Immune Aging and Immunotherapy in Cancer

Immune functions decline as we age, while the incidence of cancer rises. The advent of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has not only revolutionized cancer therapy, but also spawned great interest in identifying predictive biomarkers, since only one third of patients show treatment response. The aging process extensively affects the adaptive immune system and thus T cells, which are the main target of ICB. In this review, we address age-related changes regarding the adaptive immune system with a focus on T cells and their implication on carcinogenesis and ICB. Differences between senescence, exhaustion, and anergy are defined and current knowledge, treatment strategies, and studies exploring T cell aging as a biomarker for ICB are discussed. Finally, novel approaches to improve immunotherapies and to identify biomarkers of response to ICB are presented and their potential is assessed in a comparative analysis.     

Guided Jury Discretion in Capital Murder Cases: The Role of Declarative and Procedural Knowledge.

This article analyzes whether state-approved jury instructions adequately guide jury discretion in the penalty phase of first-degree murder trials. It examines Eighth Amendment jurisprudence regarding guided jury discretion, emphasizing the use of "empirical factors" to examine the quality of state-approved instructions. Psychological research and testimony on the topic of the comprehensibility of jury logical instructions are reviewed. Data from a recently completed simulation with 80 deliberating juries showed that current instructions do not adequately convey the concepts and processes essential to guiding penalty phase judgments. An additional simulation with 20 deliberating juries demonstrated that deliberation alone does not correct for jurors' errors in comprehension. The article concludes with recommendations for policy and future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology and changing technologies: Reality versus caricature.

Comments on D. Kipnis's (see record 199707781-001) article that critically analyzes social psychology's assumption that psychological states can explain social behavior. The present authors point out that there are many sources in social psychology that, in fact, have revealed a vibrant and rigorous discipline in which, contrary to Kipnis's "caricature," explanations are routinely empirically questioned, variables are directly manipulated and measured, often along with their physiological and neuro-electrical correlates, and multivariate approaches address the separate and joint impact of multiple predictors on multiple dependent variables. It is also noted that Kipnis ignored social psychological research in which experimenters have assessed the physiological correlates of cognitive states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance evaluation of a.c. and d.c. direct coupled photovoltaic water pumping systems

Photovoltaic (PV) water pumping systems have been widely tested and assessed in Indonesia because of the deficiency of potable water in remote areas. Several different PV water pumping systems, such as a.c./d.c. with/without battery and various pumps, have been tested in the field. Further study, evaluation and classification of optimized PV water pumping systems is needed. Three of those pumping systems were installed in Sumba Island in 1983, in three adjacent villages with similar climate and environment conditions. Two of the installations had a.c. direct coupled systems and the other had d.c. The a.c. systems used a 3.65 kW_p PV generator each and the d.c. system used 5.76 kW_p. After comparing the performance data of both systems, it can be concluded that the a.c. system performs better and needs less maintenance on the pump. In May 1987, as a result of this evaluation, the 5.76 kW_p d.c. system was replaced by an a.c. one, and its capacity was increased to 9.22 kW_p. Meanwhile, the 3.65 kW_p a.c. system was increased to 3.88 kW_p.     

Determination ofp-cymene-2,3-diol, thymol, and carvacrol in different foodstuffs

p-Cymene-2,3-diol, carvacrol and thymol are components of thyme that exhibit antioxidant activities. The concentration of each substance was determined in different foodstuffs containing thyme extract. The stabilities ofp-cymene-2,3-diol, carvacrol and thymol were examined by heating lard containing thyme extract at temperatures from 80 °C to 160 °C.     

Effects of viscosities on the transient current in homeotropic nematic liquid crystal cells

Effects of the Leslie viscosity coefficients α_i (i = 1, 2, …, 5) of nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) with negative dielectric anisotropy (Δε < 0) on the electric-field-induced director reorientation in homeotropic NLC cells have been studied from the analysis of the transient current induced by step voltage application. The transient current in a homeotropic NLC cell with Δε < 0 was well reproduced by computer simulation, based on the theory of NLCs in which the flow effects and the free-slip boundary condition are taken into account. It is found that the response time of vertical alignment NLC displays is dominantly governed by α₂ and α₄ + α₅ of NLCs with Δε < 0.     

Evidence for a transitional period for development of persistence in infant rats.

Conducted 4 experiments with a total of 188 rat pups to test the hypothesis that rat pups can learn persistence at age 11 days but cannot express this learning in their behavior until they are a few days older. Exp I used a space-trial procedure to investigate the relative reinforcing effects of milk suckling, dry suckling, and contact without suckling at ages 11 and 14 days. Exp II used the Exp I procedure, manipulating schedule of reward at 2 ages and under 2 of the reward conditions. Exp III manipulated the dry suckling reward schedule in 11- and 14-day-old pups. Exp IV manipulated partial and continuous reinforcement on Day 11 but tested for persistence on Day 14. Results suggest the existence of a traditional period in neonatal rats for the learning of persistence. Partial reinforcement training with suckling on an anesthetized dam as reward induced greater persistence in extinction of the approach response than did continuous reinforcement in rat pups 14 days old but not in 11-day-old pups. Other aspects of this period of development are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

ProsthesisWare: A new class of software supporting the activities of daily living.

Presents a case study of a 37-yr-old female patient with an expressive aphasia secondary to a traumatic brain injury. The development of successive approximations of a speech prosthesis for the S illustrated how new hardware and software capabilities permit the rapid iterative design and redesign of cognitive prosthesis tools. However, the rehabilitation infrastructure supporting microcomputer implementation needs to be developed. The emergence of ProsthesisWare, a class of rehabilitation software, constitutes an application of microcomputers that offers utilitarian prosthetic aids for activities of daily living for some people with cognitive impairments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testwiseness as a factor in readiness test performance of young Mexican-American children.

Assessed the effects of training in test-taking skills on kindergarten children's performance on a school readiness test with a sample of 131 Spanish-speaking children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Half of the Ss were trained in content-free test-taking skills, and half were provided comparable time in nondirected paper/crayon activities. All Ss were tested in both Spanish and English, with order of administration balanced. Trained Ss performed better than untrained Ss in both languages. Males were more influenced by training than were females, but overall females outperformed males. Spanish administration scores were higher than English administration scores. Order of test administration was significant in that performance in English was improved when the test was taken first in Spanish; no influence of English on subsequent performance was found. Findings support the hypothesis that test-wiseness is an important influence on test performance of young children from nonmajority backgrounds and should be taken into account in readiness assessment programs. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)