Revisiting old and opening new spaces for feminist organizing in Austria

Before the onset of COVID-19, the political mood in Europe shifted to the right. This is indicated, for example, by efforts to close the borders to migrants, an undermining of legislative and executive democratic structures as well as restrictions on free speech. Such anti-democratic developments have also impacted gender equality - at the level of policy and in daily life. Our paper aims to examine the policies on gender equality of the center-right Austrian government from 2017 to 2019 and their influence on feminist organizing. Applying a participatory, action-based research approach in the context of a neoliberal conservative nation state, the data shows a clear backtrack from a pluralist perspective of gender equality policies and regression towards heteronormativity, complemented by a focus on the gender binary that discounts the social construction of gender. These trends clearly influence feminist organizing.

Accuracy of NDRG4 gene methylation tests in colorectal cancer screening

Purpose/Background: Multitarget stool DNA testing has been increasingly used during the screening colonoscopy moratorium in COVID-19 pandemic epicenters. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the accuracy of NDRG4 alone or in combination with other genes included in commercially available stool tests to detect colorectal cancer. Methods/Interventions: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE via Ovid were searched. Studies reporting accuracy (Sackett phase 2 or 3) of stool DNA methylation tests to detect sporadic colorectal cancer were included. The DerSimonian-Laird method with random-effects model was utilized for meta-analysis. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and area under curve (AUC) were calculated. Results/Outcome(s): The pooled sensitivity and specificity of NDRG4 were found to be [0.564 (0.383, 0.729);I2=88.3%] and [0.897 (0.824, 0.941);I2=41.2%], respectively. The pooled negative and positive likelihood ratios were found to be [0.460 (0.311, 0.682);I2=0%] and [4.959 (3.349, 7.344);I2=0%]. AUC was 0.65 (0.56, 0.73). The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the combination of genes were [0.911 (0.839, 0.952)] and [0.819 (0.685, 0.904)], respectively. The pooled negative and positive likelihood ratios were found to be [0.106 (0.075, 0.151);I2=86.6%] and [5.084 (2.856, 9.048);I2=95.1%]. AUC was 0.87 (0.66, 0.90). Conclusions/Discussion: NDRG4 has high specificity with lower sensitivity allowing to rule in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Combination of genes increases sensitivity as compared to single gene tests, while slightly decreasing specificity. Further performance evaluation research is required to better understand potential role of stool DNA methylation tests, especially in a screening setting.