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Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of delivering experimental radiation therapy to tumors in the mouse pancreas. Imaging and treatment were performed using combined CT (computed tomography)/orthovoltage treatment with a rotating gantry.Methods and Materials: After intraperitoneal administration of radiopaque iodinated contrast, abdominal organ delineation was performed by x-ray CT. With this technique we delineated the pancreas and both orthotopic xenografts and genetically engineered disease. Computed tomographic imaging was validated by comparison with magnetic resonance imaging. Therapeutic radiation was delivered via a 1-cm diameter field. Selective x-ray radiation therapy of the noninvasively defined orthotopic mass was confirmed using γH2AX staining. Mice could tolerate a dose of 15 Gy when the field was centered on the pancreas tail, and treatment was delivered as a continuous 360° arc. This strategy was then used for radiation therapy planning for selective delivery of therapeutic x-ray radiation therapy to orthotopic tumors.Results: Tumor growth delay after 15 Gy was monitored, using CT and ultrasound to determine the tumor volume at various times after treatment. Our strategy enables the use of clinical radiation oncology approaches to treat experimental tumors in the pancreas of small animals for the first time. We demonstrate that delivery of 15 Gy from a rotating gantry minimizes background healthy tissue damage and significantly retards tumor growth.Conclusions: This advance permits evaluation of radiation planning and dosing parameters. Accurate noninvasive longitudinal imaging and monitoring of tumor progression and therapeutic response in preclinical models is now possible and can be expected to more effectively evaluate pancreatic cancer disease and therapeutic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We often feel that people's first names suit their faces in some way . Evidence has already shown that we share common stereotypes about how people with particular names should look. Here, we investigate whether there is any accuracy to these beliefs. Simply, can we match people's names to their faces? Across two experiments, we tested whether American (Experiment 1) and British participants (Experiment 2) were able to match the first names of strangers with photographs of their faces. Although Experiment 1 provided some initial support for accuracy in female participants, we were unable to replicate this result in Experiment 2. Therefore, we find no overall evidence to suggest that particular names and faces are associated with each other . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women use cosmetics to enhance their attractiveness. How successful they are in doing so remains unknown—how do men and women respond to cosmetics use in terms of attractiveness? There are a variety of miscalibrations where attractiveness is concerned—often, what one sex thinks the opposite sex finds attractive is incorrect. Here, we investigated observer perceptions about attractiveness and cosmetics, as well as their understanding of what others would find attractive. We used computer graphic techniques to allow observers to vary the amount of cosmetics applied to a series of female faces. We asked observers to optimize attractiveness for themselves, for what they thought women in general would prefer, and what they thought men in general would prefer. We found that men and women agree on the amount of cosmetics they find attractive, but overestimate the preferences of women and, when considering the preferences of men, overestimate even more. We also find that models’ self-applied cosmetics are far in excess of individual preferences. These findings suggest that attractiveness perceptions with cosmetics are a form of pluralistic ignorance, whereby women tailor their cosmetics use to an inaccurate perception of others’ preferences. These findings also highlight further miscalibrations of attractiveness ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the practice of performance management in a cross-border context in times of global uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper. Findings – The findings expose global uncertainty to be wielding a significant influence on performance management. Practical implications – A practical framework is developed using real options theory. This approach offers suggestions for multinational corporations to increase the effectiveness of their performance management while at the same time focusing on profit-maximisation. Originality/value – This paper enhances international management research by recognizing that real options theory can effectively be applied to improve the effectiveness of performance management in global uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The other race effect (ORE) in part describes how people are poorer at identifying faces of other races compared to own-race faces. While well-established with face memory, more recent studies have begun to demonstrate its presence in face matching tasks, with minimal memory requirements. However, several of these studies failed to compare both races of faces and participants in order to fully test the predictions of the ORE. Here, we utilized images of both Black and White individuals, and Black and White participants, as well as tasks measuring perceptions of face matching and similarity. In addition, human judgements were directly compared with computer algorithms. First, we found only partial support for an ORE in face matching. Second, a deep convolutional neural network (residual network with 29 layers) performed exceptionally well with both races. The DCNN's representations were strongly associated with human perceptions. Taken together, we found that the ORE was not robust or compelling in our human data, and was absent in the computer algorithms we tested. We discuss our results in the context of ORE literature, and the importance of state-of-the-art algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

* Premise of the Study: The common reed (Phragmites australis), one of the most widely distributed of all angiosperms, uses its rhizomes (underground sterns) to invade new territory, making it one of the most successful weedy species worldwide. Characterization of the rhizome transcriptome and proteome is needed to identity candidate genes and proteins involved in rhizome growth, development, metabolism, and invasiveness. * Methods: We employed next-generation sequencing technologies including 454 and Illumina platforms to characterize the reed rhizome transcriptome and used quantitative proteomics techniques to identify the rhizome proteome. * Key results: Combining 336514 Roche 454 Titanium reads and 103 350 802-Illumina paired-end reads in a de novo hybrid assembly yielded 124450 unique transcripts with an average length of 549 bp, of which 54 317 were annotated. Rhizome-specific and differentially expressed transcripts were identified between rhizome apical tips (apical meristematic region) and rhizome emigration zones. A total of 1280 no redundant proteins were identified and quantified using GeLC-MS/MS based label-tree proteomics, where 174 and 77 proteins were preferentially expressed in the rhizome elongation zone and apical tip tissues, respectively. Genes involved in allelopathy and in controlling development and potentially invasiveness were identified. * Conclusions: In addition to being a valuable sequence and protein data resource for studying plant rhizome species, our results provide useful insights into identifying specific genes and proteins with potential roles in rhizome differentiation, development, and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alfalfa, a perennial, outcrossing species, is a widely planted forage legume producing highly nutritious biomass. Currently, improvement of cultivated alfalfa mainly relies on recurrent phenotypic selection. Marker assisted breeding strategies can enhance alfalfa improvement efforts, particularly if many genome-wide markers are available. Transcriptome sequencing enables efficient high-throughput discovery of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for a complex polyploid species. Result: The transcriptomes of 27 alfalfa genotypes, including elite breeding genotypes, parents of mapping populations, and unimproved wild genotypes, were sequenced using an Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx. De novo assembly of quality-filtered 72-bp reads generated 25,183 contigs with a total length of 26.8 Mbp and an average length of 1,065 bp, with an average read depth of 55.9-fold for each genotype. Overall, 21,954 (87.2%) of the 25,183 contigs represented 14,878 unique protein accessions. Gene ontology (GO) analysis suggested that a broad diversity of genes was represented in the resulting sequences. The realignment of individual reads to the contigs enabled the detection of 872,384 SNPs and 31,760 InDels. High resolution melting (HRM) analysis was used to validate 91% of 192 putative SNPs identified by sequencing. Both allelic variants at about 95% of SNP sites identified among five wild, unimproved genotypes are still present in cultivated alfalfa, and all four US breeding programs also contain a high proportion of these SNPs. Thus, little evidence exists among this dataset for loss of significant DNA sequence diversity from either domestication or breeding of alfalfa. Structure analysis indicated that individuals from the subspecies falcata, the diploid subspecies caerulea, and the tetraploid subspecies sativa (cultivated tetraploid alfalfa) were clearly separated. Conclusion: We used transcriptome sequencing to discover large numbers of SNPs segregating in elite breeding populations of alfalfa. Little loss of SNP diversity was evident between unimproved and elite alfalfa germplasm. The EST and SNP markers generated from this study are publicly available at the Legume Information System (http://medsa.comparative-legumes.org/) and can contribute to future alfalfa research and breeding applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that arises from germinal center (GC) B-cells. Despite the significant advances in immunotherapy, FL is still not curable. Beyond transcriptional profiling and genomics datasets, there currently is no epigenome-scale dataset or integrative biology approach that can adequately model this disease and therefore identify novel mechanisms and targets for successful prevention and treatment of FL. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed methylation-enriched genome-wide bisulfite sequencing of FL cells and normal CD19+ B-cells using 454 sequencing technology. The methylated DNA fragments were enriched with methyl-binding proteins, treated with bisulfite, and sequenced using the Roche-454 GS FLX sequencer. The total number of bases covered in the human genome was 18.2 and 49.3 million including 726,003 and 1.3 million CpGs in FL and CD19+ B-cells, respectively. 11,971 and 7,882 methylated regions of interest (MRIs) were identified respectively. The genome-wide distribution of these MRIs displayed significant differences between FL and normal B-cells. A reverse trend in the distribution of MRIs between the promoter and the gene body was observed in FL and CD19+ B-cells. The MRIs identified in FL cells also correlated well with transcriptomic data and ChIP-on-Chip analyses of genome-wide histone modifications such as tri-methyl-H3K27, and tri-methyl-H3K4, indicating a concerted epigenetic alteration in FL cells. Conclusions/Significance: This study is the first to provide a large scale and comprehensive analysis of the DNA methylation sequence composition and distribution in the FL epigenome. These integrated approaches have led to the discovery of novel and frequent targets of aberrant epigenetic alterations. The genome-wide bisulfite sequencing approach developed here can be a useful tool for profiling DNA methylation in clinical samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of breastfeeding for both maternal and infant health is well established. However, it remains the case that only a small percentage of infants are breastfed after the first six months of life. Maternal negative breastfeeding attitudes are associated with a reduced likelihood of breastfeeding an infant, but they are a malleable target for practitioner interventions. By adjusting perceptions, and therefore behaviours within the population, maternal and infant health outcomes may be improved. As such, it is important to understand whether certain types of mother might feel more negatively about breastfeeding. Here. we investigated the relationships between parenting styles, personality traits, and breastfeeding attitudes. In addition, we aimed to address the interrelated nature of parenting styles by identifying 'types' of mother who may feel more negatively about breastfeeding. A cross-sectional survey was used in order to measure parenting styles, personality traits, and attitudes to breastfeeding. A sample of 1,347 mothers (age M = 31.4 years, SD = 7.4 years) participated. Recruitment took place through online mother and baby groups based predominantly in the United Kingdom. More permissive and less uninvolved mothers felt positively about breastfeeding, but limited associations between personality factors and breastfeeding attitudes were found. We applied a cluster analytical approach to investigate whether there were particular 'types' of mothers in our sample, and if these showed systematic differences. Our analyses revealed two profiles, best described as 'high nurturance' (high scoring on authoritative and permissive) and 'low nurturance' (low scoring on these dimensions). These two types of mother showed significant differences along all four parenting styles, and our 'high nurturance' type was more conscientious and emotionally stable, and felt more positively about breastfeeding. Parenting styles were associated with breastfeeding attitudes. Through identifying an underlying nurturance dimension that best explains differences in parenting styles across mothers, we provide a potential avenue to improving breastfeeding attitudes. By focussing on 'low nurturance' mothers in particular, professionals may be able to provide interventions to improve breastfeeding attitudes and, as a result, address low rates of breastfeeding in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Design Methods Results Conclusions Parents infrequently recognize childhood overweight/obesity and healthcare professionals (HCPs) also struggle to visually identify it, potentially limiting the offer and uptake of weight management support. This study examined perceptual and attitudinal/cognitive determinants of child weight judgements amongst parents and HCPs to identify targets for intervention.We used a mixed experimental design with parents and HCPs as the between‐participants factor. Stimulus gender, age and BMI centile were the within‐participant repeated measures factors.One hundred and fifty‐six HCPs and 249 parents of children aged 4–5 or 10–11 years viewed simulated child images. They estimated their relative size and categorized the weight status of each figure. Stimuli were photo‐realistic figural scales based on 3D‐scans of 4‐ to 5‐ and 10‐ to 11‐year‐old children varying in adiposity. Participants also reported their beliefs about causes, controllability and categorization of child weight.Both groups accurately estimated the figures' relative size. However, categorization of higher weight figures was poor, demonstrating a mismatch between perceptual judgements of size and categorization of weight status. Lower levels of comfort with assigning ‘overweight’ categorizations to children, and a stronger belief that weight was controllable by the child/parent, predicted less accurate weight status categorizations.Parental and HCP misperceptions when categorizing children's higher weight are related to attitudinal/cognitive factors, including reluctance to label a child's weight status as overweight and beliefs about whether a child's weight can be controlled by them or their family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that exposure to within-person variability facilitates face learning. A different body of work has examined potential benefits of providing multiple images in face matching tasks. Viewers are asked to judge whether a target face matches a single face image (as when checking photo-ID) or multiple face images of the same person. The evidence here is less clear, with some studies finding a small multiple-image benefit, and others finding no advantage. In four experiments, we address this discrepancy in the benefits of multiple images from learning and matching studies. We show that multiple-image arrays only facilitate face matching when arrays precede targets. Unlike simultaneous face matching tasks, sequential matching and learning tasks involve memory and require abstraction of a stable representation of the face from the array, for subsequent comparison with a target. Our results show that benefits from multiple-image arrays occur only when this abstraction is required, and not when array and target images are available at once. These studies reconcile apparent differences between face learning and face matching and provide a theoretical framework for the study of within-person variability in face perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Facial first impressions form two clusters of individuals. • Two clusters are apparent in multiple social face perception datasets. • Bayesian methods can separate faces into clusters based solely on image data. • Behavioural responses to face images demonstrate an approach-avoidance distinction. • Clustering facial first impressions reveals approach-avoidance decision-making. Existing models of facial first impressions indicate between two and four factors that underpin all social trait judgements. Here, we submitted several large databases of these first impression ratings to unsupervised learning algorithms with the aim of clustering together faces, rather than traits, to examine the ways in which impressions may be grouped together. Experiment 1 revealed two clusters of faces that exist in both a full-dimensional, and two- or three-factor representations, of social impressions, while Experiment 2 indicated that these clusters also emerged in additional datasets. In Experiment 3, using Bayesian modelling approaches, we extracted the impression profile of each cluster and also derived a vector that maximally separated the clusters. The resulting vector related strongly to the valence and approachability components in existing models. In a further test of our model, we showed in Experiment 4 that mere facial appearance, rather than perceptions, is sufficient to separate these clusters, demonstrating probabilistically that facial cues like smiling may drive the perceptual profile that gives rise to the perceptual clusters. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that observer responses to faces in these two clusters mapped closely on to approach-avoidance behaviour, with observers responding rapidly and without instruction to approach faces from one cluster over the other. Taken together, our findings provide compelling evidence, drawing upon both computational and behavioural approaches, that existing models of social impressions are realised practically in terms of basic approach-avoidance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When interacting with other humans, facial expressions provide valuable information for approach or avoid decisions. Here, we consider facial attractiveness as another important dimension upon which approach-avoidance behaviours may be based. In Experiments 1–3, we measured participants' responses to attractive and unattractive women's faces in an approach-avoidance paradigm in which there was no explicit instruction to evaluate facial attractiveness or any other stimulus attribute. Attractive faces were selected more often, a bias that may be sensitive to response outcomes and was reduced when the faces were inverted. Experiment 4 explored an entirely implicit measure of approach, with participants passively viewing single faces while standing on a force platform. We found greater lean towards attractive faces, with this pattern being most obvious in male participants. Taken together, these results demonstrate that attractiveness activates approach-avoidance tendencies, even in the absence of any task demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although gemcitabine is a mainstay of pancreatic cancer therapy, it is only moderately effective, and it would be desirable to measure drug uptake in patients. 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoroarabinofuranosyl) cytosine (FAC), is an analog of gemcitabine, and when labeled with F-18, it may be a potential surrogate PET tracer for the drug.Procedures: [18F]FAC was synthesized to a radiochemical purity of >96 %. The human tumor lines AsPC1, BxPC3, Capan-1, Panc1, and MiaPaca2 were grown orthotopically in nude mice. KPC mice that conditionally express oncogenic K-ras and p53 mutations in pancreatic tissue were also used. The intra-tumoral distributions of [14C]gemcitabine and [18F]FAC were mapped with autoradiography. The inter-tumor correlation between [14C]gemcitabine and [18F]FAC was established in the orthotopic tumors. Expression of the equilibrative and concentrative nucleoside transporters (ENT, CNT) in vitro was detected by western blotting. Drug uptake was characterized in vitro using [3H]gemcitabine and the effect of transporter inhibition on gemcitabine and FAC uptake was investigated. The relative affinity of cells for gemcitabine and FAC was tested in competition assays. The cell lines differed in sensitivity to transport inhibitors and in competition studies. There was a good in vivo correlation between the total uptake of [18F]FAC and [14C]gemcitabine, measured across all orthotopic tumors. Using the KPC and BxPC3 models, we found that [14C]gemcitabine and [18F]FAC were largely co-localized.Conclusions: In the lines examined here, [18F]FAC uptake correlates well with gemcitabine in vivo, supporting the notion that [18F]FAC can serve as a PET radiotracer surrogate to determine the uptake and distribution of gemcitabine within pancreatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are serious mental illnesses that affect more than 2% of adults. While large-scale genetics studies have identified genomic regions associated with disease risk, less is known about the molecular mechanisms by which risk alleles with small effects lead to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In order to fill this gap between genetics and disease phenotype, we have undertaken a multi-cohort genomics study of postmortem brains from controls, individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here we present a public resource of functional genomic data from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; Brodmann areas 9 and 46) of 986 individuals from 4 separate brain banks, including 353 diagnosed with schizophrenia and 120 with bipolar disorder. The genomic data include RNA-seq and SNP genotypes on 980 individuals, and ATAC-seq on 269 individuals, of which 264 are a subset of individuals with RNA-seq. We have performed extensive preprocessing and quality control on these data so that the research community can take advantage of this public resource available on the Synapse platform at http://CommonMind.org. Measurement(s) genotype • assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing • transcription profiling assay • bipolar disorder • schizophrenia Technology Type(s) RNA sequencing • genotyping • ATAC-seq Factor Type(s) postmortem interval • age • biological sex • experimental group Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9747479 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]