Memory development: implications for adults recalling childhood experiences in the courtroom

Adults frequently provide compelling, detailed accounts of early childhood experiences in the courtroom. Judges and jurors are asked to decide guilt or innocence based solely on these decades-old memories using 'common sense' notions about memory. However, these notions are not in agreement with findings from neuroscientific and behavioural studies of memory development. Without expert guidance, judges and jurors may have difficulty in properly adjudicating the weight of memory evidence in cases involving adult recollections of childhood experiences

The Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Contributes to Prosocial Fund Allocations in the Dictator Game and the Social Value Orientations Task

Background: Economic games observe social decision making in the laboratory that involves real money payoffs. Previously we have shown that allocation of funds in the Dictator Game (DG), a paradigm that illustrates costly altruistic behavior, is partially determined by promoter-region repeat region variants in the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor gene (AVPR1a). In the current investigation, the gene encoding the related oxytocin receptor (OXTR) was tested for association with the DG and a related paradigm, the Social Values Orientation (SVO) task. Methodology/Principal Findings: Association (101 male and 102 female students) using a robust-family based test between 15 single tagging SNPs (htSNPs) across the OXTR was demonstrated with both the DG and SVO. Three htSNPs across the gene region showed significant association with both of the two games. The most significant association was observed with rs1042778 (p = 0.001). Haplotype analysis also showed significant associations for both DG and SVO. Following permutation test adjustment, significance was observed for 2–5 locus haplotypes (p,0.05). A second sample of 98 female subjects was subsequently and independently recruited to play the dictator game and was genotyped for the three significant SNPs found in the first sample. The rs1042778 SNP was shown to be significant for the second sample as well (p = 0.004, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions: The demonstration that genetic polymorphisms for the OXTR are associated with human prosocial decisio

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Hardware considerations for preclinical magnetic resonance of the kidney

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive imaging technology that offers unparalleled anatomical and functional detail, along with diagnostic sensitivity. MRI is suitable for longitudinal studies due to the lack of exposure to ionizing radiation. Before undertaking preclinical MRI investigations of the kidney, the appropriate MRI hardware should be carefully chosen to balance the competing demands of image quality, spatial resolution, and imaging speed, tailored to the specific scientific objectives of the investigation. Here we describe the equipment needed to perform renal MRI in rodents, with the aim to guide the appropriate hardware selection to meet the needs of renal MRI applications.This publication is based upon work from the COST Action PARENCHIMA, a community-driven network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, which aims to improve the reproducibility and standardization of renal MRI biomarkers. This chapter on hardware considerations for renal MRI in small animals is complemented by two separate publications describing the experimental procedure and data analysis

How doctors generate diagnostic hypotheses: a study of radiological diagnosis with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

In medical practice, diagnostic hypotheses are often made by physicians in the first moments of contact with patients; sometimes even before they report their symptoms. We propose that generation of diagnostic hypotheses in this context is the result of cognitive processes subserved by brain mechanisms that are similar to those involved in naming objects or concepts in everyday life

Critical aspects in the development of anodes for use in seawater electrolysis

The global water crisis limits the full implementation of purified water electrolysis across the world. Thus, seawater electrolysis has been identified as a powerful option to meet the requirements for sustainable production of green hydrogen without the constraint of using pure water. As in pure water electrolysis, seawater electrolysis research has been oriented to produce a durable, electrocatalytic, and selective anode. Even though seawater electrolysis was proposed for the first time in 1980, the research found on this topic grew exponentially in the last few years. Nevertheless, researchers do not give a clear insight about the impact that important variables have in the process of seawater electrolysis and, in particular, the anodic process. In this work, an in-depth literature review on articles reporting the development of various anode materials and the conditions in which they have been tested was carried out. The conclusions reveal a need to standardize some parameters for testing the anodes, such as simulated seawater composition, pH of the solution, the method through which parasitic reactions are measured and the choice of secondary reactions to be considered in the process. A standardization of these parameters will allow researchers to compare results, which in turn will allow collaborative work towards the goal of finding a feasible process for seawater electrolysis.SCOPUS: re.jDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Electrodeposition of lead-cobalt anodes: The effect of electrolyte pH on film properties

Electrodeposited lead (Pb)-cobalt (Co) coatings are an effective electrocatalyst in the oxygen-evolution reaction. We studied the effect of an electrolytic bath pH on the electrodeposition of Pb-Co coatings, and the coating properties were analyzed. The pH was varied from 1 to 6 for a solution without and with ascorbic acid as complexing agent. Cathodic polarization curves show that the deposition conditions have a greater effect on the reduction potential of Co2+ than the reduction potential of Pb2+. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis shows that a pH higher than 4 promotes Co deposition and yields a [Pb]/[Co] film ratio lower than 1. Scanning electron micrographs showed that samples grown at a pH higher than 2 were covered with Co dendrites, and that the sample grown with ascorbic acid at pH 1 exhibited a compact morphology. Anodic polarization curves showed that Pb-Co-coated anodes grown at pH 1 with a complexing agent evolved oxygen at c.a. 1.6 V vs. normal hydrogen electrode, which lead to a 40% reduction in the required overpotential (η) for the oxygen-evolution reaction compared with conventional Pb-Ca-Sn anodes.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Object-Based Dynamics: Applying Forman–Ricci Flow on a Multigraph to Assess the Impact of an Object on The Network Structure

Temporal information plays a central role in shaping the structure of a network. In this paper, we consider the impact of an object on network structure over time. More specifically, we use a novel object-based dynamic measure to reflect the extent to which an object that is represented in the network by a vertex affects the topology of the network over time. By way of multigraph and Forman–Ricci flow, we assess the object’s impact on graph weights by comparing two graphs, one in which the object is present and one in which the object is absent. After using a case study to demonstrate the impact of Forman–Ricci flow on the network structure, we apply our measure in a semantic network to assess the effects of a word on the interactions between other words that follow it. In addition, we compare our novel measure to centrality and curvature measures so that we can ascertain the advantages of our measure over ones that already exist