World-Volume Locally Supersymmetric Born-Infeld Actions

We derive manifestly locally supersymmetric extensions of the Born-Infeld action with $p=2$. The construction is based on a first order bosonic action for $Dp$-branes with a generalized Weyl invariance.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, typos corrected, references and some remarks adde

Socially dependent avoidance learning : mechanisms of adaptive behavior

Many aspects of human social behavior are likely to be shaped by punishment, threats of punishment, and avoidance of punishment. However, surprisingly little is known about the psychological mechanisms underpinning these influences. The goal of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate how basic reinforcement-based learning processes contribute to adaptive social behavior. To this end, we investigated how human behavior is shaped by punishment and threats of punishment in simple laboratory models aimed at capturing essential aspects of the social world. In order to probe the mechanisms underlying overt behavior, we tested the capacity of simple computational models to describe human behavior. In Study I, we investigated how the capacity to control behavior was affected by threat of punishment for performance mistakes, motivated by the functional perspective that control is most needed when mistakes are costly, as common in social interaction. Furthermore, we investigated if activity in the facial corrugator supercilii muscle might function as a novel index of this control process. We found that performance was enhanced under threat of punishment relative to non-threat, and that activity in the corrugator supercilii responded to performance errors during threat of punishment, similar to the known electroencelographic correlate of performance errors, the error related negativity. Studies II and III investigated how social stimuli, emotional and out-group faces, affected avoidance learning when serving as punishers (Study II) and cues for punishment (Study III). In both studies, we were interested in how pre-existing negative attitudes (racial bias) would affect avoidance learning, motivated by the fact that social groups and group animosity play an important role in modern societies. We found that individual differences in racial bias strongly modulated avoidance learning, by leading to an increased learning rate in response to out-group faces (Study II) and to more biased behavior when out-group faces served as cues for electric shocks (Study III). Furthermore, Study III revealed that several types of social and non-social stimuli, which previously have been shown to be preferentially associated with fear (snakes, threatening faces, out-group faces, and guns), all shared a common effect on avoidance learning relative to control stimuli, by promoting adaptive behavior when these stimuli were good predictors of aversive outcomes but corrupting behavior when serving as bad predictors of aversive outcome. This pattern could be explained by a computational model positing two competing valuation systems. In Study IV, we asked how avoidance behaviors can be learned and transmitted socially by observing others ́ behavior in a setting with threat of punishment. We used agent-based simulations to show that the omission of expected punishment together with social learning can explain the generation, maintenance and transmission of avoidance behaviors that form “avoidance traditions” on the group-level. The assumptions underlying this model were corroborated in four experiments, which together showed that humans are exceedingly prone to copy the behavior of others when threatened with punishment. Together, these four studies indicate that important aspects of human social behavior can be understood as involving mechanisms of basic reinforcement learning, and that simple computational models of these learning processes can provide important insights into human behavior

Is 125I iothalamate an ideal marker for glomerular filtration?

Is 125I iothalamate an ideal marker for glomerular filtration? The triiodinated angiographic contrast medium, iothalamate, has (usually labelled 125I) been used extensively as a marker for glomerular filtration. We have studied the renal handling of 125I iothalamate (IOT) in vivo and in vitro in several species. In renal cortical slices from chicken, rabbit, rat, and monkey, the tissue-to-medium ratio of IOT was twice that of 51Cr-EDTA (EDTA) at 37°C; a difference that was abolished at 0°C and markedly reduced by added o-iodohippurate or iodipamide. In five chickens the steady-state renal clearance of IOT (CIOT) was twice (P < 0.05) that of EDTA (CEDTA) or 3H inulin (C1); a difference that was abolished by administration of 100 mg/kg/hr of novobiocin, an organic anion transport inhibitor. CEDTA was similar to C1 before as well as after transport inhibition. Utilizing the Sperber technique the mean apparent tubular excretion fraction (ATEF) of IOT was 8%, while that of EDTA was 1% (P < 0.01; N = 10). After novobiocin coinfusion (new steady-state) ATEFIOT was significantly reduced (P < 0.01) and not different from that of EDTA (-1%). In the same animals the total urinary recovery of IOT was 84 and 57% (P < 0.01) before and after novobiocin, respectively, while corresponding values for EDTA was unchanged by the inhibitor. In seven rats the renal extraction of IOT was reduced from 29 to 17% (P < 0.05) by coinfusion of probenecid (5 mg/kg/hr). Corresponding extractions were 82 to 34% (P < 0.005) and 22% (unchanged) for PAH and EDTA, respectively. In six healthy volunteers the renal clearance of unlabelled IOT (HPLC method) equated that of creatinine but exceeded that of inulin with 38% (P < 0.01). This difference was reduced 34% (P<0.05) by probenecid (1 g i.v.). In nineteen patients with a single or two kidneys the average plasma clearance (single injection technique; slope-intercept method) of IOT was 13% higher than that of EDTA (P < 0.001); a difference which was significantly (P < 0.01) reduced to half after pretreatment with probenecid (1 g i.v.); in some patients this difference was marked. The results show that IOT is subject to a significant and in some cases marked renal tubular secretion in chicken, rats, and humans. IOT, therefore, is not an ideal marker for glomerular filtration.Le 125I iothalamate est-il un marqueur idéal de la filtration glomérulaire? L'iothalamate, un produit de contraste angiographique tri-iodé a été largement utilisé (habituellement marqué à 125I) comme marqueur de la filtration glomérulaire. Nous avons étudié l'excrétion rénale du 125I iothalamate (IOT) in vivo et in vitro dans différentes espèces. Dans des tranches corticales de rein de poulet, de lapin, de rat, et de singe, le rapport tissu sur milieu de l'IOT était le double de celui du 51Cr-EDTA (EDTA) à 37°C; une différence abolie à 0°C et réduite de façon marquée par l'addition de O-iodohippurate ou d'iodipamide. Chez cinq poulets la clearance rénale à l'équilibre d'IOT (CIOT) était le double (P < 0,05) de celle de l'EDTA (CEDTA) ou de 3H inuline (CI); une différence abolie par l'administration de 100 mg/kg/hr de novobiocine, un inhibiteur du transport des anions organiques. CEDTA était identique à CI avant comme après l'inhibition du transport. En utilisant la technique de Sperber, la fraction d'excrétion tubulaire apparente moyenne (ATEF) de l'IOT était de 8%, alors que celle de l'EDTA était de 1% {P < 0,01; N = 10). Après coperfusion de novobiocine (nouvel équilibre) ATEFIOT était significativement réduite (P < 0,01) et non différente de celle de l'EDTA (- 1%). Chez les mêmes animaux, la récupération urinaire totale d'IOT était de 84 et 57% (P < 0,01) avant et après novobiocine, respectivement, alors que les valeurs correspondantes pour l'EDTA étaient inchangées par l'inhibiteur. Chez sept rats, l'extraction rénale d'IOT était réduite de 29 à 17% (P < 0,05) par coperfusion de probénécide (5 mg/kg/hr). Les extractions correspondant étaient de 82 à 34% (P < 0,005) et de 22% (inchangées) pour le PAH et l'EDTA, respectivement. Chez six volontaires sains, la clearance rénale de l'IOT non marqué (méthode HPLC) était égale à celle de la créatinine mais dépassait celle de l'inuline de 38% (P < 0,01). Cette différence était réduite de 34% (P < 0,05) par le probénécide (1 g i.v.). Chez dix-neuf malades avec un ou deux reins, la clearance plasmatique moyenne (technique par injection unique; méthode d'interception de la courbe) de l'IOT était 13% plus élevée que celle de l'EDTA (P < 0,01); une différence qui était significativement (P < 0,01) réduite de moitié après prétraîtement par le probénécide (1 g i.v.); chez certains malades cette différence était marquée. Ces résultats montrent que l'IOT est sujet à une sécrétion tubulaire rénale significative et parfois marquée chez le poulet, le rat, et l'homme. L'IOT n'est donc pas un marqueur idéal de la filtration glomérulaire

Accept eller förkastande av ett fientligt bud - Faktorer som påverkar aktieägarna

Syftet med den här studien är att redogöra för vilka faktorer som påverkar aktieägare i valet mellan att acceptera eller förkasta ett fientligt bud och att undersöka hur dessa faktorer påverkar aktieägarna. Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ metod genom en fallstudie, där empiri har samlats in genom ostrukturerade intervjuer. Fallstudien baseras på det bud som finpapperstillverkaren Arctic Paper lade på massaproducenten Rottneros under åren 2012 - 2013. I studien har vi använt oss av bland annat Hedlund et al. (1985) för att identifiera olika aktieägargrupper, och Hirschmans (1970) teori om voice, exit och loyalty för att analysera aktieägares beteende. Med hjälp av teori och den insamlade empirin fann vi empiriskt stöd för tre av Hedlunds aktieägartyper - finansförvaltaren, investeraren och lojalisten. Vi identifierade sedan fyra teman som påverkat dessa aktieägargrupper i budprocessen. Dessa är budets premium och dess utformning, de utlovade synergieffekterna, synen på det budande företaget och lojalitet till det egna företaget. Slutsatsen av den här studien är hur viktigt det är för det budande företaget att göra en analys av aktieägarstrukturen i målföretaget för att maximera sannolikheten för att det fientliga budet ska kunna lyckas

Felodipine-metoprolol combination tablet: A valuable option to initiate antihypertensive therapy?

The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a calcium antagonist/β-blocker fixed combination tablet used as first-line antihypertesnive therapy in comparison with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and placebo. Patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension (diastolic blood pressure between 95 and 110 mm Hg at the end of a 4-week run-in period) were randomly allocated to a double-blind, 12-week treatment with either a combination tablet of felodipine and metoprolol (Logimax), 5/50 mg daily (n = 321), enalapril, 10 mg daily (n = 321), or placebo (n = 304), with the possibility of doubling the dose after 4 or 8 weeks of treatment if needed (diastolic blood pressure remaining >90 mm Hg). The combined felodipine-metoprolol treatment controlled blood pressure (diastolic ≤90 mm Hg 24 h after dose) in 72% of patients after 12 weeks, as compared with 49% for enalapril and 30% for placebo. A dose adjustment was required in 38% of patients receiving the combination, in 63% of patients allocated to placebo, and 61% of enalapril-treated patients. The overall incidence of adverse events was 54.5% during felodipine-metoprolol treatment; the corresponding values for enalapril and placebo were 51.7% and 47.4%, respectively. Withdrawal of treatment due to adverse events occurred in 18 patients treated with the combination, in 10 patients on enalapril, and 12 patients on placebo. No significant change in patients' well-being was observed in either of the three study groups. These results show that a fixed combination tablet of felodipine and metoprolol allows to normalize blood pressure in a substantially larger fraction of patients than enalapril given alone. This improved efficacy is obtained without impairing the tolerability. The fixed-dose combination of felodipine and metoprolol, therefore, may become a valuable option to initiate antihypertensive treatment. Am J Hypertens 1999;12:915-920 © 1999 American Journal of Hypertension, Lt

Felodipine-Metoprolol Combination Tablet: Maintained Health-Related Quality of Life in the Presence of Substantial Blood Pressure Reduction

Background: Most treated hypertensive patients do not achieve adequate blood pressure (BP) control. Initiating therapy with two drugs has been suggested when BP is >20/10 mm Hg above goal. To ensure patients' compliance, such treatment needs to be well tolerated and must not compromise health-related quality of life (HRQL). The primary objective of this study was to compare the effects on HRQL of initiating treatment with felodipine &plus; metoprolol (F&plus;M) fixed combination tablets, or enalapril (E), or placebo (P). Methods: A total of 947 patients of both sexes with primary hypertension (diastolic BP 95 to 110 mm Hg), aged 20 to 70 years, participated in this randomized, double-blind, parallel group, 12-week, multicenter trial. Treatment was initiated with F&plus;M 5 &plus; 50 mg, or E 10 mg, or P. Doses were doubled after 4 or 8 weeks if diastolic BP was >90 mm Hg. The HRQL was measured at baseline and at the last visit using two validated questionnaires: the Psychological General Well-being Index (PGWB) and the Subjective Symptom Assessment Profile (SSA-P). Office BP was measured at trough, that is, 24 h after the previous dose. Results: The HRQL was high at baseline and generally well maintained during the study. For example, the mean (SD) PGWB total score was 104 (16) at baseline and 105 (16) at 12 weeks in all three treatment groups. The BP reductions after F&plus;M (18/14 mm Hg) and E (12/9 mm Hg) were significantly greater than after P (7/7 mm Hg), and the reduction after F&plus;M was significantly greater than after E. Conclusions: The HRQL is maintained in the presence of substantial BP reduction during antihypertensive treatment with F&plus;M fixed combination tablets. Am J Hypertens 2005;18:1313-1319 © 2005 American Journal of Hypertension, Lt

Mapping Systematic Reviews on Forensic Psychiatric Care: A Systematic Review Identifying Knowledge Gaps

Background: Forensic psychiatric care treats mentally disordered offenders who suffer mainly from psychotic disorders, although comorbidities such as personality disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and substance abuse are common. A large proportion of these patients have committed violent crimes. Their care is involuntary, and their caregivers' mission is complex: not only to rehabilitate the patient, but also to consider their risk for reoffending and their risk to society. The objective of this overview of systematic reviews is to identify, appraise, and summarize the existing knowledge in forensic psychiatric care and identify knowledge gaps that require further research.Methods: We undertook a systematic literature search for systematic reviews in five defined domains considered important in daily clinical practice within the forensic psychiatric care: (1) diagnostic assessment and risk assessments; (2) pharmacological treatment; (3) psychological interventions; (4) psychosocial interventions, rehabilitation, and habilitation; and (5) restraint interventions. The target population was mentally disordered offenders (forensic psychiatric patients aged &gt;15 years). Each abstract and full text review was assessed by two of the authors. Relevant reviews then were assessed for bias, and those with moderate or low risk of bias were included.Results: Of 38 systematic reviews meeting the inclusion criteria, only four had a moderate risk of bias. Two aimed to incorporate as many aspects of forensic psychiatric care as possible, one investigated non-pharmacological interventions to reduce aggression in forensic psychiatric care, and one focused on women with intellectual disabilities in forensic care. However, most of the primary studies included in these reviews had high risks of bias, and therefore, no conclusions could be drawn. All of our identified domains must be considered knowledge gaps.Conclusion: We could not answer any of our research questions within the five domains because of the high risk of bias in the primary studies in the included systematic reviews. There is an urgent need for more research on forensic psychiatric care since all of our studied domains were considered knowledge gaps

Return to work after a workplace-oriented intervention for patients on sick-leave for burnout - a prospective controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the present study the effect of a workplace-oriented intervention for persons on long-term sick leave for clinical burnout, aimed at facilitating return to work (RTW) by job-person match through patient-supervisor communication, was evaluated. We hypothesised that the intervention group would show a more successful RTW than a control group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective controlled study, subjects were identified by the regional social insurance office 2-6 months after the first day on sick leave. The intervention group (n = 74) was compared to a control group who had declined participation, being matched by length of sick leave (n = 74). The RTW was followed up, using sick-listing register data, until 1.5 years after the time of intervention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a linear increase of RTW in the intervention group during the 1.5-year follow-up period, and 89% of subjects had returned to work to some extent at the end of the follow-up period. The increase in RTW in the control group came to a halt after six months, and only 73% had returned to work to some extent at the end of the 1.5-year follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that the present study demonstrated an improvement of long-term RTW after a workplace-oriented intervention for patients on long-term sick leave due to burnout.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials NCT01039168.</p

Comparative validation of machine learning algorithms for surgical workflow and skill analysis with the HeiChole benchmark

Purpose: Surgical workflow and skill analysis are key technologies for the next generation of cognitive surgical assistance systems. These systems could increase the safety of the operation through context-sensitive warnings and semi-autonomous robotic assistance or improve training of surgeons via data-driven feedback. In surgical workflow analysis up to 91% average precision has been reported for phase recognition on an open data single-center video dataset. In this work we investigated the generalizability of phase recognition algorithms in a multicenter setting including more difficult recognition tasks such as surgical action and surgical skill. Methods: To achieve this goal, a dataset with 33 laparoscopic cholecystectomy videos from three surgical centers with a total operation time of 22 h was created. Labels included framewise annotation of seven surgical phases with 250 phase transitions, 5514 occurences of four surgical actions, 6980 occurences of 21 surgical instruments from seven instrument categories and 495 skill classifications in five skill dimensions. The dataset was used in the 2019 international Endoscopic Vision challenge, sub-challenge for surgical workflow and skill analysis. Here, 12 research teams trained and submitted their machine learning algorithms for recognition of phase, action, instrument and/or skill assessment. Results: F1-scores were achieved for phase recognition between 23.9% and 67.7% (n = 9 teams), for instrument presence detection between 38.5% and 63.8% (n = 8 teams), but for action recognition only between 21.8% and 23.3% (n = 5 teams). The average absolute error for skill assessment was 0.78 (n = 1 team). Conclusion: Surgical workflow and skill analysis are promising technologies to support the surgical team, but there is still room for improvement, as shown by our comparison of machine learning algorithms. This novel HeiChole benchmark can be used for comparable evaluation and validation of future work. In future studies, it is of utmost importance to create more open, high-quality datasets in order to allow the development of artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics in surgery

Verbal instructions override the meaning of facial expressions

Psychological research has long acknowledged that facial expressions can implicitly trigger affective psychophysiological responses. However, whether verbal information can alter the meaning of facial emotions and corresponding response patterns has not been tested. This study examined emotional facial expressions as cues for instructed threat-of-shock or safety, with a focus on defensive responding. In addition, reversal instructions were introduced to test the impact of explicit safety instructions on fear extinction. Forty participants were instructed that they would receive unpleasant electric shocks, for instance, when viewing happy but not angry faces. In a second block, instructions were reversed (e.g., now angry faces cued shock). Happy, neutral, and angry faces were repeatedly presented, and auditory startle probes were delivered in half of the trials. The defensive startle reflex was potentiated for threat compared to safety cues. Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of whether threat was cued by happy or angry expressions. Although the typical pattern of response habituation was observed, defense activation to newly instructed threat cues remained significantly enhanced in the second part of the experiment, and it was more pronounced in more socially anxious participants. Thus, anxious individuals did not exhibit more pronounced defense activation compared to less anxious participants, but their defense activation was more persistent