Predicting Mid-Life Capital Formation with Pre-School Delay of Gratification and Life-Course Measures of Self-Regulation

How well do pre-school delay of gratification and life-course measures of self-regulation predict mid-life capital formation? We surveyed 113 participants of the 1967–1973 Bing pre-school studies on delay of gratification when they were in their late 40’s. They reported 11 mid-life capital formation outcomes, including net worth, permanent income, absence of high-interest debt, forward-looking behaviors, and educational attainment. To address multiple hypothesis testing and our small sample, we pre-registered an analysis plan of well–powered tests. As predicted, a newly constructed and pre-registered measure derived from preschool delay of gratification does not predict the 11 capital formation variables (i.e., the sign-adjusted average correlation was 0.02). A pre-registered composite self-regulation index, combining preschool delay of gratification with survey measures of self-regulation collected at ages 17, 27, and 37, does predict 10 of the 11 capital formation variables in the expected direction, with an average correlation of 0.19. The inclusion of the preschool delay of gratification measure in this composite index does not affect the index\u27s predictive power. We tested several hypothesized reasons that preschool delay of gratification does not have predictive power for our mid-life capital formation variables

Pion emission in 2H, 12C, 27Al, gamma pi+ reactions at threshold

The first data from MAX-lab in Lund, Sweden on pion production in photonuclear reactions at threshold energies, is presented. The decrease of the total yield of pi+ in gamma + 12C, 27Al reactions below 200 MeV as well as differential, dsigma/dOmega, cross sections follow essentially predictions from an intranuclear cascade model with an attractive potential for pion-nucleus interaction in its simplest form. Double differential, d2sigma/dOmegadT, cross sections at 176 MeV show, however, deviations from the model, which call for refinements of nuclear and Coulomb potentials and possibly also for coherent pion production mechanisms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

Alternative evaluations of halos in nuclei

Data for the scattering of 6He, 8He, 9Li, and 11Li from hydrogen are analyzed within a fully microscopic folding model of proton-nucleus scattering. Current data suggest that of these only 11Li has a noticeable halo. For 6He, we have also analysed the complementary reaction 6Li(gamma,pi)6He(gs). The available data for that reaction support the hypothesis that 6He may not be a halo nucleus. However, those data are scarce and there is clearly a need for more to elicit the microscopic structure of 6He.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures (added 4 figures), added reference. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Concomitant sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (Rosai-Dorfman Disease) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a case report

IntroductionSinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, also known as Rosai-Dorfman Disease, is a rare and benign source of lymphadenopathy first described in 1969, which mimics neoplastic processes. This disease commonly presents in children and young adults with supra-diaphragmatic lymphadenopathy or extranodal lesions consisting of tissue infiltrates composed of a polyclonal population of histiocytes. Since its description greater than 400 cases have been described, sometimes in patients with a variety of treated and untreated neoplastic diseases. However, the literature contains reports of only 19 cases of Rosai-Dorfman Disease in association with lymphomas, Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's. The majority of these cases have the two diagnoses, malignant lymphoma and Rosai-Dorfman Disease, separated in time. Interestingly, infradiaphragmatic lymphadenopathy was a feature in the majority of previously reported cases of Rosai-Dorfman Disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.Case presentationThis report provides details of a case with co-existing sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy and diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This case is the fifth described case of simultaneous Rosai-Dorfman Disease and concurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of a clinically aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma was made at autopsy. The aggressive biological behavior of the diffuse large B cell lymphoma in this patient may have been related to the underlying immune dysregulation believed to be part of the pathophysiology of Rosai-Dorfman Disease.ConclusionTaken together this report and the preceding reports of Rosai-Dorfman Disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma suggests that in cases with a diagnosis of Rosai-Dorfman Disease in the setting of prominent infradiaphragmatic lymphadenopathy, clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for the presence of occult non-Hodgkin's lymphoma especially if the clinical course is atypical for classic Rosai-Dorfman Disease

Profiling Circulating and Urinary Bile Acids in Patients with Biliary Obstruction before and after Biliary Stenting

Bile acids are considered as extremely toxic at the high concentrations reached during bile duct obstruction, but each acid displays variable cytotoxic properties. This study investigates how biliary obstruction and restoration of bile flow interferes with urinary and circulating levels of 17 common bile acids. Bile acids (conjugated and unconjugated) were quantified by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry in serum and urine samples from 17 patients (8 men and 9 women) with biliary obstruction, before and after biliary stenting. Results were compared with serum concentrations measured in 40 age- and sex-paired control donors (20 men and 20 women). The total circulating bile acid concentration increases from 2.7 µM in control donors to 156.9 µM in untreated patients with biliary stenosis. Serum taurocholic and glycocholic acids exhibit 304- and 241-fold accumulations in patients with biliary obstruction compared to controls. The enrichment in chenodeoxycholic acid species reached a maximum of only 39-fold, while all secondary and 6α-hydroxylated species –except taurolithocholic acids – were either unchanged or significantly reduced. Stenting was efficient in restoring an almost normal circulating profile and in reducing urinary bile acids

A Stated Preference Investigation into the Chinese Demand for Farmed vs. Wild Bear Bile

Farming of animals and plants has recently been considered not merely as a more efficient and plentiful supply of their products but also as a means of protecting wild populations from that trade. Amongst these nascent farming products might be listed bear bile. Bear bile has been exploited by traditional Chinese medicinalists for millennia. Since the 1980s consumers have had the options of: illegal wild gall bladders, bile extracted from caged live bears or the acid synthesised chemically. Despite these alternatives bears continue to be harvested from the wild. In this paper we use stated preference techniques using a random sample of the Chinese population to estimate demand functions for wild bear bile with and without competition from farmed bear bile. We find a willingness to pay considerably more for wild bear bile than farmed. Wild bear bile has low own price elasticity and cross price elasticity with farmed bear bile. The ability of farmed bear bile to reduce demand for wild bear bile is at best limited and, at prevailing prices, may be close to zero or have the opposite effect. The demand functions estimated suggest that the own price elasticity of wild bear bile is lower when competing with farmed bear bile than when it is the only option available. This means that the incumbent product may actually sell more items at a higher price when competing than when alone in the market. This finding may be of broader interest to behavioural economists as we argue that one explanation may be that as product choice increases price has less impact on decision making. For the wildlife farming debate this indicates that at some prices the introduction of farmed competition might increase the demand for the wild product

Altered Metabolic Signature in Pre-Diabetic NOD Mice

Altered metabolism proceeding seroconversion in children progressing to Type 1 diabetes has previously been demonstrated. We tested the hypothesis that non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice show a similarly altered metabolic profile compared to C57BL/6 mice. Blood samples from NOD and C57BL/6 female mice was collected at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 weeks and the metabolite content was analyzed using GC-MS. Based on the data of 89 identified metabolites OPLS-DA analysis was employed to determine the most discriminative metabolites. In silico analysis of potential involved metabolic enzymes was performed using the dbSNP data base. Already at 0 weeks NOD mice displayed a unique metabolic signature compared to C57BL/6. A shift in the metabolism was observed for both strains the first weeks of life, a pattern that stabilized after 5 weeks of age. Multivariate analysis revealed the most discriminative metabolites, which included inosine and glutamic acid. In silico analysis of the genes in the involved metabolic pathways revealed several SNPs in either regulatory or coding regions, some in previously defined insulin dependent diabetes (Idd) regions. Our result shows that NOD mice display an altered metabolic profile that is partly resembling the previously observation made in children progressing to Type 1 diabetes. The level of glutamic acid was one of the most discriminative metabolites in addition to several metabolites in the TCA cycle and nucleic acid components. The in silico analysis indicated that the genes responsible for this reside within previously defined Idd regions

KAGRA: 2.5 Generation Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detector

The recent detections of gravitational waves (GWs) reported by LIGO/Virgocollaborations have made significant impact on physics and astronomy. A globalnetwork of GW detectors will play a key role to solve the unknown nature of thesources in coordinated observations with astronomical telescopes and detectors.Here we introduce KAGRA (former name LCGT; Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitationalwave Telescope), a new GW detector with two 3-km baseline arms arranged in theshape of an "L", located inside the Mt. Ikenoyama, Kamioka, Gifu, Japan.KAGRA's design is similar to those of the second generations such as AdvancedLIGO/Virgo, but it will be operating at the cryogenic temperature with sapphiremirrors. This low temperature feature is advantageous for improving thesensitivity around 100 Hz and is considered as an important feature for thethird generation GW detector concept (e.g. Einstein Telescope of Europe orCosmic Explorer of USA). Hence, KAGRA is often called as a 2.5 generation GWdetector based on laser interferometry. The installation and commissioning ofKAGRA is underway and its cryogenic systems have been successfully tested inMay, 2018. KAGRA's first observation run is scheduled in late 2019, aiming tojoin the third observation run (O3) of the advanced LIGO/Virgo network. In thiswork, we describe a brief history of KAGRA and highlights of main feature. Wealso discuss the prospects of GW observation with KAGRA in the era of O3. Whenoperating along with the existing GW detectors, KAGRA will be helpful to locatea GW source more accurately and to determine the source parameters with higherprecision, providing information for follow-up observations of a GW triggercandidate