From Non-human to Human: Adult's and Children's Perceptions of Agents Varying in Humanness

While most interface agents have been designed from an adult perspective, the present paper compares adults’ and children’s views of agents that vary in their degree of humanness. Four synthetic characters ranging in appearance from non-human to very human (blob, cat, cartoon, human) were presented to adult and children perceivers and were evaluated with respect to their cognitive and emotional abilities. The visual appearance significantly influenced participants’ ratings in both age groups. However, the pattern of results was more differentiated for adult perceivers as a function of the human-likeness of the character. The findings suggest that children may rely less on human-like features in inferring agents’ capabilities which are judged along simpler cognitive and social dimensions. Implications for the design of artificial agents are discussed

STUDIES IN PORPHYRIA

Porphyrin biosynthesis in mammalian skin and in skin obtained from patients with selected types of porphyria has been studied. Cutaneous porphyrinogenesis required the precursor δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) which, when added to murine, rat, and human skin in vitro, was rapidly converted to porphyrins. Total porphyrin content was quantitated by fluorescence assay, and spectral studies indicated that more than 80% of the porphyrin produced was protoporphyrin. The majority of skin porphyrinogenesis occurred in epidermis or in epidermal derivatives such as hair roots. Known inducers of hepatic δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase (ALAS), the rate-limiting enzyme for heme biosynthesis, were not inducers when added to skin in vitro.Skin from patients with acute intermittent porphyria demonstrated a 43% decrease in cutaneous porphyrin production as compared to unaffected normals. This is consistent with the known deficiency of uroporphyrinogen synthetase that has been previously demonstrated in the liver and red blood cells of these patients. Porphyrinogenesis in skin of patients with porphyria cutanea tarda was not different from controls.These studies demonstrate that skin has the enzymatic capacity to synthesize porphyrins from added ALA and that cutaneous porphyrinogenesis from ALA is deficient in patients with acute intermittent porphyria

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Breast at 3T: Pre- and Post-Contrast Evaluation for Breast Lesion Characterization

Purpose. To determine whether in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T can provide accurate breast lesion characterization, and to determine the effect of gadolinium on the resonance of tCho. Methods. Twenty-four positive-mammogram patients were examined on a 3T MR scanner. 1H-MRS was performed before and after gadolinium administration. tCho peak was qualitatively evaluated before and after contrast injection. Results. Fourteen out of 27 lesions proved to be malignant after histopathological diagnosis. Using 1H-MRS, before contrast injection, 6/14 confirmed malignancies and 11/13 benign lesions were correctly classified; while, after contrast injection, 11/14 confirmed malignancies and 12/13 benign processes were correctly classified. Post gadolinium 1H-MRS proved useful in picking up tCho signal, improving the overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity by 35%, 83%, and 9%, respectively. Conclusion. 1H-MRS overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in detecting breast lesion's malignancy were increased after gadolinium administration. It is prudent to perform 1H-MRS before contrast injection in large breast lesions to avoid choline underestimation. In cases of small or non-mass lesions, it is recommended to perform 1H-MRS after contrast injection for better voxel prescription to enable a reliable preoperative diagnosis

Pathological serosa and node-based classification accurately predicts gastric cancer recurrence risk and outcome, and determines potential and limitation of a Japanese-style extensive surgery for Western patients: A prospective with quality control 10-year follow-up study

UICC classification accurately predicts overall survival but not recurrence-risk. We report here data of overall and first site-specific recurrence following curative surgery useful for the development of recurrence-oriented preventive target therapies. Patients who underwent resection for gastric cancer were stratified according to curability of surgery [curative (R0) vs non-curative resection], extent of surgery [limited (D1) vs extended (D2) node dissection] and pathological nodal/serosal status. The intent-to-treat principle, log-rank test and Cox regression analysis were used for statistical analysis of time-to-event (recurrence, death) endpoints. Curative resection only produced a chance of cure whereas survival was very poor following non-curative resection (P < 0.0001). For D2 R0 subgroup of patients, a pathological serosa and a node state-based classification into three groups, proved to be of clinical implication. Risk of recurrence after a median follow-up of 92 months was low among patients with both serosa and node-negative cancer (first group; 11%), moderate among those with either serosa or node-positive cancer (second group; 53%) and very high among those with both serosa and node-positive cancer (third group; 83%). In multivariate analysis, the relative risks of recurrence and death from gastric cancer among patients in the second and third groups, as compared to those in the first, were 7.07 (95% CI, 2.36–21.17;P  = 0.0002) and 16.19 (95% CI, 5.76–45.54;P < 0.0001) respectively. First site-specific recurrence analysis revealed: low rate of loco-regional recurrence alone (12%), serosa state determinant factor of the site-recurrence (peritoneal for serosa-positive and haematogenous for serosa-negative cancers) and dramatic increase of all types of recurrence by the presence of nodal metastases. Our findings demonstrate that a pathological serosa- and node-based classification is very simple and predicts accurately site-specific recurrence-risks. Furthermore they reveal that risk of recurrence following curative D2 surgery alone is low for serosa- and node-negative cancers, but very high in serosa- and node-positive cancers suggesting the need for new therapeutic strategies in this subgroup of patients. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Homicide and geographic access to gun dealers in the United States

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Firearms are the most commonly used weapon to commit homicide in the U.S. Virtually all firearms enter the public marketplace through a federal firearms licensee (FFL): a store or individual licensed by the federal government to sell firearms. Whether FFLs contribute to gun-related homicide in areas where they are located, in which case FFLs may be a homicide risk factor that can be modified, is not known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Annual county-level data (1993–1999) on gun homicide rates and rates of FFLs per capita were analyzed using negative binomial regression controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Models were run to evaluate whether the relation between rates of FFLs and rates of gun homicide varied over the study period and across counties according to their level of urbanism (defined by four groupings, as below). Also, rates of FFLs were compared against FS/S – which is the proportion of suicides committed by firearm and is thought to be a good proxy for firearm availability in a region – to help evaluate how well the FFL variable is serving as a way to proxy firearm availability in each of the county types of interest.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In major cities, gun homicide rates were higher where FFLs were more prevalent (rate ratio [RR] = 1.70, 95% CI 1.03–2.81). This association increased (p < 0.01) from 1993 (RR = 1.69) to 1999 (RR = 12.72), due likely to federal reforms that eliminated low-volume dealers, making FFL prevalence a more accurate exposure measure over time. No association was found in small towns. In other cities and in suburbs, gun homicide rates were significantly lower where FFLs were more prevalent, with associations that did not change over the years of the study period. FFL prevalence was correlated strongly (positively) with FS/S in major cities only, suggesting that the findings for how FFL prevalence relates to gun homicide may be valid for the findings pertaining to major cities but not to counties of other types.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Modification of FFLs through federal, state, and local regulation may be a feasible intervention to reduce gun homicide in major cities.</p

Establishment of computational biology in Greece and Cyprus: Past, present, and future.

We review the establishment of computational biology in Greece and Cyprus from its inception to date and issue recommendations for future development. We compare output to other countries of similar geography, economy, and size—based on publication counts recorded in the literature—and predict future growth based on those counts as well as national priority areas. Our analysis may be pertinent to wider national or regional communities with challenges and opportunities emerging from the rapid expansion of the field and related industries. Our recommendations suggest a 2-fold growth margin for the 2 countries, as a realistic expectation for further expansion of the field and the development of a credible roadmap of national priorities, both in terms of research and infrastructure funding

The VEGF receptor Flt-1 spatially modulates Flk-1 signaling and blood vessel branching

Blood vessel formation requires the integrated regulation of endothelial cell proliferation and branching morphogenesis, but how this coordinated regulation is achieved is not well understood. Flt-1 (vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] receptor 1) is a high affinity VEGF-A receptor whose loss leads to vessel overgrowth and dysmorphogenesis. We examined the ability of Flt-1 isoform transgenes to rescue the vascular development of embryonic stem cell–derived flt-1−/− mutant vessels. Endothelial proliferation was equivalently rescued by both soluble (sFlt-1) and membrane-tethered (mFlt-1) isoforms, but only sFlt-1 rescued vessel branching. Flk-1 Tyr-1173 phosphorylation was increased in flt-1−/− mutant vessels and partially rescued by the Flt-1 isoform transgenes. sFlt-1–rescued vessels exhibited more heterogeneous levels of pFlk than did mFlt-1–rescued vessels, and reporter gene expression from the flt-1 locus was also heterogeneous in developing vessels. Our data support a model whereby sFlt-1 protein is more efficient than mFlt-1 at amplifying initial expression differences, and these amplified differences set up local discontinuities in VEGF-A ligand availability that are important for proper vessel branching