The role of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a prognostic marker in COVID-19

Funding declaration This study received no specific funding. The study was partially supported through the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London (BC)Peer reviewedPostprin

Nosocomial COVID-19 infection : examining the risk of mortality. The COPE-Nosocomial Study (COVID in Older PEople)

In the United Kingdom, authority to conduct the study was granted by the Health Research Authority (20/HRA/1898), and in Italy by the Ethics Committee of Policlinico Hospital Modena (Reference 369/2020/OSS/AOUMO). Cardiff University was the study sponsor.Peer reviewedPostprin

Preembryo Personhood: An Assessment of the President’s Council Arguments

The President’s Council on Bioethics has addressed the moral status of human preembryos in its reports on stem cell research and human therapeutic cloning. Although the Council has been criticized for being hand-picked to favor the right-to-life viewpoint concerning human preembryos, it has embraced the idea that the right-to-life position should be defended in secular terms. This is an important feature of the Council’s work, and it demonstrates a recognition of the need for genuine engagement between opposing sides in the debate over stem cell research. To promote this engagement, the Council has stated in secular terms several arguments for the personhood of human preembryos. This essay presents and critiques those arguments, and it concludes that they are unsuccessful. If the best arguments in support of the personhood of human preembryos have been presented by the Council, then there are no reasonable secular arguments in support of that view

Differential cross section and recoil polarization measurements for the gamma p to K+ Lambda reaction using CLAS at Jefferson Lab

We present measurements of the differential cross section and Lambda recoil polarization for the gamma p to K+ Lambda reaction made using the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. These measurements cover the center-of-mass energy range from 1.62 to 2.84 GeV and a wide range of center-of-mass K+ production angles. Independent analyses were performed using the K+ p pi- and K+ p (missing pi -) final-state topologies; results from these analyses were found to exhibit good agreement. These differential cross section measurements show excellent agreement with previous CLAS and LEPS results and offer increased precision and a 300 MeV increase in energy coverage. The recoil polarization data agree well with previous results and offer a large increase in precision and a 500 MeV extension in energy range. The increased center-of-mass energy range that these data represent will allow for independent study of non-resonant K+ Lambda photoproduction mechanisms at all production angles.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figure

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations

The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists. Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined. New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations. It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than 'unconscious cognitions', per se

Doing synthetic biology with photosynthetic microorganisms

The use of photosynthetic microbes as synthetic biology hosts for the sustainable production of commodity chemicals and even fuels has received increasing attention over the last decade. The number of studies published, tools implemented, and resources made available for microalgae have increased beyond expectations during the last few years. However, the tools available for genetic engineering in these organisms still lag those available for the more commonly used heterotrophic host organisms. In this mini-review, we provide an overview of the photosynthetic microbes most commonly used in synthetic biology studies, namely cyanobacteria, chlorophytes, eustigmatophytes and diatoms. We provide basic information on the techniques and tools available for each model group of organisms, we outline the state-of-the-art, and we list the synthetic biology tools that have been successfully used. We specifically focus on the latest CRISPR developments, as we believe that precision editing and advanced genetic engineering tools will be pivotal to the advancement of the field. Finally, we discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of each group of organisms and examine the challenges that need to be overcome to achieve their synthetic biology potential.Peer reviewe

Gendering the careers of young professionals: some early findings from a longitudinal study. in Organizing/theorizing: developments in organization theory and practice

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales

The Scientific Foundations of Forecasting Magnetospheric Space Weather

The magnetosphere is the lens through which solar space weather phenomena are focused and directed towards the Earth. In particular, the non-linear interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field leads to the formation of highly inhomogenous electrical currents in the ionosphere which can ultimately result in damage to and problems with the operation of power distribution networks. Since electric power is the fundamental cornerstone of modern life, the interruption of power is the primary pathway by which space weather has impact on human activity and technology. Consequently, in the context of space weather, it is the ability to predict geomagnetic activity that is of key importance. This is usually stated in terms of geomagnetic storms, but we argue that in fact it is the substorm phenomenon which contains the crucial physics, and therefore prediction of substorm occurrence, severity and duration, either within the context of a longer-lasting geomagnetic storm, but potentially also as an isolated event, is of critical importance. Here we review the physics of the magnetosphere in the frame of space weather forecasting, focusing on recent results, current understanding, and an assessment of probable future developments.Peer reviewe