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Even with obvious deficiencies, large prompt-commanded multimodal models are proving to be flexible cognitive tools representing an unprecedented generality. But the directness, diversity, and degree of user interaction create a distinctive "human-centred generality" (HCG), rather than a fully autonomous one. HCG implies that --for a specific user-- a system is only as general as it is effective for the user's relevant tasks and their prevalent ways of prompting. A human-centred evaluation of general-purpose AI systems therefore needs to reflect the personal nature of interaction, tasks and cognition. We argue that the best way to understand these systems is as highly-coupled cognitive extenders, and to analyse the bidirectional cognitive adaptations between them and humans. In this paper, we give a formulation of HCG, as well as a high-level overview of the elements and trade-offs involved in the prompting process. We end the paper by outlining some essential research questions and suggestions for improving evaluation practices, which we envision as characteristic for the evaluation of general artificial intelligence in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the nineteenth book of his Decretum, Bishop Burchard of Worms (d. 1025) included a penitential titled the Corrector or Medicus. Although the Corrector has traditionally been described as a manual of private confession, this article argues that it was primarily used to judge public penances at church courts and synods. Focusing on the manuscript transmission of the Decretum in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, we find that the Corrector was almost never copied apart from the rest of the Decretum and that it was almost always copied alongside other legal texts. Turning to individual abbreviations, we also find that Burchard's collection was frequently reworked and rearranged so as to integrate canonical and penitential texts. These findings call into question current definitions of canon law collections and penitentials which presume functional exclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibitors of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) are valuable research tools and hold promise as a new generation of anti-prostate cancer agents. Based on previously determined potencies of phenolic SERCA inhibitors, we created quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models using three independent development strategies. The obtained QSAR models facilitated virtual screens of several commercial compound collections for novel inhibitors. Sixteen compounds were subsequently evaluated in SERCA activity inhibition assays and 11 showed detectable potencies in the micro- to millimolar range. The experimental results were then incorporated into a comprehensive master QSAR model, whose physical interpretation by partial least squares analysis revealed that properly positioned substituents at the central phenyl ring capable of forming hydrogen bonds and of undergoing hydrophobic interactions were prerequisites for effective SERCA inhibition. The established SAR was in good agreement with findings from previous structural studies, even though it was obtained independently using standard QSAR methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The prevalence of pathogens in wild populations has often been estimated by the appearance of overt symptoms in the host, and this is typically used as the sole gauge of the impact of the pathogen on host dynamics. However, the development of molecular methods has increased the sensitivity with which we can detect asymptomatic infections. Baculoviruses are insect pathogens that, like many microparasites, are usually only found when their hosts reach outbreak densities, when a disease epizootic occurs. Conventional wisdom is that the long-term persistence of baculoviruses relies on their survival in the external environment in the form of occlusion bodies. These are proteinaceous matrices in which the virus particles are embedded, and which provide a degree of protection from UV irradiation. However, Mamestra brassicae has also been shown to harbour a persistent, non-lethal baculovirus infection (M. brassicae nucleopolyhedrovirus) in laboratory culture, which may represent another putative persistence mechanism. Here, we present evidence that such covert infections are also present and frequent in natural populations of the moth. The persistent infections were triggered into the lethal overt state by exposure to another baculovirus, and two closely related but different baculoviruses were subsequently identified as persistent infections within the populations sampled. These results have broad-ranging implications for our understanding of host pathogen interactions in the field, in the use of pathogens as biocontrol agents, and in the evolution of virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SummaryA prospective, randomized, double-blind study was conducted to determine whether cooled intravenous propofol reduces the incidence of pain on induction of anaesthesia in children. Seventy patients aged 3–10 years, ASA I or II, were randomized to receive 1% propofol plus 0.05% lidocaine either at room temperature (20–23°C) or cooled to 4C. Pain was assessed by a blinded observer using a behavioural scale. Data from 69 patients were analysed. The incidence of pain was 9/34 (26%, 95% confidence intervals 11–41%) in the room temperature injectate group and 5/35 (14%, 95% confidence intervals 3–26%) in the cold injectate group. These differences were not statistically significant (P=0.21, chi-squared test). Pain scores were similar in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifies the evidence for the association of the enteric bacterium Ewingella americana with internal stipe necrosis (ISN) of Agaricus bisporus. Significance of A. bisporus; Description of the bacterial flora of ISN-affected mushrooms; Koch's postulate trials.