ABSTRACT Transitional justice and diaspora studies are interdisciplinary and expanding fields of study. Finding the right combination of mechanisms to forward transitional justice in post-conflict polities is an ongoing challenge for states and affected populations. Diasporas, as non-state actors with increased agency in homelands, host-lands, and other global locations, engage with their past from a distance, but their actions are little understood. This introductory article to a special issue develops a novel framework to study causal mechanisms and their underlying analytical rationales – emotional, cognitive, symbolic/value-based, strategic, and networks-based – linking diasporas and local actors in transitional justice. Mechanisms featured are: thin sympathetic response and chosen trauma, fear and hope, contact and framing, cooperation and coalition-building, brokerage, patronage, and connective action, among others. The contributors theorize about causal mechanisms and their sequences involving diasporas in multi-sited transitional justice processes and bring empirical evidence from various world regions.

This biographical note details Anna Bayerová's (1853-1924) activities as the first female Austro-Hungarian health officer in 1878 to1918 occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). Anna Bayerová is known as a heroine of Czech feminism and the 'first Czech female physician', though she only practised in the Czech lands from 1913 to 1916. In 1891, Bayerová was enrolled as the first Austro-Hungarian female health officer and assigned to treat Muslim women in the district of Tuzla, Bosnia. She pursued this mission for the first three months of 1892, had herself transferred to Sarajevo in the summer, and soon thereafter quitted the service. Her biographers point to a series of political and personal motivations to abandon her mission in Bosnia, which, from the viewpoint of Czech feminists, included fulfilling her professional duties in an exemplary way. She spent most of her professional life as a physician in Switzerland and did not request Austrian recognition of her medical degree until 1913. Bayerová died in Prague in 1924. Conclusion. Bayerová, partly for political reasons and partly due to her panic-fuelled fear of catching tuberculosis, quitted her role as the first Austro-Hungarian female health officer in BH soon after her arrival in 1892.

Apoptosis, as a well-studied process of a programmed cell death, is essential for the maintenance of cell homeostasis and integrity of organisms. This process occurs normally during development and aging and it is a balance of the sustainability of the tissue cell population. In addition, apoptosis also occurs as a defensive mechanism such as an immune response or after cell damage as a consequence of a pathological condition or the action of harmful agents. Apoptotic activation tends to be less responsive with aging, causing accumulation of non-functional cells and pathological changes such are degenerative diseases or tumor transformation. This overview aims to provide summarized facts about different approaches of apoptosis research, targeting and regulation in tumors especially in leukemic cells as a way of pharmacological manipulation with a potential therapeutic benefit.

Recent studies investigating the evolution of genome size diversity in ferns have shown that they have a distinctive genome profile compared with other land plants. Ferns are typically characterized by possessing medium‐sized genomes, although a few lineages have evolved very large genomes. Ferns are different from other vascular plant lineages as they are the only group to show evidence for a correlation between genome size and chromosome number. In this study, we aim to explore whether the evolution of fern genome sizes is not only shaped by chromosome number changes arising from polyploidy but also by constraints on the average amount of DNA per chromosome. We selected the genus Asplenium L. as a model genus to study the question because of the unique combination of a highly conserved base chromosome number and a high frequency of polyploidy. New genome size data for Asplenium taxa were combined with existing data and analyzed within a phylogenetic framework. Genome size varied substantially between diploid species, resulting in overlapping genome sizes among diploid and tetraploid spleenworts. The observed additive pattern indicates the absence of genome downsizing following polyploidy. The genome size of diploids varied non‐randomly and we found evidence for clade‐specific trends towards larger or smaller genomes. The 578‐fold range of fern genome sizes have arisen not only from repeated cycles of polyploidy but also through clade‐specific constraints governing accumulation and/or elimination of DNA.

MammaPrint was the first genomic assay in breast cancer to be validated with a prospective randomized trial, the MINDACT trial. The 70 gene MammaPrint assay was developed to determine the risk of distant metastasis in early stage breast cancer through gene expression analysis and was the first FDA cleared genomic assay for breast cancer. The assay identifies primary breast cancers likely to metastasize within the first five years of diagnosis and has clinical utility for helping to determine the expected benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. The MINDACT Trial was the first trial of a genomic assay in breast cancer to provide prospective, randomized evidence of clinical utility for this important clinical question, identifying a significant proportion of patients who could safely forgo chemotherapy within a cohort of patients with high risk clinical characteristics. Nearly half of all patients (46%) who would have been advised chemotherapy according to clinical guidelines were identified genomically by MammaPrint as being low risk and found to have equivalent rates of freedom from metastasis at 5 years with or without chemotherapy. Based upon the MINDACT trial, the ASCO Biomarker Guidelines now approve the use of MammaPrint to inform decisions regarding chemotherapy for women with clinically high-risk ER+ breast cancer, and as the only approved assay for use in women with 1-3 involved lymph nodes. Recent studies suggest information obtained from the 70-gene assay may also help inform decisions regarding endocrine therapy, as well as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: The power of gene expression analysis in breast cancer, effectively illustrated with MammaPrint in the MINDACT trial, is now being explored through examination of the full transcriptome in breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE This paper describes our experience and outcomes from 54 cases presented to the (Molecular tumor board) MTB. METHODS 54 Cases presented between July 2017 and April 2018 were included in this analysis. These patients had different types of cancers that had either failed standard therapy or were expected to fail and physicians were looking for future options for anticipated progression. Patients who had obvious mutations and were candidates for Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry or Molecular Analysis for Treatment Choice clinical trials were not included. Oncologists presented the cases virtually and Foundation Medicine scientific and clinical team discussed the molecular pathways to find targeted options or trials. Tumor board attendees included oncologists, nurses, pharmacists, mid-level providers, residents and staff of the Cancer Center. RESULTS Amongst the 54 cases presented 81% had one or more potentially actionable alteration. 12 (22%) patients received genomically matched therapy as per MTB recommendations. Additional 13 (24%) patients have options available when they progress. Out of 12 patients who got treatment six are alive at the time of this analysis. Genomically matched therapy or Clinical Trials option were offered to the 46% of patients based on the MTB discussion. CONCLUSION More widespread use of molecular diagnostics, better physician education and multidisciplinary collaboration between the staff involved in diagnosis and treatment, as well as third party payers are necessary for consensus on treatment and care of oncology patients.