Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preferences predict who commits crime among young men

Significance Who commits crime? Theoretically, risk-tolerant and impatient people are more likely to commit crime because they care less about the risks of apprehension and punishment. By linking experimental data on risk tolerance and impatience of young men to administrative crime records, we find empirical support for this hypothesis. For example, crime rates are 8 to 10 percentage points higher for the most risk-tolerant people compared to the most risk averse. A theoretical implication is that those who are most prone to commit crime are also those who are least responsive to stricter law enforcement. Risk tolerance and impatience significantly predict property crime, while self-control is a stronger predictor of crimes of passion (violent, drug, and sexual offenses). Understanding who commits crime and why is a key topic in social science and important for the design of crime prevention policy. In theory, people who commit crime face different social and economic incentives for criminal activity than other people, or they evaluate the costs and benefits of crime differently because they have different preferences. Empirical evidence on the role of preferences is scarce. Theoretically, risk-tolerant, impatient, and self-interested people are more prone to commit crime than risk-averse, patient, and altruistic people. We test these predictions with a unique combination of data where we use incentivized experiments to elicit the preferences of young men and link these experimental data to their criminal records. In addition, our data allow us to control extensively for other characteristics such as cognitive skills, socioeconomic background, and self-control problems. We find that preferences are strongly associated with actual criminal behavior. Impatience and, in particular, risk tolerance are still strong predictors when we include the full battery of controls. Crime propensities are 8 to 10 percentage points higher for the most risk-tolerant individuals compared to the most risk averse. This effect is half the size of the effect of cognitive skills, which is known to be a very strong predictor of criminal behavior. Looking into different types of crime, we find that preferences significantly predict property offenses, while self-control problems significantly predict violent, drug, and sexual offenses.
Reference values for performance test outcomes relevant to English female soccer players

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to present reference standards for physical performance test outcomes relevant to elite female soccer players. We analysed mixed-longitudinal data (n = 1715 observations) from a sample of 479 elite youth and senior players as part of the English Football Association’s national development programme (age range: 12.7 to 36.0 years). Semi-parametric generalized additive models for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS) estimated age-related reference centiles for 5-m sprinting, 30-m sprinting, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) performance. The estimated reference centiles indicated that the median of the distribution of physical performance test scores varied non-linearly with advancing chronological age, improving until around 25 years for each performance variable. These are the first reference ranges for performance test outcomes in elite English female soccer players. These data can assist practitioners when interpreting physical test performance outcomes to track an individual’s progress over time and support decision-making regarding player recruitment and development.
An analysis of hematological, coagulation and biochemical markers in COVID-19 disease and their association with clinical severity and mortality: an Indian outlook.

BACKGROUND The "cytokine storm" (CS) in COVID-19 leads to the worst stage of illness which can be controlled only with timely intervention. There is an urgent need to identify laboratory markers of disease progression for optimum allocation of resources in developing countries like India. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 COVID-19 positive patients over two months. The cases were sub-classified based on disease severity into mild to moderate (n=61), severe (n=26) and very severe (n=13) and into survivors (n=85) and non-survivors (n=15) based on survivor status. These patients were tested for hematological parameters (total blood lymphocyte counts, NLR, PLR, platelet indices etc.), coagulation markers (D-dimer, fibrin degradation products (FDP), fibrinogen etc.) and biochemical markers (LDH, ferritin, IL-6, procalcitonin, hs-CRP). RESULTS Statistically significant differences were observed in hematological variables (ANC, NLR and ESR), coagulation parameters (D-dimer, FDP, fibrinogen and thrombin time) and biochemical markers (LDH, ferritin, IL-6, procalcitonin and hs-CRP) with regard to subcategories based of disease severity as well as survivor status. There was strong correlation between NLR, D-dimer, IL-6, procalcitonin and ferritin. IL-6 emerged as the single best marker of disease severity (AUC: 0.997, P=0.00), however procalcitonin, LDH, D-dimer, FDP and NLR could also predict severe disease with a good sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSION To conclude, study demonstrates a plethora of biomarkers which could be utilized to accurately identify the hyperinflammation and tissue damage reminiscent of cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients so that timely, safe, and effective therapies can be administered to prevent progression and potentially reduce mortality.
Discovery of an insulin‐induced gene binding compound that ameliorates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by inhibiting sterol regulatory element‐binding protein–mediated lipogenesis

NASH is associated with high levels of cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) in the liver; however, there is still no approved pharmacological therapy. Synthesis of cholesterol and TG is controlled by sterol regulatory element‐binding protein (SREBP), which is found to be abnormally activated in NASH patients. We aim to discover small molecules for treating NASH by inhibiting the SREBP pathway.
Host genetics, phenotype and geography structure the microbiome of a foundational seaweed

Interactions between hosts and their microbiota are vital to the functioning and resilience of macro‐organisms. Critically, for hosts that play foundational roles in communities, understanding what drives host–microbiota interactions is essential for informing ecosystem restoration and conservation. We investigated the relative influence of host traits and the surrounding environment on microbial communities associated with the foundational seaweed Phyllospora comosa. We quantified 16 morphological and functional phenotypic traits, including host genetics (using 354 single nucleotide polymorphisms) and surface‐associated microbial communities (using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) from 160 individuals sampled from eight sites spanning Phyllospora's entire latitudinal distribution (1,300 km). Combined, these factors explained 54% of the overall variation in Phyllospora's associated microbial community structure, much of which was related to the local environment (~32%). We found that putative “core” microbial taxa (i.e., present on all Phyllospora individuals sampled) exhibited slightly higher associations with host traits when compared to “variable” taxa (not present on all individuals). We identified several key genetic loci and phenotypic traits in Phyllospora that were strongly related to multiple microbial amplicon sequence variants, including taxa with known associations to seaweed defence, disease and tissue degradation. This information on how host‐associated microbial communities vary with host traits and the environment enhances our current understanding of how “holobionts” (hosts plus their microbiota) are structured. Such understanding can be used to inform management strategies of these important and vulnerable habitats.
Systematic Design of Four-Speed Ravigneaux-Type Automatic Transmissions

This paper presents an efficient methodology for the systematic design of four-speed Ravigneaux-type automatic transmissions associated with the clutching sequence tables. First, the corresponding speed ratio equations of the seven-link Ravigneaux gear mechanism are derived by the concept of basic gear ratios of fundamental gear entities. Next, a methodology for the synthesis of all the clutching sequence tables of the Ravigneaux gear mechanisms is described. Then, a graph representation is proposed to embody the corresponding schematic of an automatic transmission by combining the associated clutches into the epicyclic gear mechanism. Finally, the analytic method presented by Hsu is applied to determine the numbers of teeth of all the gears for each concept. In this paper, the atlas of four four-speed Ravigneaux-type automatic transmissions has been synthesized in an efficient way.
Risk‐layering and optimal insurance uptake under ambiguity: With an application to farmers exposed to drought risk in Austria

Many risks we face today will very likely not stay the same over time. For example, it is expected that climate change will alter future risks of natural disaster events considerably and, as a consequence, current risk management and governance strategies may not be effective anymore. Large ambiguities arise if future climate change impacts should be taken into account for analyzing risk management options today. Risk insurance, while albeit only one of many risk management actions possible, plays an important role in current societies for dealing with extremes. A natural starting point for our analysis is therefore the question of how ambiguity may be incorporated in a world with changing risks. To shed light on this question, we study how ambiguity can affect the uptake of insurance and risk mitigation within a risk‐layer approach where each layer is quantified using distortion risk measures that should reflect the risk aversion of a decisionmaker toward extreme losses. Importantly, we obtain a closed‐form solution for such a problem statement which allows an efficient numerical implementation. We apply this model to a case study of drought risk for Austrian farmers and address the question how ambiguity will affect the risk layers of different types of farmers and how subsidies may help to deal with current and future risks. We found that especially for small‐scale farmers the consequences of increasing risk and model ambiguity are pronounced and subsidies are especially needed in this case to cover the high‐risk layer.
Quantifying Quality of Reaching Movements Longitudinally Post-Stroke: A Systematic Review

Background Disambiguation of behavioral restitution from compensation is important to better understand recovery of upper limb motor control post-stroke and subsequently design better interventions. Measuring quality of movement (QoM) during standardized performance assays and functional tasks using kinematic and kinetic metrics potentially allows for this disambiguation. Objectives To identify longitudinal studies that used kinematic and/or kinetic metrics to investigate post-stroke recovery of reaching and assess whether these studies distinguish behavioral restitution from compensation. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted using the databases PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Wiley/Cochrane Library up to July 1st, 2020. Studies were identified if they performed longitudinal kinematic and/or kinetic measurements during reaching, starting within the first 6 months post-stroke. Results Thirty-two longitudinal studies were identified, which reported a total of forty-six different kinematic metrics. Although the majority investigated improvements in kinetics or kinematics to quantify recovery of QoM, none of these studies explicitly addressed the distinction between behavioral restitution and compensation. One study obtained kinematic metrics for both performance assays and a functional task. Conclusions Despite the growing number of kinematic and kinetic studies on post-stroke recovery, longitudinal studies that explicitly seek to delineate between behavioral restitution and compensation are still lacking in the literature. To rectify this situation, future studies should measure kinematics and/or kinetics during performance assays to isolate restitution and during a standardized functional task to determine the contributions of restitution and compensation.
Oligodendrogenesis is a key process for cognitive performance improvement induced by voluntary physical activity

Physical activity (PA) promotes the proliferation of neural stem cells and enhances neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus resulting in hippocampal circuit remodeling and cognitive enhancement. Nonetheless, knowledge of other neural progenitors affected by PA and the mechanisms through which they could contribute to circuit plasticity and cognitive enhancement are still poorly understood. In this work we demonstrated that NG2‐glia, also known as oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, show enhanced proliferation and differentiation in response to voluntary PA in a brain region‐dependent manner in adult mice. Surprisingly, preventing NG2‐glia differentiation during enhanced PA abolishes the exercise‐associated cognitive improvement without affecting neurogenesis or baseline learning capacity. Thus, here we provided new evidence highlighting the requirement of oligodendrogenesis for exercise induced‐cognition enhancement.
Disease Modeling and Model‐Based Meta‐Analyses to Define a New Direction for a Phase III Program of Gantenerumab in Alzheimer’s Disease

Selecting the right dose is a significant challenge in designing clinical development programs, especially for slowly progressing diseases lacking predictive biomarkers of efficacy that may require long‐term treatment to assess clinical benefit. Gantenerumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody (mAb) that binds to aggregated amyloid‐beta, was tested in two 24‐month phase III studies (NCT01224106, NCT02051608) in participants with prodromal and mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD), respectively. Dosing in the first phase III study was suspended after a preplanned interim futility analysis in 2014. Subsequently, a dose–response relationship was observed in a subgroup of fast AD progressors that, together with contemporary aducanumab (another anti–amyloid‐beta mAb) data, indicated higher doses may be needed for clinical efficacy. The gantenerumab phase III studies were therefore transformed into dose‐finding, open‐label extension (OLE) trials. Two exposure–response models were developed to support dose selection via simulations for the OLEs: a pharmacokinetics (PK)/PET (positron emission tomography) model describing amyloid removal using PET data from low‐dose gantenerumab and high‐dose aducanumab, and a PK/ARIA‐E (amyloid‐related imaging abnormalities‐edema) model describing the occurrence of ARIA‐E events leveraging an existing bapineuzumab model. Multiple regimens were designed to gradually up‐titrate participants to the target dose of 1,200 mg gantenerumab every 4 weeks to mitigate the increased risk of ARIA‐E events that may be associated with higher doses of anti–amyloid‐beta antibodies. Favorable OLE data that matched well with model predictions supported the decision to continue the gantenerumab clinical development program and further apply model‐based analytical techniques to optimize the design of new phase III studies.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts derived extracellular vesicles promote angiogenesis of colorectal adenocarcinoma cells through miR-135b-5p/FOXO1 axis

ABSTRACT Colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a prevalent malignant tumor. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) (CAFs-EVs) are implicated in COAD treatment. This study explored the mechanism of CAFs-EVs in COAD. CAFs and normal fibroblast (NFs) were isolated from COAD tissues and adjacent normal tissues. Vimentin, α-SMA, and FAP expressions were detected. EVs were isolated from CAFs and identified. SW480 and HCT116 cells were co-incubated with EVs. The EV uptake and COAD cell malignant behaviors were assessed. EV-treated SW480 and HCT116 cells were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Extensive analyses were conducted to examine HUVEC proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis, and miR-135b-5p expression in COAD cells, and SW480 and HCT116 cells. CAFs were transfected with the miR-135b-5p inhibitor. miR-135b-5p downstream targets were predicted. FOXO1 expression in the co-culture system was determined and then overexpressed to evaluate its role in HUVECs mediated by COAD cells. COAD mouse model was established by transplanting SW480 cells into nude mice and injecting with EVs. Tumor growth rate, volume, and weight were examined. Ki67, VEGF, CD34, FOXO1 expressions, and VEGF content were detected. CAFs-EVs promoted COAD cell malignant behaviors and COAD cells-mediated HUVEC proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. CAFs-EVs delivered miR-135b-5p into COAD cells. miR-135b-5p targeted FOXO1. Inhibition of miR-135b-5p in EVs or overexpression of FOXO1 partially reversed the effect of EVs on promoting COAD-induced angiogenesis. CAFs-EVs promoted tumor proliferation and angiogenesis of COAD in vivo. CAFs-EVs delivered miR-135b-5p into COAD cells to downregulate FOXO1 and promote HUVECs proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis.
Using the Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent in Legal Settings

Abstract The Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent (PAI-A; Morey et al., 2007) is a self-report measure of personality and psychopathology appropriate for use with individuals aged 12–18. It is modeled after the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991), a measure widely used with adults in clinical and legal settings. The PAI-A assesses a variety of features that have utility in legal settings, including validity scales that assess approach to testing, clinical scales measuring common types of psychopathology, and treatment consideration scales that provide indicators of treatment motivation and other factors that may be important for predicting outcomes. The PAI-A has been included in a limited number of research studies and few of those have focused on justice-involved youths. Additionally, because juvenile court records are not typically publicly available, there is limited information about the PAI-A available in case law. This manuscript reviews the properties, strengths, and weaknesses of the PAI-A and its existing literature. Factors for mental health and legal professionals to consider in relation to the admissibility of this measure, questioning and cross-examination, and how the PAI-A may be received in court are also discussed.
Continuation of Pembrolizumab with Additional Chemotherapy after Progression with PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitor Monotherapy in Patients with Advanced NSCLC: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase II Study

Abstract Purpose: Although programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have shown survival benefits in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most patients progress. This study evaluated whether continuing pembrolizumab with additional chemotherapy after failure of prior PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor extends survival. Patients and Methods: This placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized phase II study enrolled patients with NSCLC who received one or two cytotoxic chemotherapy, including at least one platinum-doublet regimen, and progressed on second- or third-line PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor monotherapy as the last systemic therapy. Patients were randomized (1:1) to pembrolizumab or placebo plus chemotherapy, stratified by histology and clinical outcomes to prior PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Results: A total of 98 patients were randomized to the pembrolizumab-chemotherapy (N = 47) and placebo-chemotherapy arm (N = 51). At the median follow-up duration of 10.5 months, there was no statistical difference in PFS [median 4.1 months vs. 5.9 months; HR = 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.69–1.62; P = 0.78) and overall survival (median 11.5 months vs. 12.0 months; HR = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.66–1.83; P = 0.73) between the pembrolizumab-chemotherapy and placebo-chemotherapy arms. In a subgroup with PD-L1 expression in ≥50% of tumor cells and favorable clinical outcomes to prior PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor (partial response or 6 months or longer of stable disease), the pembrolizumab-chemotherapy arm showed a higher 24-month survival rate than the placebo-chemotherapy arm (74% vs. 38%; HR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.13–2.1; P = 0.34). Conclusions: This study did not show a survival benefit with the continuation of pembrolizumab with chemotherapy in patients whose NSCLC progressed on second- or third-line PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. See related commentary by Tseng and Gainor, p. 2206
Balint in the time of COVID-19: Participant and facilitator experience of virtual Balint groups compared with in-person

Background Current literature highlights peer and psychological support as important for staff well-being, to cope in pandemic conditions. Aims Our organisation increased Balint group provision during unfamiliar challenges of COVID-19. This unique context allowed comparison of multiple new virtual and face-to-face (F2F) Balint experiences. Method Following March 2020 lockdown, four existing Balint groups for doctors in psychiatry moved to online, with two new groups established virtually in specific response to the pandemic. All participants and facilitators of these virtual Balint groups were sent a questionnaire to anonymously rate their experience and provide qualitative feedback. Results The response rate was 89% for participants (51 respondents) and 100% for facilitators (5 respondents). Participants found both formats supportive; providing a space to talk, feel heard and validated, helping work feel less stressful. Participant ratings slightly favoured F2F, but some prefer to continue virtually. Facilitators felt virtual attendance was easier, but adherence to conventional Balint group structure and format more difficult. Conclusions Participant and facilitator responses demonstrate Balint groups, when both F2F and virtual, were experienced as a source of support and connectivity, being valued across different psychiatry grades. Notable virtual benefits seem to be limited to more practical aspects, that is, time, flexibility, logistics and accessibility. There are expressed challenges of virtual Balint; however, some participants still favour this format going forward. Our findings endorse virtual Balint as a welcomed means of emotional well-being, peer support and developing psychotherapeutic competencies during pandemic-related restrictions, with potential to extend beyond COVID-19.