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How can we tell whether an agreement feature will end up as a prefix, a suffix, or a combination of exponents? Research on Afroasiatic languages has identified a number of asymmetries which can be found between prefixes and suffixes. This short review considers these asymmetries, points out three cross-Semitic generalizations, and outlines the possible sources for them. Four kinds of theoretical explanations are evaluated: Syntactic, Morphological, Morphotactic and Morphophonological.

Scholarship on law of the sea has become increasingly critical in recent years, but such a critical perspective is not easily implemented in the teaching of the subject. Given that little to no scholarship has engaged with the teaching practice of law of the sea, it seems timely to consider more carefully the research-teaching nexus in this field of law, which I seek to do through this essay. Drawing on critical pedagogy, I explain how I seek to encourage dialogic learning, to de-emphasise presumably authoritative voices, and to decentre the law in my teaching of law of the sea. I also consider some of the challenges that I have encountered in my efforts to decentre the teacher and the law, which mainly relate to arguably inherent tensions within critical pedagogy and to the contemporary higher education environment.

Der Ich-Erzähler in Rafael Horzons Novelle ‚Das weisseBuch’ besucht im Laufe der Geschichte zahlreiche informelle Bars und Aktionsräume, die in den 1990er Jahren nach dem Fall der Mauer in Berlin-Mitte eröffneten und nach der Jahrtausendwende im Zuge der hauptstädtischen Gentrifizierung wieder langsam verschwanden. In diesem Zeitraum etablierte sich in einigen subkulturellen Zirkeln der Begriff Temporäre Autonome Zone, der auf einem im Jahr 1991 erschienenen Buch des US-amerikanischen Philosophen Hakim Bey beruht (T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism). In diesem Artikel gehe ich der Frage nach, wie und ob und inwiefern die in ‚Das weisse Buch’ beschriebenen Treffpunkte der Nacht nach der Theorie von Hakim Bey als temporäre autonome Zonen eingeordnet werden können.

We use salinity observations from drifters and moorings at the Quinault River mouth to investigate mixing and stratification in a surf-zone-trapped river plume. We quantify mixing based on the rate of change of salinity DS/Dt in the drifters’ quasi-Lagrangian reference frame. We estimate a constant value of the vertical eddy diffusivity of salt of Kz = (2.2 ± 0.6) × 10−3 m2 s−1, based on the relationship between vertically integrated DS/Dt and stratification, with values as high as 1 × 10−2 m2 s−1 when stratification is low. Mixing, quantified as DS/Dt, is directly correlated to surf-zone stratification, and is therefore modulated by changes in stratification caused by tidal variability in freshwater volume flux. High DS/Dt is observed when the near-surface stratification is high and salinity gradients are collocated with wave-breaking turbulence. We observe a transition from low stratification and low DS/Dt at low tidal stage to high stratification and high DS/Dt at high tidal stage. Observed wave-breaking turbulence does not change significantly with stratification, tidal stage, or offshore wave height; as a result, we observe no relationship between plume mixing and offshore wave height for the range of conditions sampled. Thus, plume mixing in the surf zone is altered by changes in stratification; these are due to tidal variability in freshwater flux from the river and not wave conditions, presumably because depth-limited wave breaking causes sufficient turbulence for mixing to occur during all observed conditions. Significance Statement River outflows are important sources of pollutants, sediment, and nutrients to the coastal ocean. Small rivers often meet large breaking waves in the surf zone close to shore, trapping river water and river-borne material near the beach. Such trapped material can influence coastal public health, beach morphology, and nearshore ecology. This study investigates how trapped fresh river water mixes with salty ocean water in the presence of large breaking waves by using high-resolution measurements of waves, salinity, and turbulence. We find that the surf zone is often fresh and stratified, which could have significant implications for the fate of riverine material. Wave breaking provides a constant source of turbulence, and the amount of mixing is limited by the degree of vertical salt stratification; more mixing occurs when stratification is higher.

INTRODUCTION: Clinically significant prostate cancer (csCaP) with Gleason ≥3 + 4 is found in 10% negative prebiopsy multiparametric (mp) MRI cases and varies widely for equivocal mpMRI cases. The objective of this study was to investigate long-term outcomes of patients with negative and equivocal mpMRIs and to develop a predictive score for csCaP risk stratification in this group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent an upfront mpMRI between May 2015 and March 2018 with an MRI score Likert 1 to 3 were included in the study. Patients had either a CaP diagnosis at MRI-targeted biopsy or were not diagnosed and attended follow-up in the community. Outcomes were analysed through the Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox Model. Regression coefficients of significant variables were used to develop a Risk of significant Cancer of the Prostate score (RosCaP). RESULTS: At first assessment 281/469 patients had mpMRI only and 188/469 mpMRI and biopsy, 26 csCaP were found at biopsy, including 10/26 in Likert 3 patients. 12/371 patients discharged without CaP after first assessment were diagnosed with csCaP during a median of 34.2 months' follow-up, 11/12 diagnosis occurred in patients omitting initial biopsy. csCaP diagnosis-free survival was 95.7% in the MRI group and 99.1% in the biopsy group. From these outcomes, a continuous RosCaP score was developed: RosCaP = 0.083 x Age - 0.202 x (1/PSA Density) + 0.786 (if Likert 3), and 4 risk classes were proposed. Limitations include retrospective design and absence of external validation. CONCLUSION: Age, PSA Density and MRI Likert score were significantly associated to the risk of csCaP and utilised to devise the novel RosCap predictive score focused to support risk assessment in patients with negative or equivocal mpMRI results.

Tuning a material to the cusp between two distinct ground states can produce exotic physical properties, unlike those in either of the neighboring phases. The prospect of designing a model experimental system to capture such behavior is tantalizing. An array of tunnel-coupled quantum dots, each hosting a local spin, should have an appropriately complex phase diagram, but scaling up from individual dots to uniform clusters or lattices has proven difficult: though each site can be tuned to the same occupancy, each has a different set of localized wavefunctions whose couplings to neighboring sites cannot be made fully uniform. An array of metal nanostructures has complementary strengths and weaknesses: simple electrostatic tuning can make each element behave essentially identically, but intersite coupling is not tunable. In this work, we study a tunable nanoelectronic circuit comprising two coupled hybrid metallic-semiconductor islands, combining the strengths of the two types of materials, and demonstrating the potential for scalability. With two charge states of an island acting as an effective spin-1/2, the new architecture also offers a rich range of coupling interactions, and we exploit this to demonstrate a novel quantum critical point. Experimental results in the vicinity of the critical point match striking theoretical predictions., Comment: Main text (8 pages, 3 figures), Methods (5 pages, 4 figures), and Supplementary Info (5 pages, 6 figures)

Obesity affects over 40% of the adult population and is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Black women have one of the highest prevalences of obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, and cardiovascular events in the US. We previously found that free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation contributes to IL-6 production in dendritic cells leading to inflammation and hypertension. Thus, we hypothesized that F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), products and biomarkers of endogenous lipid peroxidation, contribute to increased inflammation and IL-6 production among obese Black women. We studied a total of 88 obese Black women of age 42.0 ± 9.8 years, weight 102 ± 16 kg, and body mass index (BMI) 37.68 ± 5.08. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were 124 ± 14/76.2 ± 9.9 mmHg, heart rate was 68.31 ± 10.26 beats/min, and fasting insulin was 15.0 ± 8.7 uU/mL. Plasma F2-IsoPs were measured using gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC/NICI-MS). Plasma cytokines, including IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1β, TNF-a, and C-reactive proteins were measured using multiplex Luminex technology. Anthropometric measurements were performed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Using Pearson’s correlation analysis, we found that BMI was positively correlated with plasma F2-IsoPs, while inversely correlated with insulin sensitivity in obese Black women. Further, F2-IsoPs were positively correlated with inflammatory marker IL-6 levels while negatively correlated with anti-inflammatory marker IL-10. In addition, we found that plasma F2-IsoPs levels were significantly associated with reduced insulin sensitivity. These results suggest that F2-IsoPs may be associated with obesity-induced cardiovascular risk in Black women by increasing the production of inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and decreasing the production of anti-inflammatory IL-10.

Problematic online usage (POU) and Internet addiction (IA) lack a refined classification. Using 796 questionnaires, this study is the first to reveal a continuum ranging from Casual users (i.e. older users) to Addicts (i.e. digital natives) acknowledging five different severity levels of POU to IA. Depending on where users are located within the addiction continuum, usability of augmented reality (AR) applications has different effects. Most interestingly, the experience of Casual users is triggered by enjoyment, whilst enjoyment exerts a negative effect on the emotional and action experiences of Addicts-in-denial. The study provides actionable implications for IA, POU, and AR behaviour.

In vivo electrophysiology requires direct access to brain tissue, necessitating the development and refinement of surgical procedures and techniques that promote the health and well-being of animal subjects. Here, we report a series of findings noted on structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in monkeys with MRI-compatible implants following small craniotomies that provide access for intracranial electrophysiology. We found distinct brain regions exhibiting hyperintensities in T2-weighted scans that were prominent underneath the sites at which craniotomies had been performed. We interpreted these hyperintensities as edema of the neural tissue and found that they were predominantly present following electric and piezoelectric drilling, but not when manual, hand-operated drills were used. Furthermore, the anomalies subsided within 2-3 wk following surgery. Our report highlights the utility of MRI-compatible implants that promote clinical examination of the animal's brain, sometimes revealing findings that may go unnoticed when incompatible implants are used. We show replicable differences in outcome when using electric versus mechanical devices, both ubiquitous in the field. If electric drills are used, our report cautions against electrophysiological recordings from tissue directly underneath the craniotomy for the first 2-3 wk following the procedure due to putative edema.bNEWamp; NOTEWORTHY/bClose examination of structural MRI in eight nonhuman primates following craniotomy surgeries for intracranial electrophysiology highlights a prevalence of hyperintensities on T2-weighted scans following surgeries conducted using electric and piezoelectric drills, but not when using mechanical, hand-operated drills. We interpret these anomalies as edema of neural tissue that resolved 2-3 wk postsurgery. This finding is especially of interest as electrophysiological recordings from compromised tissue may directly influence the integrity of collected data immediately following surgery.

The Diabetes Action Canada Training and Mentoring (DAC-TM) Program launched in June 2017, with the goal of building capacity in the next generation of diabetes researchers in Canada in patient-oriented research (POR).We conducted a program evaluation of the DAC-TM program using a sequential, mixed-methods research design.Our analysis of 82 surveys and 22 in-depth interviews from a wide range of DAC-TM Program stakeholders revealed consistent patterns in experience with the program. The training sessions were perceived to be well-organized, convenient educational opportunities to gain new knowledge about POR and become integrated into a community of practice of POR researchers who study diabetes and its complications in Canada. The content of the training was perceived to be useful and relevant to participants, although improvements could be made to help address the training needs of the broader DAC community. There is broad support for and appreciation of the mentorship awards, which were perceived to be appropriately targeted to early-career investigators. The mentor-mentee relationships were perceived to be positive, productive and career-advancing overall, but could benefit from a more strategic design and promote better connectivity to foster mentor-mentee relationships. In addition, feedback about opportunities to network and forge new connections was mixed and represents another opportunity for improvement to strengthen capacity building.Findings from this formative evaluation study show key strengths and opportunities to improve the DAC-TM Program, which can be used to help enhance its function and promote its long-term sustainability.

Pollen tubes display polarized tip-growth and are a model to study the coordination of vesicular trafficking and cytoskeletal control. The molecular details of how dynamic actin filaments associate with the plasma membrane are currently unclear. In Arabidopsis thaliana, plasma membrane attachment of actin filaments may be mediated by four myosins representing the plant-specific myosin-subclass VIII, which localize to the plasma membrane and display only minor motor-activity. Here we explore the mode of membrane attachment of the pollen-expressed class VIII-myosins ATM2 and VIII-B through interaction with anionic membrane phospholipids. A fluorescent mCherry-ATM2-fusion decorated plasma membrane-peripheral actin filaments when expressed in tobacco pollen tubes, consistent with a role of class VIII-myosins at the membrane-cytoskeleton interface. As recombinant proteins, class VIII-myosins are prone to aggregation and to proteolysis, creating a challenge for their biochemical characterization. We describe a purification scheme for guanidinium chloride (GdmCl)-denatured recombinant proteins, followed by a renaturation protocol to obtain pure, soluble protein fragments of ATM2 and VIII-B. The fragments represent the C-terminal tail and coiled-coil-regions and lack the N-terminal actin-binding regions, IQ or motor domains. Based on lipid-overlays and liposome-sedimentation assays, the fragments of ATM2 and VIII-B bind anionic phospholipids. Small polybasic regions at the extreme C-termini were sufficient for lipid-binding of the respective protein fragments. When expressed in tobacco pollen tubes, a fluorescence-tagged variant of ATM2 lacking its lipid-binding region displayed substantially reduced plasma membrane association. The data indicate that class VIII-myosins may facilitate actin-plasma membrane attachment through interaction with anionic phospholipids, mediated by polybasic C-terminal lipid-binding domains.

The COVID-19 pandemic and public life restrictions may have a negative impact on people's mental health. Therefore, we analyzed whether this condition affected the occurrence of suicide attempts (SA) over 20 months during the pandemic period.We included patient records according to DSM-5 criteria for suicidal behavior disorders (n = 825) between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 2021. We applied interrupted time-series Poisson regression models to investigate the effect of the pandemic on SA occurrence, time trends, and seasonal patterns in the whole group of patients as well as stratified by age and gender.There was no significant effect of the pandemic on the occurrence of SA in the overall group. However, we observed a significant impact of the pandemic on the seasonal pattern of SA, also the variance differed significantly (pre-pandemic mean ± variance: 13.33 ± 15.75, pandemic: mean ± variance: 13.86 ± 7.26), indicating less periodic variation in SA during the pandemic. Male patients and young adults mainly contributed to this overall effect. Subgroup analysis revealed a significant difference in SA trends during the pandemic in older adults (55 years) compared with younger adults (18-35 years); SA numbers increased in older adults and decreased in younger adults as the pandemic progressed.A few patients may have received initial care in an emergency department after SA without being referred to psychiatry.In general, the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures did not significantly affect the occurrence of SA but did significantly affect the dynamics. In addition, the pandemic appeared to affect suicidal behavior differently across age groups as it progressed. Particularly for the older adult group, negative long-term effects of the pandemic on suicidal behavior can be derived from the present results, indicating the need to strengthen suicide prevention for the elderly.

Abstract: Pediatric patients with chronic health conditions often suffer from social and academic exclusion. Since disease-centered assessments do not allow for differentiated biopsychosocial profiling, this study aims to evaluate the psychometric quality of “The School Participation Scales 24/7,” a novel ICF-CY-based assessment tool. Results show high fit indices for most subscales, signifying structural equality between the tool and the ICF-CY. Acceptable criterion validity is given for established neuropsychological tests. Internal consistency and retest analyses revealed that most subscales reliably and stably measure the intended domains. Finally, the tool was standardized using a representative healthy sample. In summary, the S-PS 24/7 represents a useful tool for measuring school participation in pediatric patients, thereby building a profound basis for effective interventions.

Reaching healthy and sustainable diets for all people with the world's limited resources is one of the biggest challenges of humanity. The Healthy Reference Diet (HRD) is a recent proposal by the Eat-Lancet Commission for addressing this problem. Mexico has a high burden of obesity and persistent malnutrition. Recent national policies have focused on different strategies to transform the food system which include designing new dietary guidelines using the HRD adapted for the Mexican context and supporting small farmers to reduce food imports. The aim of the paper is to explore whether Mexico has enough land resources to produce food for a healthy and sustainable diet for its population, with no international trade, and what changes are needed to reach this in terms of diets, the food system, and in land use. Four scenarios are explored for changing the food system to reduce agricultural land use. The results show that Mexico has enough agricultural land to produce food for all its population to ensure healthy and sustainable diets with the current food supply chain. A healthy and sustainable diet demands 20 % to 50 % less agricultural land, depending on the type of dietary recommendation, than the present average diet of the Mexican population. But changes are needed in the food system in terms of land use such as exchanging pasture for cropland and changing the type of crop production like reducing cropland for sugar cane and feed for livestock, and increasing cropland for legumes and nuts. Furthermore, reducing losses in the supply chain and increasing crop yields reduces considerably the demand of agricultural land. Further research is needed to explore the socioeconomic issues and policies for reaching these changes. The insights of this paper should be considered when designing policy strategies and recommendations to reach a sustainable food system.

The impact of tafamidis on myocardial strain in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) have been barely investigated. We aimed to determine tafamidis-induced changes using serial speckle tracking echocardiography and to identify imaging parameters for specific therapy monitoring.ATTR-CM patients underwent serial TTE with two-dimensional (2 D) speckle tracking imaging. Patients receiving tafamidis free acid 61 mg (Treatment with tafamidis free acid 61 mg in ATTR-CM patients delays the deterioration of LA and LV longitudinal function, resulting in significant clinical benefits compared with natural history. Serial TTE with 2 D speckle tracking imaging may be appropriate for disease-specific therapy monitoring.

The majority of endometrial and cervical cancers present with abnormal vaginal bleeding but only a small proportion of women suffering from vaginal bleeding actually have such a cancer. A simple, operator-independent and accurate test to correctly identify women presenting with abnormal bleeding as a consequence of endometrial or cervical cancer is urgently required. We have recently developed and validated the WID-qEC test, which assesses DNA methylation of ZSCAN12 and GYPC via real-time PCR, to triage women with symptoms suggestive of endometrial cancer using ThinPrep-based liquid cytology samples. Here, we investigated whether the WID-qEC test can additionally identify women with cervical cancer. Moreover, we evaluate the test's applicability in a SurePath-based hospital-cohort by comparing its ability to detect endometrial and cervical cancer to cytology. In a set of 23 cervical cancer cases and 28 matched controls the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) is 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.97-1.00) with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 92.9%, respectively. Amongst the hospital-cohort (n = 330), the ROC AUC is 0.99 (95% CI: 0.98-1) with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 82.5% for the WID-qEC test, respectively, and 33.3% and 96.9% for cytology (considering PAP IV/V as positive). Our data suggest that the WID-qEC test detects both endometrial and cervical cancer with high accuracy.

Zusammenfassung. Diese Arbeit berichtet erste Befunde zur prädiktiven Validität eines förderorientierten Screenings kognitiver Vorläuferfertigkeiten für die Schuleingangsphase in Österreich. Das Screening wurde von 171 Kindern etwa acht Monate vor Schuleintritt (Schuleinschreibung) sowie unmittelbar nach Schuleintritt durchgeführt. Am Beginn der 2. Klasse wurden die Lese-, Schreib- und Rechenleistung erhoben. Die Schulleistungen wurden durch domänenspezifische Prädiktoren vorhergesagt (Lesen: schnelles Benennen; Schreiben: phonologische Bewusstheit; Rechnen: Zahlenvergleich, basale Rechenleistung). Einige als domänenspezifisch konzipierte Aufgaben erklärten aber auch Varianz in anderen Schulleistungen (z.B. basale Rechenleistung für Schreiben). Domänenübergreifende Faktoren (Arbeitsgedächtnis, Arbeitshaltung/Aufmerksamkeit, Grafomotorik) spielten für die Vorhersage der Schulleistungen eine geringere Rolle als domänenspezifische Prädiktoren. Mit 19–44% Varianzaufklärung ist das Screening mit anderen Verfahren zur Vorhersage der Schulleistungen vergleichbar.

The ability to autonomously navigate safely, especially within dynamic environments, is paramount for mobile robotics. In recent years, DRL approaches have shown superior performance in dynamic obstacle avoidance. However, these learning-based approaches are often developed in specially designed simulation environments and are hard to test against conventional planning approaches. Furthermore, the integration and deployment of these approaches into real robotic platforms are not yet completely solved. In this paper, we present Arena-bench, a benchmark suite to train, test, and evaluate navigation planners on different robotic platforms within 3D environments. It provides tools to design and generate highly dynamic evaluation worlds, scenarios, and tasks for autonomous navigation and is fully integrated into the robot operating system. To demonstrate the functionalities of our suite, we trained a DRL agent on our platform and compared it against a variety of existing different model-based and learning-based navigation approaches on a variety of relevant metrics. Finally, we deployed the approaches towards real robots and demonstrated the reproducibility of the results. The code is publicly available at github.com/ignc-research/arena-bench., Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2022, 8 pages, 6 figures

During the current global COVID-19 crisis Taiwan has portrayed itself as both an example for other countries to follow and as a country willing to assist others in their own efforts with the virus. Taiwan has also renewed efforts to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO), an organisation from which it is currently excluded. Although some countries have supported Taiwan's efforts to participate in the WHO or have praised its COVID-19 response, others have been silent or even critical, sometimes citing commitments to a “one China policy.” In this paper, we use newly collected data to explore cross-national variation in support for Taiwan during the current pandemic. We find that a country's level of economic development and security ties with the US are strongly correlated with support for Taiwan while a country's economic ties to China is a less consistent predictor.

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In this work, the potentials of data-driven optimization for the well-known berth allocation problem are studied. The aim of robust berth scheduling is to derive conflict-free vessel assignments at the quay of a terminal, taking into account uncertainty regarding the actual vessel arrival times which may result from external influences as, e.g., cross wind and sea current. In order to achieve robustness, four different Machine Learning methods-from linear regression to an artificial neural network-are employed for vessel arrival time prediction in this work. The different Machine Learning methods are analysed and evaluated with respect to their forecast quality. The calculation and use of so-called dynamic time buffers (DTBs), which are derived from the different AIS-based forecasts and whose length depends on the estimated forecast reliability, in the berth scheduling model enhance the robustness of the resulting schedules considerably, as is shown in an extensive numerical study. Furthermore, the results show that also rather simple Machine Learning approaches are able to reach high forecast accuracy. The optimization model does not only lead to more robust solutions, but also to less actual waiting times for the vessels and hence to an enhanced service quality, as can be shown by studying the resulting schedules for real vessel data. Moreover, it turns out that the accuracy of the resulting berthing schedules, measured as the deviation of planned and actually realisable schedules, exceeds the accuracy of all forecasts which underlines the usefulness of the DTB approach. Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Gleichstellung

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified systemic gaps in patient safety, including social frailty for vulnerable populations such as older adults (Briguglio et al., 2020). Public health measures, such as prolonged and frequent lockdowns, restricted access to visitors and support networks and in extreme cases led to confinement within a single room, The negative impact of these restrictions has focused new attention on social frailty, which has hitherto been a somewhat neglected patient safety issue. Since social frailty is a multifaceted construct, it needs to be considered in a variety of settings and from a range of disciplinary perspectives. This practitioner-led panel consisting of an internist, a human factors engineer, an occupational therapist, and an implementation scientist, examines the impact of the pandemic on social interaction, and social frailty amongst older people in three different settings (hospital, long term care home, community). Through a set of case studies, the panelists provided applied experiences and perspectives on the impact of the pandemic on patient safety and on social frailty in particular. The panel covered theory, and real-world application of human factors principles. The question of how to design safety into the healthcare system were also explored. In this paper we review the problem of social frailty, list some brief case studies and discuss possible intervention strategies.

The concept of "successful" psychopathy has intrigued the field, yet relatively little actual science exists to understand what makes those high in psychopathic traits more or less successful, or even what constitutes "success." In the current study, we examined the validity of the moderated expression hypothesis, including an elaborated version that considers differential configuration of psychopathy traits, as accounting for differences in criminal and noncriminal (the most common operationalization of "success") expressions of psychopathy. The latter was conceptualized from the perspective of the triarchic psychopathy model. We recruited a community sample (n = 212) that had been overweighted toward psychopathic personality traits. The triarchic psychopathy domains of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition were modeled as latent constructs based on scores from multiple psychopathy measures. We examined affective processing dysfunction, various executive cognitive deficits, substance misuse, and socioeconomic indicators (income, education) as potential moderators of associations between psychopathy and criminality. We estimated a series of latent regression models in which we tested interaction effects between hypothesized moderators and a latent criminality variable. We found that affective processing dysfunction, substance misuse, and the triarchic psychopathy domain of disinhibition all moderated the association between meanness and criminality, in that the latter association was stronger as these moderators increased in severity. Disinhibition was also moderated by substance misuse and boldness by both personal income and commission errors from a go/no-go task, though in the case of the latter domain, these moderators served as protective factors against criminality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMN) are semi-malignant tumors of the appendix which are incidentally found in up to 1% of appendectomy specimen. To this day, no valid descriptive analysis on LAMN is available for the German population. Methods Data of LAMN (ICD-10: D37.3) were collected from the population-based cancer registries in Germany, provided by the German Center for Cancer Registry Data (Zentrum für Krebsregisterdaten—ZfKD). Data was anonymized and included gender, age at diagnosis, tumor staging according to the TNM-classification, state of residence, information on the performed therapy, and survival data. Results A total of 612 cases were reported to the ZfKD between 2011 and 2018. A total of 63.07% were female and 36.93% were male. Great inhomogeneity in reporting cases was seen in the federal states of Germany including the fact that some federal states did not report any cases at all. Age distribution showed a mean age of 62.03 years (SD 16.15) at diagnosis. However, data on tumor stage was only available in 24.86% of cases (n = 152). A total of 49.34% of these patients presented with a T4-stage. Likewise, information regarding performed therapy was available in the minority of patients: 269 patients received surgery, 22 did not and for 312 cases no information was available. Twenty-four patients received chemotherapy, 188 did not, and for 400 cases, no information was available. Overall 5-year survival was estimated at 79.52%. Patients below the age of 55 years at time of diagnosis had a significantly higher 5-year survival rate compared to patients above the age of 55 years (85.77% vs. 73.27%). Discussion In this study, we observed an incidence of LAMN in 0.13% of all appendectomy specimen in 2018. It seems likely that not all cases were reported to the ZfKD; therefore, case numbers may be considered underestimated. Age and gender distribution goes in line with international studies with females being predominantly affected. Especially regarding tumor stage and therapy in depth information cannot be provided through the ZfKD-database. This data analysis emphasizes the need for further studies and the need for setting up a specialized registry for this unique tumor entity to develop guidelines for the appropriate treatment and follow-up.

Aims The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) severely aggravates the clinical course of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). To date, neither established heart failure therapies nor pulmonary vasodilators proved beneficial. This study investigated the efficacy of chronic treatment with the oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat in patients with PH-HFpEF. Methods and Results The phase IIb, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicentre DYNAMIC trial assessed riociguat in PH-HFpEF. Patients were recruited at five hospitals across Austria and Germany. Key eligibility criteria were mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mmHg, pulmonary arterial wedge pressure >15 mmHg, and left ventricular ejection fraction ≥50%. Patients were randomized to oral treatment with riociguat or placebo (1:1). Patients started at 0.5 mg three times daily (TID) and were up-titrated to 1.5 mg TID. The primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline to week 26 in cardiac output (CO) at rest, measured by right heart catheterization. Primary efficacy analyses were performed on the full analysis set. Fifty-eight patients received riociguat and 56 patients placebo. After 26 weeks, CO increased by 0.37 ± 1.263 L/min in the riociguat group and decreased by −0.11 ± 0.921 L/min in the placebo group (least-squares mean difference: 0.54 L/min, 95% confidence interval 0.112, 0.971; P = 0.0142). Five patients dropped out due to riociguat-related adverse events but no riociguat-related serious adverse event or death occurred. Conclusion The vasodilator riociguat improved haemodynamics in PH-HFpEF. Riociguat was safe in most patients but led to more dropouts as compared to placebo and did not change clinical symptoms within the study period.

This qualitative study provides novel insights into exploring factors that influence intercultural friendship formation and friendship benefits, focusing on the role of communication. A research gap has been addressed by focusing on Muslim women who wear the hijab and exploring what factors had influenced their friendship formation with people from culturally different backgrounds and what impact the friendship had on the self. Findings suggested that cultural, linguistic and religious similarity was deemed as not important for friendship formation. Instead, similar values, self-disclosure and respectful communication assisted intercultural friendship formation. Friendship barriers included cultural misconceptions and behavioral uncertainty. Clear evidence emerged that these intercultural friendships led to positive attitudinal changes of the individuals within and beyond the friendship. This included increased cultural understanding, acceptance and self-reflection. It was revealed that cultural misconceptions (and levels of Islamophobia) were eliminated and ethnocentrism was reduced.

Ribosomal biogenesis and protein synthesis are deregulated in most cancers, suggesting that interfering with translation machinery may hold significant therapeutic potential. Here, we show that loss of the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), which constitutes the initiating event in the adenoma carcinoma sequence for colorectal cancer (CRC), induces the expression of RNA polymerase I (RNAPOL1) transcription machinery, and subsequently upregulates ribosomal DNA (rDNA) transcription. Targeting RNAPOL1 with a specific inhibitor, CX5461, disrupts nucleolar integrity, and induces a disbalance of ribosomal proteins. Surprisingly, CX5461-induced growth arrest is irreversible and exhibits features of senescence and terminal differentiation. Mechanistically, CX5461 promotes differentiation in an MYC-interacting zinc-finger protein 1 (MIZ1)- and retinoblastoma protein (Rb)-dependent manner. In addition, the inhibition of RNAPOL1 renders CRC cells vulnerable towards senolytic agents. We validated this therapeutic effect of CX5461 in murine- and patient-derived organoids, and in a xenograft mouse model. These results show that targeting ribosomal biogenesis together with targeting the consecutive, senescent phenotype using approved drugs is a new therapeutic approach, which can rapidly be transferred from bench to bedside.

This cross-sectional study aimed to compare clinical oral conditions as well as the self-reported oral health status of biathletes and cross-country skiers (A) to age- and gender-matched non-athletic controls (C). Thirty-one A and 68 C were examined in 2020 regarding caries experience (DMF-T), partially erupted wisdom teeth, non-carious tooth wear (erosion), dental plaque biofilm, gingival inflammation, periodontal screening (PSI), salivary active matrix-metalloproteinase-8 (aMMP-8) test and screening for temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Questionnaires recorded periodontal symptoms, TMD symptoms and oral health behaviour. Group A had a lower prevalence of carious teeth and positive aMMP-8 tests, but more of them had severe gingivitis and signs of periodontitis. Both groups reported similar oral health behaviour. Only in group C, associations between aMMP-8 and periodontal findings as well as clinical findings and self-reported symptoms of TMD were identified. Group A showed a high prevalence of oral inflammation and seemed to be less aware of oral symptoms. Clinical examination seems to be necessary for periodontal/TMD screening of athletes.