Subnuclear renal tubular vacuoles in alcohol use disorder

Subnuclear vacuoles in the proximal renal tubules have been reported as a histologic sign of ketoacidosis. Originally described in diabetic ketoacidosis, renal vacuoles can be found in other ketogenic states such as alcoholic ketoacidosis (AKA), starvation, and hypothermia, underpinned by deranged fatty acid metabolism. A retrospective analysis of 133 deaths associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD) examined at autopsy between 2017 and 2020 was undertaken. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of subnuclear vacuoles in deaths of those with AUD and their specificity for deaths from AKA, and to elucidate what demographic, biochemical, and pathologic findings are associated with subnuclear vacuoles. In each case, vitreous humor biochemistry including electrolytes, glucose, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) was analyzed alongside postmortem hemoglobin A1c and renal and liver histology. Renal histology was graded for the presence of vacuoles as absent (0), scanty (1), or easily identifiable (2). Liver histology was graded for steatosis and for fibrosis if Masson trichrome staining was available. Vacuoles were commonly seen in the deaths of those with AUD. They were seen in deaths due to AKA but were not specific to that cause of death. With vacuoles present, lower vitreous sodium (139 vs. 142 mmol/L; p = 0.005), higher vitreous BHB (1.50 vs. 1.39 mmol/L; p = 0.04), severe hepatic steatosis, and severe hepatic fibrosis were seen, compared with those without renal vacuoles.     

From Antagonistic Autonomy to Relational Autonomy: A Theoretical Reflection from the Southern Cone

The concept of autonomy has acquired a plurality of meanings in international relations; this article analyzes the distinct uses given to this term in Latin America and its relationship to theoretical contributions from outside the region. The authors propose a far-reaching reconceptualization of autonomy appropriate to Latin America's new circumstances in the global context. They argue that these new circumstances favor the shift from autonomy as traditionally defined to what they call relational autonomy, a construct based on contributions from classical political theory, political sociology, gender studies, social and philosophical psychology, and the theory of complex thought.     

A Decision Analysis Approach to Policy Issues: The NAFTA Case

This article presents decision analysis concepts and tools that can help scholars and decision makers to get a better understanding of policy issues. It describes the structure of knowledge maps for representing uncertain elements in policy issues, and decision frames for uncovering the information elements behind conflicting positions and helps participants find a common ground for agreement. The article also presents the application of these techniques to issues arising from the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).     

The Effects of University Patenting and Licensing on Downstream R&D Investment and Social Welfare

A central argument behind the Bayh-Dole Act presumed that firms had no incentives to invest in downstream R&D aimed at developing university inventions committed to the public domain. The empirical evidence on university patenting and licensing is partly at odds with the premises of this argument. Non-exclusive licensing of university patents has been common and lucrative, and in the area of biomedical technologies university patents and licensing restrictions may be a hindrance to downstream R&D, rather than a stimulus. The paper presents a model of R&D competition based on a university invention where appropriability conditions are defined by the patentability of downstream innovations and imitation opportunities. A comparison of equilibria under “open access” to university inventions and under “university patenting” shows that only under restrictive conditions the latter regime results in increased R&D investment and social welfare. In general, university licensing royalties are therefore a poor gauge of social welfare gains from university patenting. This is an extensive revision of the paper “University Patents, R&D Competition, and Social Welfare” presented at the conference on University Spin-Offs at the Université du Québec à Montréal on February 27th, 2004. I would like to thank the conference participants and a referee from the journal for useful comments and suggestions.     

Detecting the emergence of technologies and the evolution and co-development trajectories in science (DETECTS): a ‘burst’ analysis-based approach

This work aims to detect the emergence of science and technology fields and to characterise science and technology trajectories. It proposes a new data mining approach, called ‘DETECTS’, for the identification of those research and innovative activities whose intensity increases sharply compared to previous levels and to other developments. This approach also allows monitoring the extent to which field and topic-specific activities further accelerate, stabilise or abate, and the time it takes for such dynamics to unfold. By applying the ‘DETECTS’ methodology on data from scientific publications and patents, this work sheds light on: the structure, articulation and relevance of the most important scientific and technological developments occurred during the period 1990–2011; the extent to which new fields arise from the cross-fertilisation of different technologies; the way in which advancements in science relate to technological progress; and the areas where future developments are likely to occur in the short and medium term. Results further suggest, somewhat unexpectedly, that in some focal technology fields considered, the acceleration in the development of science seems to closely follow the acceleration in the development of technologies, and not vice versa.     

University-SME collaboration and innovation performance: the role of informal relationships and absorptive capacity

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This work analyzes the impact of university–industry collaborations (UICs) on the innovation performance of a sample of small and medium enterprises...     

Sub-surface characterisation of latest-generation identification documents using optical coherence tomography

The identification of individuals, particularly at international border crossings, coupled with the evolving sophistication of identity documents are issues that authorities must contend with. Particularly, the ability to distinguish legitimate from counterfeit documents, with high throughput, sensitivity, and selectivity is an ever-evolving challenge.Over the last decade, an increasing number of security features have been introduced by authorities in identification documents. The latest generation of travel documents (such as passports and national ID cards) forego paper substrates for several layers of polycarbonate, allowing security features to be embedded within the documents. These security features may contain information at either the superficial and sub-surface levels, thus increasing the document’s resilience to counterfeiting.As the documents become harder to forge, so does the sophistication of forgery detection. There appears to be an unmet and evolving need to identify such sophisticated forgeries, in a non-destructive, high throughput manner.In this publication, we report on the application of optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging on assessing security features in specimen passports and national ID cards. OCT allows sub-surface imaging of translucent structures, non-destructively enabling quantitative visualisation of embedded security features.     

Beyond Orthodoxy: Asserting Latin America's New Strategic Options Toward the United States

This essay explores the possibility that Latin America may deploy new strategic options in its relations with Washington at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. It starts by evaluating what have been the five major foreign policy models of the region with regard to Washington since the end of the Cold War. It proceeds by evaluating the recent dynamics of Latin American insertion into world affairs. Then it introduces three new alternatives for handling U.S. Latin American relations in the coming years. It concludes by pointing out the importance of understanding the scope of the hemispheric challenges for both the region and Washington.     

Corruption in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo: a deal among friends

Since the late 1990s international state builders have paid increasing attention to fighting corruption in both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. On the surface this effort has brought significant results, since both countries have adopted legal frameworks modelled on the best practices of Western democracies. In practice, however, corruption remains rampant. This disappointing outcome has several explanations: in reviewing the empirical evidence we consider the two countries as cases involving heavily assisted transition from both socialism and war, highlighting how collusive practices between political and criminal interests have played a role in establishing formally liberal but substantively ‘hybrid’ institutions. We argue that the spread of corruption has been implicitly legitimised by international actors, who have pressured local parties to accept the formal architecture of good governance, including anti-corruption legislation, while turning a blind eye to those extra-legal structures and practices perceived as functional to political stability.