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Five experiments explored the question of whether new perceptual units can be developed if they are diagnostic for a category learning task, and if so, what are the constraints on this unitization process? During category learning, participants were required to attend either a single component or a conjunction of five components in order to correctly categorize an object. In Experiments 1-4, some evidence for unitization was found in that the conjunctive task becomes much easier with practice, and this improvement was not found for the single component task, or for conjunctive tasks where the components cannot be unitized. Influences of component order (Experiment 1), component contiguity (Experiment 2), component proximity (Experiment 3), and number of components (Experiment 4) on practice effects were found. Using a Fourier Transformation method for deconvolving response times (Experiment 5), prolonged practice effects yielded responses that were faster than expected by analytic model that integrate evidence from independently perceived components.

BACKGROUND: International data on anogenital HPV infection incidence among men are limited. METHODS: Incidence of incident-persistent (IP) anogenital HPV infections was evaluated among 295 men who have sex with men (MSM) and 1576 heterosexual men (HM) aged 16-27 years in the placebo arm of a global, multicenter 4-valent (4v) HPV vaccine trial. We estimated IP incidence (penile/scrotal, perineal/perianal, anal) for 4vHPV and 9-valent (9v) HPV vaccine types and cumulative IP incidence over 36 months. RESULTS: IP infection incidence per 100 person-years (95% CI) among HM for 4vHPV and 9vHPV types was 4.1 (3.5-4.9) and 6.8 (5.9-7.6) at penile/scrotal, and 1.2 (.8-1.6) and 1.9 (1.5-2.4) at perineal/perianal sites, respectively; and among MSM, IP infection incidence was 2.3 (1.3-3.8) and 3.2 (2.0-4.9) at penile/scrotal, 6.8 (4.9-9.2) and 9.0 (6.9-11.6) at perineal/perianal, and 12.0 (9.4-15.1) and 16.8 (13.7-20.2) at anal sites, respectively. Cumulative IP incidence over 36 months (excluding anal canal; any 9vHPV type) was higher among MSM versus HM (24.1% vs 18.4%). CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of unvaccinated men of catch-up vaccination age developed IP 9vHPV-related infections. Gender-neutral vaccination could decrease male HPV infection, contribute to herd protection, and reduce disease burden. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT00090285.

Please, see the workshop's website here: https://sites.google.com/view/cogconceptsThe goal of this workshop is to initiate an interdisciplinary conversation about reconceptualizing cognitive science disciplines. This workshop will bring together researchers proposing new conceptualizations in their disciplines, cognitive scientists investigating the mechanisms of concept learning and the role of concepts in human cognition, researchers building infrastructures to study and improve cognitive concepts, and philosophers analyzing scientific conceptualizations. The workshop will include activities which will prompt the audience to think about the conceptual foundations of their respective areas, and about ways to improve these foundations. These activities are designed to maximize audience participation and include panel discussions, as well as mind-matching sessions. One of the outcomes of the workshop is identifying the diversity of approaches for improving cognitive science concepts that could be relevant to both discipline-wide and more specific efforts.

This study explores how scientific conceptualizations, such as partitioning of the brain into distinct regions, shape investigation. One hundred fifty-six undergraduate psychology students (novices) completed a science learning task in which they explored the behavioral functions of a fictional brain segment by conducting simplified neuroimaging and lesioning experiments on it. We investigated how the partitioning of the segment into regions influenced participants' experimental choices and learning outcomes by randomly seeding the brain regions for each participant. The participants exhibited conceptual influences on their experimentation: they preferred to explore the boundaries and prototypical--or "skeletal"--locations of the delineated regions. These conceptual biases significantly shaped learning outcomes; for example, participants were more successful at identifying signals near region boundaries. Additionally, participants demonstrated conceptual expectations that led them to associate a discovered signal with locations within one region rather than locations that straddled region boundaries. This research contributes to our understanding of how the scientific concepts affect scientific investigation.

We analyze the visual perception task that home plate umpires (N = 121) perform calling balls and strikes (N = 3,001,019) in baseball games, focusing on the topics of perceptual learning and bias in decision-making. In the context of perceptual learning, our results show that monitoring, training, and feedback improve skill over time. In addition, we document two other aspects of umpires' improvement that are revealing with respect to the nature of their perceptual expertise. First, we show that biases in umpires' decision-making persist even as their overall accuracy improves. This suggests that bias and accuracy are orthogonal and that reduction of bias in decision-making requires interventions aimed specifically at this goal. Second, we measure a distinct difference in the rate of skill improvement between older and younger umpires. Younger umpires improve more quickly, suggesting that the decision task umpires engage in becomes routinized over time.

Interactive computer simulations are commonly used as pedagogical tools to support students' statistical reasoning. This paper examines whether and how these simulations enable their intended effects. We begin by contrasting two theoretical frameworks--"dual processes" and "grounded cognition"--in the context of people's conceptions about statistical sampling, setting the stage for the potential benefits of simulations in learning such conceptions. Then, we continue with reviewing the educational literature on statistical sampling simulations. Our review tentatively suggests benefits of the simulations for building "statistical habits of mind." However, challenges seem to persist when more specific concepts and skills are investigated. With and without simulations, students have difficulty forming an aggregate view of data, interpreting sampling distributions, showing a process-based understanding of the law of large numbers, making statistical inferences, and context-independent reasoning. We propose that grounded cognition offers a framework for understanding these findings, highlighting the bidirectional relationship between perception and conception, perceptual design features, and guided perceptual routines for supporting students' meaning making from simulations. Finally, we propose testable instructional strategies for using simulations in statistics education.

Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare orphan disease and complex genetic neurodevelopmental disorder, with a birth incidence of approximately 1 in 10,000–30,000. Management of people with PWS requires a multi-disciplinary approach, ideally through a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) clinic with community support. Hypotonia, poor feeding and faltering growth are characteristic features in the neonatal period, followed by hyperphagia and risk of rapid weight gain later in childhood. Children and adolescents (CA) with PWS usually display developmental delay and mild learning disability and can develop endocrinopathies, scoliosis, respiratory difficulties (both central and obstructive sleep apnoea), challenging behaviours, skin picking, and mental health issues, especially into adulthood. This consensus statement is intended to be a reference document for clinicians managing children and adolescents (up to 18 years of age) with PWS. It considers the bio-psycho-social domains of diagnosis, clinical assessment, and management in the paediatric setting as well as during and after transition to adult services. The guidance has been developed from information gathered from peer-reviewed scientific reports and from the expertise of a range of experienced clinicians in the United Kingdom and Ireland involved in the care of patients with PWS.

Abstract Autologous(auto-) and allogeneic(allo-) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are key treatments for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), although their roles are challenged by CAR-T-cells and other immunotherapies. We examined the transplantation trends and outcomes for DLBCL patients undergoing auto-/allo-HSCT between 1990 and 2021 reported to EBMT. Over this period, 41,148 patients underwent auto-HSCT, peaking at 1911 cases in 2016, while allo-HSCT saw a maximum of 294 cases in 2018. The recent decline in transplants corresponds to increased CAR-T treatments (1117 cases in 2021). Median age for auto-HSCT rose from 42 (1990–1994) to 58 years (2015–2021), with peripheral blood becoming the primary stem cell source post-1994. Allo-HSCT median age increased from 36 (1990–1994) to 54 (2015–2021) years, with mobilized blood as the primary source post-1998 and reduced intensity conditioning post-2000. Unrelated and mismatched allo-HSCT accounted for 50% and 19% of allo-HSCT in 2015–2021. Three-year overall survival (OS) after auto-HSCT improved from 56% (1990–1994) to 70% (2015–2021), p 40,000 transplants, providing insights for evaluating emerging DLBCL therapies.

This article provides a short overview of how to communicate about the purposes of educational assessments. The authors address the assessments that may be required at the state or district level, including summative assessments, interim assessments, and formative assessment practices. The article describes the needs of various audiences and the implications of those audience needs when talking with each of them about assessments. The authors conclude by describing communication strategies and how they might be used to communicate about statewide and districtwide assessments.

Study objectivesAdolescence is characterized by significant brain development, accompanied by changes in sleep timing and architecture. It also is a period of profound psychosocial changes, including the initiation of alcohol use; however, it is unknown how alcohol use affects sleep architecture in the context of adolescent development. We tracked developmental changes in polysomnographic (PSG) and electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep measures and their relationship with emergent alcohol use in adolescents considering confounding effects (e.g. cannabis use).MethodsAdolescents (n = 94, 43% female, age: 12-21 years) in the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study had annual laboratory PSG recordings across 4-years. Participants were no/low drinkers at baseline.ResultsLinear mixed effect models showed developmental changes in sleep macrostructure and EEG, including a decrease in slow wave sleep and slow wave (delta) EEG activity with advancing age. Emergent moderate/heavy alcohol use across three follow-up years was associated with a decline in percentage rapid eye movement (REM) sleep over time, a longer sleep onset latency (SOL) and shorter total sleep time (TST) in older adolescents, and lower non-REM delta and theta power in males.ConclusionsThese longitudinal data show substantial developmental changes in sleep architecture. Emergent alcohol use during this period was associated with altered sleep continuity, architecture, and EEG measures, with some effects dependent on age and sex. These effects, in part, could be attributed to the effects of alcohol on underlying brain maturation processes involved in sleep-wake regulation.

Objective: Bicuspid aortic valve (AV) patients with aortic regurgitation (AR) differ from tricuspid AV patients given younger age, greater left ventricle (LV) compliance, and more prevalent aortic stenosis (AS). Bicuspid AV-specific data to guide timing of AV replacement or repair are lacking. Methods: Adults with bicuspid AV and moderate or greater AR who underwent aortic valve replacement or repair at our center were studied. The presurgical echocardiogram, and echocardiograms within 3 years postoperatively were evaluated for LV geometry/function, and AV function. Semiquantitative AS/AR assessment was performed in all patients with adequate imaging. Results: One hundred thirty-five patients (85% men, aged 44.5 ± 15.9 years) were studied (63% pure AR, 37% mixed AS/AR). Following aortic valve replacement or repair, change in LV end-diastolic dimension and change in LV end-diastolic volume were associated with preoperative LV end-diastolic dimension (β = 0.62 Δcm/cm; 95% CI, 0.43-0.73 Δcm/cm; P