Proceedings of the signature series event of the international society for cellular therapy: “Advancements in cellular therapies and regenerative medicine in digestive diseases,” London,United Kingdom,May 3, 2017

A summary of the First Signature Series Event, “Advancements in Cellular Therapies and Regenerative Medicine for Digestive Diseases,” held on May 3, 2017, in London, United Kingdom, is presented. Twelve speakers from three continents covered major topics in the areas of cellular therapy and regenerative medicine applied to liver and gastrointestinal medicine as well as to diabetes mellitus. Highlights from their presentations, together with an overview of the global impact of digestive diseases and a proposal for a shared online collection and data-monitoring platform tool, are included in this proceedings. Although growing evidence demonstrate the feasibility and safety of exploiting cell-based technologies for the treatment of digestive diseases, regulatory and methodological obstacles will need to be overcome before the successful implementation in the clinic of these novel attractive therapeutic strategies.     

Sea power and the law of the sea: The need for a contextual approach

On May 25, 2005, Ireland lodged the first example of a so-called “partial submission” to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in respect of an allegedly “undisputed” area of seabed beyond 200 nm limits sandwiched between disputed and extensive seabed claims to the north (Hatton-Rockall Area) by Denmark/Faroes and Iceland, and an as yet undelimited seabed area to the south (the Celtic Shelf) where the United Kingdom, France, and Spain may also have seabed claims. This article considers the problems that may arise even from this supposedly uncontroversial type of submission in the light of the diplomatic reaction by both Denmark/Faroes and Iceland in August 2005.     

Analysis of Factors Relating to Companion Rabbits Relinquished to Two United Kingdom Rehoming Centers

Rabbits are a common companion animal in the United Kingdom, and some reports have suggested that large numbers are relinquished to rehoming centers each year. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of rabbits relinquished to 2 UK rehoming centers and explore reasons given for relinquishment. The centers contributed data for all rabbits who entered their center during 2013 (n = 205). Most rabbits (59.5%) were relinquished by a guardian. Similar numbers of males and females were relinquished, and a larger number of rabbits were not neutered (72.4%) and adults (56%). Most rabbits were healthy on arrival (61.5%). The most common reasons for relinquishment were: “too many rabbits/unplanned litters” (30.3%) and “housing problems” (23.8%). Rabbit-related reasons accounted for 12.2% of rabbits relinquished. Reasons for relinquishment were associated with 1 of the recorded rabbit characteristics. Further detailed studies are needed to explore the dynamics of companion rabbit ownership and factors that affect the breakdown of rabbit–guardian relationships in the United Kingdom.     

Deep seabed mining: A definition of the problem

Abstract

The prospects for deep seabed mining in this century appear remote. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was closed for signature on December 10, 1982. As of that date, 155 nation‐states and four entities had signed, but not the United States and some others. Since that time, the United States has endeavored without much success to develop a “Reciprocating States Agreement”; that would legitimate seabed mining with or without the U.N. Convention. On the other hand, the Preparatory Commission has met six times and is making only modest progress without the participation of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany.     

Moralizing regulation: the implications of policing “good” versus “bad” immigrants

Recently, the US has dramatically expanded immigration enforcement. At the same time, some advocates have sought to support “good” immigrants. This paper considers how the resulting good/bad binaries affect undocumented immigrants. I examine a case study in Los Angeles, where policing intertwined with protection. Based on participant observation and interviews, I show that respondents believed state agents classified them either as “bad” criminals or “good”, immigrants. To the extent immigrants identified as “good”, they credited the US with offering them “freedom” and hoped for political inclusion. At the same time, in what I call moralizing regulation, they also performed “good” behaviour and distinguished themselves from those seen as “bad”. Some also tied “good” behaviour to femininity and “acting white”. At the extreme, they blamed other migrants for inviting state mistreatment. The effects were ambivalent: while immigrants appreciated US support, they also adopted and adapted to the state’s moral norms.     

Defensive localism in white and black: a comparative history of European-American and African-American youth gangs

Despite the largely voluntary character of Nigerian immigration to the United States since 1970, it is not clear that their patterns of integration have emulated those of earlier immigrants who, over time, traded their specific national origins for “American” or “White” identities as they experienced upward mobility. This path may not be available to Nigerian immigrants. When they cease to be Nigerian, they may become black or African-American. In this paper, I use US Census data to trace patterns of identity in a Nigerian second-generation cohort as they advance from early school-age in 1990 to adulthood in 2014. The cohort shrinks inordinately across the period as its members cease to identify as Nigerian, and this pattern of ethnic attrition is most pronounced among the downwardly mobile – leaving us with a positively select Nigerian second generation and, perhaps, unduly optimistic assessments of Nigerian-American socioeconomic advancement.     

Alt-Right with the Hindu-right: long-distance nationalism and the perfection of Hindutva

In the 2016 US Presidential election, a small but vocal group of Hindu supporters of Donald Trump drew international media attention in India and the US for their political mobilizing for the Republican candidate. In this paper, I examine the political campaigns of “Hindus for Trump” and its affiliated groups to analyse the diverse ways in which these diasporic activists engage in and advance a number of distinct nationalist projects simultaneously. Tracing links between the “Hindus for Trump” platform, Hindutva ideology that seeks to redefine India as a Hindu nation, and the racist “alt-right” movement that forms the political base for President Trump in the US, I argue these diasporic activists enact a synergetic nationalism that has productive effects in both “home” and “host” countries. The result is the perfection of Hindutva on the global stage through the very activities that legitimize the isolationist xenophobia associated with the Trump administration.     

Estuarine and Tidal Wetland Restoration in the United Kingdom: Policy Versus Practice

Restoration of reclaimed marshes in the United Kingdom, referred to as managed realignment, is both a scientific and a political issue. A cross‐party House of Commons report to Government stressed that provision of long‐term sustainable coastal defenses must start with the premise that “coasts need space” and that government must work to increase public awareness, scientific knowledge, and political will to facilitate such a retreat from the almost sacrosanct existing shoreline. Government, in turn, has agreed with the basis of the report but is aware of conflicting interests, not least the European legislation, which has designated large areas of reclaimed marshes as Special Areas of Conservation that cannot legally be restored to their former tidal processes. Against this background, it is essential that scientific research provides convincing arguments for the necessity for managed realignment, the location, extent, and type of marshlands that need to be restored to provide sustainable flood defenses, maintain and enhance conservation status, and ensure a healthy functioning estuarine system. We examine the political and scientific issues involved, discuss model predictions and field experiments into realignment techniques, and outline the preliminary results of such experiments showing the evolution of restored intertidal wetlands in the United Kingdom.     

Sustaining productivity gains in the face of climate change: A research agenda for US wheat

Wheat is a globally important crop and one of the “big three” US field crops. But unlike the other two (maize and soybean), in the United States its development is commercially unattractive, and so its breeding takes place primarily in public universities. Troublingly, the incentive structures within these universities may be hindering genetic improvement just as climate change is complicating breeding efforts. “Business as usual” in the US public wheat-breeding infrastructure may not sustain productivity increases. To address this concern, we held a multidisciplinary conference in which researchers from 12 US (public) universities and one European university shared the current state of knowledge in their disciplines, aired concerns, and proposed initiatives that could facilitate maintaining genetic improvement of wheat in the face of climate change. We discovered that climate-change-oriented breeding efforts are currently considered too risky and/or costly for most university wheat breeders to undertake, leading to a relative lack of breeding efforts that focus on abiotic stressors such as drought and heat. We hypothesize that this risk/cost burden can be reduced through the development of appropriate germplasm, relevant screening mechanisms, consistent germplasm characterization, and innovative models predicting the performance of germplasm under projected future climate conditions. However, doing so will require coordinated, longer-term, inter-regional efforts to generate phenotype data, and the modification of incentive structures to consistently reward such efforts.     

Emotional segregation: A content analysis of institutional racism in US films, 1980–2001

The purpose of this article is to empirically demonstrate a concept, known as “emotional segregation” through a systematic analysis of US films. Emotional segregation is defined as an institutionalized process, whereby European Americans are unable to see people of colour as emotional equals or as capable of sharing the same human emotions and experiences. This concept was inspired by Charles C. Stember's (1976) study of sexual racism and Patricia Hill Collins’ (2000) work on sexualized racism. In order to examine the existence of emotional segregation in the United States, a content analysis was conducted of forty US films chosen from a stratified random sample. Differences were found in media portrayals of inter- and intra-racial relationships involving African Americans. Future research on emotional segregation is suggested to assess how this phenomenon creates emotional barriers among ethnic groups.     

生物多样性抵消的研究进展

生物多样性抵消(biodiversity offsetting)是一种补偿模式, 在国际上已广泛实施, 包括北美和欧洲, 但尚未在中国开展。本文综述了生物多样性抵消的优点和主要问题, 特别是美国和英国的实际情况, 并展望了中国开展生物多样性抵消项目的前景。生物多样性抵消的主要优点有: (1)理论上成果透明可靠; (2)理论上结果始终积极; (3)衍生出主动积极保护生物多样性的方法——抵消银行。目前仍存在的主要问题包括: (1) “可量化的保护成果”难以实现; (2)无净损失难以达成; (3)实践过程中监管存在问题; (4)实施与结果之间的滞后性。此外, 还讨论了美国和英国案例中一些更加具体的问题, 如模糊和过时的法律和政策、不适当的抵消比例等。总之, 生物多样性抵消的主要问题是现有的研究无法支撑其理想化的实施和实际应用中出现的各类主观性问题。从目前的证据来看, 生物多样性抵消或许能为我国环境保护、可持续发展提供一定的帮助。建议加强对生物多样性抵消在中国可行性的研究, 包括引入抵消层次、完善生物多样性量化指标、试点项目和抵消银行等, 为我国制定生物多样性保护政策提供更多的理论基础。     

External diversity is restrained by internal conservatism: New nudibranch mollusc contributes to the cryptic species problem

Cryptic species are an important concept of modern biodiversity studies and a potential basis for immensely increasing the amount of biological diversity worldwide; however, the conceptual grounds of cryptic species still need to be refined. Here, using a remarkable example from marine invertebrates, the case of a species complex of common large‐sized nudibranchs of the genus Dendronotus in European waters is presented, which is relevant for the ongoing cryptic species discussion. Based on extensive sampling in the seas of Northern Hemisphere from United Kingdom to the Sea of Japan, a morphological and molecular framework is constructed for understanding the diversity of European Dendronotus nudibranchs. The present study discovered notable multilevel character diversity within the common Dendronotus “frondosus” species complex. This implies the highest degree of variation of external characters with parallel colour patterns among different species and significantly constrained conservatism of internal characters. The molecular data are congruent with the stable differences in the internal features and confirm the presence of three distinct species in this complex. While two species were already known, the third species is evidently new, based on morphological and molecular evidence and is described here as Dendronotus europaeus sp. n. In the light of multilevel character diversity, the general problem of plausibility of the distinction and practical usage of the terms “cryptic” and “pseudocryptic” species is discussed.     

The use of fuzzy plant species density to indicate the effects of land-cover changes on biodiversity

The assessment of the effects of land-cover changes on biodiversity requires expensive and time-consuming surveys. It is often the case that few data are readily available and time constraints and limited resources do not allow further data collection. In such cases, cost-effective assessment methods are needed. This study puts forward an assessment method which is based on approximate reasoning and is supported by Similarity theory. The suggested method uses Geographic Information Systems and free or low-cost floristic databases and time-series land-cover data. A main assumption is made, that species density, i.e. the number of plant species per unit area, could be used as a good indicator to estimate spatial biodiversity changes due to land-cover changes. The method produces, for a given area, “plausible maps of plant species density” considering land-cover maps. The method, based on approximate reasoning, overcomes the uncertainties inherent to floristic databases, allowing environmental conservation efforts to benefit from these information sources. An example application of the suggested assessment method is presented for the area of Butser Hill in the United Kingdom. The performance of the suggested approach and its limitations are then discussed.     

A Comparative Study of Environmental Impacts of Two Delivery Systems in the Business‐to‐Customer Book Retail Sector

China has the highest carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the world. In China, logistics accounts for a significant portion of the total energy use and CO₂ emissions in business‐to‐customer (B2C) retailing. This study focuses on the environmental impacts of B2C delivery in China, focusing on the book retail industry. Mathematical models are proposed based on the practical operations of the “e‐commerce networked delivery” (END) system and the “sustainable networked delivery” (SND) system. The energy consumption and CO₂ emissions per book are then determined and compared for the two systems. Furthermore, we contrast the findings with those of similar studies conducted for other countries and provide explanations for the differences. The results show that (1) in general, in China, the SND system is better than the END system in terms of environmental impacts; (2) the END system in China generates fewer environmental impacts than those in the United States and the United Kingdom, while the SND system in China has greater environmental impacts than that in the United States; and (3) the wide use of vehicles such as electric bicycles that have low energy consumption rates contributes to the reduction of environmental impacts per book in both the END and SND systems in China. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

The Molecular Genetic Expression as a Novel Biomarker in the Evaluation and Monitoring of Patients With Osteosarcoma-Subtype Bone Cancer Disease

One of the leading causes of death among patients with malignancies is represented by bone cancer. According to current studies, the leading cause of death among these patients is represented by late diagnosis, poor response to therapy, and the lack of accuracy in terms of clinical evaluation. In this regard, there have been developed a series of methods of diagnosis and evaluation, the most investigated being represented by miRNA expression. In this updated work, we want to present a series of changes in the expression of miRNAs in bone cancer. Moreover, we want to present the implications of miRNAs in targeted therapy in such patients. Studies available in scientific databases such as PubMed and Scopus were examined. The studies were searched using the keywords “miRNAs expression”, “bone cancer”, “genetic therapy” and “genetic biomarkers.” For the evaluation and monitoring of bone cancer, the expression of miRNAs can be successfully used due to increased specificity. Using miRNAs as gene therapy can be also considered a therapeutic method of the future, mainly due to selective and targeted response of the body.     

Are ME/CFS Patient Organizations “Militant”?

Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a contested illness category. This paper investigates the common claim that patients with ME/CFS—and by extension, ME/CFS patient organizations (POs)—exhibit “militant” social and political tendencies. The paper opens with a history of the protracted scientific disagreement over ME/CFS. We observe that ME/CFS POs, medical doctors, and medical researchers exhibit clear differences in opinion over how to conceptualize this illness. However, we identify a common trope in the discourse over ME/CFS: the claim of “militant” patient activism. Scrutinizing this charge, we find no compelling evidence that the vast majority of patients with ME/CFS, or the POs representing them, have adopted any such militant political policies or behaviours. Instead, we observe key strategic similarities between ME/CFS POs in the United Kingdom and the AIDs activist organizations of the mid-1980s in the United States which sought to engage scientists using the platform of public activism and via scientific publications. Finally, we explore the contours of disagreement between POs and the medical community by drawing on the concept of epistemic injustice. We find that widespread negative stereotyping of patients and the marginalization and exclusion of patient voices by medical authorities provides a better explanation for expressions of frustration among patients with ME/CFS.     

Using Google trends data to assess public understanding on the environmental risks

This study proposes a method to assess the public understanding toward themes related to environment, biodiversity conservation and fishery. Since the Internet traffic is seen as the proxy of the public interest, this article analyzes the related Google Trends data to explore the cognitive map of the public. Patterning changes in the search volume (synchronous increase and decrease) were detected by using the association analysis. Weekly search volumes of the United States for the last 5 years have been gathered and were converted into values ranging between –1 and 1, indicating the gradual level of increase/decrease by the time. Apriori algorithm was used to determine the associations between search volumes of the keywords. As a consequence, several patterns were detected with a significant support indicating synchronous increases/decreases of the volumes. Upon the development of cognitive maps based on the detected patterns, it is found that the terms “Environment” and “Pollution” were the most significant and central terms. The search volume of the terms such as “Conservation,” “Ecology,” “Climate change,” “Invasive species” and “Endangered Species” increases as the search increases in the central terms. Therefore, these terms can be seen as the drivers/triggers of the Google search for some central words. It is apparent that the public has awareness of the central terms and further interest should be provoked and fostered on the environment-related concepts.     

Utilisation of hormone replacement therapy by women doctors.

OBJECTIVES--To ascertain the prevalence and duration of use of hormone replacement therapy by menopausal women doctors. DESIGN--Postal questionnaire. SETTING--General practices in the United Kingdom. SUBJECTS--Randomised stratified sample of women doctors who obtained full registration between 1952 and 1976, taken from the current principal list of the Medical Register. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Prevalence and duration of use of hormone replacement therapy; menopausal status. RESULTS--Overall, 45.7% (436/954) of women doctors aged between 45 and 65 years had ever used hormone replacement therapy. When the results from women still menstruating regularly were excluded, 55.2% (428) were ever users and 41.2% (319) current users. The cumulative probability of remaining on hormone replacement therapy was 0.707 at five years and 0.576 at 10 years. CONCLUSIONS--Women doctors have a higher prevalence of use of hormone replacement therapy than has been reported for other women in the United Kingdom, and most users seem to be taking hormone replacement therapy for more than five years. The results may become generalisable to the wider population as information on the potential benefits of hormone replacement therapy is disseminated.