Individual differences in regulatory focus predict neural response to reward

Although goal pursuit is related to both functioning of the brain's reward circuits and psychological factors, the literatures surrounding these concepts have often been separate. Here, we use the psychological construct of regulatory focus to investigate individual differences in neural response to reward. Regulatory focus theory proposes two motivational orientations for personal goal pursuit: (1) promotion, associated with sensitivity to potential gain, and (2) prevention, associated with sensitivity to potential loss. The monetary incentive delay task was used to manipulate reward circuit function, along with instructional framing corresponding to promotion and prevention in a within-subject design. We observed that the more promotion oriented an individual was, the lower their ventral striatum response to gain cues. Follow-up analyses revealed that greater promotion orientation was associated with decreased ventral striatum response even to no-value cues, suggesting that promotion orientation may be associated with relatively hypoactive reward system function. The findings are also likely to represent an interaction between the cognitive and motivational characteristics of the promotion system with the task demands. Prevention orientation did not correlate with ventral striatum response to gain cues, supporting the discriminant validity of regulatory focus theory. The results highlight a dynamic association between individual differences in self-regulation and reward system function

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Bedrooms on paper : an analysis of the textual representation of children's bedrooms in Britain, 1870-present

This thesis explores the representation of children's bedrooms within three genres of consumer text. Focusing upon texts written and published between the late nineteenth century and the present day, and upon bedrooms within a British context, it examines how the bedroom has been depicted and how different kinds of text present and define the space. Reflecting upon the relationship between specific texts and depicted bedrooms, it engages with the idea that bedrooms on paper point to ideas and beliefs that influence and shape bedrooms in reality. Through an analysis of textual descriptions and visual depictions, it considers how bedrooms have been constructed, consumed and imagined since the late 18005. The thesis is divided into three main studies. The first explores the nursery of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century through advice printed within child-rearing manuals. Examining the recommendations of publications, it opens up the space that parents were expected to provide for their children to scrutiny and reveals that the ‘ideal' nursery was a highly regulated environment designed to support children's bodily health and mental development. The second reviews the representation of the bedroom within interwar (1918-1939) and post-war magazines (1945-), a space with which most are familiar today. It concentrates specifically upon the material culture of the bedroom and illustrates that the crafting, or materialising, of the space was a complex process involving multiple agencies and fields of practice. The third explores the imaginative geographies of bedrooms within post-war children's picture books and considers how scenes, situations and plotlines in which bedrooms feature may potentially resonate with readers. Together, the three studies provide a sense of how the bedroom has developed since the late nineteenth century, reveal the key constituents and component practices of the space, and underline the value of texts as key material sources through which to explore everyday life.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Comparison of Rheological Properties of Short-chain Perfluoropolyethers through Simulation and Experiment

Four short-chain perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) with varied architectural modifications have been studied rheologically using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation and experiment. An explicit-atom potential, which treats all fluorine atoms equivalently, is not capable of reproducing the experimentally observed trends in viscosity among the four compounds. Rather, the parameters of the potential governing the interaction of fluorine must reflect the proximity of the fluorine to the oxygen in the ether linkage. Defining four different types of fluorine atoms, we are able to reproduce the experimentally observed trends in viscosity among the four compounds. We examine the effect of this potential change on the structural properties as well

i THE SYNTHESIS AND STABILITY OF ENDOHEDRAL

I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jofa Gideon Mwakisege entitled “The synthesis and stability of endohedral actinium-225 ( 22