Novel Heterozygous Variants in the HLA-DRB1 Gene in a Saudi Family with Early-Onset Familial Multiple Sclerosis: Therapeutic Failure and Success

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that affects the central nervous system. Familial MS is arbitrarily defined as a type of MS that runs in families with one or more first- to third-degree relatives in addition to the index case affected by MS. The aim of this article is to report a unique case of familial MS from Saudi Arabia with two novel variants in the HLA-DRB1 gene that may contribute to the pathogenesis. We observed an unfavorable response to interferon therapy and successful treatment using fingolimod therapy. This observation needs further study, including whether this lack of response is really specific to interferon treatment or possibly a chance occurrence. This family work-up illustrates the importance of genetic testing in identifying variants associated with familial MS, especially if more than two members of the same family are affected. Although this genetic tool is used mainly for research purposes, it had clinical implications for our patient, including the appropriate selection of disease-modifying therapy and prognostic counseling. Further large-scale studies are needed to expand the genetic spectrum of familial MS with clinical and pharmacologic correlation.

Revisiting the 5000-Year-Old Tally at Mnajdra, Malta

The pillars at the entrance of the inner apse of one of the cluster of Neolithic temples at Mnajdra, Malta display rows of drilled holes which have been interpreted as a tally of days. Furthermore, it has been proposed that the number of holes in the rows on the east pillar coincides well with a sequence of intervals between the heliacal rising of bright stars or star groups. Is this remarkable correspondence simply a chance occurrence, or do the drilled holes represent material evidence of deliberate time reckoning by means of heliacal star risings in the Neolithic age? This question has led to the statistical investigation described in this paper, which takes into account the heliacal risings of all stars of magnitude 2.0 or brighter visible from Malta 5000 years ago as well as the Pleiades and the Hyades star clusters, which attracted the attention of other ancient cultures. The paper presents and discusses the method used and the challenges involved in the investigation. The results show that with a tolerance of ±1 day for uncertainty in the calculated heliacal rise days, the probability of achieving an exact correspondence between a random ordering of the tally and a series of star rises is 0.0014. With a wider tolerance of ±2 days the probability is 0.011. The final section discusses the significance and implications of these results.

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) manifestation in CNS: a regular or chance occurrence?

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)-associated involvement of the peripheral nervous system is widely reported in the literature. At the same time, involvement of central nervous system (CNS) occurs far less frequently. Analysing the reported cases, almost all the authors pose the question whether there is a relationship between CNS involvement and MGUS, and at what stage it is necessary to begin therapy of haematological disorders. The limited number of reported cases precludes us from getting a definite answer to these questions, thus making further accumulation of clinical data highly relevant. In this article, we present two cases of CNS involvement in patients with MGUS, which, in our opinion, may suggest the existence of a causal relationship between MGUS and CNS involvement. Currently, the above hypothesis cannot be taken as proved due to the lack of a sufficient number of clinical observations and scientific studies. Therefore, the issue of MGUS-associated CNS involvement requires further research.

Political Trust, Shocks, and Accountability: Quasi-experimental Evidence from a Rebel Attack

How does armed conflict affect accountability and political trust in democratic governments? To answer this question, we present quasi-experimental evidence based on survey data which, coincidentally, were collected in the days surrounding an unanticipated violent attack by a rebel group in Mali. The chance occurrence of the attack five days into the survey demarcates respondents into two groups surveyed before and after the attack and allows us to examine how the attack affected approval of politicians and trust in political institutions. Our results show that people mainly attribute responsibility to the president and not to parliament or local government, while trust in institutions is largely unaffected. We also show that these effects are strongest in the region of the attack. These findings suggest that voters in new democracies are capable of attributing responsibility to individual politicians and governments while maintaining trust in the fundamental political institutions of democracy.

Social Media as an Alternative to Surveys of Opinions About the Economy

There is interest in using social media content to supplement or even substitute for survey data. In one of the first studies to test the feasibility of this idea, O’Connor, Balasubramanyan, Routledge, and Smith report reasonably high correlations between the sentiment of tweets containing the word “jobs” and survey-based measures of consumer confidence in 2008–2009. Other researchers report a similar relationship through 2011, but after that time it is no longer observed, suggesting such tweets may not be as promising an alternative to survey responses as originally hoped. But, it’s possible that with the right analytic techniques, the sentiment of “jobs” tweets might still be an acceptable alternative. To explore this, we first classify “jobs” tweets into categories whose content is either related to employment or not, to see whether sentiment of the former correlates more highly with a survey-based measure of consumer sentiment. We then compare the relationship when sentiment is determined with traditional dictionary-based methods versus newer machine learning-based tools developed for Twitter-like texts. We calculated daily sentiment in three different ways and used a measure of association less sensitive to outliers than correlation. None of these approaches improved the size of the relationship in the original or more recent data. We found that the many micro-decisions these analyses require, such as the size of the smoothing interval and the length of the lag between the two series, can significantly affect the outcomes. In the end, despite the earlier promise of tweets as an alternative to survey responses, we find no evidence that the original relationship in these data was more than a chance occurrence.

A robust method to identify meteor showers new parent bodies from the SonotaCo and EDMOND meteoroid orbit databases

Context. Several new meteor showers are added to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) list of meteor showers every year. Given the multiplication of video meteor measurements new parent bodies are to be found in addition to new showers. Such an endeavor is usually performed by comparing orbital elements, using a high threshold single-linking Dsh-criterion. However, questions remain about the accuracy of the method and the veracity of the newly associated parent bodies. Aims. Our goal is to find the presence of new parent bodies in a statistical meaningful way. Methods. A search for parent bodies was performed among SonotaCo and EDMOND databases. The association of asteroids with meteors was based on different methods, discussed and compared below. In addition, a thorough statistical test was performed in order to investigate the possible random associations. Results. A list of potential new parent bodies associated with at least 50 meteors is found. A statistical test was used to show whether the group of meteor orbits and the asteroid is a random coincidence or not. Out of 54 potential new parent bodies, only three new parent bodies are not excluded by the statistical test: 2014 BN14, 2015 TX24 and 2015 QT3, with a probability of chance occurrence of 37, 10 and 13%, respectively. This shows the need for rigorous method when searching for the existence of meteor showers and parent bodies. Conclusions. Ideally, such a test (or even better, tests) should be conducted in order to confirm (or not) the current IAU list of meteor showers. Similarly, all meteor orbit data in our databases should ideally be revisited using the latest methods providing a better estimate of the real uncertainty and accuracy of the derived orbits.

Fracture humerus during caesarean section: a case report

Caesarean section is considered safer than vaginal delivery in risks involved for birth injury. Birth injury is more common in vaginal breech deliveries but are also encountered in caesarean section. Authors hereby report a case of long bone fracture in a neonate which occurred during caesarean section. The neonate presented with erb’s palsy and wrist drop. Baby was admitted and was managed with a U slab (pop slab) with physiotherapy which was later replaced by arm body strapping. Obstetricians and Paediatricians should remain vigilant for the rare chance occurrence of birth injuries during caesarean section also so that cases are not missed and managed timely for prevention of disability and deformities later.