century ago, Hanahan and Weinberg conceived six unifying principles explaining how normal cells transform into malignant tumors. Their provisional set of biological capabilities acquired during tumor development  cancer hallmarks  would evolve to fourteen tenets as knowledge of cancer genomes, molecular mechanisms, and the tumor microenvironment expanded, most recently adding four emerging enabling characteristics: phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic reprogramming, polymorphic microbiomes, and senescent cells. AKT kinases are critical signaling molecules that regulate cellular physiology upon receptor tyrosine kinases and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation. The complex branching of the AKT signaling network involves several critical downstream nodes that significantly magnify its functional impact, such that nearly every organ system and cell in the body may be affected by AKT activity. Conversely, tumor intrinsic dysregulation of AKT can have numerous adverse cellular and pathological ramifications, particularly in oncogenesis, as multiple tumor suppressors and oncogenic proteins regulate AKT signaling. Herein, we review the mounting evidence implicating the AKT pathway in the aggregate of currently recognized hallmarks of cancer underlying the complexities of human malignant diseases. The challenges, recent successes, and likely areas for exciting future advances in targeting this complex pathway are also discussed.

History of the Yale Peabody Museum Invertebrate Paleontology Collection

While the Yale Peabody Museum itself did not exist as an entity until 1866, the collections that are its core have been on campus much longer. Yale College had a cabinet of natural wonders including zoological oddities (a taxidermied two-headed calf), anthropological material (wooden shoes from France and China), and other interesting items (including a bottle of water from the Ganges River) (Narendra 1979) dating back to the American Revolution and the late 1700s. This “Cabinet of Yale College” had been housed in multiple places around campus prior to the construction of the Peabody Museum. Some of the earliest collections came from exchanges between Benjamin Silliman (Anonymous 2024b) and Gideon Mantell (Anonymous 2024c), two well-known scientists of the early 1800s. It was not until 1876, when the first Peabody Museum building opened, that the museum had its own space Suppl. material 1. The appointment of paleontologist Charles Beecher (Anonymous 2024a) in 1888 gave the invertebrate paleontology collection its first dedicated staff member. Under Beecher the collections continued to grow with multiple accessions from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. By the late 1860s, fossils from the American West were being shipped back to Yale by train. Dinosaurs described by O. C. Marsh (Anonymous 2024d) are the most well-known (particularly Brontosaurus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus), but the invertebrate paleontology division received extensive collections of Western Interior Seaway specimens from the central portion of the United States. Charles Schuchert took over the division in 1904, bringing with him an extensive collection of brachiopods, which he continued to expand over his lifetime. Graduate student dissertation collections significantly added to the growth of the museum's holdings throughout the twentieth century. Significant additions in the last quarter century include the Samuel J. Ciurca (Anonymous 2024e) eurypterid collection, an Early Ordovician Fezouata Formation Lagerstätte collection, the CLIMAP (Climate: Long range Investigation, Mapping, And Prediction (Anonymous 2024f)) collection of Foraminifera slides and vials, and an incredibly diverse collection of Green River Formation insects (all of the catalogued specimens in these collections can be found on our search portal. Many fossils are on display in the newly renovated Yale Peabody Museum, which reopened in April of 2024 (Suppl. material 1).

The Application of Ficus Species in the Treatment of Neurological Disorders

Background Neurological diseases represent a pressing global health concern; the World Health Organization reports that neurological conditions rank as the second leading cause of death worldwide. In the last quarter century, we have witnessed a remarkable 36% surge in global neurological mortality rates. Several factors, including oxidative stress, genetic variability, natural aging process, inflammation, hypertension, diabetes, infections, vitamin deficiencies, metabolic imbalances, chemical exposures, endocrine disorders, and dietary supplements, are implicated in the initiation and progression of various neurological diseases. Purpose This comprehensive review aims to shed light on the neuroprotective attributes of distinct Ficus and their phytoconstituents that have been harnessed for treating neurological diseases and demonstrating neuroprotective effects. Methods A literature search was conducted to obtain information about the study of neurological disease and their treatment using database and search engine like Google Scholar, Research gate, monograph, reference book, SciFinder, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Science Direct. Results Ficus species have exhibited remarkable neuroprotective qualities through various mechanisms of action. Moreover, these plants contain a diversity of bioactive such as flavonoids, polyphenols, terpenoids, tannins, alkaloids, glycosides, sterols, and vitamins that proven effective in enhancing memory, reducing anxiety, increasing neurotransmitter levels, mitigating neurodegeneration, and playing pivotal roles in neuroprotection. Conclusion This review consolidates the promising potential of Ficus species in the treatment of neurological diseases, paving the way for future scientific research in the development of novel herbal neuroprotective medications.

Arctic Governance in the Face of Climate Change: A Case for “Inclusive Regionalism”

Abstract Arctic governance has entered a period of turmoil following the March 2022 Arctic Council pause in operations and, subsequently, the strained relations between the member states. As climate change dramatically alters the Arctic environment, opening the region to new economic possibilities and more global attention, the need for cooperation is greater than ever. This article examines the current geopolitical and environmental pressures that are undermining the Arctic Council’s legitimacy and operations at a critical juncture in Arctic governance. It contends that the Arctic Council must rethink how it engages with Arctic Council observers and the wider global community to ensure that pressing ecological, economic, and social issues are addressed judiciously to prevent potentially irreparable harm in the region. Specifically, the case is made that a shift to “inclusive regionalism” could secure the Arctic Council’s position as the pre-eminent forum to address Arctic issues and to re-establish the spirit of collaboration that reigned for a quarter century.

On bivariate fractal interpolation for countable data and associated nonlinear fractal operator

Abstract Fractal interpolation has been conventionally treated as a method to construct a univariate continuous function interpolating a given finite data set with the distinguishing property that the graph of the interpolating function is the attractor of a suitable iterated function system. On the one hand, attempts have been made to extend the univariate fractal interpolation from a finite data set to a countably infinite set. On the other hand, fractal interpolation in higher dimensions, particularly the theory of fractal interpolation surfaces (FISs), has received increasing attention for more than a quarter century. This article targets a two-fold extension of the notion of fractal interpolation by providing a general framework to construct FISs for a prescribed set consisting of countably infinite data on a rectangular grid. By using this as a crucial tool, we obtain a parameterized family of bivariate fractal functions simultaneously interpolating and approximating a prescribed bivariate continuous function. Some elementary properties of the associated nonlinear (not necessarily linear) fractal operators are established, thereby allowing the interaction of the notion of fractal interpolation with the theory of nonlinear operators.

Who Benefits from Mass Incarceration? A Stratification Economics Approach to the “Collateral Consequences” of Punishment

A rich empirical literature documents the consequences of mass incarceration for the wealth, health, and safety of Black Americans. Yet it often frames such consequences as a regrettable artifact of racially disproportionate criminal legal system contact, rather than situating the impetus and functioning of the criminal legal system in the wider context of White political and economic domination. Revisiting a quarter century of mass incarceration research through a stratification economics lens, we highlight how mass incarceration shapes Black–White competition for education, employment, and financial resources and contributes to Black–White disparities in well-being. Highlighting persistent research gaps, we propose a research agenda to better understand how mass incarceration contributes to systematic White advantage. To address mass incarceration's consequences and transform the conditions of White political and economic domination under which it arose, we call for legislative and judicial intervention to remedy White hyper-enfranchisement and reparations to eliminate the Black–White wealth gap.

Shifts in habitat use and demography of American lobsters in coastal Maine (USA) over the past quarter century

Some species are so linked to specific environments that their habitat association almost becomes a species-defining character and is used by managers and policymakers to direct their conservation. The American lobster Homarus americanus is among the most valuable fisheries species in North America and among the best studied benthic marine invertebrates in the world. Its populations and habitats have been studied and detailed in publications for over 35 yr. This lobster species was known to dwell in shelters, and their populations had historically been concentrated in shelter-providing boulder habitat. Our study revisited 20 long-term monitored sites at 10 m depth along more than 320 km of the Gulf of Maine. Surprisingly, we recorded fundamental changes in lobster abundance, habitat use, and distribution. Specifically, lobster population densities declined overall and occupancy in boulder habitats declined 60%, while densities on featureless ledge and sediment habitats increased 633 and 280%, respectively, from 2000 to 2019. Lobster rock shelter occupancy declined in recent years, but average body size increased, due in part to declines in smaller size classes. These demographic changes may result from both reduced recruitment and intraspecific competition resulting from the lower population densities. Habitat changes at our monitored sites included declines in kelp abundance, increases in diminutive algal turfs, and nearly 3°C warming of benthic water temperature in July (1995-2021), some of which may have contributed indirectly to those shifts. While these changes in shallow water habitat and demography have implications for the lobster fishery and stock assessments, it also illustrates previously undescribed behavioral plasticity.

Assimilation Theories in the 21st Century: Appraising Accomplishments and Future Challenges

Over a quarter century has passed since theoretical debates surrounding competing assimilation models emerged, and durably structured research on immigrants and their descendants in America and beyond. In this article, I offer a three-pronged reflection on the contemporary state of assimilation research. First, I aim to take stock of the relative merits of segmented and neoassimilation theories and their ability to explain major empirical trends in both the US and Europe. I argue that there is now an emerging empirical consensus about the second generation in the US and Western Europe primarily experiencing intergenerational progress rather than downward assimilation as envisioned by segmented assimilation theory. I then note six analytical challenges facing further theory building: clarifying the role of race and better understanding how cultural difference shapes assimilation trajectories, rethinking the relationship between immigrant socioeconomic mobility and the experience of belonging, acknowledging the importance of immigrant selectivity in conditioning assimilation, facing issues of in- and out-of-sample selectivity due to processes endogenous to assimilation such as ethnic attrition and incarceration, and studying the third generation. Looking out and into the future, I note the need for conversations across methodological traditions and specialist subfields to encourage further theoretical progress and assess existing data infrastructures and future data requirements. Finally, in tandem with machine learning applications allowing for empirical surprise and abductive reasoning, I argue that the current era of data plenitude and unprecedented ability to collect high-dimensional surveys through nonprobability online samples is likely to lead to further theoretical progress.

Quarter Century Outcomes of Alumina Ceramic-on-Ceramic Total Hip Arthroplasty

BackgroundAlumina ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) bearings were widely used in total hip arthroplasty (THA) due to their superior wear resistance and inert properties, making them ideal for young, active patients who require long-lasting implants. This study aimed to synthesize findings from previous reports, providing a comprehensive follow-up of at least 25 years on the clinical and radiologic outcomes, the prevalence of osteolysis, and implant survivorship in patients undergoing primary cementless CoC THA. MethodsWe have previously reported five-to-ten-year outcomes following the implementation of third-generation alumina-on-alumina bearings in a consecutive series of 100 primary cementless THAs. This report updates those results with a minimum follow-up of 25 years. Of the original cohort, 58 patients who had 67 hips were available for the latest follow-up. Clinical assessments were performed using the Harris Hip Score (HHS) and pain questionnaires. Radiographic evaluations were employed to assess implant fixation and osteolysis. ResultsAt the final follow-up, the implant survival rate was an impressive 96.3%, with revision of the implant as the endpoint. The mean HHS improved significantly from preoperative values to 90.1, indicating excellent functional outcomes. The incidence of ceramic-related noise increased over time, with three cases of ceramic head fractures requiring a change of bearings. Notably, the extent of stem notching observed in earlier reports did not show further progression. Radiologically, all implants demonstrated bony ingrowth with no signs of aseptic loosening or major osteolysis. ConclusionThe long-term (minimum 25-year) follow-up of alumina-on-alumina bearings in primary cementless THA demonstrates outstanding implant survivorship, excellent functional outcomes, and minimal adverse effects over twenty-five years. Despite some issues like ceramic-related noise and component fractures, the overall performance of CoC bearings remains highly encouraging, particularly suitable for young, active patients. Surgeons should provide appropriate education to both potential THA candidates and patients who already have THAs with CoC bearings.

Vessels and pressures: Update on the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) refers to an abnormal elevation in pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) under resting conditions. PH is often encountered in patients with chronic heart and lung disease. Rarely, it occurs in the absence of any identifiable heart or lung abnormalities. Under these conditions, the increase in PAP may be caused by diffuse remodeling of the distal pulmonary circulation characterized by an obliterative vasculopathy that leads to a marked increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, progressive right heart failure, and usually death. This disease is referred to as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and has become the focus of intense basic science and clinical research over the past quarter century. Since 1995, five classes of drugs that encompass more than a dozen specific agents have been developed and approved for the treatment of PAH. The large number of drugs and the myriad forms of pulmonary vascular disease has made the evaluation and treatment of PH an intriguing challenge. This review discusses the most recent definitions of PH and current classification of the pulmonary hypertensive diseases. An overview of the importance and proper approach to diagnosis is provided as well as the impact of patient selection on the approach to management. An evidence-based approach is used to determine how initial therapy is chosen and how additional medications can be used in patients who do not achieve treatment goals. Finally, the results of recently completed clinical trials that evaluated the safety and efficacy of a new class of medications that have been developed to target the underlying pathophysiology of PAH are presented and the potential impact on the management of PAH is discussed. The purpose of this review is to present the reader with an update on the current approach to evaluation and management of PH with an emphasis on PAH.

Investigating business toxic leadership

This manuscript investigates toxic leadership in modern business. It focuses on the key role that poor ethics, and Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy (the three elements of toxic leadership (Nahavandi, 2016)) have played in the failures of a variety of modern major business enterprises. Toxic leadership is management that goes beyond corruption and results in irreparable damage to the organization and its stakeholders (e.g., Adolf Hitler). The emphasis is on toxic leadership that has contributed to the catastrophic failures of several major firms over the past quarter century. It uses a book by Stephen Arbogast entitled "Resisting Corporate Corruption (RCC): Practical Cases in Business Ethics from Enron. The manuscript complements this book with a New Leadership Model that enhances the analysis of a variety of recent toxic leadership case studies. The model is illustrated in failures such as the Madoff Ponzi Scheme and in major firms such as Theranos, Nikola, We Work and Volkswagen. It provides a useful tool and shows that the dark side of leadership can be examined in real-world cases. The model is recommended for firms to employ in finding toxic leaders and in evaluating the consequences of their nefarious actions.

“ Sans la liberté de flatter , il n’est pas d’éloge blâmeur ”: Jacques Martin and French television satire in the 1960s and 1970s

The comedian and television presenter Jacques Martin (1933–2007) is well-known to the French public even a quarter century after his disappearance from their screens. Despite having been the author/originator of many of the most watched and influential shows on French television in the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond, Martin is curiously little studied in academic literature, even though much of his work can be seen to prefigure later trends in television programming. Focusing on his satirical comedy shows of the 1960s and 1970s (at the expense of his extensive other work presenting popular culture on the petit écran during the period) this article examines his satirical project and suggests that the surprising lack of interest in his work is due to the subaltern status of the popular culture that inspired and infused his programs.

Reflections on a quarter century of editorial service

Reflections on a quarter century of editorial service

Guideline concordant screening and monitoring of extrapyramidal symptoms in patients prescribed antipsychotic medication: a protocol for a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis

IntroductionGiven the increasing rates of antipsychotic use in multiple psychiatric conditions, greater attention to the assessment, monitoring and documentation of their side effects is warranted. While a significant degree of...

Living the City: On Samuel R. Delany’s Times Square Red, Times Square Blue

Abstract: This essay attempts to read Samuel R. Delany’s Times Square Red, Times Square Blue as not just a recollection of exception to “development” projects in New York City but as a trenchant way to queer the city as an urban ontology. Delany challenges normative assumptions about how and where sexuality, gender, and race should be visible in urban space, by offering instead a cognitive map of “living the city” as a Black gay man. Delany also takes on what is otherwise unbearable in experiencing New York City over a quarter century, by addressing sexuality and the city as a formal experiment. The two parts of his project do not complement each other in any easy fashion; indeed, the pressure to split subjectivity in their juxtaposition forms a productive tension in how we might understand queering urban space as countercritique. In Delany’s work, living the city is not an escape from the unbearable contradictions of New York but is a way to think desire as both confrontation and as spacemaking. This is an architecture if not architectonic of what has not been in Times Square redesign.

Offshore Tech Evolves for Deeper Waters, Deeper Reservoirs

_ Since the late 1930s, the offshore industry has moved from installing the first offshore platform in 14 ft of water to the ultradeepwater 20K era. Advances in seismic, drilling, and development technologies all helped move the industry from shallow waters to ultradeepwaters, from lower-pressure reservoirs to high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) reservoirs, and beyond known hydrocarbon areas like the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) into frontier regions, like Guyana. Brent Gros, vice president of Chevron’s GOM business unit, told JPT there is a stark difference between the GOM of today and how it was when he first started working in the area 26 years ago. Now, he said, operating further from land in water depths of 4,000 to 7,000 ft is the norm. “We’re not really taking crew boats to those platforms, given the distance from shore. We operate as well at much higher pressures,” he said. Jayme Meier, ExxonMobil’s vice president of deepwater project delivery, echoed that sentiment. At the dawn of the offshore era, “anything that was in any amount of water was, by definition, deep water, because it was as far as you could go,” she told JPT. “And we are now at the stage where we are routinely doing things that are in 2000 m (6,560 ft) of water or more, and we continue to press boundaries and technical limits to be able to move further out in water depth.” As such, she said, the fundamental definition of deep water has shifted in the past quarter century. Where To Drill? “To find oil and gas resources, we rely on seismic, and we’ve seen huge advancements in seismic over the past 25 years,” Gros said. 3D seismic technology, pioneered half a century ago, sharpened the view into the world’s reservoirs, and new seismic processing methods have helped identify new opportunities. “Now we have ocean-bottom node surveys, which essentially take a lot of the noise out of surveys, allowing us to image deeper with a clearer image. We also have four-dimensional seismic, which helps us understand the performance of reservoirs through time,” he said. “If you compare the seismic capability today to what we had in the past, it’s like seeing the world with a new pair of glasses, and it really helps us understand potential prospects in a more-complex geological setting and pursue those opportunities in deeper water and deeper horizons than we previously would have been able to.” Deepwater Challenges Moving into ever deeper waters requires more tech and more-capable drilling rigs. It also requires precision, Meier noted. “Technology allows us to position a floating rig on the surface of the ocean. It’s got to be able to drill at very precise angles and precise locations, and significant extensions of technology were needed to enable that to happen. We’re at the point now where we’re even doing multizone completions on our wells in deep water,” she said. point now where we’re even doing multizone completions on our wells in deep water,” she said. She called deepwater “by far the most exciting space” to work in. It requires planning and designing for facilities that must withstand intense, harsh, and constantly changing conditions throughout its lifetime.

Time series analysis of sea surface temperature change in the coastal seas of Türkiye

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a crucial geophysical parameter in assessing heat exchange between the air and sea surface. Changes in SST and its accurate prediction play a pivotal role in explaining the global heat balance, determining atmospheric circulations, and constructing global climate models. This work aims to reveal a model for one-month-ahead forecasting of SST time series data along the Türkiye coasts, encompassing the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, and Black Seas, and their long-term future forecast. A long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models are used for this purpose. The ECMWF ERA5 (0.5ox0.5°) monthly SST dataset spanning the years 1970–2023 is used for model development. The results obtained from the LSTM and SARIMA models show that there will be an increasing trend in SSTs along these seacoasts until 2050. The SST measurements of 23.4 °C, 20.2 °C, 17.0 °C, and 16.6 °C recorded along the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, and Black Seas in 2023 are expected to rise to 25.1 °C, 21.9 °C, 18.1 °C, and 18.8 °C, respectively, by 2050. These figures indicate an increase of 7.3%, 8.4%, 6.5%, and 13.3% in the SST values across these coastal seas over the next quarter century.