As an important cognitive bias, the framing effect shows that our decision preferences are sensitive to the verbal description (i.e., frame) of options. This study focuses on the neural underpinnings of the social framing effect, which is based on decision-making regarding other people. A novel paradigm was used in which participants made a trade-off between economic benefits and the feelings of others. This decision was described as either a "harm" to, or "not helping," other persons in two conditions (Harm frame vs Help frame). Both human males and females were recruited. Participants behaved more prosocially for Harm frame compared with Help frame, resulting in a significant social framing effect. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, Experiment 1 showed that the social framing effect was associated with stronger activation in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), especially its right part. The functional connectivity between the right TPJ (rTPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex predicted the social framing effect on the group level. In Experiment 2, we used transcranial direct current stimulation to modulate the activity of the rTPJ and found that the social framing effect became more prominent under anodal (excitatory) stimulation, while the nonsocial framing effect elicited by the economic gain/loss gambling frame remained unaffected. The rTPJ results might be associated with moral conflicts modulated by the social consequences of an action or different levels of mentalizing with others under different frame conditions, but alternative interpretations are also worth noting. These findings could help elucidate the psychological mechanisms of the social framing effect.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Previous studies have suggested that the framing effect is generated from an interaction between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex. This opinion, however, is based on findings from nonsocial framing tasks. Recent research has highlighted the importance of distinguishing between the social and nonsocial framing effects. The current study focuses on the social framing effect and finds out that the temporoparietal junction and its functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex play a significant role. Additionally, modulating the activity of this region leads to changes in social (but not nonsocial) framing effect. Broadly speaking, these findings help understand the difference in neural mechanisms between social and nonsocial decision-making. Meanwhile, they might be illuminating to promote helping behavior in society.

In the new miniseries, feminist history, dramatic storytelling and an all-star-cast bring the Equal Rights Amendment back into the spotlight

<span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">"Commonwealth Games will deliver" – ESPN STAR Sports | RSS Feeds ...: Globe and Mail"Commonwealth Games will deliv... http://bit.ly/9hmE8P</span></span>

Happy birthday Vijay Deverakonda: Tollywood's 'Dear Comrade' who auctioned his first Filmfare Award for charity  The New Indian Express

IF there's one thing that online news proves without any shadow of uncertainty, it's that there's no knowing what will capture the popular imagination.

Colin Turner thought he understood the dynamics of race and privilege. Until one of his students called him out for some insensitive comments he'd made in class.

WHILE watching the daily Downing Street press conferences it is possible to feel a range of emotions. Frustration, for instance, as one inquiry after another goes unanswered, or disappointment at the quality of the questioning.

Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated associations between the white matter injury and cognitive impairment in very preterm born children. Longitudinal studies confirmed the relationships between cerebral MRI at term and neurodevelopmental outcomes at up to 2 years old.

White matter injury (but not gray matter injury) on term MRI predicted cognitive impairments of very preterm born infants at 9 years old. Qualitative assessment of white matter signal intensities showed limited predictive values of cognitive impairments. (Read the full article)

School outbreak investigation in Quebec, Canada suggested that adolescents previously vaccinated with 2 doses of measles vaccine beginning at 12 months of age were at greater measles risk than those whose first dose was given at ≥15 months of age.

Greater measles risk among earlier first-of-2-dose vaccine recipients was replicated as a generalized provincial finding during the 2011 epidemic in Quebec, Canada. The mechanism remains unknown, but the findings warrant additional evaluation in the context of measles elimination efforts. (Read the full article)

Previous studies have confirmed feasibility of MRI for diagnosis of appendicitis in adults and children. No study has assessed clinical end points when using ultrasound and MRI compared with computed tomography for diagnosis of appendicitis in children.

Radiation-free imaging with ultrasound selectively followed by MRI does not change clinical endpoints compared with CT for diagnosing appendicitis in children, with no difference in time to antibiotic administration, time to appendectomy, negative appendectomy rate, perforation rate, or length of stay. (Read the full article)

Rapid cranial MRI is a radiation-free method to assess children with possible ventricular shunt malfunction. However, the test performance of rapid cranial MRI has never been compared with that of cranial CT, the current reference standard.

The accuracy of rapid cranial MRI was not inferior to that of CT for diagnosing ventricular shunt malfunction. Rapid cranial MRI is an important radiation-sparing diagnostic alternative for children presenting emergently with possible ventricular shunt malfunction. (Read the full article)

Messages emphasizing societal benefits of vaccines have been linked to increased vaccination intentions in adults. It is unclear if this pattern holds for parents deciding whether to vaccinate their children.

Findings suggest that health care providers should emphasize the direct benefits of MMR vaccination to the child. Mentioning societal benefits seems to neither add value to, nor interfere with, information highlighting benefits directly to the child. (Read the full article)

Contezolid (MRX-I), a new oxazolidinone, is an antibiotic in development for treating complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTI) caused by resistant Gram-positive bacteria. This was a thorough QT study conducted in 52 healthy subjects who were administered oral contezolid at a therapeutic (800 mg) dose, a supratherapeutic (1600 mg) dose, placebo, and oral moxifloxacin 400 mg in 4 separate treatment periods. The pharmacokinetic profile of contezolid was also evaluated. Time-point analysis indicated that the upper bounds of the two-sided 90% confidence interval (CI) for placebo-corrected change-from-baseline QTc (QTc) were <10 ms for the contezolid therapeutic dose at each time point. The upper bound of the 90% CI for QTc were slightly more than 10 ms with the contezolid supratherapeutic dose at 3 and 4 hours postdose, and the prolongation effect on the QT/QTc interval was less than that of the positive control, moxifloxacin 400 mg. At 3 and 4 h after the moxifloxacin dose, the moxifloxacin group met the assay sensitivity criteria outlined in ICH Guidance E14 with having a lower confidence bound ≥5 ms. The results of a linear exposure-response model which were similar to that of a time point analysis demonstrated a slightly positive relationship between contezolid plasma levels and QTcF interval with a slope of 0.227 ms per mg/L (90% CI: 0.188 to 0.266). In summary, contezolid did not prolong the QT interval at a therapeutic dose and may have a slight effect on QT interval prolongation at a supratherapeutic dose.

Recent studies highlight the abundance of commensal coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) on healthy skin. Evidence suggests that CoNS actively shape the skin immunological and microbial milieu to resist colonization or infection by opportunistic pathogens, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in a variety of mechanisms collectively termed colonization resistance. One potential colonization resistance mechanism is the application of quorum sensing, also called the Accessory Gene Regulator (agr) system, which is ubiquitous among staphylococci. Common and rare CoNS make autoinducing peptides (AIPs) that function as MRSA agr inhibitors, protecting the host from invasive infection. In a screen of CoNS spent media we found that Staphylococcus simulans, a rare human skin colonizer and frequent livestock colonizer, released potent inhibitors of all classes of MRSA agr signaling. We identified three S. simulans agr classes, and have shown intraspecies cross-talk between non-cognate S. simulans agr types for the first time. The S. simulans AIP-I structure was confirmed, and the novel AIP-II and AIP-III structures were solved via mass spectrometry. Synthetic S. simulans AIPs inhibited MRSA agr signaling with nanomolar potency. S. simulans in competition with MRSA reduced dermonecrotic and epicutaneous skin injury in murine models. Addition of synthetic AIP-I also effectively reduced MRSA dermonecrosis and epicutaneous skin injury in murine models. These results demonstrate potent anti-MRSA quorum sensing inhibition by a rare human skin commensal, and suggest that cross-talk between CoNS and MRSA may be important in maintaining healthy skin homeostasis and preventing MRSA skin damage during colonization or acute infection.

We report the first clinical Escherichia. coli strain EC3000 with concomitant chromosomal colistin and carbapenem resistance. A novel in-frame deletion, 6-11(RPISLR), in pmrB contributing to colistin resistance was verified using recombinant DNA techniques. Although decreased fitness compared to the wild-type (WT) strain or EC3000 revertant (chromosomal replacement of WT pmrB in EC3000), a portion of serially passaged EC3000 strains preserving colistin resistance without selective pressure raises the concern for further spread.

Background: MRSA pose significant therapeutic challenges, related to their: frequency in clinical infections; innate virulence properties; and propensity for multi-antibiotic resistance. MRSA are among the most common causes of endovascular infections, including infective endocarditis (IE).

Objective: To employ transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to evaluate the effect of exebacase, a novel direct lytic agent, in experimental aortic valve MRSA IE.

Study Design: TTE was utilized to evaluate the in vivo effect of exebacase on MRSA-infected vegetation progression when combined with daptomycin (vs daptomycin alone). Primary intravegetation outcomes were: maximum size; weights at sacrifice; and MRSA counts at infection baseline vs after 4 days of daptomycin treatment (alone or in addition to exebacase administered once on treatment Day 1).

Results: A single dose of exebacase in addition to daptomycin cleared significantly more intravegetation MRSA than daptomycin alone. This was associated with a statistical trend toward reduced maximum vegetation size in the exebacase + daptomycin vs the daptomycin-alone therapy groups (p = 0.07). Also, mean vegetation weights in the exebacase-treated group were significantly lower vs daptomycin-alone (p < 0.0001). Maximum vegetation size by TTE correlated with vegetation weight (p = 0.005). In addition, intravegetation MRSA counts in the combination group were significantly lower vs untreated controls (p<0.0001) and the daptomycin-alone group (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: This study suggests that exebacase has a salutary impact on MRSA-infected vegetation progression when combined with daptomycin, especially in terms of vegetation MRSA burden, size and weight. Moreover, TTE appears to be an efficient non-invasive tool to assess therapeutic efficacies in experimental MRSA IE.

Want to make a carrer in arbitration law? here is what Mr. Ratan K Singh, FCIArb advises you to do.

Although the main body of Section 2(q) expressly states that a respondent is an “adult male person”, the proviso widens the scope of proceedings by stating that an aggrieved wife or female living in a relationship in the nature of marriage can file a complaint against a relative of her husband/male partner. This rescinds the argument that the legislative intent was to exclude females. The Appeal was allowed with a direction to the Trial Courts to consider R2 and R3 as respondents in the proceedings.

The therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and transfusing those antibodies into an active coronavirus patient to help kickstart the immune system.

The kit 'DiAGSure nCOV-19 Detection Assay' can meet the growing demand for testing equipment across the country to a certain extent.

According to the NEERI study, Ganga water has a higher number of bacteriophages as against pathogenic bacteria. During consultations that were held between the NMCG and NEERI, the scientists also said there is still no proof that Ganga water or sediment has anti-viral properties.

Scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) aim to begin the study at the earliest. 

 The study can help ascertain whether there has been community transmission of the respiratory disease in those areas or not as the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,886 and the number of cases climbed to 56,342 in the country on Friday.

LIC had sold around 2 crore policies in the last five years, he said. In the current year, the Indian life insurance business reported a new business premium of Rs 1.69 lakh crore of which LIC had garnered about Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

The theme for the first edition of the Sagarmatha Sambaad, scheduled from April 2-4, is ‘Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity’, Gyawali told a group of visiting Indian reporters. It will be held every two years.

This community transmission test is running separately from the testing and tracking of symptomatic travellers as well as those who have come in contact with confirmed Covid-19 cases.

ICC ODI rankings: In the all-rounders' category, Ravindra Jadeja, moved up three places above to be placed at seventh position .

India's top-order failed miserably once again as New Zealand bounced back, reducing India to 90 for six at stumps on day two as a three-day finish is on the cards.

According to the study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, there is no evidence or research to claim that these bat coronaviruses can cause disease in humans.

The highly contagious novel coronavirus has resulted in over 70,000 deaths globally so far. The Moblio test kit will enable same day testing and reporting, enabling patient isolation when necessary.

The Watson virtual agent is AI-enabled and will be able to understand and respond to queries in English and Hindi.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,981 and the number of cases climbed to 59,662 in the country on Saturday, the Health Ministry said.

Imran Hussain, the Ballimaran MLA, has been retained as a Cabinet minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government. He will take oath of office on Sunday along with his five Cabinet colleagues and Arvind...

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday shared a poem paying tribute to the legendary lyricist and poet Gulzar, thanking him for making lives happier with his work even during the lockdown.

1 Seychellois Rupee = 0.0223 Omani Rial

1 Trinidad and Tobago Dollar = 0.0567 Omani Rial

1 Swedish Krona = 0.0392 Omani Rial

1 Slovak Koruna = 0.0173 Omani Rial

1 Serbian Dinar = 0.0035 Omani Rial

1 Polish Zloty = 0.0912 Omani Rial

1 Qatari Rial = 0.1053 Omani Rial

1 Indian Rupee = 0.0051 Omani Rial

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.0024 Omani Rial

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0 Omani Rial

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.0128 Omani Rial

1 Thai Baht = 0.012 Omani Rial

1 Turkish Lira = 0.0541 Omani Rial