A Computational Account of Borderline Personality Disorder: Impaired Predictive Learning about Self and Others Through Bodily Simulation

Social dysfunction is a prominent and disabling aspect of borderline personality disorder. We reconsider traditional explanations for this problem, especially early disruption in the way an infant feels physical care from its mother, in terms of recent developments in computational psychiatry. In particular, social learning may depend on reinforcement learning though embodied simulations. Such modeling involves calculations based on structures outside the brain such as face and hands, calculations on one\u27s own body that are used to make inferences about others. We discuss ways to test the role of embodied simulation in BPD and potential implications for treatment

Guidelines for initiation of anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: similarities and differences across Europe.

Contains fulltext : 80544.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

A Survey of Ramp and Stair Use among Older Adults

Forty-three community-dwelling adults aged 57 to 95 participated in survey exploring characteristics of ramp use by older ambulant people. Twenty-three respondents said they ascended ramps instead of stairs most of the time, and 14 said they ascended ramps some of the time. Similar numbers were reported for descent. Overall, respondents felt less fatigued, less likely to trip, and more comfortable when using ramps rather than stairs for ascending one level. When descending one level, balance, tripping, and comfort were the strongest determinants of ramp use. Respondents indicated that descent was more problematic, particularly in regard to balance and tripping. The presence of handrails often determined the choice of route. Results from this survey provided the basis for an experiment evaluating the abilities of older people to traverse ramps of various slopes. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines implicitly assume that a ramp accommodates everyone. This study indicates that entrances should have both ramps and stairs.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

PrivGenDB: Efficient and privacy-preserving query executions over encrypted SNP-Phenotype database

Privacy and security issues limit the query executions over genomics datasets, notably single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), raised by the sensitivity of this type of data. Therefore, it is important to ensure that executing queries on these datasets do not reveal sensitive information, such as the identity of the individuals and their genetic traits, to a data server. In this paper, we propose and present a novel model, we call PrivGenDB, to ensure the confidentiality of SNP-phenotype data while executing queries. The confidentiality in PrivGenDB is enabled by its system architecture and the search functionality provided by searchable symmetric encryption (SSE). To the best of our knowledge, PrivGenDB construction is the first SSE-based approach ensuring the confidentiality of SNP-phenotype data as the current SSE-based approaches for genomic data are limited only to substring search and range queries on a sequence of genomic data. Besides, a new data encoding mechanism is proposed and incorporated in the PrivGenDB model. This enables PrivGenDB to handle the dataset containing both genotype and phenotype and also support storing and managing other metadata, like gender and ethnicity, privately. Furthermore, different queries, namely Count, Boolean, Negation and k′-out-of-k match queries used for genomic data analysis, are supported and executed by PrivGenDB. The execution of these queries on genomic data in PrivGenDB is efficient and scalable for biomedical research and services. These are demonstrated by our analytical and empirical analysis presented in this paper. Specifically, our empirical studies on a dataset with 5000 entries (records) containing 1000 SNPs demonstrate that a count/Boolean query and a k′-out-of-k match query over 40 SNPs take approximately 4.3s and 86.4μs, respectively, outperforming the existing schemes

Simulation results for a low energy nuclear recoil yields measurement in liquid xenon using the MiX detector

Measuring the scintillation and ionization yields of liquid xenon in response to ultra-low energy nuclear recoil events is necessary to increase the sensitivity of liquid xenon experiments to light dark matter. Neutron capture on xenon can be used to produce nuclear recoil events with energies below $0.3$ keV$_\text{NR}$ via the asymmetric emission of $\gamma$ rays during nuclear de-excitation. The feasibility of an ultra-low energy nuclear recoil measurement using neutron capture was investigated for the Michigan Xenon (MiX) detector, a small dual-phase xenon time projection chamber that is optimized for a high scintillation gain. Simulations of the MiX detector, a partial neutron moderator, and a pulsed neutron generator indicate that a population of neutron capture events can be isolated from neutron scattering events. Further, the rate of neutron captures in the MiX detector was optimized by varying the thickness of the partial neutron moderator, neutron pulse width, and neutron pulse frequency.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. LIDINE 2022 proceeding

Epratuzumab (humanised anti-CD22 antibody) in primary Sjögren's syndrome: an open-label phase I/II study

This open-label, phase I/II study investigated the safety and efficacy of epratuzumab, a humanised anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody, in the treatment of patients with active primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). Sixteen Caucasian patients (14 females/2 males, 33–72 years) were to receive 4 infusions of 360 mg/m(2 )epratuzumab once every 2 weeks, with 6 months of follow-up. A composite endpoint involving the Schirmer-I test, unstimulated whole salivary flow, fatigue, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) was devised to provide a clinically meaningful assessment of response, defined as a ≥20% improvement in at least two of the aforementioned parameters, with ≥20% reduction in ESR and/or IgG considered as a single combined criterion. Fourteen patients received all infusions without significant reactions, 1 patient received 3, and another was discontinued due to a mild acute reaction after receiving a partial infusion. Three patients showed moderately elevated levels of Human anti-human (epratuzumab) antibody not associated with clinical manifestations. B-cell levels had mean reductions of 54% and 39% at 6 and 18 weeks, respectively, but T-cell levels, immunoglobulins, and routine safety laboratory tests did not change significantly. Fifty-three percent achieved a clinical response (at ≥20% improvement level) at 6 weeks, with 53%, 47%, and 67% responding at 10, 18, and 32 weeks, respectively. Approximately 40%–50% responded at the ≥30% level, while 10%–45% responded at the ≥50% level for 10–32 weeks. Additionally, statistically significant improvements were observed in fatigue, and patient and physician global assessments. Further, we determined that pSS patients have a CD22 over-expression in their peripheral B cells, which was downregulated by epratuzumab for at least 12 weeks after the therapy. Thus, epratuzumab appears to be a promising therapy in active pSS, suggesting that further studies be conducted

A Survey on Exotic Signatures for Post-quantum Blockchain: Challenges and Research Directions

Blockchain technology provides efficient and secure solutions to various online activities by utilizing a wide range of cryptographic tools. In this article, we survey the existing literature on post-quantum secure digital signatures that possess exotic advanced features and that are crucial cryptographic tools used in the blockchain ecosystem for (1) account management, (2) consensus efficiency, (3) empowering scriptless blockchain, and (4) privacy. The exotic signatures that we particularly focus on in this work are the following: multi-/aggregate, threshold, adaptor, blind, and ring signatures. Herein the term "exotic"refers to signatures with properties that are not just beyond the norm for signatures, e.g., unforgeability, but also imbue new forms of functionalities. Our treatment of such exotic signatures includes discussions on existing challenges and future research directions in the post-quantum space. We hope that this article will help to foster further research to make post-quantum cryptography more accessible so that blockchain systems can be made ready in advance of the approaching quantum threats

The spatial experiences of dwarfs in public spaces

Dwarfism is commonly defined as anyone 4ft 10″ (147.32 cm) or below and whose short stature involves a medical condition [Adelson, M. B. 2005. The Lives of Dwarfs, xv. NJ: Rutgers University Press]. Whilst it recognized that the built environment is unsuitable for dwarfs [see Kruse, R. 2002. “Social Spaces of Little People: The Experiences of the Jamisons.” Social and Cultural Geography 3 (2): 175–191, Kruse, R. 2010. “Placing Little People: Dwarfism and Geographies of Everyday Life.” In Towards Enabling Geographies, edited by V. Chouinard, E. Hall, and R. Wilton, 183–198. Surrey: Ashgate; Shakespeare, T., M. Wright, and S. Thompson. 2007. A Small Matter of Equality: Living with Restricted Growth. Newcastle: Newcastle University], this paper critically examines how spaces and facilities designed with other users in mind, including disabled people and children, can have unintended consequences for dwarfs. The data used in this paper are taken from semi-structured interviews and photo elicitation exercises conducted with 22 dwarfs living in the UK. Overall this paper shows the spatial experiences of dwarfs, which are a result of the unintended consequences of disabled child spaces and facilities, and suggests how Universal Design may be a more appropriate design concept