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Debates on provisioning systems have become more widespread in recent years. Most of these discussions, however, have centered on the monetized economy. While they have elaborated on actors and institutions in the monetized economy, they tend to ignore the foundational role of unpaid provisioning processes. This article contributes to provisioning systems scholarship by foregrounding this indispensable yet invisibilized foundation of production, distribution, and consumption. In doing so, we combine different approaches on provisioning systems in social ecology, political ecology, and political economy with chronologically older feminist economics debates on social provisioning to arrive at an ecofeminist political economy conceptualization of social-ecological provisioning. We elaborate on this conceptualization by drawing upon the example of food provisioning, thereby showing that people provision for themselves, their families, and their communities through closely interlinked paid and unpaid provisioning practices. Only by acknowledging the central role of actors and institutions in the non-monetized economy and by taking an intersectional approach to the questions of who provides and who is provided for can a more holistic picture of food provisioning be drawn. In the last part of the article, we discuss ecofeminist strategies that strengthen non-monetized social-ecological provisioning without monetizing it, thereby questioning the arbitrariness of what is (un-/under-)paid in capitalist economies.

The planetary boundaries concept has profoundly changed the vocabulary and representation of global environmental issues. We bring a critical social science perspective to this framework through the notion of societal boundaries and aim to provide a more nuanced understanding of the social nature of thresholds. We start by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of planetary boundaries from a social science perspective. We then focus on capitalist societies as a heuristic for discussing the expansionary dynamics, power relations, and lock-ins of modern societies that impel highly unsustainable societal relations with nature. While formulating societal boundaries implies a controversial process ‒ based on normative judgments, ethical concerns, and socio-political struggles ‒ it has the potential to offer guidelines for a just, social-ecological transformation. Collective autonomy and the politics of self-limitation are key elements of societal boundaries and are linked to important proposals and pluriverse experiences to integrate well-being and boundaries. The role of the state and propositions for radical alternative approaches to well-being have particular importance. We conclude with reflections on social freedom, defined as the right not to live at others' expense. Toward the aim of defining boundaries through transdisciplinary and democratic processes, we seek to open a dialogue on these issues.

The current food regime has experienced a multidimensional crisis, driving further unjust and unsustainable development. Various food alternatives address these challenges by promoting different modes of alternative production and consumption. However, they are not extensively theoretically addressed within the food regime literature. Thus, we suggest analyzing food regimes with further social science theories to explore food alternatives and their possible contributions to transforming the present food regime. Drawing on a combination of critical state theory, the social capital concept, and territorial approaches, we introduce an interdisciplinary conceptual framework called values-based modes of production and consumption. We assume that food alternatives are based on values other than economic ones, such as democracy, solidarity, or trust. The framework allows examining perspectives of transformation that focus on conflict or cooperation and how they can be interlinked. We aim to determine entry points for analyzing food alternatives within the current food regime because these enable an exchange between debates that are usually taking place alongside each other. By linking them, we aim to inspire further insightful interdisciplinary research.

Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven, public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino transpacific migration and labor in the greater Pajaro Valley—an agricultural region located on central California’s coast. The WIITH team is creating a novel archive documenting the resilience of Filipinos who navigated the intersections of colonialism, migrant labor, and racism during the early twentieth century. The archive includes Filipino experiences documented through oral histories, photographs, personal records, and material culture objects. Significantly, WIITH’s archive reveals transpacific connections between the Philippines, Hawai‘i, and the Pajaro Valley that have yet to be examined by scholars. The initiative’s value sits at the intersections of art, oral histories, and histories of Filipino migration. It will culminate in an exhibition at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Watsonville is in the Heart: Philippine Migrant Labor in the Pajaro Valley, that will bring the WIITH archive and the Bay Area artist community together. This essay provides an overview of WIITH’s archival development, methodology, and historiographical intervention thus far.

Purpose To evaluate the frequency of type II endoleaks after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and to compare sac diameter and neck changes in patients with type II endoleak to endoleak-free patients with at least 3-year imaging follow-up. Methods Among 407 consecutive EVAR patients, 109 patients (101 men; mean age 72.1 years, range 55–86) had at least 3-year computed tomography (CT) data and no type I or III endoleak. In this cohort, 49 patients presented with a type II endoleak at some time and 60 patients had no endoleak. Patients with type II endoleaks were further divided into subgroups based on the vessel origin and the perfusion status (persistent or transient). The course of the perfusion status of type II endoleaks and changes in the aneurysm sac diameters, neck diameters, and renal to stent-graft distances (RSD) were evaluated in the defined groups. Reintervention and death rates were also reported. Results The mean follow-up was 68.1±23.8 months. Compared to the no endoleak group, overall sac diameter increased significantly in the type II endoleak group (p=0.007), but vessel origin did not have any influence. With regard to the perfusion status of type II endoleaks, aneurysm sac changes were significantly higher (p = 0.002) in the persistent endoleak group. During the study period, the increase in the proximal neck diameter was significantly higher in the no endoleak group compared to the type II endoleak group (p=0.025). No significant difference was found in RSD changes between the defined groups. Reinterventions were performed in 20 (18.3%) patients (13 for type II endoleak); 2 (1.8%) patients without type II endoleak died of ruptured aneurysm. Conclusion Persistent type II endoleaks led to significant aneurysm sac enlargement, but without increased mortality or rupture rates.

Dementia contributes substantially to the burden of disability experienced at old age, and mitochondrial dysfunction (MD) was identified as common final pathway in brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Due to its early appearance, MD is a promising target for nutritional prevention strategies and polyphenols as potential neurohormetic inducers may be strong neuroprotective candidates. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a polyphenol-rich grape skin extract (PGE) on age-related dysfunctions of brain mitochondria, memory, life span and potential hormetic pathways in C57BL/6J mice. PGE was administered at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight/d in a 3-week short-term, 6-month long-term and life-long study. MD in the brains of aged mice (19–22 months old) compared to young mice (3 months old) was demonstrated by lower ATP levels and by impaired mitochondrial respiratory complex activity (except for mice treated with antioxidant-depleted food pellets). Long-term PGE feeding partly enhanced brain mitochondrial respiration with only minor beneficial effect on brain ATP levels and memory of aged mice. Life-long PGE feeding led to a transient but significant shift of survival curve toward higher survival rates but without effect on the overall survival. The moderate effects of PGE were associated with elevated SIRT1 but not SIRT3 mRNA expressions in brain and liver tissue. The beneficial effects of the grape extract may have been influenced by the profile of bioavailable polyphenols and the starting point of interventions.

Food is becoming an increasingly important issue in the urban context. Urban food policies are a new phenomenon in Czechia, where urban food alternatives to the current food regime are promoted by food movements or take the form of traditional self-provisioning. This paper examines how urban food governance in Prague and Brno is constituted based on the municipalities’ relations with actors engaged in urban food alternatives. We argue that prioritizing aspects of local food system transformation compliant with the status quo is non-systemic and implies a fragmentation of urban food alternatives based on different levels of social capital and radicality. We conceptualize urban food alternatives as values-based modes of production and consumption and focus on values that guide urban food governance in its participatory and territorial interplay with the actors of urban food alternatives. Our analysis reveals that the values underpinning the two cities’ progressive food policies do not match reality on the ground. We propose four types of relations between the two examined cities and aspects of the local food system transformation. Aspects compliant with the status quo, such as food waste reduction and community gardening are embraced, whereas those requiring more public intervention, such as public procurement, short supply chains, or the protection of cultivable land are disregarded, degraded, or, at most, subject to experimentation as part of biodiversity protection. Chances for a successful transformation of the local food system under such governance are low but can be increased by strengthening social capital and coalition work among urban food alternatives.

Objective The aim of this study was to assess whether visualisation of in-stent changes can be improved with high-resolution, steady-state, blood pool contrast-enhanced MR angiography compared with first-pass MR angiography. Intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) served as the reference standard. Methods Twenty patients after stent placement in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) underwent MRA prior to reintervention. MRA of the SFA includes first-pass MRA as well as 3D high-resolution MRA in the steady state (SS-MRA) after injection of Gadofosveset trisodium. Sensitivity and specificity values for the detection of significant in-stent lesions by means of SS-MRA were calculated at the proximal, middle and distal stent segments in comparison to DSA. Kappa statistics were used to determine agreement between the two techniques. Results Sensitivity and specificity values for the detection of significant stenosis with SS-MRA reached 95% in the proximal, 100% in the middle and 100% in the distal stent segment. Kappa coefficients between SS-MRA and DSA were 0.789, 0.797 and 0.859 for the proximal, middle and distal segments, whereas the Kappa coefficients for FP-MRA were 0,211, 0,200 and 0,594 in these segments, respectively. Conclusion Detection of in stent stenosis is significantly improved using SS MRA, in comparison to state-of-the-art FP-MRA.

To prospectively evaluate image quality and radiation dose using a low-dose computed tomography angiography protocol and iterative image reconstruction for high-pitch dual-source CT-angiography (DSCTA) of the supraaortic arteries. DSCTA was performed in 42 patients, using either 120 kVp tube voltage, 120 mAS tube current, 2.4 pitch and filtered back projection, or 100 kVp tube voltage, 100 mAs tube current, 3.2 pitch, and sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction. Measurements of vessel attenuation, of the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were performed to objectively evaluate image quality. Two readers evaluated subjective image quality and image noise, using a four-point scale. Effective dose was used to compare the differences in radiation dose. Low-dose protocol application showed significantly higher vessel opacification (p = 0.013), and non-significantly higher CNR and SNR values. There was no difference in the subjective image quality and image noise reading between the protocols. Effective dose was significantly lower using the low-dose protocol (1.29 ± 0.21 mSv vs. 2.92 ± 0.72 mSv; p < 0.001). The combined use of reduced tube voltage, reduced tube current, and iterative reconstruction reduces radiation dose by 55.4% in high-pitch DSCTA of the supraaortic arteries without impairment of image quality.

Our purpose was to assess the effect of computer-aided detection (CAD) on lesion detection as a second reader in computed tomographic colonography, and to compare the influence of CAD on the performance of readers with different levels of expertise. Fifty-two CT colonography patient data-sets (37 patients: 55 endoscopically confirmed polyps > or =0.5 cm, seven cancers; 15 patients: no abnormalities) were retrospectively reviewed by four radiologists (two expert, two nonexpert). After primary data evaluation, a second reading augmented with findings of CAD (polyp-enhanced view, Siemens) was performed. Sensitivities and reading time were calculated for each reader without CAD and supported by CAD findings. The sensitivity of expert readers was 91% each, and of nonexpert readers, 76% and 75%, respectively, for polyp detection. CAD increased the sensitivity of expert readers to 96% (P = 0.25) and 93% (P = 1), and that of nonexpert readers to 91% (P = 0.008) and 95% (P = 0.001), respectively. All four readers diagnosed 100% of cancers, but CAD alone only 43%. CAD increased reading time by 2.1 min (mean). CAD as a second reader significantly improves sensitivity for polyp detection in a high disease prevalence population for nonexpert readers. CAD causes a modest increase in reading time. CAD is of limited value in the detection of cancer.