bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceived efficacy, conscious fear of death and intentions to tan: Not all fear appeals are created equal
Authors: Cooper Douglas P. , Goldenberg Jamie L. , Arndt Jamie
Published: January 2013

Objectives

According to the terror management health model, conscious thoughts of death motivate productive health behaviours when the targeted behaviour is perceived as an effective route for mitigating the threat and removing death‐related thought from focal awareness. The present study thus examined whether messages manipulating the efficacy of a health behaviour moderate health outcomes when participants are presented with a fear appeal that makes death thought conscious.

Design

A 3 (fear appeal: cancer vs. appearance vs. neutral) × 2 (delay vs. no delay) × 2 (effective vs. non‐effective) between‐subjects ANOVA was conducted.

Methods

Beach patrons were randomly assigned to a cancer, appearance, or neutral‐threat fear appeal followed by a delay or no delay. Subsequently, they read messages highlighting the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of sun protection behaviours and reported their intentions to engage in those behaviours.

Results

When fear appeals primed conscious thoughts of death, framing sun protection as ineffective decreased sun protection intentions relative to framing sun protection as effective. In contrast, fear appeals that did not consciously prime death, or appeals followed by a delay that allowed thoughts of death to fade from consciousness, did not interact with efficacy messages.

Conclusions

The findings revealed that messages impacting sun protection efficacy moderated sun protection intentions only when death was conscious. The findings have implications for understanding the conditions that render certain fear appeals, and accompanying messages of efficacy, more influential than others.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject? Health communications that arouse fear motivate adaptive health behaviours to the extent that people perceive that the behaviour is capable of being performed (i.e., self‐efficacy) and will be effective at preventing the undesired outcome (i.e., response efficacy). According to the terror management health model (TMHM), health threats associated with mortality activate conscious thoughts of death. Moreover, the TMHM has found that when death thoughts are conscious, the belief that a health behaviour is effective predicts greater prevention intentions in an effort to remove the health threat, and conscious thoughts of death, from focal attention.

What does this study add?

Framing sun protection behaviours as effective increases sun protection behaviours among individuals exposed to a fear appeal that primes conscious thoughts of death (e.g., skin cancer from sun damage) relative to framing the behaviour as ineffective.

Framing sun protection behaviours as effective after a fear appeal that does not prime death‐related thoughts (e.g., appearance damage from sun damage) does not affect sun protection behaviours.

Framing sun protection behaviours as effective or non‐effective has no effect on sun protection intentions when death is no longer conscious.
Implicit associations and compensatory health beliefs in smokers: Exploring their role for behaviour and their change through warning labels
Authors: Glock Sabine , Müller Barbara C.N. , Krolak‐Schwerdt Sabine
Published: January 2013

Objectives

Smokers might think that the negative effects of smoking can be compensated for by other behaviours, such as doing exercise or eating healthily. This phenomenon is known as compensatory health beliefs (CHBs). Graphic warning labels on cigarette packets emphasize the negative effects of smoking, which may impact CHBs. Research so far has assessed CHBs explicitly only via questionnaires, although implicit cognition might be an important factor in continuing to smoke. This study investigated the impact of graphic warning labels on CHBs, by testing CHBs both implicitly and explicitly.

Design

The study had a three‐group experimental design. ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses were run on the results.

Methods

We assessed explicit CHBs among non‐smokers, smokers, and smokers confronted with graphic warning labels (N = 107; 47 females, 23.89 years old, 78 daily smokers). Implicit associations between smoking and CHB‐specific behaviours (e.g., eating healthy food) were measured using a Single‐Target Implicit Association Test. After the experiment, participants were able to choose between a healthy and unhealthy food reward.

Results

Non‐smokers and smokers differed in explicit CHBs but not in implicit cognitions. Warning labels influenced implicit associations among smokers but did not affect explicit CHBs. Most interestingly, implicit associations and explicit CHBs predicted food choice and smoking among smokers not confronted with warning labels.

Conclusions

Graphic warning labels could be used in interventions to inhibit automatic associations between smoking and healthy behaviours. Unlearning implicit cognitions might in turn affect explicit CHBs, thus decreasing their role in reducing the negative feelings caused by smoking.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject? Smokers develop compensatory health beliefs as means to reduce cognitive dissonance. CHBs predict behavioural intentions but not actual behaviours. CHBs so far are assessed via questionnaires. The influence of warning labels has not been investigated so far.

What does this study add? Warning labels only affected implicit cognitions. Implicit as well as explicit CHBs predicted smoking behaviour as well as actual healthy nutrition behaviour among the smokers control group.
MPP+‐dependent inhibition of Ih reduces spontaneous activity and enhances EPSP summation in nigral dopamine neurons
Authors: Masi A , Narducci R , Landucci E , Moroni F , Mannaioni G
Published: January 2013

Background and Purpose

1‐Methyl‐4‐phenylpyridinium (MPP+), a potent parkinsonizing agent in primates and rodents, is a blocker of mitochondrial complex I, therefore MPP+‐induced parkinsonism is believed to depend largely on mitochondrial impairment. However, it has recently been proposed that other mechanisms may participate in MPP+‐induced toxicity. We tackled this issue by probing the effects of an acute application of MPP+ on substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopamine (DA) neurons.

Experimental Approach

The effects of MPP+ on SNc DA neurons in acute midbrain slices were investigated with electrophysiology techniques.

Key Results

MPP+ (50 μM) was able to (i) hyperpolarize SNc DA neurons by ∼6 mV; (ii) cause an abrupt and marked (over 50%) reduction of the spontaneous activity; and (iii) inhibit the hyperpolarization‐activated inward current (Ih). MPP+ shifted Ih activation curve towards negative potentials by ∼11 mV both in Wistar rats and in C57/BL6 mice. Inhibition was voltage‐ and concentration‐dependent (Imax = 47%, IC50 = 7.74 μM). MPP+ slowed Ih activation kinetics at all potentials. These effects were not dependent on (i) block of mitochondrial complex I/fall of ATP levels; (ii) activation of type 2 DA receptor; and (iii) alteration of cAMP metabolism. Finally, MPP+‐dependent inhibition of Ih facilitated temporal summation of evoked EPSPs in SNc DA, but not in CA1 hippocampal neurons.

Conclusion and Implications

Reduced functionality of Ih in SNc DA neurons, via increased responsiveness towards synaptic excitation, might play a role in MPP+‐induced parkinsonism and, possibly, in the pathogenesis of human Parkinson's.
The Consequences of Income Instability for Children's Well‐Being
Authors: Hill Heather D. , Morris Pamela , Gennetian Lisa A. , Wolf Sharon , Tubbs Carly
Published: January 2013

Income instability is an important and understudied dimension of the established empirical relation between family income and children's healthy development. Frequent fluctuations in income may influence daily processes and routines of family life, but the nature of such effects also may vary by specific patterns of income instability, parents' responses, and children's characteristics. In this article, we review existing theory and research on income, family functioning, and child development to better understand the potential implications of income instability for children's development. We also integrate theoretical insights from developmental psychology, economics, sociology, and social neuroscience to propose a set of testable hypotheses for social science investigations on this topic.
Preschool Center Quality and School Readiness: Quality Effects and Variation by Demographic and Child Characteristics
Authors: Keys Tran D. , Farkas George , Burchinal Margaret R. , Duncan Greg J. , Vandell Deborah L. , Li Weilin , Ruzek Erik A. , Howes Carollee
Published: January 2013

This article examines associations between observed quality in preschool center classrooms for approximately 6,250 three‐ to five‐year‐olds and their school readiness skills at kindergarten entry. Secondary analyses were conducted using data from four large‐scale studies to estimate the effects of preschool center quality and interactions between quality and demographic characteristics and child entry skills and behaviors. Findings were summarized across studies using meta‐analytic methods. Results indicate small, but statistically significant associations for preschool center quality main effects on language and mathematics outcomes with little evidence of moderation by demographic characteristics or child entry skills and behaviors. Preschool center quality was not reliably related to socioemotional outcomes. The authors discuss possible explanations for the small effect sizes and lack of differential effects.
Increases in Cognitive and Linguistic Processing Primarily Account for Increases in Speaking Rate With Age
Authors: Nip Ignatius S. B. , Green Jordan R.
Published: January 2013

Age‐related increases of speaking rate are not fully understood, but have been attributed to gains in biologic factors and learned skills that support speech production. This study investigated developmental changes in speaking rate and articulatory kinematics of participants aged 4 (N = 7), 7 (N = 10), 10 (N = 9), 13 (N = 7), 16 (N = 9) years, and young adults (N = 11) in speaking tasks varying in task demands. Speaking rate increased with age, with decreases in pauses and articulator displacements but not increases in articulator movement speed. Movement speed did not appear to constrain the speaking. Rather, age‐related increases in speaking rate are due to gains in cognitive and linguistic processing and speech motor control.
Variants of uncertain significance in BRCA testing: evaluation of surgical decisions, risk perception, and cancer distress
Authors: Culver JO , Brinkerhoff CD , Clague J , Yang K , Singh KE , Sand SR , Weitzel JN
Published: January 2013

Studies suggest that patients carrying a BRCA variant of uncertain significance (VUS) may have lingering confusion concerning results interpretation. Counseling for uninformative BRCA‐negative (UN) results is thought to be more straightforward, despite the fact that both results lead to similar methods of empiric cancer risk counseling. This study compared surgical choices and perceptions between 71 patients with VUS results and 714 patients with UN results. All patients underwent genetic counseling because of a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer between 1997 and 2010, and completed a 2‐year follow‐up survey. Risk‐reducing mastectomy rates in both groups were 7% (p = 1.00) and risk‐reducing oophorectomy rates were 5% and 3%, respectively (p = 0.42). The VUS group reported less cancer distress reduction than the UN group (23.0% vs 35.8%, respectively, p = 0.043). Over 90% of both groups found the counseling process helpful. Overall, the study suggests that VUS results disclosed in genetic counseling did not cause excessive surgery or exaggerated cancer distress, though patients with a VUS found counseling somewhat less informative or reassuring. Future research on communication of VUS results, including pre‐and post‐test counseling, is essential for full realization of the potential for genomic medicine.
Human Influence and Classical Biogeographic Predictors of Rare Species Occurrence
Authors: BENNETT JOSEPH R. , ARCESE PETER
Published: January 2013

Biogeographic theory predicts that rare species occur more often in larger, less‐isolated habitat patches and suggests that patch size and connectivity are positive predictors of patch quality for conservation. However, in areas substantially modified by humans, rare species may be relegated to the most isolated patches. We used data from plant surveys of 81 meadow patches in the Georgia Basin of Canada and the United States to show that presence of threatened and endangered plants was positively predicted for patches that were isolated on small islands surrounded by ocean and for patches that were isolated by surrounding forest. Neither patch size nor connectivity were positive predictors of rare species occurrence. Thus, in our study area, human influence, presumably due to disturbance or introduction of competitive non‐native species, appears to have overwhelmed classical predictors of rare species distribution, such that greater patch isolation appeared to favor presence of rare species. We suggest conservation planners consider the potential advantages of protecting geographically isolated patches in human‐modified landscapes because such patches may represent the only habitats in which rare species are likely to persist.

Influencia Humana y Predictores Biogeográficos Clásicos de la Ocurrencia de Especies Raras
Seasonal and annual influence on insulin and cortisol results from overnight dexamethasone suppression tests in normal ponies and ponies predisposed to laminitis
Authors: Borer‐Weir K. E. , Menzies‐Gow N. J. , Bailey S. R. , Harris P. A. , Elliott J.
Published: January 2013

Reasons for performing study

A simple, accurate test for identifying individual animals at increased risk of laminitis would aid prevention. Laminitis‐prone ponies have a greater serum insulin response to dexamethasone administration than normal ponies in the summer, but the response during different seasons is unknown.

Objective

To test the hypothesis that previously laminitic ponies have a greater insulin response to dexamethasone than normal ponies, which is present during all seasons.

Study design

Prospective longitudinal study.

Methods

Overnight dexamethasone suppression tests were performed on 7 normal ponies and 5 previously laminitic ponies in spring 2009 and 2010, summer 2008 and 2010, autumn 2009 and winter 2008, while the ponies were at pasture. In spring 2010, a dexamethasone suppression test was performed after the ponies had been fed only hay for 3 weeks. Serum cortisol and insulin concentrations pre‐ and post dexamethasone were measured. Linear mixed models were used to analyse the data.

Results

Insulin concentrations pre‐ and post dexamethasone were significantly higher in previously laminitic ponies than in normal ponies during spring 2009 and summer 2008, but there was no difference between groups in spring 2010, summer 2010, autumn 2009 or winter 2008. Insulin concentration varied significantly with season. Diet had no apparent effect on insulin concentration pre‐ or post dexamethasone in spring 2010. Cortisol concentrations post dexamethasone were significantly higher in previously laminitic ponies than in normal ponies in autumn 2009, with concentrations above the reference range (<25 nmol/l) in both groups in summer 2008 and autumn 2009. Individual ponies had insufficient cortisol suppression in all seasons.

Conclusions

There were significant differences between groups in insulin and cortisol concentrations post dexamethasone during some seasons, but this was not present in all years. Wide interindividual variation in response limits the usefulness of a dexamethasone suppression test for predicting the susceptibility of an individual animal to laminitis.

Potential relevance

Abnormal insulin and cortisol responses to dexamethasone must be interpreted in the light of the individual animal, seasonal and annual variation reported here.
Neural nitric oxide synthase participates in pemphigus vulgaris acantholysis through upregulation of Rous sarcoma, mammalian target of rapamycin and focal adhesion kinase
Authors: España Agustín , Mòdol Teresa , Gil Maria P. , López‐Zabalza Maria J.
Published: January 2013

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune blistering skin disease characterized by suprabasal acantholysis produced as a consequence of desmoglein (Dsg) and non‐Dsg autoantibodies binding to several targeting molecules localized on the membrane of keratinocytes. Nitric oxide (NO) may exert a pathogenic function in several immunological processes. We have previously demonstrated that neural nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) plays part in PV acantholysis. Also, our group has described a relevant role for HER [human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) related] isoforms and several kinases such as Src (Rous sarcoma), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), as well as caspases in PV development. Using a passive transfer mouse model of PV, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the increase in nNOS and EGFR, Src, mTOR and FAK kinase upregulation observed in PV lesions. Our results revealed a new function for nNOS, which contributes to EGFR‐mediated PV acantholysis through the upregulation of Src, mTOR and FAK. In addition, we found that nNOS participates actively in PV at least in part by increasing caspase‐9 and caspase‐3 activities. These findings underline the important issue that in PV acantholysis, caspase activation is a nNOS‐linked process downstream of Src, mTOR and FAK kinase upregulation.
Do traditional fishers recognise reef fish species declines? Shifting environmental baselines in Eastern Brazil
Authors: Bender M. G. , Floeter S. R. , Hanazaki N.
Published: January 2013

Local fisher knowledge is an important source of information for the adjustment of environmental baselines relative to anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems. This knowledge is also susceptible to the shifting baseline syndrome. Four generations of fishers neighbouring a marine park in Eastern Brazil, were surveyed regarding the conservation status of nine reef fish species. Shifts in environmental baselines were detected among fisher generations. Fishers older than 50 years not only caught larger individual fish, but catches of large fish occurred four decades ago, suggesting that bigger fish are in decline in the region. Of nine reef fish species, seven exhibited significant declining catch trends based on information provided by fishers. Such declining status was not reported by all informants of younger generations, so the ability to identify such species increases significantly with fisher age. The fish species most cited as overexploited were Mycteroperca bonaci (Poey), Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) and Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch), emphasising that special attention should be given to the management and conservation of these species in Eastern Brazil. These results also showed that knowledge acquired by elder fishers (> 50 years old) can provide valuable insights into the conservation status of reef fish and the adjustment of environmental baselines for proper management of a marine park.
Protease‐activated receptor‐2 signalling by tissue factor on dendritic cells suppresses antigen‐specific CD4+ T‐cell priming
Authors: Shrivastava Seema , Ma Liang , Tham El‐Li , H. McVey John , Chen Daxin , Dorling Anthony
Published: January 2013

The precise function of tissue factor (TF) expressed by dendritic cells (DC) is uncertain. As well as initiating thrombin generation it can signal through protease‐activated receptor 2 (PAR‐2) when complexed with factor VIIa. We investigated the expression and function of TF on mouse bone marrow (BM) ‐derived DC; 20% of BM‐derived DC expressed TF, which did not vary after incubation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or dexamethasone (DEX). However, the pro‐coagulant activity of DEX‐treated DC in recalcified plasma was 30‐fold less than LPS‐treated DC. In antigen‐specific and allogeneic T‐cell culture experiments, the TF on DEX‐treated DC provided a signal through PAR‐2, which contributed to the reduced ability of these cells to stimulate CD4+ T‐cell proliferation and cytokine production. In vivo, an inhibitory anti‐TF antibody and a PAR‐2 antagonist enhanced antigen‐specific priming in two models where antigen was given without adjuvant, with an effect approximately 50% that seen with LPS, suggesting that a similar mechanism was operational physiologically. These data suggest a novel TF and PAR‐2‐dependent mechanism on DEX‐DC in vitro and unprimed DC in vivo that contributes to the low immunogenicity of these cells. Targeting this pathway has the potential to influence antigen‐specific CD4+ T‐cell activation.
Normative considerations for recreational fishery management: a bioeconomic framework for linking positive science and normative fisheries policy decisions
Authors: Fenichel E. P. , Gentner B. , Arlinghaus R.
Published: January 2013

Fishery science and management are concerned with both positive, what happens in a fishery system, and normative, what management should do, questions. Rarely are normative criteria discussed as openly and transparently as the positive techniques and assumptions. Instead, normative criteria are often held implicitly, and often goals, and objectives are defined without careful thought about the normative criteria from which such goals, and objectives derive. Management involves three components: system attributes and dynamics, management options and goals and objectives that stem from normative criteria by which outcomes are judged. There is a need to consider normative frameworks and criteria carefully because normative criteria are intrinsic to any management process. This paper motivates the need to consider normative frameworks and criteria carefully, explores issues associated with developing normative frameworks and criteria that articulate positive science, discusses specific issues to consider when developing normative frameworks for recreational fisheries and provides the bioeconomic framework as an example of a normative framework useful for recreational fisheries.
Systematics of Anopheles barbirostris van der Wulp and a sibling species of the Barbirostris Complex (Diptera: Culicidae) in eastern Java, Indonesia
Authors: TOWNSON HAROLD , DYER NAOMI , MCALISTER ERICA , SATOTO TRI BASKORO T. , BANGS MICHAEL J. , HARBACH RALPH E.
Published: January 2013

This study provides the first integrated morphological and molecular characterization of Anopheles barbirostris van der Wulp, the nominotypical member of the Barbirostris Complex of malaria vectors in the Oriental Region, and An. vanderwulpisp.n., a sibling species of the complex found in sympatry with An. barbirostris in the vicinity of its type locality in eastern Java, Indonesia. The adult, larval and pupal stages of An. barbirostris are described and compared with those of An. vanderwulpi. The two species, however, are essentially isomorphic. The genetic identity of An. barbirostris s.s. is based on a diagnostic cytochrome oxidase I gene sequence to ensure stable use of the specific name for the prevalent concept of the species. The genetic identity of the new species is also established. Diagnostic DNA sequences for these species serve as a foundation for further taxonomic studies, and for investigations into their roles in the transmission of malaria and filariasis. The discussion includes a brief review of Anopheles classification and species complexes.
Flu frames
Authors: Staniland Karen , Smith Greg
Published: January 2013

This article investigates how the frame concept was used in media studies of the 2009 flu pandemic representation. It examines how frame (or framing) analysis has illuminated sociological features of these depictions and how the frame concept facilitated an analytic understanding of media representations. The article first outlines the principal uses of the concept in the social sciences. It then examines the approach and findings of empirical studies of the 2009 outbreak. The findings are reported under three headings: production, text and the consumption of flu frames. This schema provides a better understanding of key sociological dimensions of news responses to the 2009 pandemic. Most articles reviewed were conducted under the auspices of communication studies. It is shown that questions of frame production and the interpretation and challenging of frames, while not at the forefront of many analyses, nevertheless were not neglected.
The Chinese Export Boom: An Examination of the Detailed Trade Data
Authors: Berger Brett , Martin Robert F.
Published: January 2013

From 2000 to 2007, Chinese exports grew at a phenomenal pace. Our paper uses finely detailed Chinese export data (8‐digit Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System codes) combined with US trade data to explore how this was achieved. Although general explanations such as China's exchange rate policy no doubt played a role, we find that sector‐specific stories, effective Chinese industrial policy and fortuitous timing were more critical. The detailed trade data reveal that “new” technology goods, such as cell phones, LCD screens and laptops, played a key role. Finally, we use the data to examine the relationship between Chinese exports and global manufacturing, in particular US manufacturing employment. We find that competition from China in both domestic and foreign markets likely contributed to a significant decline in USA manufacturing employment, but that relatively low US investment and slow GDP growth in the US following the 2001 recession played an equally important role.
Negotiating Culture in the Promotion of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Latin America
Authors: Sardenberg Cecília M. B.
Published: January 2013

Culture interacts with development in multiple ways. However the importance of culture within development should not be seen as translating to crystallising and solidifying its meaning or providing definitive ideas of what works. In this paper, I look at the relevance of culture to the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment, and examine how some women's movements in Latin America have negotiated and contested meanings around culture and as a result have re‐signified gender values, attitudes and behaviours.

The example ofLas madres de la Plaza de Mayoquestions the cultural construct of motherhood and the traditional role of the mother caring for the family within the home, and the women's neighbourhood action based in Bahia, Brazil which I look at contests and extends the notion of that domestic space. The importance of deconstructing and fighting against stereotypical images and patriarchal views of women in order to uphold gender rights is clear from the examples I look at on domestic violence, sex worker violence and the Black Women's Movement's struggle against sexist and racist images.

In conclusion I argue that in employing ‘transformatory thinking’ the women's groups that I look at in this paper have worked together as women to contest and confront accepted cultural meanings and by doing so have begun to re‐structure the gender order and promote gender equality.
Receiving or believing in family support? Contributors to the life quality of Latino and non‐Latino families of children with intellectual disability
Authors: Cohen S. R. , Holloway S. D. , Domínguez‐Pareto I. , Kuppermann M.
Published: January 2013

Background

Previous studies have identified the role of family support in mitigating the stress of parents caring for a child with intellectual disability. Less is known about families whose members are willing but unable to support each other because of geographical, structural and economic barriers. Our study examined the contribution to family quality of life (FQL) of family support beliefs, actual assistance from family members, as well as the moderating effects of ethnicity and household income.

Method

We conducted telephone interviews with 84 Latino and 61 non‐Latino mothers.

Results

Mothers who received more emotional support from partners and other family members reported a higher FQL, controlling for family characteristics. Familism beliefs were also associated with FQL, particularly for Latino mothers. Income was not a significant moderator.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that some predictors of FQL are partially moderated by ethnicity, while others may be powerful across diverse communities.
Seasonal Effect of Gonadotrophin Inhibitory Hormone on Gonadotrophin‐Releasing Hormone‐induced Gonadotroph Functions in the Goldfish Pituitary
Authors: Moussavi M. , Wlasichuk M. , Chang J. P. , Habibi H. R.
Published: January 2013

We have shown that native goldfish gonadotrophin inhibitory hormone (gGnIH) differentially regulates luteinsing hormone (LH)‐β and follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH)‐β expression. To further understand the functions of gGnIH, we examined its interactions with two native goldfish gonadotrophin‐releasing hormones, salmon gonadotrophin‐releasing hormone (sGnRH) and chicken (c)GnRH‐II in vivo and in vitro. Intraperitoneal injections of gGnIH alone reduced serum LH levels in fish in early and mid gonadal recrudescence; this inhibition was also seen in fish co‐injected with either sGnRH or cGnRH‐II during early recrudescence. Injection of gGnIH alone elevated pituitary LH‐β and FSH‐β mRNA levels at early and mid recrudescence, and FSH‐β mRNA at late recrudescence. Co‐injection of gGnIH attenuated the stimulatory influences of sGnRH on LH‐β in early recrudescence, and LH‐β and FSH‐β mRNA levels in mid and late recrudescence, as well as the cGnRH‐II‐elicited increase in LH‐β, but not FSH‐β, mRNA expression at mid and late recrudescence. sGnRH and cGnRH‐II injection increased pituitary gGnIH‐R mRNA expression in mid and late recrudescence but gGnIH reduced gGnIH‐R mRNA levels in late recrudescence. gGnIH did not affect basal LH release from perifused pituitary cells and continual exposure to gGnIH did not alter the LH responses to acute applications of GnRH. However, a short 5‐min GnIH treatment in the middle of a 60‐min GnRH perifusion selectively reduced the cGnRH‐II‐induced release of LH. These novel results indicate that, in goldfish, gGnIH and GnRH modulate pituitary GnIH‐R expression and gGnIH differentially affects sGnRH and cGnRH‐II regulation of LH secretion and gonadotrophin subunit mRNA levels. Furthermore, these actions are manifested in a reproductive stage‐dependent manner.
The inhibition of TNF‐α‐induced leucocyte apoptosis by melatonin involves membrane receptor MT1/MT2 interaction
Authors: Espino Javier , Rodríguez Ana B. , Pariente José A.
Published: January 2013

The pro‐apoptotic signalling cascades induced by tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) have been intensively studied in multiple cellular systems. So far, it is known that TNF‐α can simultaneously activate survival and apoptotic cell death responses. The balance between these signals determines the ultimate response of the cell to TNF‐α. Moreover, emerging evidence suggests that melatonin may be involved in the protection of different cell types against apoptosis. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin on TNF‐α‐induced apoptosis in human leucocytes. Cells were treated with TNF‐α alone or in the presence of cycloheximide (CHX), which promotes caspase‐8 activation by eliminating the endogenous caspase‐8 inhibitor, c‐FLIP. Treatment with TNF‐α/CHX led to apoptotic cell death, as ascertained by annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Likewise, in the presence of CHX, TNF‐α stimulation produced cFLIP down‐regulation and subsequent caspase‐8 activation, thus directly triggering caspase‐3 activation and causing Bid truncation and subsequent caspase‐9 activation. Conversely, pre‐incubation of cells with melatonin inhibited TNF‐α‐/CHX‐evoked leucocyte apoptosis. Similarly, pretreatment of leucocytes with melatonin increased cFLIP protein levels, thereby preventing TNF‐α‐/CHX‐mediated caspase processing. Blockade of melatonin membrane receptor MT1/MT2 or extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) pathway with luzindole or PD98059, respectively, abolished the inhibitory effects of melatonin on leucocyte apoptosis evoked by TNF‐α/CHX. In conclusion, the model proposed by these findings is that the MT1/MT2 receptors, which are under the positive control of melatonin, trigger an ERK‐dependent signalling cascade that interferes with the anti‐apoptotic protein cFLIP modulating the cell life/death balance of human leucocytes.
Mechanisms of social learning across species boundaries
Authors: Avarguès‐Weber A. , Dawson E. H. , Chittka L.
Published: January 2013

Social learning involves the acquisition of information from other individuals and is a behavioural strategy found in a wide range of taxa from insects to humans. Traditionally, research in this field has concentrated on learning from members of the same species; however, there is increasing evidence for social learning across species boundaries. Owing to the ecological overlap of many species, it makes sense that such heterospecific social learning is common, and in some cases, information from another species may be more profitable than that provided by members of the same species. Here, we review the existing literature about learning from individuals of different species. We discuss the cognitive mechanisms underlying this form of information gathering and highlight the importance of past experience and innate predispositions in the formation of interspecific learning events. In many cases, seemingly complex forms of ‘copying’ from members of other species can be explained by relatively simple forms of conditioning.
The Inside View: Using the Enron E‐mail Archive to Understand Corporate Political Attention
Authors: Drutman Lee , Hopkins Daniel J.
Published: January 2013

For decades, scholars have debated the role of corporations in American politics. To date, they have relied on either interviews or publicly disclosed spending and lobbying reports. This article presents new methods and data that enable us to consider the internal processes of corporate political attention instead. Aided by automated content analysis, this article uses more than 250,000 internal e‐mails from Enron to observe its political attention between 1999 and 2002. These e‐mails depict Enron's employees as focused on monitoring and formally participating in political processes, including bureaucratic processes. Only a small fraction of their political attention focused on elections.
Can the science of communication inform the art of the medical humanities?
Authors: Bleakley Alan , Marshall Robert
Published: January 2013

CONTEXT  There is increasing interest in establishing the medical humanities as core integrated provision in undergraduate medicine curricula, but sceptics point to the lack of evidence for their impact upon patient care. Further, the medical humanities culture has often failed to provide a convincing theoretical rationale for the inclusion of the arts and humanities in medical education.

DISCUSSION  Poor communication with colleagues and patients is the main factor in creating the conditions for medical error; this is grounded in a historically determined refusal of democracy within medical work. The medical humanities may play a critical role in educating for democracy in medical culture generally, and in improving communication in medical students specifically, as both demand high levels of empathy. Studies in the science of communication can provide a valuable evidence base justifying the inclusion of the medical humanities in the core curriculum. A case is made for the potential of the medical humanities – as a form of ‘adult play’– to educate for collaboration and tolerance of ambiguity or uncertainty, providing a key element of the longer‐term democratising force necessary to change medical culture and promote safer practice.

CONCLUSION  The arts and humanities can provide important contextual media through which the lessons learned from the science of communication in medicine can be translated and promoted as forms of medical education.
Mechanism of competence activation by the ComRS signalling system in streptococci
Authors: Fontaine Laetitia , Goffin Philippe , Dubout Hélène , Delplace Brigitte , Baulard Alain , Lecat‐Guillet Nathalie , Chambellon Emilie , Gardan Rozenn , Hols Pascal
Published: January 2013

In many streptococci, competence for natural DNA transformation is regulated by the Rgg‐type regulator ComR and the pheromone ComS, which is sensed intracellularly. We compared the ComRS systems of four model streptococcal species using in vitro and in silico approaches, to determine the mechanism of the ComRS‐dependent regulation of competence. In all systems investigated, ComR was shown to be the proximal transcriptional activator of the expression of key competence genes. Efficient binding of ComR to DNA is strictly dependent on the presence of the pheromone (C‐terminal ComS octapeptide), in contrast with other streptococcal Rgg‐type regulators. The 20 bp palindromic ComR‐box is the minimal genetic requirement for binding of ComR, and its sequence directly determines the expression level of genes under its control. Despite the apparent species‐specific specialization of the ComR–ComS interaction, mutagenesis of ComS residues from Streptococcus thermophilus highlighted an unexpected permissiveness with respect to its biological activity. In agreement, heterologous ComS, and even primary sequence‐unrelated, casein‐derived octapeptides, were able to induce competence development in S. thermophilus. The lack of stringency of ComS sequence suggests that competence of a specific Streptococcus species may be modulated by other streptococci or by non‐specific nutritive oligopeptides present in its environment.
Evolutionary Psychology: A Fresh Perspective for Understanding and Changing Problematic Behavior
Authors: Tybur Joshua M. , Griskevicius Vladas
Published: January 2013

From rising obesity and soaring health care costs to escalating violence and environmental degradation, contemporary society faces many challenges. Are there policies that are naturally effective in changing the behaviors that produce these problems? In this article, the authors examine some of the roots of socially problematic behavior by taking an evolutionary perspective that considers human nature. They review four insights that an evolutionary approach provides into human behavior. Then they discuss how a deeper understanding of the ancestral roots of modern behavior can provide a fresh perspective for policy makers and public administrators while also providing fertile ground for novel research and applications for altering behavior. The central takeaway is that optimal strategies for changing problematic behaviors require harnessing our deep‐seated ancestral nature rather than ignoring it or working against it.
What Complexity Differences Reveal About Domains in Language*
Authors: Heinz Jeffrey , Idsardi William
Published: January 2013

An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy, but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currently offers the best explanation for this difference.
Tuning Your Priors to the World
Authors: Feldman Jacob
Published: January 2013

The idea that perceptual and cognitive systems must incorporate knowledge about the structure of the environment has become a central dogma of cognitive theory. In a Bayesian context, this idea is often realized in terms of “tuning the prior”—widely assumed to mean adjusting prior probabilities so that they match the frequencies of events in the world. This kind of “ecological” tuning has often been held up as an ideal of inference, in fact defining an “ideal observer.” But widespread as this viewpoint is, it directly contradicts Bayesian philosophy of probability, which views probabilities as degrees of belief rather than relative frequencies, and explicitly denies that they are objective characteristics of the world. Moreover, tuning the prior to observed environmental frequencies is subject to overfitting, meaning in this contextovertuningto the environment, which leads (ironically) to poor performance in future encounters with the same environment. Whenever there is uncertainty about the environment—which there almost always is—an agent's prior should be biased away from ecological relative frequencies and toward simpler and more entropic priors.
Language Learning From Positive Evidence, Reconsidered: A Simplicity‐Based Approach
Authors: Hsu Anne S. , Chater Nick , Vitányi Paul
Published: January 2013

Children learn their native language by exposure to their linguistic and communicative environment, but apparently without requiring that their mistakes be corrected. Such learning from “positive evidence” has been viewed as raising “logical” problems for language acquisition. In particular, without correction, how is the child to recover from conjecturing an over‐general grammar, which will be consistent with any sentence that the child hears? There have been many proposals concerning how this “logical problem” can be dissolved. In this study, we review recent formal results showing that the learner has sufficient data to learn successfully from positive evidence, if it favors thesimplestencoding of the linguistic input. Results include the learnability of linguistic prediction, grammaticality judgments, language production, and form‐meaning mappings. The simplicity approach can also be “scaled down” to analyze the learnability of specific linguistic constructions, and it is amenable to empirical testing as a framework for describing human language acquisition.
AtLAZY1 is a signaling component required for gravitropism of the Arabidopsis thaliana inflorescence
Authors: Yoshihara Takeshi , Spalding Edgar P. , Iino Moritoshi
Published: January 2013

The present study identified a family of six A. thaliana genes that share five limited regions of sequence similarity with LAZY1, a gene in Oryza sativa (rice) shown to participate in the early gravity signaling for shoot gravitropism. A T‐DNA insertion into the Arabidopsis gene (At5g14090) most similar to LAZY1 increased the inflorescence branch angle to 81° from the wild type value of 42°. RNA interference lines and molecular rescue experiments confirmed the linkage between the branch‐angle phenotype and the gene consequently named AtLAZY1. Time‐resolved gravitropism measurements of atlazy1 hypocotyls and primary inflorescence stems showed a significantly reduced bending rate during the first hour of response. The subcellular localization of AtLAZY1 protein was investigated to determine if the nuclear localization predicted from the gene sequence was observable and important to its function in shoot gravity responses. AtLAZY1 fused to green fluorescent protein largely rescued the branch‐angle phenotype of atlazy1, and was observed by confocal microscopy at the cell periphery and within the nucleus. Mutation of the nuclear localization signal prevented detectable levels of AtLAZY1 in the nucleus without affecting the ability of the gene to rescue the atlazy1 branch‐angle phenotype. These results indicate that AtLAZY1 functions in gravity signaling during shoot gravitropism, being a functional ortholog of rice LAZY1. The nuclear pool of the protein appears to be unnecessary for this function, which instead relies on a pool that appears to reside at the cell periphery.
Worming Our Way In and Out of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline and Developing Embryo
Authors: Hanna Michael , Wang Lei , Audhya Anjon
Published: January 2013

The germline and embryo of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have emerged as powerful model systems to study membrane dynamics in an intact, developing animal. In large part, this is due to the architecture of the reproductive system, which necessitates de novo membrane and organelle biogenesis within the stem cell niche to drive compartmentalization throughout the gonad syncytium. Additionally, membrane reorganization events during oocyte maturation and fertilization have been demonstrated to be highly stereotypic, facilitating the development of quantitative assays to measure the impact of perturbations on protein transport. This review will focus on regulatory mechanisms that govern protein trafficking, which have been elucidated using a combination of C. elegans genetics, biochemistry and high‐resolution microscopy. Collectively, studies using the simple worm highlight an important niche that the organism holds to define new pathways that regulate vesicle transport, many of which appear to be absent in unicellular systems but remain highly conserved in mammals.
Speech perception in simulated electric hearing exploits information-bearing acoustic change
Authors: Stilp Christian E. , Goupell Matthew J. , Kluender Keith R.
Published: January 2013

Stilp and Kluender [(2010). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107(27), 12387–12392] reported measures of sensory change over time (cochlea-scaled spectral entropy, CSE) reliably predicted sentence intelligibility for normal-hearing listeners. Here, implications for listeners with atypical hearing were explored using noise-vocoded speech. CSE was parameterized as Euclidean distances between biologically scaled spectra [measured before sentences were noise vocoded (CSE)] or between channel amplitude profiles in simulated cochlear-implant processing [measured after vocoding (CSECI)]. Sentence intelligibility worsened with greater amounts of information replaced by noise; patterns of performance did not differ between CSE and CSECI. Results demonstrate the importance of information-bearing change for speech perception in simulated electric hearing.
Chronic Stress Triggers Social Aversion via Glucocorticoid Receptor in Dopaminoceptive Neurons
Authors: Barik Jacques , Marti Fabio , Morel Carole , Fernandez Sebastian P. , Lanteri Christophe , Godeheu Gérard , Tassin Jean-Pol , Mombereau Cédric , Faure Philippe , Tronche François
Published: January 2013

Defeat, Distress, and Glucocorticoids

Understanding how individuals control emotions and cope with stressful events is a major clinical concern and of importance for the treatment of psychiatric illnesses (see the Perspective by

McEwen

).

Barik
et al.

(p.
332
) discovered that aggressive defeat stress in mice caused glucocortioid release and increased activity in the dopamine system. Deleting the glucocorticoid receptors in dopaminoceptive neurons completely prevented the social avoidance that usually follows aggressive defeat. How the combination of genetic factors and environmental stressors during adolescence determines adult behavior and how their disturbance results in neuropsychiatric disorders is poorly understood.

Niwa
et al.

(p.
335
) found that isolation stress during adolescence, which does not cause any long-lasting changes in wild-type mice, induced significant neurochemical and behavioral alterations in mutant mice expressing a dominant-negative variant of the
disrupted in schizophrenia 1
gene under the control of the prion protein promoter. These deficits could be reversed by a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist.