Fibroblast senescence-associated extracellular matrix promotes heterogeneous lung niche.

Senescent cell accumulation in the pulmonary niche is associated with heightened susceptibility to age-related disease, tissue alterations, and ultimately a decline in lung function. Our current knowledge of senescent cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) dynamics is limited, and our understanding of how senescent cells influence spatial ECM architecture changes over time is incomplete. Herein is the design of an model of senescence-associated extracellular matrix (SA-ECM) remodeling using a senescent lung fibroblast-derived matrix that captures the spatiotemporal dynamics of an evolving senescent ECM architecture.

Automated brightfield layerwise evaluation in three-dimensional micropatterning via two-photon polymerization.

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is an advanced 3D fabrication technique capable of creating features with submicron precision. A primary challenge in TPP lies in the facile and accurate characterization of fabrication quality, particularly for structures possessing complex internal features. In this study, we introduce an automated brightfield layerwise evaluation technique that enables a simple-to-implement approach for in situ monitoring and quality assessment of TPP-fabricated structures.

Single-wavelength, single-shot pulse oximetry using an LED-generated vector beam.

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an optical technique that monitors blood oxygen saturation levels, typically with the use of pulse oximeters. Conventional pulse oximetry estimates the ratio of light absorbed at two wavelengths. Attempts have been made to improve the precision of these measurements by using polarized light, with the tradeoff of requiring multiple sequential measurements.

Quantifying Cell-Derived Changes in Collagen Synthesis, Alignment, and Mechanics in a 3D Connective Tissue Model.

Dysregulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis, organization, and mechanics are hallmark features of diseases like fibrosis and cancer. However, most in vitro models fail to recapitulate the three-dimensional (3D) multi-scale hierarchical architecture of collagen-rich tissues and as a result, are unable to mirror native or disease phenotypes. Herein, using primary human fibroblasts seeded into custom fabricated 3D non-adhesive agarose molds, a novel strategy is proposed to direct the morphogenesis of engineered 3D ring-shaped tissue constructs with tensile and histological properties that recapitulate key features of fibrous connective tissue.

Cognitively bounded rational analyses and the crucial role of theories of subjective utility.

We agree that combining rational analysis with cognitive bounds, what we previously introduced as Cognitively Bounded Rational Analysis, is a promising and under-used methodology in psychology. We further situate the framework in the literature, and highlight the important issue of a theory of subjective utility, which is not addressed sufficiently clearly in the framework or related previous work.

Ageing, frailty and resilience in Botswana: rapid ageing, rapid change. Findings from a national working group meeting and literature review.

Background: The demography of Botswana is rapidly changing. Successes in tackling communicable diseases and economic development increased life expectancy from 53.7 years in 2006 to 66.

Parameter Inference for Computational Cognitive Models with Approximate Bayesian Computation.

This paper addresses a common challenge with computational cognitive models: identifying parameter values that are both theoretically plausible and generate predictions that match well with empirical data. While computational models can offer deep explanations of cognition, they are computationally complex and often out of reach of traditional parameter fitting methods. Weak methodology may lead to premature rejection of valid models or to acceptance of models that might otherwise be falsified.

The role of (bounded) optimization in theory testing and prediction.

We argue that a radically increased emphasis on (bounded) optimality can contribute to cognitive science by supporting prediction. Bounded optimality (computational rationality), an idea that borrowed from artificial intelligence, supports a priori behavioral prediction from constrained generative models of cognition. Bounded optimality thereby addresses serious failings with the logic and testing of descriptive models of perception and action.

The relevance of formal and nonformal primary education in relation to health, well-being and environmental awareness: Bangladeshi pupils' perspectives in the rural contexts.

Purpose: This article reports part of a study focusing on young people's transition from the nonformal to the formal education sector, and explores how the experiences of children and young people in remote formal and nonformal schools affect their awareness of issues of health, well-being and the environment. One of the main objectives of Bangladeshi extensive nonformal primary education, run by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in parallel with the formal system, is to prepare children outside schools to enter or re-enter the formal education sector. The study addresses the issue of educational relevance from pupils' perspectives and looking at the implications for pupil transition between these two sectors.

4-Hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoic Acid Lactone Is a Potent Inducer of the Complement Pathway in Human Retinal Pigmented Epithelial Cells.

We previously discovered that oxidative cleavage of docosahexaenoate (DHA), which is especially abundant in the retinal photoreceptor rod outer segments and retinal pigmented endothelial (RPE) cells, generates 4-hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoate (HOHA) lactone, and that HOHA lactone can enter RPE cells that metabolize it through conjugation with glutathione (GSH). The consequent depletion of GSH results in oxidative stress. We now find that HOHA lactone induces upregulation of the antioxidant transcription factor Nrf2 in ARPE-19 cells.

The Effect of Expected Value on Attraction Effect Preference Reversals.

The attraction effect shows that adding a third alternative to a choice set can alter preference between the original two options. For over 30 years, this simple demonstration of context dependence has been taken as strong evidence against a class of parsimonious value-maximising models that evaluate alternatives independently from one another. Significantly, however, in previous demonstrations of the attraction effect alternatives are approximately equally valuable, so there was little consequence to the decision maker irrespective of which alternative was selected.

Games for Psychological Science.

How does the cognitive system, as a whole, act to generate behaviour? A crucial requirement for science aimed at answering this question is that any empirical paradigm is developed hand in hand with robust theoretical models that explain the emergence of behavioural strategies. Complex games have the potential to be one such paradigm.

Workflows and individual differences during visually guided routine tasks in a road traffic management control room.

Road traffic control rooms rely on human operators to monitor and interact with information presented on multiple displays. Past studies have found inconsistent use of available visual information sources in such settings across different domains. In this study, we aimed to broaden the understanding of observer behaviour in control rooms by analysing a case study in road traffic control.

Why contextual preference reversals maximize expected value.

Contextual preference reversals occur when a preference for one option over another is reversed by the addition of further options. It has been argued that the occurrence of preference reversals in human behavior shows that people violate the axioms of rational choice and that people are not, therefore, expected value maximizers. In contrast, we demonstrate that if a person is only able to make noisy calculations of expected value and noisy observations of the ordinal relations among option features, then the expected value maximizing choice is influenced by the addition of new options and does give rise to apparent preference reversals.

Predicting Short-Term Remembering as Boundedly Optimal Strategy Choice.

It is known that, on average, people adapt their choice of memory strategy to the subjective utility of interaction. What is not known is whether an individual's choices are boundedly optimal. Two experiments are reported that test the hypothesis that an individual's decisions about the distribution of remembering between internal and external resources are boundedly optimal where optimality is defined relative to experience, cognitive constraints, and reward.

4-Hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoic Acid (HOHA) Lactone is a Biologically Active Precursor for the Generation of 2-(ω-Carboxyethyl)pyrrole (CEP) Derivatives of Proteins and Ethanolamine Phospholipids.

2-(ω-Carboxyethyl)pyrrole (CEP) derivatives of proteins were previously shown to have significant pathological and physiological relevance to age-related macular degeneration, cancer and wound healing. Previously, we showed that CEPs are generated in the reaction of ε-amino groups of protein lysyl residues with 1-palmityl-2-(4-hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (HOHA-PC), a lipid oxidation product uniquely generated by oxidative truncation of docosahexanenate-containing phosphatidylcholine. More recently, we found that HOHA-PC rapidly releases HOHA-lactone and 2-lyso-PC (t1/2 = 30 min at 37 °C) by nonenzymatic transesterification/deacylation.

Computational rationality: linking mechanism and behavior through bounded utility maximization.

We propose a framework for including information-processing bounds in rational analyses. It is an application of bounded optimality (Russell & Subramanian, 1995) to the challenges of developing theories of mechanism and behavior. The framework is based on the idea that behaviors are generated by cognitive mechanisms that are adapted to the structure of not only the environment but also the mind and brain itself.

Utility maximization and bounds on human information processing.

Utility maximization is a key element of a number of theoretical approaches to explaining human behavior. Among these approaches are rational analysis, ideal observer theory, and signal detection theory. While some examples of these approaches define the utility maximization problem with little reference to the bounds imposed by the organism, others start with, and emphasize approaches in which bounds imposed by the information processing architecture are considered as an explicit part of the utility maximization problem.

Spectral assignments and NMR parameter-structure relationships in borates using high-resolution 11B NMR and density functional theory.

High-resolution, solid-state (11)B NMR spectra have been obtained at high magnetic fields for a range of polycrystalline borates using double-rotation (DOR), multiple-quantum magic angle spinning and isotopic dilution. DOR linewidths can be less than 0.2 ppm in isotopically diluted samples, allowing highly accurate values for the isotropic chemical shift, δiso, and electric field gradient to be obtained.

The consequences of virtual embodiment for the mental representation of proximity.

There is evidence that knowledge about space will reflect the details of how that space is experienced and how people interact with it. In two experiments we demonstrate that memory for items is spatially structured after their locations were learnt in a desktop virtual environment (DVE). The structure was measured using interitem priming of recognition.

Useful theories make predictions.

Stephen and Van Orden (this issue) propose that there is a complex system approach to cognitive science, and collectively the authors of the papers presented in this issue believe that this approach provides the means to drive a revolution in the science of the mind. Unfortunately, however illuminating, this explanation is absent and hyperbole is all too extensive. In contrast, I argue (1) that dynamic systems theory is not new to cognitive science and does not provide a basis for a revolution, (2) it is not necessary to reject cognitive science in order to explain the constraints imposed by the body and the environment, (3) it is not necessary, as Silberstein and Chemero (this issue) appear to do, to reject cognitive science in order to explain consciousness, and (4) our understanding of pragmatics is not advanced by Gibbs and Van Orden's (this issue) "self-organized criticality".

A spectrometer designed for 6.7 and 14.1 T DNP-enhanced solid-state MAS NMR using quasi-optical microwave transmission.

A Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP) enhanced solid-state Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) NMR spectrometer operating at 6.7 T is described and demonstrated. The 187 GHz TE(13) fundamental mode of the FU CW VII gyrotron is used as the microwave source for this magnetic field strength and 284 MHz (1)H DNP-NMR.

Identifying optimum performance trade-offs using a cognitively bounded rational analysis model of discretionary task interleaving.

We report the results of a dual-task study in which participants performed a tracking and typing task under various experimental conditions. An objective payoff function was used to provide explicit feedback on how participants should trade off performance between the tasks. Results show that participants' dual-task interleaving strategy was sensitive to changes in the difficulty of the tracking task and resulted in differences in overall task performance.

DNP enhanced NMR using a high-power 94 GHz microwave source: a study of the TEMPOL radical in toluene.

DNP enhanced (1)H NMR at 143 MHz in toluene is investigated using an NMR spectrometer coupled with a modified EPR spectrometer operating at 94 GHz and TEMPOL as the polarisation agent. A 100 W microwave amplifier was incorporated into the output stage of the EPR instrument so that high microwave powers could be delivered to the probe in either CW or pulsed mode. The maximum enhancement for the ring protons increases from approximately -16 for a 5 mM TEMPOL solution to approximately -50 for a 20 mM solution at a microwave power of approximately 480 mW.

Rational adaptation under task and processing constraints: implications for testing theories of cognition and action.

The authors assume that individuals adapt rationally to a utility function given constraints imposed by their cognitive architecture and the local task environment. This assumption underlies a new approach to modeling and understanding cognition-cognitively bounded rational analysis-that sharpens the predictive acuity of general, integrated theories of cognition and action. Such theories provide the necessary computational means to explain the flexible nature of human behavior but in doing so introduce extreme degrees of freedom in accounting for data.