bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neurovascular coupling to D2/D3 dopamine receptor occupancy using simultaneous PET/functional MRI
Authors: Sander Christin Y. , Hooker Jacob M. , Catana Ciprian , Normandin Marc D. , Alpert Nathaniel M. , Knudsen Gitte M. , Vanduffel Wim , Rosen Bruce R. , Mandeville Joseph B.
Published: May 2013

This study employed simultaneous neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate the relationship between changes in receptor occupancy measured by PET and changes in brain activity inferred by fMRI. By administering the D2/D3 dopamine receptor antagonist [
11
C]raclopride at varying specific activities to anesthetized nonhuman primates, we mapped associations between changes in receptor occupancy and hemodynamics [cerebral blood volume (CBV)] in the domains of space, time, and dose. Mass doses of raclopride above tracer levels caused increases in CBV and reductions in binding potential that were localized to the dopamine-rich striatum. Moreover, similar temporal profiles were observed for specific binding estimates and changes in CBV. Injection of graded raclopride mass doses revealed a monotonic coupling between neurovascular responses and receptor occupancies. The distinct CBV magnitudes between putamen and caudate at matched occupancies approximately matched literature differences in basal dopamine levels, suggesting that the relative fMRI measurements reflect basal D2/D3 dopamine receptor occupancy. These results can provide a basis for models that relate dopaminergic occupancies to hemodynamic changes in the basal ganglia. Overall, these data demonstrate the utility of simultaneous PET/fMRI for investigations of neurovascular coupling that correlate neurochemistry with hemodynamic changes in vivo for any receptor system with an available PET tracer.
Polaro–cryptic mirror of the lookdown as a biological model for open ocean camouflage
Authors: Brady Parrish C. , Travis Kort A. , Maginnis Tara , Cummings Molly E.
Published: May 2013

With no object to hide behind in 3D space, the open ocean represents a challenging environment for camouflage. Conventional strategies for reflective crypsis (e.g., standard mirror) are effective against axially symmetric radiance fields associated with high solar altitudes, yet ineffective against asymmetric polarized radiance fields associated with low solar inclinations. Here we identify a biological model for polaro–crypsis. We measured the surface-reflectance Mueller matrix of live open ocean fish (lookdown,
Selene vomer
) and seagrass-dwelling fish (pinfish,
Lagodon rhomboides
) using polarization-imaging and modeling polarization camouflage for the open ocean. Lookdowns occupy the minimization basin of our polarization-contrast space, while pinfish and standard mirror measurements exhibit higher contrast values than optimal. The lookdown reflective strategy achieves significant gains in polaro–crypsis (up to 80%) in comparison with nonpolarization sensitive strategies, such as a vertical mirror. Lookdowns achieve polaro–crypsis across solar altitudes by varying reflective properties (described by 16 Mueller matrix elements

m
ij

) with incident illumination. Lookdowns preserve reflected polarization aligned with principle axes (dorsal–ventral and anterior–posterior,

m
22

= 0.64), while randomizing incident polarization 45° from principle axes (

m
33

= –0.05). These reflectance properties allow lookdowns to reflect the uniform degree and angle of polarization associated with high-noon conditions due to alignment of the principle axes and the sun, and reflect a more complex polarization pattern at asymmetrical light fields associated with lower solar elevations. Our results suggest that polaro–cryptic strategies vary by habitat, and require context-specific depolarization and angle alteration for effective concealment in the complex open ocean environment.
Perceptual basis of evolving Western musical styles
Authors: Rodriguez Zivic Pablo H. , Shifres Favio , Cecchi Guillermo A.
Published: May 2013

The brain processes temporal statistics to predict future events and to categorize perceptual objects. These statistics, called expectancies, are found in music perception, and they span a variety of different features and time scales. Specifically, there is evidence that music perception involves strong expectancies regarding the distribution of a melodic interval, namely, the distance between two consecutive notes within the context of another. The recent availability of a large Western music dataset, consisting of the historical record condensed as melodic interval counts, has opened new possibilities for data-driven analysis of musical perception. In this context, we present an analytical approach that, based on cognitive theories of music expectation and machine learning techniques, recovers a set of factors that accurately identifies historical trends and stylistic transitions between the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Post-Romantic periods. We also offer a plausible musicological and cognitive interpretation of these factors, allowing us to propose them as data-driven principles of melodic expectation.
Energy-dissipative supercomplex of photosystem II associated with LHCSR3 in
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Authors: Tokutsu Ryutaro , Minagawa Jun
Published: May 2013

Plants and green algae have a low pH-inducible mechanism in photosystem II (PSII) that dissipates excess light energy, measured as the nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence (qE). Recently, nonphotochemical quenching 4 (
npq4
), a mutant strain of the green alga
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
that is qE-deficient and lacks the light-harvesting complex stress-related protein 3 (LHCSR3), was reported [Peers G, et al. (2009)
Nature
462(7272):518–521]. Here, applying a newly established procedure, we isolated the PSII supercomplex and its associated light-harvesting proteins from both WT
C. reinhardtii
and the
npq4
mutant grown in either low light (LL) or high light (HL). LHCSR3 was present in the PSII supercomplex from the HL-grown WT, but not in the supercomplex from the LL-grown WT or mutant. The purified PSII supercomplex containing LHCSR3 exhibited a normal fluorescence lifetime at a neutral pH (7.5) by single-photon counting analysis, but a significantly shorter lifetime at pH 5.5, which mimics the acidified lumen of the thylakoid membranes in HL-exposed chloroplasts. The switch from light-harvesting mode to energy-dissipating mode observed in the LHCSR3-containing PSII supercomplex was sensitive to dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, a protein-modifying agent specific to protonatable amino acid residues. We conclude that the PSII-LHCII-LHCSR3 supercomplex formed in the HL-grown
C. reinhardtii
cells is capable of energy dissipation on protonation of LHCSR3.
Translation initiation factor eIF3h targets specific transcripts to polysomes during embryogenesis
Authors: Choudhuri Avik , Maitra Umadas , Evans Todd
Published: May 2013

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3) plays a central role in translation initiation and consists of five core (conserved) subunits present in both budding yeast and higher eukaryotes. Higher eukaryotic eIF3 contains additional (noncore or nonconserved) subunits of poorly defined function, including sub-unit h (eIF3h), which in zebrafish is encoded by two distinct genes (
eif3ha
and
eif3hb
). Previously we showed that
eif3ha
encodes the predominant isoform during zebrafish embryogenesis and that depletion of this factor causes defects in the development of the brain and eyes. To investigate the molecular mechanism governing this regulation, we developed a genome-wide polysome-profiling strategy using stage-matched WT and
eif3ha
morphant zebrafish embryos. This strategy identified a large set of predominantly neural-associated translationally regulated mRNAs. A striking finding was a cohort of lens-associated crystallin isoform mRNAs lost from the
eif3ha
morphant polysomes, revealing a mechanism by which lens development is translationally controlled. We show that both UTR sequences of a targeted crystallin transcript are necessary but not sufficient for translational regulation by
eif3ha
. Therefore, our study reveals the role of a noncore eIF3 subunit in modulating a specific developmental program by regulating translation of defined transcripts and highlights the potential of the zebrafish system to identify translational regulatory mechanisms controlling vertebrate development.
Behavioral and biochemical dissociation of arousal and homeostatic sleep need influenced by prior wakeful experience in mice
Authors: Suzuki Ayako , Sinton Christopher M. , Greene Robert W. , Yanagisawa Masashi
Published: May 2013

Sleep is regulated by homeostatic mechanisms, and the low-frequency power in the electroencephalogram (delta power) during non-rapid eye movement sleep reflects homeostatic sleep need. Additionally, sleep is limited by circadian and environmentally influenced arousal. Little is known, however, about the underlying neural substrates for sleep homeostasis and arousal and about the potential link between them. Here, we subjected C57BL/6 mice to 6 h of sleep deprivation using two different methods: gentle handling and continual cage change. Both groups were deprived of sleep to a similar extent (>99%), and, as expected, the delta power increase during recovery sleep was quantitatively similar in both groups. However, in a multiple sleep latency test, the cage change group showed significantly longer sleep latencies than the gentle handling group, indicating that the cage change group had a higher level of arousal despite the similar sleep loss. To investigate the possible biochemical correlates of these behavioral changes, we screened for arousal-related and sleep need-related phosphoprotein markers from the diencephalon. We found that the abundance of highly phosphorylated forms of dynamin 1, a presynaptic neuronal protein, was associated with sleep latency in the multiple sleep latency test. In contrast, the abundance of highly phosphorylated forms of
N
-myc downstream regulated gene 2, a glial protein, was increased in parallel with delta power. The changes of these protein species disappeared after 2 h of recovery sleep. These results suggest that homeostatic sleep need and arousal can be dissociated behaviorally and biochemically and that phosphorylated
N
-myc downstream regulated gene 2 and dynamin 1 may serve as markers of homeostatic sleep need and arousal, respectively.
Surfaces with parallel mean curvature in ℂℙⁿ×ℝ and ℂℍⁿ×ℝ
Authors: Fetcu Dorel , Rosenberg Harold
Published: May 2013

We consider surfaces with parallel mean curvature vector (pmc surfaces) in

C

P
n

×

R

\mathbb {C}P^n\times \mathbb {R}

and

C

H
n

×

R

\mathbb {C}H^n\times \mathbb {R}

, and, more generally, in cosymplectic space forms. We introduce a holomorphic quadratic differential on such surfaces. This is then used in order to show that the anti-invariant pmc

2
2

-spheres of a

5
5

-dimensional non-flat cosymplectic space form of product type are actually the embedded rotational spheres

S
H
2

⊂

M
¯

2

×

R

S_H^2\subset \bar M^2\times \mathbb {R}

of Hsiang and Pedrosa, where

M
¯

2

\bar M^2

is a complete simply-connected surface with constant curvature. When the ambient space is a cosymplectic space form of product type and its dimension is greater than

5
5

, we prove that an immersed non-minimal non-pseudo-umbilical anti-invariant

2
2

-sphere lies in a product space

M
¯

4

×

R

\bar M^4\times \mathbb {R}

, where

M
¯

4

\bar M^4

is a space form. We also provide a reduction of codimension theorem for the pmc surfaces of a non-flat cosymplectic space form.
Modern Portfolio Theory
Authors: Jacquier Eric
Published: May 2013

This chapter surveys modern portfolio theory, which is one of the most spectacular developments of finance in the last 50 years. It starts with the basic one-period setup under the assumption of normality with the successive contributions including the basic Markowitz mean-variance framework, the efficient frontier, and the Sharpe-Lintner capital asset pricing model. Utility and risk aversion are also discussed. The chapter then discusses the multiperiod extension and Merton's optimal asset allocation. The second part of the chapter shows how to extend the framework to allow for parameter uncertainty. In that process, the chapter also briefly reviews needed concepts such as the predictive density, shrinkage, and how the Bayesian framework allows the incorporation of prior views to improve on the precision of estimates necessary in the portfolio construction process.
Asset Pricing and Behavioral Finance
Authors: Shefrin Hersh
Published: May 2013

Behavioral asset pricing focuses on the manner in which investor psychology can create gaps between the market prices of securities and their corresponding fundamental values. This chapter describes the main tenets of behavioral asset pricing by tracing its history both empirically and theoretically. Because of its focus on the gap between price and value, the behavioral framework has come to be viewed as an alternative to the neoclassical-based efficient market framework. The debate between behaviorists and neoclassicists has shed light on weaknesses in each approach. The chapter discusses these weaknesses and concludes that, going forward, the field of finance would benefit from bringing together the psychological insights from behavioral finance and the rigorous approach of neoclassical finance. Examples of topics include sentiment, arbitrage, noise trading, heuristics, biases, and prospect theory.
Asset Allocation Models
Authors: Singleton J. Clay
Published: May 2013

Actively managing a portfolio involves three main activities: asset allocation (designing and maintaining the relative asset class weights), asset selection (selecting assets to match the allocation), and market timing (deciding when and how much to invest). This chapter looks at asset allocation models—theoretical and practical templates that active asset managers use to make the asset allocation decision. Asset allocation models examined include the Markowitz model and alternative (skewness, stochastic dominance, and ad hoc) models. The chapter also discusses the models actually used in practice and portfolio rebalancing. Many observers, influenced by a continuum of research, believe that asset allocation is by far the most influential factor explaining the variability in portfolio performance. Only recently does research support the roughly equal importance of asset selection and asset allocation with market timing a distant third. Regardless of the precise influence accorded to any of three activities of active management, asset allocation is sensibly an essential ingredient in portfolio design and performance.
Preference Models in Portfolio Construction and Evaluation
Authors: Guidolin Massimo
Published: May 2013

This chapter reviews the role of preference- (utility-) based asset allocation models in normative portfolio theory. After presenting relevant definitions and tools from the theory of decisions under uncertainty, the chapter surveys moment-based preference functionals and introduces concepts from the literature on portfolio decisions by ambiguity-averse, robust optimizers. Other topics discussed include utility functions, portfolio optimization, Markov switching, and higher-order moments. An illustrative back-testing exercise reveals that preference-based models may fail to deliver ex-post realized performance that outperforms typical benchmarks. However, this is unlikely for medium-term (6- and 12-month) risk-averse investors who are characterized by preferences such as power utility of smooth ambiguity-averse preferences that overweight higher-order moments and tail dynamics of the distribution of terminal wealth when compared to standard mean-variance preferences.
Measuring and Managing Credit and Other Risks
Authors: Sabato Gabriele
Published: May 2013

During the last 40 years, risk management has evolved tremendously. The technologies and methodologies to measure risks have reached impressive levels of sophistication and complexity. However, the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis clearly demonstrates that substantial improvements in the way financial institutions measure and manage risks are still urgently needed. This chapter provides an analysis and discussion of risk management as well as several proposals on how the financial industry should evolve. In particular, financial institutions need to improve their capital allocation strategies defining a clear risk-appetite framework by taking the following actions: (1) implementing true enterprise risk management programs, which measure and aggregate all risk types, and (2) redefining the role of the risk function within the governance of financial organizations. The chapter focuses on credit risk but also discusses other types of risk including market risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk. Improving methods used to measure risks and implementing the proposed changes in risk management would allow financial institutions to restore the trust of markets and customers and to move forward into a new risk management era.
Effective Trade Execution
Authors: Cesari Riccardo , Marzo Massimiliano , Zagaglia Paolo
Published: May 2013

This chapter examines the role of algorithmic trading in modern financial markets. Additionally, order types, characteristics, and special features of algorithmic trading are described under the lens provided by the large development of high frequency trading technology. Special order types are examined together with an intuitive description of the implied dynamics of the order book conditional to special orders (iceberg and hidden). The chapter provides an analysis of the transaction costs associated with trading activity and examines the most common trading strategies employed in the market. It also examines optimal execution strategy with the description of the efficient trading frontier. These concepts represent the tools needed to understand the most recent innovations in financial markets and the most recent advances in microstructures research.
Market Timing Methods and Results
Authors: Schizas Panagiotis
Published: May 2013

Market timing is the investment strategy occurring when investors increase their allocation in risky assets in periods of bull markets. This chapter provides an overview of market timing methods and explains the concepts that modelers and finance practitioners use professionally in the world of investments. The beauty of trading is the ease of applying a predefined set of trading rules in order to identify market trends. The chapter also describes the set of indicators and the conditions needed for each strategy to be profitable and the outcome of each of strategy. In recent years, quantitative trading has been one of the most applicable ways of investing. Recent evidence shows that a successful quantitative strategy is linked to relative pricing. Thus, this chapter focuses on several mean-reversion strategies that depend on time-varying relative returns and volatilities.
Attribution Analysis
Authors: Brunia Nanne , Plantinga Auke
Published: May 2013

This chapter discusses performance attribution models allowing the observer to identify market timing and security selection skills of portfolio managers. The focus is on holdings-based models because they generate more precise measurements of managers' skills than return-based models. The discussion starts with the basic attribution model and how to extend this model to accommodate internationally diversified portfolios. The basic model can also be extended to improve the precision of the measurements by allowing the user to create a risk-adjusted performance attribution without the need to run a time-series regression model. In order to capture the impact of investor timing, performance attribution models can be extended further by including a component based on the internal rate of return.
Equity Investment Styles
Authors: Mason Andrew
Published: May 2013

Establishing a meaningful peer group or benchmark is crucial to those involved in selecting and evaluating investment funds and for those studying the risk-return profiles of those funds. This chapter outlines the developments in theoretical and empirical studies of equity investment styles. This review considers equity investment styles, the classification of stocks, multidimensional classification, growth-value orientation, funds styles, and the performance of investment funds. Investment styles are groups of portfolios sharing common characteristics that behave similarly under varying conditions. Style analysis focuses on two key areas: portfolio holdings and portfolio returns. Analysis has evolved toward more sophisticated growth-value orientation methods although there is no universally accepted approach. Such developments allow more differentiated analysis of investment fund styles and improve the identification of peer groups and appropriate benchmarks. The recent developments in performance analysis underline the importance of establishing the appropriate benchmark or peer group and that is the role of style analysis.
Socially Responsible Investing
Authors: Holzhauer Hunter M.
Published: May 2013

This chapter provides an introduction to the growing field of socially responsible investing (SRI), which has emerged over the last few decades from a fringe investment activity into the mainstream. With the amount of attention and investment SRI funds have begun to receive, navigating these waters has become extremely important for portfolio managers, pension advisers, charity trustees, corporate executives, and even individual investors. The first half of the chapter analyzes the changing tides of SRI by providing a concise portrayal of the progression of the SRI market, with special attention given to the South African apartheid and subsequent divestment. The second half of the chapter includes a literature review of empirical findings of SRI performance compared to conventional benchmarks. The review focuses on evidence from equity funds, fixed-income funds, international funds, indices, and “sin” stocks. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of the SRI literature including critiques.
Conflict and Restraint in Animal Species
Authors: Kokko Hanna
Published: May 2013

Any casual observer of nature documentaries will notice an emphasis on “nature, red in tooth and claw,” where one either eats or gets eaten. Biologists tend to accept that much of life behaves in a fairly nasty way toward all other life, while simultaneously marveling at the fantastic adaptations that life's challenges help evolution to produce. But is life all about causing damage to other organisms? Asking the same question in a narrower context: how much do aggression and selfish behavior dominate interactions among individuals of the same species? This chapter demonstrates that much of life is not simply “red in tooth and claw” but consists of a much more intricate web of interactions: the key is balancing what can be gained with aggression against the associated costs.
Cooperation, Conflict, and Niche Construction in the Genus Homo
Authors: Fuentes Agustín
Published: May 2013

There is more to evolution than selection and extant Neo-Darwinian theory. We are in the midst of significant enhancements in complexity and diversity in evolutionary theory, with the role for behavioral modification of social and ecological spaces, and their inheritance, becoming a key factor. Our grasp of patterns and contexts of selection and the ways in which social, epigenetic, and developmental interactors affect outcomes is growing by leaps and bounds. We also are increasingly realizing that social and experiential contexts shape bodies and behavior, affecting trajectories in more substantial manners than previously envisioned. This chapter reviews current proposals for integrating perspectives from niche construction and multi-inheritance into investigations, models, and explanations for the evolution of human behavior.
Pinker’s List
Authors: Ferguson R. Brian
Published: May 2013

This chapter challenges the idea that deadly intergroup violence has been common enough in our species evolutionary history to act as a selection force shaping human psychological tendencies, toward either external violence or internal cooperation. Broken down, there are three related propositions: (a) war was ubiquitous throughout our species evolutionary history; (b) war is a natural expression of evolved tendencies toward deadly violence against individuals outside the social group; (c) war casualties were sufficiently high to select for behavioral tendencies conferring reproductive advantage in intergroup competition. For either (b) or (c) to be true, (a) must be true. However, archaeological evidence shows (a) to be false.
The Prehistory of Warfare
Authors: Haas Jonathan , Piscitelli Matthew
Published: May 2013

Since the 1970s, most archaeologists working on hunters and gatherers have moved beyond ethnographic analogies for making inferential statements about the nature of hunting and gathering societies. However, the realm of warfare is the one glaring exception to this understanding of a major disconnect between past and present hunters and gatherers. Archaeologists, anthropologists, and other social scientists studying the origins of warfare have found the archaeological record somehow lacking in their efforts to understand the beginnings of warfare in the ancient past. To fill in the perceived gaps, they have turned to the historic record of hunters and gatherers, and in doing so have fallen into the trap of ethnographic tyranny. This chapter argues that the biggest problem with using historical ethnographies to make inferences about patterns of past human behavior is that they burden us with pictures only painted in the light of the modern, dense, colonial world of nation states. Another problem with the major studies based on ethnographies is that lots of other scholars take them as gospel. Declaring that warfare is rampant amongst almost all hunters and gatherers fits well with a common public perception of the deep historical and biological roots of warfare. The fact that there is extremely limited empirical evidence of any warfare among past hunters and gatherers is pushed to the wayside as an intellectual inconvenience.
The Prehistory of War and Peace in Europe and the Near East
Authors: Ferguson R. Brian
Published: May 2013

This chapter demonstrates that prehistoric war was not ubiquitous, that it is in fact rare in very early archaeological records, and becomes common only over time. It makes that claim based on a proper method, of compiling and comparing the total record regarding war and peace, from across regions of Europe and the Near East. Starting with Europe and then moving on to the Near East, all available evidence of war and/or interpersonal violence are considered, contextualized, and evaluated as to the presence or absence of war. The discussion of Europe begins with the Paleolithic, then the Mesolithic; and for Neolithic times, becomes regionally specific, moving around the continental regions in a big circle: Greece, Italy, France, Iberia, England, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe. With each region, the discussion begins with evidence from the earliest Neolithic, and moves forward through the end of the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic and, sometimes, Early Bronze Age. The Near Eastern section, after a brief encounter with Neanderthals, starts with the Epipaleolithic Natufians. Three regions emerge as significant in the Near East—the Southern Levant, the Anatolian highlands, and an area called the northern Tigris. Each are considered and compared following standard periodization: the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Pottery Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze Age. In both Europe and the Near East, the literature reviews begin without signs of war, and end in periods when war is unambiguously established and often a dominant factor in social life.
Peaceful Foragers
Authors: Endicott Kirk
Published: May 2013

This chapter examines two hunting and gathering societies—the Batek of Malaysia and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands—which actively suppress all violence inside and between groups. It attempts to determine the specific conditions that cause their deliberate pursuit of peace and the means by which they achieve it. It concludes by addressing the question of whether Batek and Moriori practices and beliefs shed any light on social relations in early human and protohuman societies.
South Indian Foragers’ Conflict Management in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Gardner Peter M.
Published: May 2013

Eighteen different foraging peoples were among the so-called “hill tribes” that once inhabited the scattered, forested ranges in India's four southernmost states. Although a few are near neighbors to one another, the overall picture is one of dispersal across a region that is both extensive and diverse. The cultures of six out of the eighteen cultures have been described sufficiently well to be included in this comparison. Starting with the less-acculturated southernmost foragers and moving north, the respectful, plural forms of terms they use for themselves are Malapandaram, Paliyar, Kadar, Kattunayaka/Jenu Kurumba/Jenu Kuruba (treated by those who study them as one and the same peoples), Yanadi, and Chenchu.
Conflicts in Cooperative Social Interactions in Nonhuman Primates
Authors: Brosnan Sarah F.
Published: May 2013

All things considered, social interactions in animals are remarkably peaceful. At the most basic level, individuals of all species are in competition for mates and food sources. For social species, this list expands to include, at minimum, social partners and rank, and in most species, there are far more things over which conflicts may emerge. In particular, individuals who cooperate have to navigate a minefield of potential problems in order successfully to achieve mutual ends. Given the ubiquity of both social interactions and cooperation, it is clear that the selective benefits of such interactions outweigh the costs, and further that individuals are likely to have evolved specific mechanisms to handle the conflicts that are inherent in both. How, then, does cooperation succeed despite this conflict? This chapter looks at the patterns of behavior across the primates to understand which factors were important in the evolution of successful cooperation, even in situations that include conflicting interests.
Rousseau with a Tail
Authors: Sapolsky Robert M.
Published: May 2013

This chapter reviews the study of one particular baboon troop (Forest Troop) that demonstrates that the social world of these primates can be unexpectedly malleable. It discusses sociality in the typical baboon troop; the prosocial features of life in a typical baboon troop; and the mechanism of cultural transmission of Forest Troop sociality. The chapter concludes by addressing the question of whether the Forest Troop culture is stable and transmissible.
The Challenge of Getting Men to Kill
Authors: Hughbank Richard J. , Grossman Dave
Published: May 2013

This chapter argues that soldiers have a natural reluctance to take human life, even on the battlefield, where it is their obligation to do so, and this resistance to killing must be overcome by extensive training and even then often breaks down. To understand the nature of this resistance, it must first be recognized that most participants in close combat are literally “frightened out of their wits,” as the saying goes. Once the arrows or bullets start flying, combatants stop thinking with the forebrain (that part of the brain which makes us human). Instead, their thought processes localize in the midbrain, or mammalian brain, that primitive part of the brain generally indistinguishable from that of an animal. At this point, the trust in one's training, equipment, and fellow warrior become the essence of how a person acts in the chaos known a combat.
Man the Singer
Authors: Pim Joám Evans
Published: May 2013

This chapter explores a particular example of human restraint against physical aggression: the song duel. It begins by considering Galizan song duels in some detail and then branches out from there to other cultures. The context and rules of song duels allow potentially dangerous conflicts to be dealt with in a playful way that helps to prevent physical aggression including, at an extreme, lethal aggression.
First Report of Pepper chat fruit viroid in Traded Tomato Seed, an Interception by Australian Biosecurity
Authors: Chambers G. A. , Seyb A. M. , Mackie J. , Constable F. E. , Rodoni B. C. , Letham D. , Davis K. , Gibbs M. J.
Published: May 2013

Pepper chat fruit viroid (PCFVd), a species of Pospiviroid, was first discovered in a capsicum crop in the Netherlands in 2006 (4) and was then reported only in Thailand (2) and Canada. The mechanism of international spread was not known, but movement with traded seed was suspected. PCFVd is transmissible through capsicum seed (4) and very probably through tomato seed, like other pospiviroids. The viroid causes disease in capsicum and tomato and experiments by others indicate a capacity to cause disease in potato. It poses a biosecurity threat to crops internationally. PCFVd was intercepted by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) in five shipments of tomato seed (Solanum lycopersicum) exported from Israel and Thailand in September and October 2012. Batches of up to 20,000 seeds were sampled from each seed lot in a shipment and total nucleic acids were extracted from sub-samples, each of about 400 seeds, following a method similar to Hoshino et al. (1). PCFVd was initially detected when reverse transcription PCR using the generic pospiviroid primers Pospi1-FW and Pospi1-RE (3) produced amplicons of 189 bp, which were then sequenced. The PCFVd specific primers AP FW1 and AP RE2 (4) were used to amplify the remainder of the viroid genome, which was directly sequenced. Overlapping sequences were aligned to produce complete sequences of 349 bases, one from seed from Thailand and two from seed from Israel (GenBank: KC762952, KC762953, KC762954). Searches of the GenBank nucleotide non-redundant database indicated close matches with sequences from PCFVd isolates from tomato in Thailand (2); alignments generated by BLAST showed the sequences differed from those from Thailand at only 2 to 18 nucleotide positions, equating to 95 to 99% identity. PCFVd sequences from seed from Thailand were almost identical (>99%) to the sequences from seed from Israel. Many sub-samples were negative, indicating that the number of contaminated seeds was very small in some shipments. The positive sub-samples as a proportion of the total number of sub-samples tested from the five shipments was 1/1, 1/5, 1/1, 12/50, and 7/50. Tomato and capsicum seed are produced in many countries and often traded through second countries. The infected tomato seed shipments intercepted by DAFF were destroyed or re-exported following Australian regulations. Other countries were informed through the International Plant Protection Convention. This pest viroid has not been intercepted by Australian authorities before and has not been detected in recent Australian survey work (data not shown).

References: (1) S. Hoshino et al. Res. Bull. Plant Prot. Japan 42:75, 2006. (2) K. Reanwarakorn et al. New Dis. Rep. 24:6, 2011 (3) J. Th. J. Verhoeven et al. EJPP 110:823, 2004. (4) J. Th. J. Verhoeven et al. Virus Res. 144:209, 2009.
‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Titers in Citrus and Acquisition Rates by Diaphorina citri Are Decreased by Higher Temperature
Authors: Lopes S. A. , Luiz F. Q. B. F. , Martins E. C. , Fassini C. G. , Sousa M. C. , Barbosa J. C. , Beattie G. A. C.
Published: May 2013

‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ is the most prevalent Liberibacter sp. associated with huanglongbing (HLB) in Brazil. Within São Paulo state (SP), HLB has spread more rapidly to and reached higher incidence in regions with relatively mild (cooler) summer temperatures. This suggests that climate can influence disease spread and severity. ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ titers on soft, immature leaves from infected ‘Valencia’ sweet orange plants exposed to different temperature regimes and adult Diaphorina citri fed for 48 h on these plants for ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ acquisition were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in two experiments. The first experiment included plants with three levels of infection, three incubation periods (IPs), and air temperatures favorable (14.6 to 28°C) and unfavorable (24 to 38°C) to ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’. The second included plants with severe late-stage infections, 10 IPs (based on 3-day intervals over 27 days), and three air temperature regimes (12 to 24, 18 to 30, and 24 to 38°C). Overall, ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ titers and the percentages of ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’-positive psyllids were lower in plants maintained at the warmer temperature regime (24 to 38°C) than in plants maintained in the cooler regimes. The results suggest that the lower incidence and slower spread of ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ to warmer regions of SP are related to the influence of ambient temperatures on titers of ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ in leaves.
Isoflurane in Contrast to Propofol Promotes Fluid Extravasation during Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pigs
Authors: Brekke Hege Kristin , Hammersborg Stig Morten , Lundemoen Steinar , Mongstad Arve , Kvalheim Venny Lise , Haugen Oddbjørn , Husby Paul
Published: May 2013

Background:

A highly positive intraoperative fluid balance should be prevented as it negatively impacts patient outcome. Analysis of volume-kinetics has identified an increase in interstitial fluid volume after crystalloid fluid loading during isoflurane anesthesia. Isoflurane has also been associated with postoperative hypoxemia and may be associated with an increase in alveolar epithelial permeability, edema formation, and hindered oxygen exchange. In this article, the authors compare fluid extravasation rates before and during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with isoflurane- versus propofol-based anesthesia.

Methods:

Fourteen pigs underwent 2 h of tepid CPB with propofol (P-group; n = 7) or isoflurane anesthesia (I-group; n = 7). Fluid requirements, plasma volume, colloid osmotic pressures in plasma and interstitial fluid, hematocrit levels, and total tissue water content were recorded, and fluid extravasation rates calculated.

Results:

Fluid extravasation rates increased in the I-group from the pre-CPB level of 0.27 (0.13) to 0.92 (0.36) ml·kg−1·min−1, but remained essentially unchanged in the P-group with significant between-group differences during CPB (pb = 0.002). The results are supported by corresponding changes in interstitial colloid osmotic pressure and total tissue water content.

Conclusions:

During CPB, isoflurane, in contrast to propofol, significantly contributes to a general increase in fluid shifts from the intravascular to the interstitial space with edema formation and a possible negative impact on postoperative organ function.
Quantitative genetic insights into the coevolutionary dynamics of male and female genitalia
Authors: Evans Jonathan P. , van Lieshout Emile , Gasparini Clelia
Published: May 2013

The spectacular variability that typically characterizes male genital traits has largely been attributed to the role of sexual selection. Among the evolutionary mechanisms proposed to account for this diversity, two processes in particular have generated considerable interest. On the one hand, females may exploit postcopulatory mechanisms of selection to favour males with preferred genital traits (cryptic female choice; CFC), while on the other hand females may evolve structures or behaviours that mitigate the direct costs imposed by male genitalia (sexual conflict; SC). A critical but rarely explored assumption underlying both processes is that maleandfemale reproductive traits coevolve, either via the classic Fisherian model of preference-trait coevolution (CFC) or through sexually antagonistic selection (SC). Here, we provide evidence for this prediction in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a polyandrous livebearing fish in which males transfer sperm internally to females via consensual and forced matings. Our results from a paternal half-sibling breeding design reveal substantial levels of additive genetic variation underlying male genital size and morphology—two traits known to predict mating success during non-consensual matings. Our subsequent finding that physically interacting female genital traits exhibit corresponding levels of genetic (co)variation reveals the potential intersexual coevolutionary dynamics of male and female genitalia, thereby fulfilling a fundamental assumption underlying CFC and SC theory.
Carbapenem-resistance mechanisms of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Fusté Ester , López-Jiménez Lídia , Segura Concha , Gainza Eusebio , Vinuesa Teresa , Viñas Miguel
Published: May 2013

Clonal dissemination of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPA) is a major concern worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms leading to the carbapenem resistance of an MDRPA clone. Isolates were obtained from a surgical wound, sputum, urine and a blood culture. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) showed high genomic homogeneity of these isolates and confirmed the circulation of an endemic clone belonging to serotype O4. Outer membrane protein (OMP) bands were visualized by SDS-PAGE, meropenem accumulation was measured in a bioassay and integrons were detected by PCR. Efflux pumps were studied for several antimicrobial agents and synergic combinations thereof in the presence or absence of both carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and Phe-Arg-β-naphthylamide (PAβN) at final concentrations of 10 and 40 mg l−1, respectively. On OMP electrophoretic profiles, MDRPA showed a reduction of outer membrane porin D (OprD) and PCR demonstrated the presence of a class 1 integron with a cassette encoding aminoglycoside adenyltransferase B (aadB). Meropenem accumulation was slightly higher in bacilli than in the filamentous cells that formed in the presence of antibiotics. Overexpression of the efflux pump MexAB-OprM and a functional MexXY-OprM were detected in all isolates.
Mortality in patients with Clostridium difficile infection correlates with host pro-inflammatory and humoral immune responses
Authors: Solomon Katie , Martin Alan J. , O’Donoghue Caoilfhionn , Chen Xinhua , Fenelon Lynda , Fanning Séamus , Kelly Ciarán P. , Kyne Lorraine
Published: May 2013

Host anti-toxin immune responses play important roles in Clostridium difficile disease and outcome. The relationship between host immune and inflammatory responses during severe C. difficile infection (CDI) and the risk of mortality has yet to be defined. We aimed to investigate the host systemic IgG anti-toxin immune responses, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the infecting C. difficile ribotyped strain, and the host inflammatory markers and their relationship to CDI disease severity and risk of mortality. Inflammatory markers, co-morbidities and CDI outcomes were recorded in a prospective cohort of 150 CDI cases. Serum anti-cytotoxin A (TcdA) and anti-TcdB IgG titres were measured by ELISA and the infecting C. difficile isolate was ribotyped and the in vitro cytotoxin titre assessed. A low median anti-TcdA IgG titre was significantly associated with 30-day all-cause mortality (P<0.05). Ribotype 027 isolates were significantly more toxinogenic than other ribotypes (P<0.00001). High cytotoxin titres correlated with increased inflammatory markers but also higher anti-TcdA and -TcdB (P<0.05) IgG responses resulting in a lower risk of mortality. On multivariate analysis, predictors of mortality were peak white cell count >20×109 l−1 [odds ratio (OR) 11.53; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.38–55.92], creatinine concentration >133 µmol l−1 (OR 6.54; 95 % CI 1.47–29.07), Horn’s index >3 (OR 4.09; 95 % CI 0.76–22.18) and low anti-TcdA IgG (OR 0.97; 95 % CI 0.95–0.99), but not ribotype, cytotoxin titre or anti-TcdB IgG. Thus, host pro-inflammatory and humoral responses correlate with the cytotoxin titre of the infecting strain and effective anti-toxin immune responses reduce the risk of mortality.
Non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae bacteraemia: case report and review of the literature
Authors: Marek Aleksandra , Inkster Teresa , Anderson Eleanor , Jenkins Claire , Boyd John , Kerr Stuart , Cowden John
Published: May 2013

Vibrio cholerae is a serious public health problem worldwide, but in the UK, V. cholerae infections are rare. Here, we report a case of V. cholerae bacteraemia in an elderly patient. To our knowledge, this is the first non-travel-related V cholerae bacteraemia in the UK.
Tissue-specific splicing of a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor is essential for muscle differentiation
Authors: Sebastian Soji , Faralli Hervé , Yao Zizhen , Rakopoulos Patricia , Palii Carmen , Cao Yi , Singh Kulwant , Liu Qi-Cai , Chu Alphonse , Aziz Arif , Brand Marjorie , Tapscott Stephen J. , Dilworth F. Jeffrey
Published: May 2013

Alternate splicing contributes extensively to cellular complexity by generating protein isoforms with divergent functions. However, the role of alternate isoforms in development remains poorly understood. Mef2 transcription factors are essential transducers of cell signaling that modulate differentiation of many cell types. Among Mef2 family members, Mef2D is unique, as it undergoes tissue-specific splicing to generate a muscle-specific isoform. Since the ubiquitously expressed (Mef2Dα1) and muscle-specific (Mef2Dα2) isoforms of Mef2D are both expressed in muscle, we examined the relative contribution of each Mef2D isoform to differentiation. Using both in vitro and in vivo models, we demonstrate that Mef2D isoforms act antagonistically to modulate differentiation. While chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing analysis shows that the Mef2D isoforms bind an overlapping set of genes, only Mef2Dα2 activates late muscle transcription. Mechanistically, the differential ability of Mef2D isoforms to activate transcription depends on their susceptibility to phosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA). Phosphorylation of Mef2Dα1 by PKA provokes its association with corepressors. Conversely, exon switching allows Mef2Dα2 to escape this inhibitory phosphorylation, permitting recruitment of Ash2L for transactivation of muscle genes. Thus, our results reveal a novel mechanism in which a tissue-specific alternate splicing event has evolved that permits a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor to escape inhibitory signaling for temporal regulation of gene expression.
Gsx2 controls region-specific activation of neural stem cells and injury-induced neurogenesis in the adult subventricular zone
Authors: López-Juárez Alejandro , Howard Jennifer , Ullom Kristy , Howard Lindsey , Grande Andrew , Pardo Andrea , Waclaw Ronald , Sun Yu-Yo , Yang Dianer , Kuan Chia-Yi , Campbell Kenneth , Nakafuku Masato
Published: May 2013

Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in widespread regions along the lateral ventricle and generate diverse olfactory bulb (OB) interneuron subtypes in the adult mouse brain. Molecular mechanisms underlying their regional diversity, however, are not well understood. Here we show that the homeodomain transcription factor Gsx2 plays a crucial role in the region-specific control of adult NSCs in both persistent and injury-induced neurogenesis. In the intact brain, Gsx2 is expressed in a regionally restricted subset of NSCs and promotes the activation and lineage progression of stem cells, thereby controlling the production of selective OB neuron subtypes. Moreover, Gsx2 is ectopically induced in damaged brains outside its normal expression domains and is required for injury-induced neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ). These results demonstrate that mobilization of adult NSCs is controlled in a region-specific manner and that distinct mechanisms operate in continuous and injury-induced neurogenesis in the adult brain.