PAR13: HYPOTHETICAL VERSUS REAL WILLINGNESS TO PAY IN THE HEALTH CARE SECTOR: RESULTS FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT

How does the brain carry out working memory storage, categorization, and voluntary performance of event sequences? The LIST PARSE neural model proposes an answer to this question that unifies the explanation of cognitive, neurophysiological, and anatomical data from humans and monkeys. It quantitatively simulates human cognitive data about immediate serial recall and free recall, and monkey neurophysiological data from the prefrontal cortex obtained during sequential sensory-motor imitation and planned performance. The model clarifies why both spatial and non-spatial working memories share the same type of circuit design. It proposes how the laminar circuits of lateral prefrontal cortex carry out working memory storage of event sequences within layers 6 and 4, how these event sequences are unitized through learning into list chunks within layer 2/3, and how these stored sequences can be recalled at variable rates that are under volitional control by the basal ganglia. These laminar prefrontal circuits are variations of laminar circuits in the visual cortex that have been used to explain data about how the brain sees. These examples from visual and prefrontal cortex illustrate how laminar neocortex can represent both spatial and temporal information, and open the way towards understanding how other behaviors may be represented and controlled by variations on a shared laminar neocortical design.National Science Foundation (SBE-0354378); Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0624, N00014-95-1-0409

A mobile data acquisition system

A mobile data aquisition (MobiDAQ) was developed for the ATLAS central hadronic calorimeter (TileCal). MobiDAQ has been designed in order to test the functionalities of the TileCal front-end electronics and to acquire calibration data before the final back-end electronics were built and tested. MobiDAQ was also used to record the first cosmic ray events acquired by an ATLAS subdetector in the underground experimental area

Myeloid DAP12-associating lectin (MDL)-1 regulates synovial inflammation and bone erosion associated with autoimmune arthritis.

DNAX adaptor protein 12 (DAP12) is a trans-membrane adaptor molecule that transduces activating signals in NK and myeloid cells. Absence of functional Dap12 results in osteoclast defects and bone abnormalities. Because DAP12 has no extracelluar binding domains, it must pair with cell surface receptors for signal transduction. There are at least 15 known DAP12-associating cell surface receptors with distinct temporal and cell type-specific expression patterns. Our aim was to determine which receptors may be important in DAP12-associated bone pathologies. Here, we identify myeloid DAP12-associating lectin (MDL)-1 receptor (also known as CLEC5A) as a key regulator of synovial injury and bone erosion during autoimmune joint inflammation. Activation of MDL-1 leads to enhanced recruitment of inflammatory macrophages and neutrophils to the joint and promotes bone erosion. Functional blockade of MDL-1 receptor via Mdl1 deletion or treatment with MDL-1-Ig fusion protein reduces the clinical signs of autoimmune joint inflammation. These findings suggest that MDL-1 receptor may be a therapeutic target for treatment of immune-mediated skeletal disorders

Mitigating Hypothetical Bias Evidence on the Effects of Correctives from a Large Field Study

The overestimation of willingness-to-pay (WTP) in hypothetical responses is a wellknown finding in the literature. Various techniques have been proposed to remove or, at least, reduce this bias. Using responses from a panel of about 6,500 German households on their WTP for a variety of power mixes, this article undertakes an analysis that combines two common ex-ante approaches - cheap talk and consequential script - with the ex-post certainty approach to calibrating hypothetical WTP responses. Based on a switching regression model that accounts for the potential endogeneity of respondent certainty, we find that while neither the cheap-talk nor the consequential script corrective bears on the estimates of WTP, there is evidence for a lower WTP among those respondents who classify themselves as definitely certain about their answers.Die Überschätzung von Zahlungsbereitschaften in hypothetischen Befragungssituationen ist ein in der Literatur wohlbekanntes Phänomen. Um diese Verzerrungen zu verhindern oder zumindest zu reduzieren, wurden verschiedene Ansätze vorgeschlagen, darunter die Cheap Talk und Consequential Script genannten Ex-Ante Ansätze sowie ein als Sicherheits-Ansatz bezeichnetes Ex-Post-Korrektiv. Auf Grundlage einer Befragung von etwa 6.500 deutschen Haushalten zu ihrer Zahlungsbereitschaft für verschiedene Strommixe analysiert dieser Artikel die Effektivität dieser Korrektive. Basierend auf einem Switching-Regression-Model, welches die potenzielle Endogenität der Sicherheit der Befragten berücksichtigt, finden wir empirische Evidenz dafür, dass sich weder Cheap Talk noch der Consequential-Script Ansatz auf die geschätzten Zahlungsbereitschaften auswirkt. Es findet sich jedoch eine geringere Zahlungsbereitschaft unter solchen Antwortenden, die sich selbst als ganz sicher in Bezug auf ihre Antworten einstufen

Payload capabilities and operational limits of eversion robots

Recent progress in soft robotics has seen new types of actuation mechanisms based on apical extension which allows robots to grow to unprecedented lengths. Eversion robots are a type of robots based on the principle of apical extension offering excellent maneuverability and ease of control allowing users to conduct tasks from a distance. Mechanical modelling of these robotic structures is very important for understanding their operational capabilities. In this paper, we model the eversion robot as a thin-walled cylindrical beam inflated with air pressure, using Timoshenko beam theory considering rotational and shear effects. We examine the various failure modes of the eversion robots such as yielding, buckling instability and lateral collapse, and study the payloads and operational limits of these robots in axial and lateral loading conditions. Surface maps showing the operational boundaries for different combinations of the geometrical parameters are presented. This work provides insights into the design of eversion robots and can pave the way towards eversion robots with high payload capabilities that can act from long distances

A Phase I Trial of Bevacizumab and Temsirolimus in Combination With Valproic Acid in Advanced Solid Tumors

BACKGROUND: Preclinical models suggest synergy between anti-angiogenesis therapy, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and histone deacetylase inhibitors to promote anticancer activity. METHODS: This phase I study enrolled 47 patients between April 2012 and 2018 and determined safety, maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) when combining bevacizumab, temsirolimus, and valproic acid in patients with advanced cancer. RESULTS: Median age of enrolled patients was 56 years. Patients were heavily pretreated with a median of 4 lines of prior therapy. Forty-five patients (95.7%) experienced one or more treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). Grade 3 TRAEs were lymphopenia (14.9%), thrombocytopenia (8.5%), and mucositis (6.4%). Grade 4 TRAEs included lymphopenia (2.1%) and CNS cerebrovascular ischemia (2.1%). Six patients developed DLTs across 10 dose levels with grade 3 infection, rash, mucositis, bowel perforation, elevated lipase, and grade 4 cerebrovascular ischemia. The MTD was dose level 9 (bevacizumab 5 mg/kg days 1 and 15 intravenously (IV) plus temsirolimus 25 mg days 1, 8, 15, and 22 IV and valproic acid 5 mg/kg on days 1-7 and 15-21 per orally (PO)). Objective response rate (ORR) was 7.9% with confirmed partial response (PRs) in 3 patients (one each in parotid gland, ovarian, and vaginal cancers). Stable disease (SD) ≥+6 months was seen in 5 patients (13.1%). Clinical benefit state (CBR: PR + SD ≥+6 months) was 21%. CONCLUSION: Combination therapy with bevacizumab, temsirolimus, and valproic acid was feasible, but there were numerous toxicities, which will require careful management for future clinical development (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01552434)